“Proper cause to celebrate”: Sony rediscovers its disruptive roots with PS4 | VG247
VG247: PS4′s tech is impressive, and we’ve seen Microsoft announce the increase of Xbox One’s clock speed. What’s your view on this? How future-proofed is the PS4 for one?
That’s good to hear, as we heard a Nvidia exec yesterday stating that their PC tech – now – is more powerful than what PS4 or Xbox One can offer gamers. But, do you feel this new wave of PC tech will detract from next-gen consoles as the capabilities increase rapidly?Gara: Probably the biggest barometer I would pick out for where the tech is, is the feedback from publishers – both in-house and out-of-house – because they tell us it’s a dream to develop for. They tell us the way it’s configured, the architecture, it means they’re not hitting that glass ceiling hardly at all. Where as, if you look at the experiences coming out there on PlayStation 3 later this year – I can pick out Beyond or Gran Turismo 6 – they’re really pushing the envelope of what PS3 can do.
It is possible to create that level of experience on PS4 far more easily, so I guess the shackles are off for them. How far can they push it and when do they hit their glass ceiling? I’m not really the best person to ask, but they certainly feel hugely liberated and inspired right now.
The current cycle is still going, but given the speed at which PC tech is improving, do you see the next cycle being shorter?It doesn’t look like a concern at the moment. You always have to keep your eyes open to see where potential threats might come from. The only thing we know for sure is that the initial demand, and the initial weeks and months of PlayStation 4 is almost guaranteed to be exceptionally strong. That’s based on pre-order numbers that we’re delighted with. They’re the best we’ve ever seen, so that gives us huge confidence.
Let’s not forget that PlayStation 4 is a dedicated, specialist device that has become architecturally involved with the PC environment, but it’s configured in a way to deliver a rich experience above all others. It’s designed to deliver gameplay at the best possible level, which wasn’t compromised in terms of the decisions we’ve made.
People forget that the cycle before that is still going. We’re still selling PS2s now. We only stopped manufacturing them earlier this year, so Sony is adept at overlapping life-cycles. It shows a different regional profile, the fact that we’re a global brand means that the tail is longer in certain markets and the uptake is slower in certain markets. Then there are emergent markets. But that’s the great benefit of having a portfolio in places where – as one device gets cheaper and cheaper – it becomes more and more accessible to more different markets.
I think there’s a good question in there, which is, “How long is this next cycle?” But we go into it thinking it’s at least several years. What will the world look like in five to seven years time? It will undoubtedly have evolved even further. There’s innovations already in there like the double screen experience, and remote play on PS Vita, or whether it will be running apps and that is developing quite nicely.
But I’d also say that the Gaikai acquisition is taking cloud gaming to more devices over time. So how does that look in five to seven years? I think it will be really, really interesting. Playstation 4 has taken time to develop as it represents the top tier of the PlayStation experience, and it is liberating in many ways over a range of devices, so that’s really exciting.
Originally Posted by JeNeI 
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