I guess I don't think one week makes a difference either way. I remember back in 2001 the Xbox and Game Cube launched the same week, but for the life of me, I can't remember if the GC came out the Sunday before or after the Xbox. I don't think it had any real significance on either systems' success or failure.
The year head-start that the PS2 had on both of them (and the year that the 360 had on the PS3), on the other hand, was very significant.

No doubt Sony has goodwill on their side and some reported production advantages along with better tech and a lower price. I'd say they have a few advantages both tactical and strategic.

Xbone doesn't really seem to have a lot of advantages right now other than some yet to be seen level of residual loyalty to their ecosystem. They've improved their standing some since E3, but they've still messed this launch up in just about every way imaginable.

That said, Sony has not been responding or changing their plan based on anything Microsoft has done. If they planned to announce launch dates at Gamescom, they will.

The PS4 campaign just makes it seem like Sony has been humbled and passed the hubris on to Microsoft.

That said, I think both will be excellent consoles. Playstation 4 will take it, easily, in the first year, but that isn't a determining factor in overall success anymore.

In the end it will all come down to the games and so far I'm not too impressed with Microsoft's lineup. We will see what both of them showcase in the coming weeks/months.

Sony's E3 presentation was a complete response to what Microsoft had done. Either they changed things last minute or they had pretty a good idea of what Microsoft was going to say and do at their keynote.

Originally the PS4 was going to come bundled with the camera. Sony dropped it so they could undercut MS on price, and they were able to get away from the whole idea that they were sticking people with a $100 camera they may not want.

Sony has clearly made counter-moves here, as a good company should.

Exactly, how much have they not told us.

The release date(s) cannot come fast enough!

They threw out some red meat on used games and online checks, that doesn't mean their plan for either was affected in any way whatsoever.

This I'll buy, but that decision was made before they announced. What I'm saying is that they've been more or less 100% on message since they announced, through E3 and up to the present, and if anything, they've forced MS's hand on a bunch of stuff.

Lots of questions answered:

1. Party chat? Yes and doesn't require PS Plus.
2. How big is friends list? 2000. No talk about sorting, but sort of implied in 11 below.
3. Does it support Dual Shock 3? No, but it does support Move controllers.
4. Do I have to pay to play online? Yes, except for Free to Play games.
5. Colors? Jet Black "at launch"...implies something else down the road.
6. How big is it? Smaller than PS3 phat. Looks PS3 slim sized...see photo below.
7. Can I change the hard drive? Yes, just like PS3...presumably still a 2.5" SATA.
8. Benefits from camera? Does lots of cool stuff you don't care about.
9. How is cross media bar changing? Now called Dynamic Menu.
10. Keep my PSN ID? Yes...but doesn't say whether you can change it.
11. Can I control who sees my personal details? Yes.

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Size comparison. PS4 is downright sleek.

Inside look at Infamous: Second Son

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Pretty graphics, but more importantly, it looks like fun.

I actually like the look and play of Second Son. I've read some comments that it should look better for a "Next Gen" game but it looks like it could be a fun game.

Other game news...a sequel to Tomb Raider has been confirmed and so far only on the PS4 and XO

Another small trailer for the PS4 game..."Deep Down" by Capcom has been releaed but it's only about 45sec. I totally forgot about this game but the first trailer is really something, especially the fire effects...

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...they will have a playable demo at he Tokyo Game Show

I'm getting kind of a Demon's Souls vibe from that one...maybe a little bit MMO. I haven't seen anything to indicate that it's exclusive, but I did read that the engine was built for PS4...which is to say PC...which is to say X1.

Tidbit I picked up this morning: The vertical lines on the front of the PS4 are power and eject buttons.

And here's a really fun interview with Jack Tretton post E3...starts at 6:40...confirms no price change for PS Plus.

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Don't like the look of Everquest Next. The graphics are good obviously but the look of the game is too World of Warcraft'ish for my taste.

That's good news on PS+ pricing. Not that any of us pay retail but MS bumping Live to $60 sucks, especially considering all the ad revenue they generate on the service.

It hasn't even been announced for PS4 (yet), right? Looking at the news today about it, seems like it was just a PC announcement.

No, they are doing the whole "no comment" thing regarding a PS4 version.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/2/4582...-entertainment

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...verquest-next/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/...nd-its-amazing

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Everquest Next looks like it's a way off, and it looks like it will have some form of extended beta on PC, but there is no way that every SOE game comes to PS4 except for their biggest one.

