Does sony have a franchise that will sell the PS4 out of the gate

[forevercloud3000]

I really don't think PS3 game sales are impeded in any significant way due to piracy. It is in no way the PSP.

PSP hacking was so unbelievably easy, I actually made a killing at school helping people mod their PSP's for a small fee ;). Basically, everyone I knew wanted a PSP simply for that reason. It is the sad reality that the PSP only started to truely explode in the US when custom firmware became common place. It was the shear amount of what you could do with the damn thing, it made Sony look like amateur programmers at best. If they created half the stuff that modders made legal, PSP would have been unbeatable. Look, PSP could do....

-GBA emulator (and worked like a dream)
-Arcade emulator
-Universal Remote (I could turn on my PS3,TV,Laptop, etc. It was funny when I would go into department stores and fuck with the TVs.
-Media Playlist player (for some ungodly reason Sony has issue making playlist option ON the handheld)
-Instant Messenger App
-Cross Game Music
-Graphic Calculator App
-Even had a basic DS player, I played Pokemon on it :)
-Custom Themes (that you didn't have to pay for)
-Obviously play eboot PSP Games
-Cracked it to do PS1 classics BEFORE Sony even started it.
-etc.

It would be a sin to NOT mod the PSP knowing it could do all these things. Yet none of these harmed it except for the ability to play PSP/PS1 bootlegs. Sony spent most of their time trying to stop the pirates from being able to do any of these things, but never actually thought about making it so they didn't have to mod it to do them. Many of these things they could have made themselves (obviously not the eboot stuff but ya know). Gamers would have met them half way, they would pay for the actual games as long as they could get those cool apps. Once Sony was able to get a handle on blocking all of those goodies, the consumer based stopped buying it entirely. PSP had a plethera of great games, but most of the fans of those games had moved on due to feeling stifled by Sony. Developers also did not take kindly to huge portions of there game's sales be pirated. SE and Rockstar did a study saying that there games were downloaded over 5million times a peice or something. They might not had been able to achieve all those sales but that is a lot of theoretical sales to kiss goodbye.

PS3's issue is something different entirely. I am inclined to blame it on it's price and late start. the only reason 360 outsells PS3 in software is due to the substantial 360 lead in US territory. 360 came out first, and at a cheaper price point than PS3 in the US. American consumers are very......trendy for lack of better term. They want the newest level of product but not the most expensive if they can get the basics for cheaper. In all honesty, its probably the main reason PS2 won last gen. Also, Americans have zero patience for waiting, very impulsive. Once that 360 gained that lead in the US it was going to prove very hard for PS3 to make a dent. Since the recession exploded on the scene, the US has been very anti-Foreign anything. I think this to be part of the reason media outlets are so hard set on assassinating Sony in the press every chance they get, all the while over looking every MS/Apple blunder.

Proof? Only need look at the games themselves. Take a look at the top selling games, and think about there target demographic. We know Japan is not as enthralled with shooters as US/EU is. We know US is not as captivated by JRPGs as JP/EU . Look at the numbers. Games that target the western audience do way better on 360, simply for that fact, most people in the US have a 360. Then look at something like Resident Evil, with a stronger fanbase concentration in Japan, PS3 won that hands down. The thing is is that Western developers create about 2/3rds of all the games these days, and they are usually aimed at Western Audiences.

Also I want to add that it is my assumption that most gamers cannot afford multiple systems. Maybe if they were just Wii owners they have opted to get one of the other two now that the prices have dropped, but to get a 360 and a PS3 seems a bit far reaching. I do not deny that there is probably some overlap but I doubt it is any large number. This just means that many of those that chose 360 or PS3 in the beginning....probably feel obligated to stick with that console for the long haul. I mean lets be honest, I would be damned before I bought a second console after spending $500 on the PS3 :P. Didn't really matter what came out on the 360, it was going to take a true miracle game to persuade me otherwise (Mass Effect was the only coveted jewel 360 had, but now PS3 has it so...). And if you thought paying $500 was far too expensive for a console in the beginning you probably don't want to get another console making it cost more than that in the first place.

So in short, if the roles were reversed as far as market leader, as 360 hadn't gained that foothold on the US, you would be seeing a different picture in software sales for sure. 360 made its strong mark in the US due to its lead, price advantage, and social climate. Wii's success on the otherhand is a total fluke of cercumstances as  far as I'm concerned. They accidently stumbled into their success. Many may disagree, but I think the Wii's rapid decline in the last few years is proof that it WAS a fad all along, a nice shiny new thing that stood out from the pack....but ultimately loses its luster.