Lessons the ps4 should learn from the ps3

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Lessons for the Playstation 4 From the Playstation 3













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Sony learned some tough lessons when it launched the Playstation 3. The company’s flagship system caught up to the Xbox 360 over the



Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

course of this generation, but it was a hard fought battle, and most of its problems were clear on the day the console hit the market. Sony found itself in an awkward position. After thoroughly dominating consoles with the Playstation 2, it was scrambling in the early days of the Playstation 3. Signs are pointing towards a smoother transition at the inevitable Playstation 4 launch tomorrow. If Sony is going to take an early lead in the console war, there are a few things that it needs to have learned from its last outing.

First, there’s the timing question. Despite Kaz Hirai’s indication that he would let Microsoft make “the first move,” Sony is getting out in front of its Redmond rival in this fight. Microsoft rushed the Xbox 360 to market, and it had the crippling technical problems to prove it. It still worked. Sony was playing catch-up from day one when it released its console a year later. In all likelihood, both of these new consoles will hit the market at approximately the same time, so we’ll likely have a fair fight come holiday season.



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The second point concerns price. The Playstation 3’s $600 launch price crippled early sales and held the system back for years. Early rumors are just rumors, but we hear that Sony could price the PS4 at around $400. That’s just low enough to capture a broader audience while, hopefully, not being so low that Sony is losing money hand over fist. If Sony learned one thing from the Playstation 3 launch, let it be that $600 is too much.

The third point is one we don’t know anything about yet, and that’s the games. Every new console struggles with content by default – witness the current state of the Wii U. The Playstation 3 also struggled with content in the early days, further cementing Microsoft’s lead. Over the years, Sony has bulked up its roster of exclusive titles to the point that it makes Microsoft look sheepish. We haven’t heard anything about Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series recently, so here’s hoping that Sony is saving up a new Nathan Drake adventure as a killer app to sell this new system. NEOGAD also noticed that Quantic Dream’s CEO arrived in New York today – doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Sony has a formidable first-party development ecosystem. If anything will give the Playstation 4 the edge at the holidays, it’s going to be software.

And with that, we wait for tomorrow, when the rumor-mongering ends and we get to see just what Sony has up its sleeve.

The Recipe

Top priority should be learning how to maintain PSN without impeding owners ability to game during maintenance.

Wild Self

Make things affordable like the PS1/ PS2 days with original gaming. Sony seems to suffer in the American dominated first-person shooter environment.