Speaking during an interview with GamesBeat, John Koller, Sony’s Vice President of Marketing, has said the release of PlayStation 4 reminds the hardware giant of when it launched PS2 13 years ago.
Koller reiterated that Sony’s next-generation console boasts the strongest line-up of any system released by the hardware giant to date
"The launch overall, just in business terms, we feel great about it," said the executive.
"The pre-orders are through the roof. The demand is huge. Of the five platform launches we’ve had, this is the best game line up. It reminds me a lot of the PS2 launch, when we had such pent-up demand – ‘When is the PS2 coming?’ The same thing is happening here."
"When you look at some of our past launches, you could argue about the various points of supply. We had a lot of demand for PS3, and we were short. We didn’t want to relive that. It’s hard when you don’t have a lot of supply. But even so, we have a lot of demand this time around."
Koller also pointed to the price advantage PS4 has over its predecessor, suggesting consumers are more likely to invest in a coupe of games alongside their new console — something which was not necessarily possible before with the $599 PS3.
"We went out at $599 with the PS3. Xbox was out there for a year. They were $100 cheaper at that time when we launched. But still, an expensive proposition. This time around we’re at $399. There’s much more opportunity, from a spending perspective, for people to be able to come in and buy a couple of games with that," he explained.
"We maybe didn’t have that flexibility last time. I think John and other analysts are right. The demand for this will be sustained for a longer period of time at a real high level than we’ve seen in the past. We see it in a lot of our quantitative modelling – a lot of pent-up demand, a lot of passion to get into this next generation."
PS4 is out now in the U.S. and will launch in the U.K. and Europe on November 29. Read our review of flagship launch title Killzone: Shadow Fall here.