Michael Denny, Sony Worldwide Studio‘s vice president, spoke with Edge-Online about the planning process behind Sony‘s upcoming powerhouse console, the PlayStation 4.
Michael enunciated early in the interview that Sony had developers in mind when it began creating the PS4. As a company, Sony wishes to really highlight and streamline the development process for its affiliated developers, in order to allow them more creative freedom instead of development time: "It was an informed system architecture that could really lend itself to help all our creators. So from that early point on, we were just talking to developers about the future." With developers as a priority, the greatest benefactors will certainly be gamers, since developers look to only be limited by their vision with the PS4.
The PlayStation 3 price point was a major factor early on in this generation cycle, and Michael indicated that consumer cost is as important as delivering a high-end gaming experience "that’s deep, connected, rich and immersive." Tracked information from each Sony console launch is being fielded, according to Michael, to influence the upcoming release of the PS4 in order to make it as good as it possibly can.
Michael didn’t go into specifics in regards to how the PS4 actually looks, but he gave Edge-Online a pretty significant teaser: "I’m not sure it’s instructive for me to start trying to describe or talk about what I’ve seen or haven’t seen in terms of the actual look of the box. But yeah, you know it’s going to be another fantastic design and we can’t wait to reveal it." Certainly, it might have been a bit disconcerting that the PS4’s appearance wasn’t shown at the New York Reveal, but Sony will undoubtably show it well before the console actually releases, which will only hype up the console that much more.
The best news from the entire interview pertains to the unannounced PS4 release date. When asked about the importance in beating "Microsoft to the punch," Michael said that the New York reveal was the perfect time to do it:
"As I say, we know our launch date, and we think it’s very important that gamers receive that new console experience. With that in mind, we just thought it was the right time to set the vision and set the agenda in New York."
The fact that Sony knows exactly when the PS4 will launch is a great sign that this launch is well on its way to being one of the most successful releases that Sony has ever had. The efforts into driving consumer interest have been at their all-time high, and Sony obviously understands the consequences of failing the next generation of gaming.
Do the early signs point toward a successful release in your eyes?
Via Edge-Online