Sony's selling the PlayStation 4 at a frightening pace, with the console's install base already sitting at a dizzying 18.5 million units. The crazy thing is that the system's showing no signs of slowing down, with this year's software lineup looking infinitely stronger than 2014. And in an interview with Nikkei, as translated and reported on by DualShockers, group gaffer Andrew House has hinted that even internally the organisation is a little shocked by the machine's success.
Speaking on a regional basis, the affable executive said that Japanese sales are in line with expectations, and the same is true in North America, despite competitive price promotions from Microsoft. It's in Europe, however, that the device is performing beyond expectations, with stocks even running low on the continent over Christmas. House said that he now expects the next-gen system to surpass the PlayStation 3's sales by the end of the generation.
He added that 2015 will prove the strength of the platform, with first-party endeavours like The Order: 1886 and Bloodborne just the tip of the iceberg. We recently wrote an article outlining why we think the PS4 is selling so well, but we want to know whether you're shocked by the success of the system. Did you expect Sony to get on top so quickly, or did you think that this gen would be a closer contest? Ponder the platform holder's position in the comments section below.
[source nikkei.com, via dualshockers.com]
Comments 15
Great! Now, can Sony update the console to support external hard drives like Xbox One does?
@Jazzer94 10/10.
Nobody expected 18.5 mil in 12 months. Nobody. 15 mil as a wildly optimistic projection maybe.
@RawWilson1
That would be nice wouldn't it? I don't mind deleting stuff on PS4 because it doesn't take forever to load data back onto the console but it's still annoying having to shuffle games around.
@Gamer83 I really don't want this. My USB ports are already full and the last thing I want from a console is a bunch of dangling accessories. I think devs need to step back with the game size, instead.
If Europe is where the PS4 is performing best then perhaps Sony should release there beta's here first instead of the US lol.
I always knew the PS4 was going to do really well after I decided to leave XBOX. E3 2013 was the decider for me and most of my friends.
@thedevilsjester I totally agree. I already have my headphone receiver in one USB port and the other is reserved for charging my DS4 or my PX4's. Besides, the only reason the XBONE has external storage is because the main HDD cannot be removed. Its not hard or expensive to replace the PS4's HDD with a larger capacity one.
@Jazzer94 Brilliant.
@RawWilson1 I'd rather have DLNA (MP4 video) support, even though I have no plans of selling my PS3 to buy a PS4.
External support would be great though, since it's the only way I know of moving my MP4s from PC to PS3.
@thedevilsjester
What's the problem with having that option? No one will ask you to use this option.
@Kohaku that's naive thinking. If the option is available, devs will be less...cautious...about game size and just take the "PC mentality" that users can just upgrade. Truth be told I wish that the PS4 couldn't upgrade even the internal HDD. Instead of upgrading HDDs and pretending the problem with game size doesn't exist, we need to get developers to reduce the size of their games.
@thedevilsjester what a terrible idea. Larger files are needed if we want higher res textures, uncompressed sound for people like me with an expensive 7.1 surround sound system not to mention shorter loading times when the game isn't so compressed.. and I'm sure lots of other positive things about bigger file sizes.
Having an option for external HD is SO much better than replacing the internal drive.. if you have to replace the internal that means you lose that 500 gb of space what a total waste... on my xbox one I use my internal drive coupled with a 2 TB external drive and I use an amazing product that adds a piece on to the side of the xbox one that looks like it's actually part of the system, not only that it has 3 extra usb ports. With this type of storage I have been able to keep all 50 ish games I own for my xbox one installed... yeah so much better than replacing an internal drive and screw smaller file sizes.
@thedevilsjester
While that would be nice if developers could achieve that somehow, even if the average file size is 20 GB, it's going to fill up a 500GB harddrive pretty quick, so imo, the option of external harddrives is always welcome.
@Gamer83 not if developers use a more reasonable game size like 5 GB, but everyone clamors for higher resolutions, higher bit rate audio, etc..., inflating the install size to unreasonable levels. That was fine when disc based games ran (mostly) off of the disc, but with full installs required, its not reasonable. As I see it now, we have a decent happy medium. It's so simple to install a new bigger PS4 HDD that my 9 year old could do it (and it's an officially supported solution that doesn't void warranties and doesn't require a proprietary drive), so those that want to install a bunch of games can just get a bigger internal HDD; but it's not as accessible as a plug n play external solution, so developers won't rely on that ability too much.
@mitcHELLspawn I don't want larger res textures or uncompressed audio. I shouldn't have to suffer because you want high resolution resources just like you shouldn't have to suffer because I dont. PC games used to offer to install high resolution resources or "normal" resources, to give us options. I don't see why the same solution cannot be applied here.
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