In the seventh generation of consoles, we met devices that would mean significant changes in video game hardware. On the one hand, we had the Xbox 360, which was Microsoft’s number two hardware in this market, and on the other hand, we had Sony with the PS3, which debuted “controversially” due to its launch cost, although it ended up being a sales winner against Xbox. However, the head of the Japanese company assures that “they were lucky to survive“.
And, through an interview for EurogamerShawn Layden assures that during the PS3 generation it ““taught them a lot” due to the problems faced by having the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii as direct competitors. In addition, with this device, they learned that “It’s not just about whether it can play movies or stream, it’s also about turning it into a gaming console“.
“We’ve had PS1, PS2… and now we’re building a supercomputer! And let’s put Linux on it! And we will do everything! “We flew too close to the sun and we were lucky and glad we survived that experience, but it taught us a lot.”
“We also learned that the game should be at the center of the car. It’s not about whether I can stream movies or play music. Can I order pizza while watching TV and playing games? No, just turn it into a game console. Just make it the best gaming console. I think that’s what really made the difference. When the PS4 came out, it faced what the Xbox was trying to do. “They wanted to create a more multimedia experience, and we just wanted to create an incredible gaming console.”
This is exactly what they applied to the next generation, that is, the PlayStation 4, which was focused more on games than on multimedia content, unlike its competitor, the Xbox One, since its presentation, it has given a lot to talk about, considering that Microsoft focused on it as a device for watching TV, movies and seriesleaving behind what most of the public wanted: to enjoy video games.
After all, it “reflected” on the existence of Microsoft, which “lost” that generation PlayStation 4 is the best-selling console with 117 million units compared to 57.9 million for Xbox One. However, it was not all bad for the Windows creator’s console, as they also “learned from their mistakes” and removed things like the mandatory Kinect when buying the device and the inclusion of Xbox Game Pass with the arrival of Phil Spencer as head of the brand.
Going back to the PlayStation 3, despite its initial struggles due to start-up costs and the difficulty of developing titles for the Cell processor, the reality is that at the end of that generation it sold slightly more than the Xbox 360, with about 87.4 million units compared to 84 million for Microsoft’s device.
It should be noted that these were not the only comments Sean Layden made in the Eurogamer interview. He also touched on topics such as the future of video games and commented that he doesn’t think PlayStation should release their games on Xbox.
Photo by Nikita Kostrykin on Unsplash
