I think this is timed mostly for stockholders. Sony needs a win, some hope on the horizon. They can't afford more and more quarterly earning to come out with discouraging news without something to get people talking about them again.

But I think it's bad for the PS3. It still seems to be selling relatively well, but this could affect those sales a lot.

As for MS, I think it's possible that the consoles will share a lot of new features, so not everything will seem all that original whenever they announce. I don't think that'll affect much, though, outside of arguments on forums. For the common consumer, things won't matter until they are about to release.

My personal opinion? Good for US, because this will hopefully put a lot of the stupid rumors about the PS4 to rest. Of course the NexBox ones will still persist ......

Their financials are coming out soon right.

Anyone think maybe to recover from poor financial they wanted to quickly "announce" and show their new console to get hype and excitement back?

You know basically changing the subject or diverting our attention.

No idea how their financial look, they could be really good, just tossing the idea out there.

I think the cons probably outweigh the pros in this particular scenario. I think people here are perhaps confusing their own enthusiasms for public awareness. The reason that companies prefer to unveil during major industry events is that those events magnify their own efforts. It isn't just about free publicity. It is about the spectacle lending gravitas to the announcements. Going first and going alone. Might give Sony distance from Microsoft so it can stand out, but in doing so it is also positioning itself farther away from the spotlight. Where it could run the risk of preaching to the choir rather then converting the masses in earnest.

I am sure others have alluded to this, but this isn't actually a positive sign. Sony possibly ceding the big stage does say a lot about its own confidence in its product. Namely that it doesn't compare favorably in a side by side comparison. It is a rather implicit, and furthermore quite obvious conclusion. Now if that is the case then Sony unveiling this month can be seen as being more of a pro then a con. In so much as it allows them to avoid a even worse fate.

Concerning the matter of hype which itself means a exaggerated response. I think a lot of people are blind to the fact that this is actually a irrational outcome. Do some of you earnestly think your average gamer is going to become nigh obsessed with this hardware. Sure they may get interested, and dwell upon the subject, but to lose their sense of all proportions. Really you think that is a likely outcome. Look I can see someone getting hyped about something that is going to happen tomorrow, or the day after that. I don't see anyone just getting hyped, and then staying there for half a year.

Or they could be releasing first to dampen Microsofts unveiling if they know they have a solid system. Microsoft has as much to lose as your gloomy suggesting for Sony does. If Microsoft can't show off their console better than they are to lose potential consumer interest.Rumors pin the PS4 the stronger system which would not be good to announce after that. If Sony has interesting unique OS features, Microsoft needs to provide their own. Any OS features that are the same will become slightly irrelevant to showcase as they won't be as interesting anymore. Unless Microsoft can slam dunk some features they could be heading towards rough waters. Or maybe Sony's show won't be very impressive, we will see.

As for being hyped. I don't see why consumers wouldn't stay hyped for a measly half a year. Consoles regularly were announced over a year in advance and it just happens the Wii U spread itself out too thin by doing so in modern culture. A launch this year means a fast launch in this industry. Sure the culture has changed with mass internet communications, we are rather impatient now but not so much as to require a shorter announce to launch window that would have more negatives than positives. If they announced too close to launch they would loose flexibility, an opportunity to guage consumer opinion and demand.

I think It's more positive. If they come outshow a demo or two give us a few details and leave off with telling us they will say more at E3, it will work. Then at E3 give the release date, price, and show off the trailers for the launch titles, thats how id do it. But I think Its better to getthe ball rolling first.

@Chark

Firstly a rumor isn't proof, and it has no place in a rational analysis. When it comes to gaming less then one rumor in two hundred actually bares fruit, and even that is suspect, because the bullshitter hoaxers who perpetrate rumors are often making educated guesses. So it stands to reason that on occasion they will come close, and even then the people doing the judging aren't exactly rigorous in their appraisal. A rumor monger can be all of ten percent right, and some will treat them as if they were completely on target. You should limit rumor speculation to rumor threads.

Secondly you are misappropriating the word hype. It doesn't mean what you obviously think it means. I think you are just using it, because you think it sounds better then someone being somewhere on the range of interested. Like I said it is a exaggerated response, and not a rational response. People can be interested, or looking forward to something without being hyped. The exaggeration is purely emotional, and nobody can stay that high for any extended period of time. That level of anticipation at a maximum can be sustained maybe for a couple weeks, and that is mostly for the very young, or the very bored.

@dukerx2

There is actually a severe drawback to holding back too much information. Namely the chance that people may get the wrong impression, and you only ever get one chance to make a good first impression. The absence of information. Could be seen as that absence of quality. Sony doesn't need to empty the cupboard, but they better have the most pertinent details, and announce a solid first year lineup. Otherwise people will default to the more recent expectations. Namely it will be overpriced, feature weak, or suffer from poor software support. We have to remember the media is going to be the go between for most consumers, and will the PS3 launch fiasco, and the failure of the Vita fresh in mind. If Sony doesn't fill in the gaps the media may well do so.

I personally think the worst thing that could happen is that Sony doesn't provide enough information, and the net result is media outlets write stories, and half of their story will be about the console, and the other half will be about Sony's dire financial situation. Which could make a new console look like a mixed blessing. I think Sony needs to own its message. Rather then leave it up to the media to build a mountain out of a molehill.

And what's your point? Your response applies just as much to your original statement. I was expecting conversation on the topic.

@Chark

Actually I limited myself to the topic, and I only used deductive reasoning. My point being that bullshit rumors, and hyperbole aren't a substitute for facts and sound methodology. As for good conversation I hardly expect to find that in any thread I contribute to. Sometimes I am surprised, but that is seldom and fleeting. That said if you genuinely want a deep discussion on the strategy of announcements then you have to step up to the plate. In no court is vapid gossip or rhetoric a substitute for facts and a logical train of thought.

As for the matter of equivalency that is straight up bullshit, and I think you know that. It is basically a bogus claim made by people who don't have any real response. I posted in the thread, and you responded, and I responded to you in kind. It wasn't incumbent on you to respond again, but you did just that, and you owe it to yourself to give me more then the canned. I know you are, but what am I crack. That is so twenty five years ago. It was immature then, and it is immature now.

I know this may come as somewhat of a shock to you, but the thing I root for the most isn't a console brand, or a particular console. I am not a console warrior, and I don't blindly attack or defend a particular brand. What I root for is a good dialogue. If you are earnest in your desire that is good. If you just want to prattle then there are hundreds of users on these forums that will oblige you. While you do that I can go find another angle to the discussion that hasn't been explored, or as is often the case on these forums abused to death.

It depends. Anyone who has a clue about the die making processes will realise that Microsoft deciding to overclock their hardware to outperform Sony at the last minute would be as simple as cherry picking the dies that can perform faster to begin with, which is something I'd see Microsoft doing as a failsafe. If Sony's specs aren't as big as planned, they could go on with business as usual. If they need a clockspeed boost, then the systems already manufactured would be capable of doing so, with measures to ensure that consoles made from then on would also incorporate such dies.

This. Though announcing first has the chance of getting momentum stolen off them once a new console rolls around. It's a risk one of them had to take eventually, Sony decided to take it.