PS4 must repeat the original PlayStation's success

A PlayStation Universe original feature: Sony must look to the past to make the PlayStation 4 success.

[Arai]

Variety and varied games from developers from all corners of the world, only that can duplicate what was the PS/PS2.

Probably the golden age of gaming, as with these days it's the same over and over.

[JsonHenry]

As someone who has been underwhelmed by the PS2 and the PS3 (compared to the competition) I can say that the PS4 is giving me the same vibe that the original PS gave me. I have not been this excited about a sony product since the original PS launch.

[stb]

Underwhelmed by ps2 bro? The fuak?

[Tito08]

I would understand being underwhelmed by PS3, but why the PS2 the most successful home console? and in many ways did better than the PS1. If you don't mind the question.

[shivvy24]

i dont see whats wrong with the ps3 , it had many excellent games !

[CEOSteveBallmer]

I can't believe some do exist that they don't even consider PS2 a success. even in third world countries PS2 is so popular. Man I don't know what shit your smoking all these years. Even the die hard 360 fans was once a PS2 user and they really really enjoyed it. grand theft auto and metal gear are one of the examples on how "vast" the games library PS2 has. Or i think your just trolling. sigh. Well if that's your opinion then fine. Its not like playstation will be affected with people like you who is "hard to please"

[DragonKnight]

Underwhelmed by the PS2? Is such a thing even possible? The PS2 is the most successful console in history due to the fact that it literally has games for everyone. It probably has the biggest library of games of any console (note: hyperbole. I have no facts to back that claim up).

The ONLY console I can personally say, in my opinion, that ushered in the true Golden Age of gaming is the SNES. That console had games of such greatness that hasn't been matched still to this day. It may not have sold 155 million consoles, but when you have games like Chrono Trigger, A Link to the Past, or Earthbound, you don't need to sell 155 million consoles.

[JsonHenry]

Yes, I was underwhelmed by the PS2. The damn DVD drive broke on 3 different PS2s of mine, the graphics abilities were overshadowed by the Xbox AND the Gamecube, and the online abilities of the PS2 were MASSIVELY abysmal compared to the original Xbox.

So yes, when compared to the competition, I was underwhelmed by the PS2. I never said I didn't have lots of fun with my PS2. Just that compared to the competition it was a lame duck in the hardware department.

Which is why I am so excited for the PS4 and really hope it pans out. This is the first time in a while that the Xbox and the Nintendo counter part are not more appealing to me.

[Tito08]

I could careless about the graphics since the 3 consoles looked pretty good in their own merits & similar to each other, it was nothing like PS3, 360 & Wii, because honestly, you wouldn't have seen a game like GT3, Tekken Tag/4/5, Devil May Cry, Shadow Of Colossus, Metal Gear, God Of War, Onimusha, a tireless amount of exclusives. I mean those games looked good enough to compete with & looked better than most Xbox games in a graphical stand-point, with the exception of Halo, Doom 3, Ninja Gaiden & others, & that's despite the Xbox being more powerful. While Gamecube was a little more beautiful thanks to RE, Zero & RE4, but that was pretty much it, & it didn't mean the PS2 could not run those because it ran RE4 on one single disc compared to 2 mini discs on Gamecube, & sold a lot more on PS2 after being a Gamecube exclusive, no wonder it sold over 150 million.

The online on PS2, while not better than on Xbox, it was totally better than on Gamecube which supported only 4 games, that benefited games like Socom & others at the time. If your system broke on you, it might be because you didn't fully knew how to take care of your consoles or just a simple Xbox or Nintendo fanboy, because the hardware issues on PS2 wasn't as bad as the 360.

So you either didn't own a PS2 or you clearly had bad taste, because I still have my 2000 launch console & still works fine til this day, & you liked the PS1 gen more? you clearly was born yesterday kid, it takes more than graphics to sell 150m.

