The next version of Sony's PS4 may not have been announced yet, but we've got enough rumors, winks, nudges and reports that it's become eminently clear that Sony has something big up its sleeve, likely to be revealed at E3 and launched a few months later in October or November. There is enough out there, certainly, for the Internet to start generating a whole lot of chatter based on the basic concept of a Playstation 4.5, a PS4k, the PS4 "Neo," or whatever we're calling it. And the response? Not good.
It isn't that nobody likes the concept of a new, more powerful PS4 that's part of an ecosystem that sees yearly incremental upgrades. It's that there is nothing approaching broad-based excitement, and that the initial reaction to the concept looked a whole lot more like apprehension than anything else. Why do we need this? People seemed to be asking. It's optics, more than anything: people don't like the idea of the console that they just spent a nice chunk of change on suddenly being revealed to be second best. That's how it works with a lot of other tech, of course, but it's not the norm for the console industry. And people generally don't like to change the norm unless there are some very clear advantages.
Compare that to the PS4 itself, which people were quivering excited for for months before the announcement. The two launches are entirely different, of course, but it's still very instructive. Basically, you want the first thoughts people have about any new product to be positive. Anything else and you're on the defensive.
It reminds me, honestly, of the Xbox One closer to launch. The Xbox One wasn't a complete disaster on paper, and it had its supporters. Especially before we knew how badly the Kinect 2.0 would fail. But the reaction among the gamer community was unmistakably negative, and it was all that vitriol that dogged it all the way to launch and, in many ways, to this day. The reaction to the Neo hasn't been quite as extreme as the reaction to the Xbox One, but you still see that broad swing towards the negative, and that's never a great setting for the reveal of a new product.
All of this puts the pressure on Sony at E3 for the actual announcement. It could still easily turn the tide by revealing some sensible feature that eases this whole transition, but these early rumors have put the company on the back foot. They've got a second, though, and I hope this accidental early feedback gives the company a chance to tailor the presentation at E3 to address some of the concerns coming up now. Done right, Sony fundamentally changes consoles and takes an even bigger slice of the pie in the process. done wrong it's...not as good.