Meanwhile, Dragon's Crown from Vanillaware is getting very positive reviews from everybody who isn't offended by boobies. With Dragon's Crown, The Last of Us, God of War Ascension and the upcoming Puppeteer, Rain, Ratchet & Clank and Gran Turismo, I can't think of a console with a stronger exclusive lineup in its final year before being replaced. It actually reminds me a bit of the PS2 with God of War 2 and Odin Sphere both coming out in 2007 along with a metric ton of JRPGs, but I think this year's lineup for PS3 easily tops that.

The question is: Should any of those have been moved to PS4? Is it better to continue support for previous consoles, as Playstation has a history of doing, or is it better to wholesale move on to the next console as Xbox has a history of doing? It made sense for MS to move on to 360 to maximize their head start on PS3, but this time they are releasing at the same time, and there is almost nothing on 360 this year.

I've seen some complaints about the PS4 launch exclusives, and while I still maintain that there are some announcements left for Gamescom and TGS, I kind of doubt any of them will be launch titles. Sony seems to have a strategy of spreading their first party titles out and releasing one every few months, and they are playing things pretty close to the vest right now, but will it leave the completely false narrative in place that "Xbox has better games"?

I'd much rather see Ratchet on PS4.

Also, paid off my PS4 pre-order. Now they just have to show me a game worth buying.

I actually think they should have moved The Last of Us and made it a launch IP as Naughty Dog has done with every other Playstation (PS1/Crash, PS2/Jak, PS3/Uncharted). They would have had a solid 6 months to optimize, and it would have truly been a killer app that would have moved hardware.

I also agree that Ratchet could, even now, be expanded and moved to PS4. It is reportedly not quite as big as a $60 R&C, hence the smaller price.

I don't really care about Gran Turismo, and the last thing you want to give Polyphony is more time, but a slightly shinier version would have been a better option than Driveclub even if Driveclub turns out to be a better game.

If nothing else, Sony needs to do what Microsoft did with Halo. That game does not exist right now and is absolute best case a holiday 2014 title, but they made a shiny video and checked a box in gamers' minds. Sony could do that with a whole variety of IP.

Any argument with PS3 2013 being the best final year for a console ever.

Maybe the Dreamcast?

I think Sony's in fine shape. While I would have preferred a more prominent exclusive launch title (kind of hard to get psyched about Knack), they have the infrastructure to keep churning out truly exclusive titles.-- as opposed to just paying studios to make their third party titles exclusive to their console for a window of time.

While bringing out The Last of Us to the PS4 as an exclusive launch title would have made a splash, it would have also made them look bad as it was promised for the PS3. That's sort of what happened with Kameo, which was supposed to be a late-cycle Xbox game that Rare was to bring exclusively to the Xbox. It came out as a launch 360 title and was widely criticized as a result. If nothing else, I'm sure that they'll sell way more Last of Us copies at the end of the PS3 life cycle on the PS3 than as a launch game of the PS4.

Don't forget : besides the notable exceptions of Mario 64 and Halo, most console launch games are not very memorable and are usually not something you'd still be playing a year after launch.

Maybe a bit of good news on the Planetside 2 front...

Planetside 2 cross-play a no go but plenty of PS4 pad control ideas on the way

According to Higby, cross-platform play won’t be possible because of a delay between patches on PC and PS4, the later requiring an extra period of approval from Sony. As a result of that Higby says, “We’re not going to be able to keep our servers in sync.” However one possibility is, “character portability”, says Higby, adding, “the character format’s the same on both [platforms] so a PC character could transfer to PlayStation 4, and then back, it’s just purely a matter of the server updates”. So you could, potentially jump on the free-to-play PC version now and start prepping a character for PS4.

In terms of PS4 specific features for the new pad: “Motion control for things like the flight model is going to be in there,” says Higby. Other features, like the lightbar, are a little less certain, “I’m not sure exactly how we’re going to use it”. The microphone and speaker could see some action with talk of, “squad voice over IP coming out of your controller for people who don’t want to use a headset”.

The big feature though seems to be the touchscreen, something Higby is, “pretty excited about”. In Planetside 2 so far Higby says, “the touchscreen allows us to use it in the user interface. It kind of gives you the best of both worlds, of being able to quickly select stuff, or, if you want, to have some more advanced drag and drop. Drag and drop on a console’s very hard to do, but with a touchpad where you can drag stuff it’s brilliant.”


http://www.officialplaystationmagazi...as-on-the-way/

Yeah, the touchscreen seems like an underrated improvement in the controller. I'm excited about that one.