DanneSandin said:
Sony have gone on record and said that they don't wanna be last one out this time around, or at least not far behind. So that would mean March 2014 at the very latest. But if they did launch a whole year after x3ox they'd loose a lot of sales; what you have to remember is that xbox360 were the first - and only - next gen for a whole year. This time a around we'll have TWO next gen systems out for up to TWO years. No way PS4 will be able to bounce back from that. Sony can't afford to bleed money like MS can, and people ain't gonna buy a $499 next year, and probably not the year after that. Let's say that the average costumer might spend $399 on a new console - and that's pushing it, considering there's been a lot of complains about Wii U's pricing ($299 and $349). Which means it won't pack enough power to be a major leap over WiiU or x3ox. MS could easily sell x3ox+Kinect2 for $399 and lose $100, thus being on par with PS4. Why wait a whole year (or two) for a console that won't offer much more than what's already on the shelves today - and for a more expansive price none the less?? 3rd parties are definetly going to release next gen games for WiiBox during the year before ps4 is released. Both platforms will have gained a good footing since x3ox will get ports from the WiiU and vice versa while ps4 is waiting to get released |
I don't know... As I said before, aside from 6-7m units of boasting rights, what did the headstart provide microsoft? ultimately its just speculatuion I think you can take microsofts head start away and they'd be in the same position they were in today. In my opinion life started for the 360 november 2006 when Gears and other 3rd party games arrived and its success today is a result of sensible pricing on behalf of microsoft, good 3rd party support and terrible pricing on behalf of Sony.
In terms of 3rd parties releasing next gen games ahead of the ps4 launch, there will be a few but most will probably also be available on 360/PS3 ports and I see no reason why 720 will be seeing any Wii U ports. I'm just looking at previous gen trends, all the big titles for this gen arrived in 2007. Seeing as so many good games are still being developed for current platforms, I think this trend will remain.
Realistically Sony are not going to lauch at a mass market price, but you don't need the mass market to make your launch a success. The Mass Markets aren't normally the ones who pick up a system during their launch window (except the wii). I don't see any other route for Sony other then power+killer games, I doubt they'd create innovative technology strong enough to trump Kinect2 but they also can't have their system the same price as the 720 without the added inceptive that power will provide them. In regards to the Wii U, dare I say people complained about the $299-$349 price tag because its pecieved as a 360 minus the harddrive and a new control, as opposed to bleeding edge next gen tech.