It seems that Sony has an extremely hard fought battle ahead of them when it comes to comparing the launch of the PS4 (rumored to be available worldwide this year) and the highly successful launch of the PS3.

Lets take a trip back to memory lane.

Back during E3 2006 when we saw the rubber duck demo, the implementation of new technology with sixaxis and warhawk, Sony's progression past last gen rumble and the $599 price tag, we knew that the PS3 was going places.  I mean it was taking the torch from the highly successful PS2 and running with it.  As the final launch details were forming, Sony gave official guidence that they expected to ship 6 million PS3's by March 2007.  Even though there were slight rumors from brokage houses like Nomura indicating that the PS3, through early channel checks in late December, would be lucky to approach half that number, Sony pushed forward.  People got second jobs, and the head of SCEA even had bounties out for people who were able to find one they were so rare.

Fast forward to 2013 and the PS4 is already starting off on a bad foot.  As far as we know, the console itself could just be a controller as that was all they showed on February 20th.  Even if we imagine it as a console, rumors abound that the console is using old school technology like bluray and off the shelf parts that are probably costing little to nothing to build.  Where is the innovation in that?!  Sony should be implementing a new optital disc media, partnering with Panasonic to build new factories. Sure it'll cost lots of money and drive up the cost of the console but hey thats what made the PS3 and its launch so successful. The spec sheet for the controller that Sony displayed indicated it using an AMD processors.  AMD processor?!  What is this 1999 and the K7? who uses PC parts in videogame consoles?  The PS4 should include custom high end, high priced, scable processors the world has never seen, used in supercomputers...by scientist and universities and put in consoles like the PS3 had so bad foreign governments can use them for strategic purposes.

While the list of games to be released for its launch is under wraps, I find it extremely difficult for the PS4 to overcome the likes of these:

Those games at the time were revolutionary.

Rumors abound that the price of the PS4 is going to be less than the PS3...EGADS I say, why should people have to quit their second job because the console becomes more affordable?

lol great thread... funny.

$399

$399!? wouldnt that price indicated to people that the console is not super powerful, there is no way that Sony would make something affordable without compromise somewhere.

Yeh, they compromised by not adding one of these:

So true. I don't see how Sony couldn't do better than this gen given that they messed up the 2 biggest things for any console to be successful (price and release date) last time. I mean it didn't come to Europe until a year and a quarter after the competitor who goes for the same market got there. How they're going to get close to 100m (I think PS3 will go over) is beyond me. Not because I don't think the system deserves it, but as far as being a mass market success they did EVERYTHING wrong. Advertising=crap (crying babies), Price=HORRID (it was an internet meme and about twice as much as each of their competitors), Architecture=HORRID (shoddy third party ports), Internet (until 08 or 09)=inferior (now it seems fine but that's a hell of a head start), release date=late! (and with no big fad like Wii it didn't have the means to catch up quickly), software=nothing system selling until over a year after launch (aka 2 years after their competitor came out and after Halo and Gears had grabbed a big crowd and the COD crowd was on 360 because their friends had it). Now there were a lot of great games on it and of course the online has gotten amazing, but normally you don't see a console make a commercial comeback like this. Logically I don't see any direction but up for PS4.