14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation 4 has performed better than expected since it was launched and the next-gen home consoles from Sony also seem to be doing well in Japan, which prompts the company to believe that it can deliver better lifetime sales than the PS2.
Hiroshi Kawano, who leads the Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Asia division, believes that the popularity of the older device will be hard to match, but the new platform has the features to at least try, in the long term.
He tells InsideGames that, “As we all know, unfortunately the sales of the PS3 didn’t even get near the sales of the PS2. It may be difficult for a home console now, but I think we shouldn’t say it’s impossible unconditionally.”
The executive adds, “However, I believe it’s possible to expand the popularity of the PS4 by providing a rich gaming experience and making use of the fusion of network service and high performance that is possible only on home consoles. When we talk on whether it’ll match the sales of the PS2 numerically, we’ll have to do our best in the future.”
At the moment, lifetime sales for the PlayStation 2 have gone over the 155 million mark, while the PS4 currently stands over 5 million after three months on the market.
Reports from Japan suggest that the device managed to move more than 300,000 units to gamers in the first two days it was on sale.
The PlayStation 4 needs to deal with competition from the Xbox One from Microsoft and if Nintendo plays its cards right, the Wii U might also become a strong contender later during the year.
Sony says that more game announcements, some of them coming from third parties, will soon be made for all its consoles.
Traditionally, the PlayStation brand has performed well in Europe and in Japan, but has failed to impress gamers in North America.
It seems that the trend is being reversed by the PS3, which according to data coming from the NPD Group, has managed to outsell the Xbox One by a margin of about 2 to 1 in January of this year.
Nintendo has been struggling to convince gamers to buy the Wii U and is not even talking about reaching the lifetime totals of its previous device.
The launch of Mario Kart 8 and a price cut might make the device a worthy competitor for the PlayStation 4.