Opinion: Did Sony show anything last night that Microsoft needs to worry about?

[arcelonious]

Prior to the PS4 reveal, my three biggest concerns for Sony's next console were the timing of the release, developer support, and initial price, because all three were tremendous factors behind Sony's slow start.

With Microsoft releasing the 360 a year earlier, it had a head start in establishing and expanding its user base, and in turn, cutting into the PS3's potential user base. However, it seems like Microsoft will not have that head start (unless there are delays), so the resulting launch of each console may be very different from this past generation.

Secondly, the PS3 suffered from a lack of games during its first couple of years, before successfully rebounding with its library. With the recent reveal, Sony has stressed that it has reached out to developers in order to make a console that would be easy to develop for. This in turn has the potential of making the PS4 more successful than the PS3 was during its initial years (although we'll have to wait and see).

Finally, the PS3's huge $600 price tag was another major factor behind it's slow start, and this card has yet to be revealed by Sony. The tech behind the PS4 seems to suggest a heftier price tag than the Wii U, but for all we know, Sony may be looking into some form of subsidization (through their Gaikai services).

In summary, two of the advantages Microsoft had in the previous generation (earlier release and developer support) do not seem to be there for them in the upcoming generation, with only price still anyone's guess. Regardless, I do not think that Microsoft is worried, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were caught a bit off-guard with some of Sony's reveals. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft differentiates itself from Sony in the coming months, and as someone who has had to go through three 360s, I am hoping that Microsoft makes it a point to reassure early adopters that their hardware has a low failure rate (Sony addressed one of their big mistakes in the previous generation with the difficulty of development for their system, and I hope Microsoft addresses its mistakes with the 360 as well).