FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
Story image
Wed, 10th Oct 2012
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Amid months of next-generation speculation, an editorial predicting the downfall of Sony's next-gen console has been savaged by the online community.

Posted on masonicgamer.com, the article entitled ‘Why The PS4 Will Fail' has received a torrent of negative feedback.

The writer does raise some interesting points, however, referring to the PS3 as the “flop of the big 3”, namely the Xbox 360, PS3 and the best-selling Nintendo Wii.

Although calling the PS3 a flop might be an overstatement (the console has about 1% less of the market than the Xbox 360), it is still the worst seller of the biggest consoles of its generation.

A self-confessed Sony fanboy, I have no issue admitting to my bias; but there are definite weaknesses of Sony's that could potentially cost them big in the next-generation.

Generally, the Playstation 3 is the highest-performance of the three big consoles. It is also more expensive, with a higher entry price and a slightly higher cost of hardware; this is where the console began to lose its advantages.

Another factor that played a role in the success of the PS3 was timing – Sony doesn't have it. Microsoft released the Xbox 360 well before the PS3, giving them a huge chunk of the market that couldn't be bothered waiting around for Sony.

Of course, how things pan out often comes down to luck – guessing at the popularity of the next-generation of console is fairly pointless but that doesn't seem to have stopped people trying.

As one of the comments on the article above puts it, “is there some prize for being first out with ridiculous “PS4 DOOOM!” articles? Because you're too late. There were PS4 doom articles already back in June.

The next-generation officially begins with the release of the Nintendo Wii U, set for release on November 30. There's an interesting first impressions review, including a hilarious claim that the console is 19 times more powerful than the PS3.

Perhaps Sony will fail after all!