The PlayStation 4 is one of the most successful things ever in history, selling at an unprecedented pace, having sold 10 million units in 10 months, making it the fastest selling console of this generation, and in history. Now, reflecting on its success, Sony’s CEO Kazuo Hirai thinks that the PS4’s success is down to the fact that, contrary to so many of the doomsday predictions regarding consoles that have circulated, consoles still have a unique value proposition.
‘I certainly can’t deny that before the PS4 was released, there were discussions like “there are no more chances in the console business, smartphones are better,”’ he began. ‘However, we faced that challenge by carefully thinking about “isn’t there something that can’t be experienced there?” By adding together things like the value of the games and the high quality visuals on a big screen, it has become something which we can support.
‘As a consequence of the experience with PS3, [we determined] that an X86-based architecture which would allow easy development would have also been an advantage.
‘But above all, it’s now important that you’re able to share experiences in the social space beyond simple gameplay. In short, being able to broadcast at any time and boast “I was able to perform that trick.” We studied a platform in which you can’t just also play, but also be “involved.”
‘Considering that, a factor of the PS4′s success is “because it’s a console, the experience is deep.” Still, more than anything else, it’s important to have fun games. For Japan we’ll have 44 titles ready by the end of the year,’ he finished.
Of course, the PS4’s game library so far is really anemic and lacking- it may have the quantity, thanks mostly to a slew of re-releases, both at retail and digitally, but it has no compelling must have game as of yet. Hopefully, Sony is working to improve that situation fast, since it sounds like they understand the core of the console business.
