pokoko said:
If it's within six months then it won't necessarily be a big deal. If someone would rather have a Playstation, they'll probably be able to wait a few months. Christmas isn't usually a big deal for a launch, either, as any console launching at that time will probably be dealing with supply issues. The key point would be if the two launch dates are close enough that Sony could advertise for the PS4 during the launch of the 720. Say if the 720 releases in November and the PS4 releases in February then I think Sony would be just fine. 2013 or 2014 is less important than the number of months between. However, a difference closer to a year would be much harder to deal with. Not necessarily a disaster, obviously, as the PS3 recovered nicely from that, but it certainly wouldn't be optimal. |
Two or three months isn't a big difference in reality and I agree that people who really want a Playstation in February 2014 could easily hold off, but if the NeXtBox were to make the 2013 holiday season - particularly in the US - that could be quite advantageous; especially when the PS4 is almost certain not to be able to trump it tech wise. I realize uber-powerful tech isn't everything (look at my sig) but it could give the impression that Sony is a day late and a dollar short. Still, if they're largely on parity they could still be fine.
The thing is, it's been a while since a home console didn't launch in the fall in the US. If Sony do what they did with the PS2 (spring in Japan, fall in the US/Europe), it doesn't look good for them. WiiU is going to be an incredibly powerful competitor in Japan since Sony will be at least a full year later no matter what, and to go against Microsoft with a year's lead again in the west... they'd likely need to come up with something amazing that takes the market by storm (ala Wii) to be able to have a strong presence in that scenario.