[ltachiUchiha]

I believe they can. If they can launch the system from around $399 to $499 I believe we will see the ps1/ps2 era again in the making. I also think the ps3 will continue to sell very well & by the time it is $199 it will reach 100 mil no problem. They will have 3 gens with 100 mil+ & u know the ps4 is going to follow the same path to the 100 mil+ club. I honestly have that much faith in the playstation brand.

[MikeMyers]

Sony can't afford a slow start. They need the PS4 to do well right from the start. So if they price it too high (anything above $399) they may get themselves in trouble.

We have seen the slow growth of the Playstation Vita and the poor performance of the Wii U. Both Sony and Microsoft may have a tough time with their new consoles as well. The market is different than it was when the Xbox 360 and PS3 came out. So far there's lot of buzz about the PS4 so we'll have to wait and see how that transpires to real sales.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Unrealistic goal. Competition is fierce now.

[Minato-Namikaze]

Competition was fierce then.

[inmusicutrust]

For ps2 and 3 yes but not for the ps1. Who did sony even have to compete with?

[Minato-Namikaze]

@inmusicutrust

Sega, nintendo......

[DragonKnight]

Umm, the PS1 not only had to compete with industry veterans Sega and Nintendo, they also had to compete with the image of being a new console with absolutely no history to back them and no reason for anyone to trust in their product. The PS1 can be considered to be Sony's greatest success in the console industry, even above the PS2, due to all it had to fight against and still managing to sell 100 million consoles in its lifetime. The PS2 had the advantage of capitalizing on the PS1's success, which made things easier in the beginning. The PS1 had NOTHING to help it out at all and still dominated.

[elhebbo16]

PS1 had the CD player, its marketing was broader than that of competition (not only focusing on young gamers but adults), had huge install base, huge developer support (almost 8000 games), and sold 100 million units. What competition?

[MikeMyers]

Sony was already established in the electronic market with a very trusted brand. They also took advantage of Nintendo's costly endeavor of cartridges (for the N64) who were actually working with Sony to come out with a CD drive add-on for the SNES. They failed to come to an agreement on control and Sony decided to have their own console later on. The rest is history.

Sony also wisely partnered itself with 3rd party developers who were not happy being ruled under Nintendo. So this is not a situation of David vs. Goliath. Sony came in at the right time with a sound history in making electronic devices. The 3DO and even the Xbox had a much harder battle.

[CGI-Quality]

So fierce, that Sony is the one still supporting its 7th generation console with fresh IPs.

What needs to happen with the PS4 is very simple - launch no higher than $499 and support it like they supported the PS3 and PS1 (both exceed the PS2 from a 1st party perspective).

[Dj7FairyTail]

fresh IPs
like GoW Ascension being worst GoW
Sly Cooper 4, R&C Full Frontal Assault, LBP Karting, PSASBR, Star Hawk and Twisted Metal failed to sell and please gamers.

[CGI-Quality]

I always love it when a random, one bubble poster offers nothing constructive to prove otherwise. ;)

[CEOSteveBallmer]

hes just trolling dude. Maybe a PC or xbox fan who is butthurt and looking for things they could set as a negative example.

[maniacmayhem]

Outside is right, Sony has very fierce competition now compared to it's PS1 days. PS1 had the CD-ROM going for it which was insanely popular when it was introduced. Every developer and publisher was going this route from Sega, Turbo Grafx, etc.

That and the fact that Nintendo who was the king of consoles decided not to support CD-ROM just guaranteed Sony's success among industry heads and the consumers who knew this was the next big thing.

[Jek_Porkins]

It isn't really a goal that can be achieved easily, at the time Sony had something nobody really had, which was CD based games, everything just looked and played so much better on the PS1 when compared to everything else. The games were varied and amazing, and Sony was really on top of their game where innovation is concerned.

Trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice is difficult, but if Sony innovates and brings something for everyone, like with the PS1, they'll do really well.

