PlayStation 4 launch: Where was the console?

---

This article titled “PlayStation 4 launch: where was the console?” was written by Charles Arthur, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 21st February 2013 07.47 UTC

Sony’s “launch” of its PlayStation 4 turned out to have a lot less than meets the eye. The event itself, held in New York, was expected to include the rollout at least of a box, and a price, and a date when you’d be able to get your hands on one.

Well, that might be what you expect, but you’re not a colossal multinational which has been struggling to grow and whose console has been battling it out for second place in the current market, are you? Because if you were, you’d know that what you need is to keep the press and analysts hanging on for as long as humanly possible. Not forgetting the people watching the livestream…

First to crack was Chris Hall of Pocket-Lint:

For Gartner, consumer analyst Michael Gartenberg wasn’t impressed:

Brian X Chen, the New York Times’s technology reporter, had deja vu:

Even underway, with Sony pointing out how incredibly detailed the screen was, there was a certain amount of lack of interest. Such as from the unrepeatable Charlie Brooker:

The recreation of a face in colossal detail left the press unimpressed:

and the conclusion by Chris Applegate:

Stamina was needed too:

And this caustic observation from Henry Blodget (who wasn’t there):

More generally, what did we learn about gender stuff from the Times’s tech writer?

Two hours it went on. Two hours!

And by the end there wasn’t a price and there wasn’t the console itself (not even an empty box into which the guts of its might be poured).

Let’s leave it to Gartenberg to sum up the feelings of those who attended:

Which doesn’t seem to leave a very large group. Chris Ziegler remarked:

Although for fans of Brooker and his TV output, there’s this little hint (though it might not be that positive for Sony…):

Wouldn’t want to be in Sony’s shoes for that.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.