The disappointment called PlayStation Meeting

I had another topic planned for today, but after watching Sony’s press conference for the PlayStation 4, this cannot wait.

Among the many games shown, the revealing of the new controller, the promises of immediacy and simplicity and the beautiful progression of visuals into a new generation of consoles, Sony did one thing to upset me. Seriously, my hype for the PS4 has been ruined due to Sony refusing to commit one action.

They never showed the console! How could Sony think this was a good idea? I understand that Kazuo Hirai mentioned they were waiting for Microsoft to reveal their console first, but this isn’t the way to do it. With the announcement of this meeting, everyone (including myself) thought Sony had matured and decided to make the first move. I can see that this was not case.

I know that because of this conference the PlayStation 4 has been officially announced, but that news was basically leaked on the internet. We all knew that there was going to be a PS4; this meeting was supposed to tell us everything about it. However, Sony failed miserably in this regard.

Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely excited to hear about the 8 GB of memory and the x86 CPU. I was also happy to see the "final" design of the PS4 controller. The thing is, those reveals are just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to learn about the PS4 inside and out, from what makes it tick to how much it costs. However, much of this wasn't even revealed. Demanding a price and a release date may be asking too much, but putting the console on display for viewers to take in should have been paramount.

Instead, after they spent an abnormal amount of time on social networking, they decided to show video game after video game which is a task to accomplish at E3; not at a Sony press conference announcing brand new hardware. What makes this entire situation worse is that some of the games shown were not even playing on the PlayStation 4. As a matter of fact, the WATCH_DOGS demo was actually being played on a PC with specs close to the still mysterious console.

Maybe Sony thought this meeting would draw out Microsoft into announcing their respective console (rumored to be the Xbox 720). If so, this was still a bad idea. I’m not the only one expressing my disappointment in Sony’s actions. Feel free to check the internet, Twitter, blogs, etc. to find many other people expressing the same emotions as I. Microsoft can use this backlash to their advantage by putting on a show worthy of a next generation console.

Imagine this: Microsoft puts on a conference in a month or two—just before E3—and reveals their console, its specifications, a few games in development, the price and the release date. As long as the “720” offers what gamers want, consumers will be much more likely to flock over to Microsoft because they will know what they’re getting.

I don’t like being toyed with, Sony; but that’s what you did. You built the hype for this console a month in advance and failed to deliver. Sure, some of your presentations were entertaining but it was not what many of us were looking for.

I understand that Sony wanted to keep some mystery surrounding their new console, but this isn’t the way to do it. I mean, after tonight it seems as if they were actually worried about revealing too much information to their competitors. Get your act together, Sony. Prove yourselves the mature business you strut around claiming you are. Don’t wait to see what competitors have to offer.

For now, all I can hope for is that Sony doesn’t take too long to reveal the information gamers with strict wallets really want: an actual look at the console with the knowledge of what makes it tick, the retail price of this beast (for the love of God, do not make it $600) and a confirmed release date. Well, what are you waiting for? It’s still your move, Sony.