[Muerte2494]

because ps2 did even better than ps1 and all consoles were all disc-based. Sony needs to push hard for America. They already have EU and JPN. Ps3 is doing wonderful and only need to sell 1.8 million every quarter for the next 11 quarters to hit 100 million sold. I've owned every playstation and every Xbox. Playstation brand it closely tied to gaming. Explain to me how Microsoft and start any better than they started this generation.

*Year of the market to yourself (10 million lead)
*Easier architecture
*Heavy developer support first 2 years
*Repurchases due to RROD from launch until mid- 2007
*Always cheaper than their closest competitor
*Superior online service (in the beginning)
*Exclusive DLC content for GTA4 and COD franchise
* Monster advertising campaign

How can you have all these things going for you and still end up last place?

[pop-voxuli]

Exactly

[Jek_Porkins]

I never mentioned Xbox in my comments, just stated why it would be hard to top the PS1 in sales, the fact that the consoles are so evenly divided makes it all the tougher though.

[Bumpmapping]

They did catch lighting in a bottle twice it's called the Playstation 2.But yea I agree with what you wrote,there gonna have to bring there A game from the looks of it they already brought it.

[Kingthrash360]

lol....."must"
the system has alot of hype almost as much as ps2 did....success is success but given how negative the media is (especially gameing news media) it will be hard to repeat the success of its successors.

[Hicken]

Yeah, I'm not seeing how or why it MUST duplicate the success of the PS1.

What it MUST do is follow Sony's trend of good hardware and great software. Continue giving core gamers what they want, and the system will do fine.

[Kingthrash360]

totally agreed my friend. well said.

[izumo_lee]

My only problem with this is it all depends on what Microsoft does. If Microsoft throws around their TRC policy it will handicap Sony & what they do.

This gen cause of Microsoft coming out first & setting the 'rules' for multiplatform games it basically took out the advantage that Sony had with bluray & its space capacity. With only 1st party studios able to take advantage of all that was available with the bluray.

Sony needs to release the PS4 ahead of the next Xbox so they will be able to set the standards for game development. If Sony does not & the next Xbox releases ahead of them we will see the same thing happening again unless the next Xbox uses a higher capacity disc for games than it will be an even playing field.

[Godmars290]

As long as everything isn't 1st/3rd person, there are arcade style flight and driving titles, then yes, there's a chance.

But they're also going to need an active multimedia presence. One that's free or has free access to the paid ones.

[e-p-ayeaH]

As long there's plenty of adventure and rpg's games with diferent types and culture influences its possible.

PS1 as a vast library of great games with many types of experiences.

[Williamson]

They just have to do what they've been doing since ps1 days...which is bringing out a lot of great exclusive games. Ps1, ps2,ps3 have all had a lot of good games.

[twinspectre]

this gen of gaming sucks!!!!!!
i want everything to be like the old good days :)

[MadMen]

Been saying this forever; PS1 is what made SONY cool, PS2 is not the system to mimic.

PS1 made sony what they are

[andrewer]

PS1/2 quality will never be reached by future consoles. EVA!!!1

[DragonKnight]

What made the PS1 and PS2 so successful was a perfect storm of games that people wanted and excellent marketing. If Sony returns to their roots in this regard, then the Playstation name will continue it's synonymity with gaming. Playstation is a powerful brand and it will take a lot more than one generation to completely remove it from the social consciousness of gamers.

[MikeMyers]

That brand has started to become tarnished, especially in the U.S., and that is mainly due to stronger competition.

The PS2 almost had a monopoly of console gaming. Which probably was the reason why they came out with the PS3 at such a high cost and so much arrogance attached to it. Thinking once again they can tell developers how to make games. Now Sony is going back to its roots and have created the PS4, a system designed for game developers and hopefully not out of reach in price for most people.

[SugarSoSweet]

Like I said before the secret formula is VARIETY

FPS's are nice but there is more to life then shooting things =P

[MasterD919]

Still have my original PS1.