The Quiet (Yet Successful) Year of the Playstation 4

The multimedia aspects that tarnished XBox One’s reputation is actually saving the Playstation 4. Funny how the gaming industry works.

The PS4 is outselling the competition handedly despite not having too many big games out there. And even Sony admitted that their first-party lineup is lacking, and that the rest of this year isn’t going to deliver much hype. So unless the upcoming E3 delivers surprises, don’t expect much in the gaming environment from Sony (and to an extent, Nintendo and Microsoft as well). However the PS4 is surviving mainly because it’s not just a piece of gaming hardware, it’s a multi-media device. Even if you don’t have new games, there’s the online features, the connectivity to the internet, the incredible Playstation Network, and Playstation Now. There are tons of options while awaiting the next big game.

Playstation Now is hands-down the biggest reason for Sony’s success. 300 PS3 games available at your fingertips if you are willing to shell out the bucks for the monthly subscription. Where Nintendo dropped the ball despite the overwhelming history, Sony has utilized fully by offering hundreds of classic and past games to always cover for shortcomings that can and will occur. We are witnessing gaming companies dropping left and right, some to bankruptcy and others to mobile gaming. To have something to fall back on has been nothing but lucrative in Sony’s part. After all, why else would Sony have such a big lead on Microsoft despite having similar lineups?

Microsoft dropped the ball because during the disastrous E3 they made it sound like they weren’t going to focus as much on games. Sony learned that the multi-media external activities should be a clutch, never the main focus. Simply switching the priorities around slightly could have resulted in a closer race. But the Playstation 4 is hands-down the system best geared towards the hardcore and casual gaming crowd. Microsoft may have XBox Live, but Sony has arguably everything else.

Bottom Line: Remember that gamers come first, and that your Plan Bs should be gaming-related, not NFL-related, Netflix-related, or anything that could be accomplished by a laptop. The PS4 has looked and sounded like the premiere system for gamers, and its paying off in dividends for the time being----despite the lackluster lineup. Even with Nintendo having the top game in the past year (Smash WiiU), the year and generation has belonged to the PS4, because of the superior focus.