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Sony's Yoshida: We Don't Know Why PlayStation 4 is Selling - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 19 August 2014 / 8,716 Views

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida spoke with Eurogamer about the success of the PlayStation 4 and selling more than 10 million units worldwide. However, he admitted to being nervous about the success, because he does not know why it is selling as well as it is.

"The 10m sell through in the first nine months is well beyond what we had hoped for," said Yoshida. "As you know, we have struggled to keep up with demand of PS4 for so many months. It was hard to find and purchase PS4. Now we are able to supply units so in every territory I believe you can find PS4. So we just managed to catch up with demand."

"We are so happy," Yoshida added. "But I for one am a bit nervous because we do not completely understand what's happening. You need to understand why your products are selling well so you can plan for the future, right? It defied the conventional thinking. Lots of people thought the dedicated game hardware might not be needed going forward, but still lots of people are very excited."

"When you see the new games coming out and being announced this E3 and Gamescom, I think there's a good enough reason for a gamer to believe this is something worth investing in," he continued.

Yoshida's instincts tell him that with the great sales now, how can Sony ensure the console remains selling as well as it is. He understands there is a limited number of core gamers and needs to understand why the casual gamers are buying the PlayStation 4.

________________________________________________________________________________________

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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21 Comments
Raziel123 (on 19 August 2014)

He said he didn't know why it's exceeding expectations, not why it's selling well. And he said that because of the pessimism towards next gen consoles that existed before they were out.
but whatever baits clicks and comments

  • +9
naruball Raziel123 (on 21 August 2014)

Journalism at its best.

  • 0
FujiokaMidori (on 19 August 2014)

Cause it's cheaper and more powerful.
There.

  • +8
Nintentacle FujiokaMidori (on 20 August 2014)

But it isn't cheaper, It's just more powerful.

  • +1
ThatDanishGamer FujiokaMidori (on 20 August 2014)

Now it isn't cheaper it's just more powerfull, better looking, smaller and have better games.

  • +2
Michael-5 (on 19 August 2014)

I always thought it was because 360 owners were sick of XB, so PS4 gets a lot of PS3 AND 360 owners upgrading, where XB1 just gets the hardcore 360 fans. I had to send my 360 in 11x and MS refused to fix my console under warranty.

  • +3
CARNAGE_RULES Michael-5 (on 20 August 2014)

11 times is a moronic user, not a hardware issue

  • 0
CARNAGE_RULES (on 20 August 2014)

Hilarious, they don't even know why someone would buy a playstation

  • +2
mcseprofession (on 21 August 2014)

Gamers want to play games.. so give them a strong gaming machine, don't try and tell them what to do with their games or tell them they can only play their games if they have an internet connection.. The system will do great.. A lot of core gamers will not buy an XB1 just to make a point, once you lose the hearts and minds of core gamers then you have to win them back (cough MS). Most casual gamers will follow what ever console is selling the best because that's what their buddies have.

  • +1
Clyde32 (on 20 August 2014)

I think it's not much what sony did right, but what the others did wrong.

Microsoft got a bad rep with their policies at first. Their price was too high as well.

Nintendo launched their console too early.

Sony in the eyes of the public did nothing wrong, and everyone who wanted to play new games bought it.

  • +1
Nintentacle (on 20 August 2014)

2 possibilities:

  1. Powerful hardware, good price, good games.
  2. Illuminati
  • 0
ICStats (on 20 August 2014)

Because there were 260+ million consoles sold last gen and this gen Wii U & XB1 aren't selling. There's a big pie for the winner.

  • 0
Sensei (on 19 August 2014)

He obviously knows why the PS4 is winning with a hand on its back - it's because the competition SUCKS. Nintendo and Microsoft fucked up big time but Sony can't go out and say it. He's being respectful and playing dumb.

  • 0
Josiah (on 19 August 2014)

The interview was talking about how they exceeded their ambitions expectations. They are happy. The title makes it look like Sony doesn't know what they are doing. That's 3 biased articles on the main page.

  • 0
cusman (on 20 August 2014)

The price and capabilities
The user experience with the ARM processor being used to handle OS level features
The quantity and quality of games covering wide range of gamer interests
Sony philosophy of PS does everything, and backing up that mantra through their history
The DS4 controller is such a vast improvement
Morpheus potential on the way for PS4
Consumer choice in buying/using PS-Camera for voice-controls and other uses
All the cross-buy between PS4, PS3, and Vita
The value that PS+ subscription offers

The system is successful because it is the best gaming console made to date. It also has great 3rd party support, many PC games are porting over, continually new games are announced and coming to it, and it is backed by Sony's 1st Party Studios also making top quality games exclusively for it.

Final reason: The competition from Nintendo and Microsoft both screwed up and raised doubt and concern in gaming market about their console offerings.

This is the first time in a while I feel I could really just own one console and not regret owning any of the others. In other console generations, I had to own 2 or 3 consoles and I would still have some regrets over whichever one I skipped or got much later.

  • -1
ikki5 (on 20 August 2014)

it' selling off hype really and the fact that the mindset that gamers have today. It's all about graphics and power now. Gameplay and games in general don't matter.

  • -2
cusman ikki5 (on 20 August 2014)

Actually this is the first time in console history, the most powerful console also has the most games, and not overrun with shovel ware, and still selling the most.

  • +1
Sensei (on 19 August 2014)

He obviously knows why the PS4 is winning with a hand on its back - it's because the competition SUCKS. Nintendo and Microsoft fucked up big time but Sony can't go out and say it. He's being respectful and playing dumb.

  • -2
WhiteEaglePL (on 19 August 2014)
  • -14
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