USA TODAY International Edition
Game on: PS4, XBox One in tech face- off
Sony, Microsoft consoles do even more nifty stuff
Want one of the hot new video game systems from Sony or Microsoft? Get ready to get in line.
At bat first is Sony, with its PlayStation 4 ($ 399), in stores Friday. In addition to better- looking games, the PS4 has a revamped controller with a small touch- screen pad and a “Share” button to send video clips online for friends to see. The Xbox One ($ 499, out Nov. 22) has a more powerful Kinect controller that can biometrically recognize your face and serves as your Skype camera.
With only about 6 million PS4s and Xbox One systems expected to ship worldwide this year, demand will be insatiable. Retailers such as Best Buy and GameStop have presold their expected shares of the 3 million to 4 million systems due in the U. S. on each system’s launch date.
Both retailers hope to have a few extra systems at launch for last- minute purchase, but shoppers may need to physically wait in line at midnight sale events. GameStop already has a waiting list of 2.2 million customers to alert when systems are available.
Pre- ordered systems are already being hawked on eBay at a premium, with $ 399 PS4s getting $ 600 or more, while Xbox Ones ($ 499) are going for as much as $ 1,000 or more. “There is consumer demand well in excess of supply,” says Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian.
Interest in the new game consoles is rivaling that of tablets on holiday wish lists. About 18% of homes with broadband Internet connections plan to buy a tablet this holiday season, compared with 16% for a game console, according to a recent survey by Parks Associates. Last year, tablets outpaced game systems 19% vs. 11%.
PlayStation 4 promises 10 times the computing power of the PS3 and has a new controller with a small touch- screen display that brings new interactivity to game mechanics. Also 10 times more powerful is the Xbox One’s Kinect controller, which lets you power up the game system with your face and use your voice and gestures to control games and TV programming. Both systems make it easier to connect to social networks. Compared with the version of As
sassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, released Oct. 29 for PS3 and Xbox 360, the new version for PS4 and Xbox One will have noticeably richer visuals, says Tony Key, publisher Ubisoft’s senior vice president for sales and marketing. “When you’re walking down a street you are going to see more people; you will see more leaves falling or blowing across your path,” he says.
In a football video game, a running back can move more realistically — but tacklers will react more quickly, too, and the defensive players will react like real football players. New consoles allow “the opportunity to build even better games, says Andrew Wilson, CEO of game publisher Electronic Arts.
EA’s new console game lineup will include Madden NFL 25, FIFA 14 and Battlefield 4.
Consumer anticipation for the PS4 and Xbox One — coupled with the success of Grand Theft Auto V, with 29 million copies shipped already — should debunk the notion that consoles are dead, says DFC analyst David Cole. “The console business has always been cyclical,” he says. “These big products are making more money than ever, and I think consumer interest in consoles is still large.”
It has been eight years since Microsoft’s Xbox 360 hit stores and seven since Sony launched its PlayStation 3. This is the first time the competitors have gone head- tohead with new systems. The Xbox 360 arrived in 2005, a year ahead of the PS3.
The near- simultaneous launches are “good for the industry,” says Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Jack Tretton. “There’s a lot of focus on the category right now, and that’s good for everybody in it. ... We are big believers in a rising tide lifts all boats.”
The U. S. appetite for mobile and portable gaming has grown in recent years, to more than $ 1.2 billion in games sold on smartphones and tablets in 2012, up from $ 1 billion, according to DFC Intelligence.
Meanwhile, dedicated console and handheld game systems and the games for them accounted for $ 11.3 billion, down from $ 15.1 billion in 2011. The arrival of new systems is expected to inject an additional $ 3 billion or so in the next 13 months.
By not refreshing the PS3 and Xbox 360 sooner, “we’ve been behind on the innovation curve, while you have all kinds of new tablets and smartphones coming out,” says Tony Bartel, president of GameStop.
Now, he says, “consoles will be the most innovative product that everyone is going to want this holiday season. It will precipitate a great new growth cycle.”