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As any comedian or sports star can attest, when you play to the crowd you are justly rewarded. At E3 2013, Sony played to the crowd…and then some.
During their E3 Press Conference, Sony dropped several “bombshell” announcements, including support for used games, a gamer friendly policy towards lending, and a price that is $100 lower than Microsoft’s Xbox One. Needless to say, when that particular slide went up during the presentation, the crowd went wild. And now, likely as a result of that strong gamer reception, Sony has raised their sales projections for the PS4.
As Andrew House tells the WSJ, Sony has boosted their internal sales estimates post-E3. He wouldn’t reveal what the estimates were, or what they are now, but he does suggest gamers might find the PS4 in short supply.
It’s been almost 8 years since gamers have seen the launch of two major consoles – both of which were sold out for a solid 3+ months – and it looks like, at least for Sony, we might see a repeat. We’d like to think that Sony will respond to this increase in demand accordingly, but they clearly don’t want to make any guarantees.
Many retailers have already begun shifting from “launch” editions to standard editions, which could ship at launch but there is no day 1 guarantee. Some retailers, however, are offering a special launch bundle, which comes with the PS4 console, the new DualShock 4, and the PlayStation Eye for $500. There may still be some ways to procure a PS4 at launch, but very soon that early access is going to come at a cost.
For that matter, we don’t even know when the PS4 will hit store shelves. Microsoft has already shown part of their hand by mentioning November, but Sony is still sticking with their “Holiday 2013″ line. Sony has to be also thinking November, but if they can wait until Microsoft announces an official date, and then swoop in with an earlier date, they will.
For now, there’s still time to mull over a $400 purchase, and hopefully by the time a decision is made there will still be some launch day consoles left.
The PS4 is targeting a Holiday 2013 release date.
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