Sony has once again talked about the subject of its next PlayStation console, the so called PlayStation 4, and revealed that it doesn’t want Microsoft to once again have an advantage by releasing its next Xbox before the PS4.
Current generation consoles are here to stay, at least according to Sony or Microsoft, but recent rumors and reports hint heavily that their replacements are getting ready to be presented in the next couple of years.
Given how Sony often said its current PS3,
which turned 5 earlier this month, has a 10-year lifecycle, the company isn’t in too much of a hurry with its PS4.
Still, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan, the company doesn’t want to let rivals gain an advantage by releasing their consoles earlier than the PS4.
“I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation],” Ryan told
Eurogamer.
The Xbox 360 gained a big advantage over the PS3 by arriving on the market one year before it, becoming very popular both with gamers as well as game developers that decided to focus first on the Microsoft console and then adapt their creations to the Sony device, usually resulting in lower quality experiences.
Even so, however, Ryan highlights that the PlayStation3 still has a long life ahead of it, especially since its price hasn’t diminished all that much.
"There's still a lot of unfinished business on PS3. If you look at PlayStation 2, now in excess of 150m units installed globally, a huge majority of that was done at price points of £120 or lower. [With PS3] we've only just hit £199 in the UK, so clearly there's a considerable untapped part of the market there.”
The next Xbox console is expected, at least according to recent reports, as early as
next year, although other industry analysts believe a
2013/2014 release date is more likely. Given how Sony doesn’t want to play catch up again, the PlayStation 4 won’t be too far behind the new Xbox.
Find us on Google+
