While the PS4 announcement on February 20th, 2013 was exciting for many, it was mostly a disappointment for me. It was everything you didn't want from a product announcement event. It was all hopes and dreams for what they want the next 10 years to be like. Those are the sort of things you want to talk about at developer conferences. During a product announcement event you want to talk about the fantastic product you have, how much it will cost, and when people can buy it.
It wasn't all bad, so I'll start with the few things they got right:
Showing off real 8th gen titles was a great move on Sony's part. While there was much confusion in the crowd after the presentation ended, none of it was related to how the quality of games. The graphics shown off looked amazing, and I suppose that may have been all anyone that was already thinking about upgrading from the PS3 to the PS4, but for the rest of us, I'm not sure. Showing off gameplay footage and videos of gameplay footage is huge and that's a big thing Sony got right. The last thing you want to do is show off something amazing when the real product is terrible.
Showing off the new controller was also a good move. Integrating the Move controller into their regular controller will help give developers a reason to use and take advantage of it in future games.
The other thing the did right, and arguably the most important, is by showing everyone that that they already have a ton of game companies on board to make games for the new system. People buy these devices to play games. If you don't have a solid lineup of games, no one will buy it. See the Wii U for more evidence.
Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the good news ends. They didn't show off the actual system. They didn't commit to specifics on hardware. They didn't commit to launch titles or software features. While it's great that they bought Gaikai and are integrating the streaming game service into the overall strategy, it doesn't bring much confidence when Sony doesn't commit to having it ready by launch. Speaking of launch, when is it going to be on the shelves? I suppose we can expect it to be there by Black Friday at the latest, but the fact that they're not at the point where they can nail down a solid launch date is not exactly helping build confidence in the their ability to ship.
It gets worse. There's been more than a few rumors of collusion between Microsoft and Sony in ending second hand sales of console games going forward. Whether they'd hardware lock games to a single machine, or merely just require activation codes and a persistent online connection, things don't look very promising. Sure, it's a nice theory that you can make more money by forcing everyone to buy a new, expensive copy of your game, but I don't like it one bit. Much of my console gaming experience has been borrowing or trading games from friends, playing it for a bit, and then buying my own copy if I like it. I'd hate to have to pay $60 just to try out a game, only to find out that it really wasn't worth even paying a single dollar for and - to twist the knife - the game is not only worthless in my mind, it's also worthless on the open market because no one else can use it with their console. Sony's statement regarding supporting the second hand market that was released following their event did not reassure us. The precedent set by their actions in the music industry reveals that they have little to no respect for their customers, and I don't expect that to change miraculously.
They also didn't talk about BluRay at all. Will the PS4 have a BluRay player? Maybe. People have tracked down evidence that indicates that it will, but to leave out the fact that your collection of expensive HD media will still work in their new device? How can that be an oversight? They also didn't talk about 4K support, except to say that they'd be upscaling games. If I'm going to buy a device that sits in my living room for 7-10 years, please make it at least a little future proof. This is Sony here, they should be leading the way with 4K this generation of consoles. It'd be a great way to give everyone a reason to not only buy 4k TVs, but also PS4s. It was a brilliant strategy for Sony last generation (many people bought a PS3 just to get a BluRay player) and a real shame they're not up to speed with it this time.
Perhaps the reason the PS4 wasn't shown is that while it is a box style console that you can buy separate, it is also a new line of 4K TVs with the gaming system built in. The TV is the gaming device. The future is now. Or perhaps they just dropped the ball and weren't ready.
Whatever their excuses may be, there is a path for success for Sony. Since they were so wishy washy about nearly everything at the event, they can change their minds. They can realize they screwed up quite a bit. There's still time to deliver. Plan out a solid event for E3 and prove to the world they're ready to ship a next generation gaming device, not just talk about vaporware.