Sony and Microsoft are both readying the big push for each company's next-gen consoles during next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo. As it stands, the Xbox One has faced its share of marketing mishaps amidst an increasing focus from Microsoft on selling the console as an all-in-one entertainment hub. But during the AllThingsD D11 Conference, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai says the company is committed to keeping the PlayStation 4 directed toward gamers.

Image Source: Bloomberg

"The most important thing we need to make sure we do, at least initially, is that we all agree and understand that the PS4 is a great video game console that appeals to video gamers," said Hirai. "If we miss that part than I don’t think we get the initial establishment of the console."

Sony struggled to recapture the massive appeal of the PlayStation 2 when the company launched the PlayStation 3 back in 2006. A high price point and increased attention on the then year-old Xbox 360 forced Sony to rethink its original marketing strategies; strategies that ironically enough focused on an all-in-one entertainment hub with a push toward Blu-ray.

But in the years following the console's launch, the PlayStation 3 managed to find more solid footing, catching up with the Xbox 360 and even outpacing Microsoft's console in some regions.

Now, if Hirai's comments and the recent PlayStation 4 unveiling are any indication, Sony is planning to market its next console to a more game-specific audience. But according to Sony's CEO, the next-gen hardware will still have other uses.

"We take a look at this first and foremost as a game console," said Hirai. "We don’t want to end there. That’s an area we will obviously reveal and talk about in the coming months."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/30/sony-ceo-ps4-is-first-and-foremost-a-games-console

He certainly gets that the people most likely to get one early--i.e. core gamers--are going to be looking at it as a games console first. It's a much more compelling angle than the the way they pushed the PS3, or how MS is pushing the Xone. 

Yeah Sony never could fully grasp the idea of an ecosystem and what this involves. Even back to the days of their dominance everything was a seperate silo. I see this as them playing up to the only market they are able to at this point...

Truth be told, if they didn't come out with the Playstation game console, they would be royally fucked as an electronics company. Future of technology are ecosystems, and the Playstation brand gives them a distant but viable option for a relevant ecosystem down te road.

So whats up with people playing puppets with the glowing dildo on the presentation that they didn't present nothing?
Just kidding but this is just PR fallacies. Show me the money!

First? Kaz, with chocolate all over.

Ummmm let me see... yes! 

To you and people on this site maybe. To general consumers, not even close...

The difference between 2 companies is that one is positioning themselves to sell console and games/multimedia services to the only group of people willing to spend 400 dollars on a gaming machine.

In Microsofts case, they are looking to push the exact same things, however they also want adoption of Bing, IE, Skype, Skydrive, Windows 8 development...on top of getting an early jump in to the IPTV game with their set-top approach.

The only reason Xbox One may need a cable box in the near future is because cable companies aren't able to deliver TV with an IP based service. That should roll out within a year or two and when it does, will you buy a brand new IPTV receiver, or will you just use your Xbox One?

Yeah, this is one thing I really don't get. Why the hell haven't they done anything with their movies? Even small things like Sony movies on netflix exclusively on Sony devices. They've experimented with music apps I think, but shit, when you have movies like Spiderman and James Bond and a very media-capable machine... maybe they were trying to promote the use of blu-rays with PS3, but surely that ship has sailed by now.

I find it very interesting that suddenly Sony looks poised and focused, while Microsoft is fumbling around in an uncoordinated mess.

Is it possible that Microsoft believed its own hype to the point that they didn't feel the need to prepare? They just thought they could phone it in? That their market share would grow automatically? It's hard to believe that about Microsoft, though they have had their share of failures.

Perception is reality, yes, but it's a nebulous sort of reality. A sudden shift in presentation and perception can turn a 360.

No pun intended.