While
neither Microsoft nor Sony have made any official announcements about their
upcoming systems, that hasn't stopped the industry experts from speculating
about their presumptive release. Last month Bloomberg reported that Microsoft
was planning to roll out a shiny new Xbox just in time for the 2013 holiday
season, and there have already been rumors about developers getting their hands
on the PlayStation 4 development kit. But, like I said, nothing is set in stone
just yet.
However,
we are starting to get an inkling about which system gamers are actually most
interested in. The folks over at Seeking Alpha have put together a little graph
that illustrates the number of Google Searches that have been performed on
phrases like Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4.
Unfortunately
for Sony, the graph indicates that Microsoft is clearly in the lead. Obviously,
these numbers only illustrate search results and won't translate directly into
sales figures, but they do provide a bit of insight into the way the industry
is leaning. People seem to be far more interested in the Xbox 720 than the
PlayStation 4.
But
don't worry, PlayStation lovers, Sony's been in this boat before. Fewer than
300,000 PlayStaion 3s were sold at launch, which was partially due to
manufacturing problems and partially due to the $600 price tag.
 |
| PlayStation 4 |
But
console generations are getting increasingly longer, and as these systems age,
they become more and more profitable for the developer. Just because the PS4
isn't showing an incredible amount of fan support at the moment doesn't mean
that it's going to flop. In fact, it could mean that Sony will concentrate on
getting a collection of solid, first-party titles onto the market, which is
never a bad thing.
