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aTokenYeti on 02 February 2022
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curl-6 said:
aTokenYeti said:

It really just goes to show how sometimes luck and random chance can completely change and industry. 

I think under the market conditions of the 2010s (which is when the bulk of the planning and design of the PS5 took place), Sony’s strategy of one unified console design with the only difference being a disk drive was the correct call. Under those same market conditions, opting for power and a premium feature set was also the right call. Chip supply was plentiful, the economy was in good condition, AMD was on the upswing, all of the pieces were there. 

Covid completely transformed the global economy. The power and premium build quality Sony opted for is now a supply chain liability. The supply chain break down also drove up inflation globally, which triggered a global corporate spending spree that it does not appear Sony was prepared for. 

Honestly, outside of a 2013 Xbox One style E3 presentation equivalent, this generation could not have started out worse for Sony. The inability for Sony to build a substantial early generation lead is going to be extremely costly down the line 

I dunno, it's definitely not ideal circumstances for PS5 but they're still in a much better place than they were in, say, the early years of the PS3.

The comp I would draw to the PS5’s current position would be the Xbox 360. It had a much stronger software lineup the first third of its life, it amassed a decent hardware sales lead, and broad consumer sentiment was generally more favorable to it in the moment. 

But PlayStation had a massively larger first party pipeline and invested way more into exclusives development. They were quietly amassing a long term wealth of talent and IP. By the end of that generation, there were years when Sony first party was releasing 8-10 games in a year, compared to 2 or 3 from Microsoft. And Microsoft was relying on the same IP over and over again. 

Ultimately I don’t think the Xbox series consoles will catch the PS5. The brand inertia for PlayStation is simply too powerful, and there are parts of eastern and Southern Europe, as well as Japan, where the damage Xbox did to its brand last generation may be irreversible. But I think think they PS5 will peak a lot earlier than the PS4. I also think Microsoft will be in a commanding position going into 10th generation