PS4 announces November 19 North American release date at Gamescom 2013
PS4 will officially be infiltrating the lives of gamers everywhere when it is released in North America on November 19 and Europe on November 25. Sony gave the big news at Gamescom 2013 in Cologne, Germany, where they announced the launch date as well as the official price of the upcoming console, which will sit at $399 in the US, €399 in Europe and £349 in the UK.
Andrew House, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment wants to put the gamer first when thinking about the semantics that are involved with releasing the PS4. “Our goals for the PS4 are clear, ambitious and unwavering,” he said at Gamescom. “We set out to build the most powerful gaming platform with a deeply held, consistent focus on you, the gamer…I’m delighted to say that PlayStation 4 will be launching in 32 countries this holiday season.”
The PS4 will have a 500 GB hard drive, 8 GB of RAM and a built in Blu Ray/DVD player. Owners of the PS4 can also look forward to a brand new DualShock 4 controller that will come with a touchpad, a headphone jack and a built in speaker.
At the Gamescom conference, Twitch Broadcasting announced that they would be joining together with the PS4 for a streaming service that would allow gamers to directly upload their gameplay, just by simply pressing a share button.
It looks like PS4 will be the better choice for gamers who want to save cash, opposed to Sony’s opponents Microsoft, who will be releasing their console for the price of $499, but it will include a Kinect bundle. In addition to a steeper price, the Xbox One will also require users to have an internet connection and will also block used games/ Microsoft did not release a specific launch date for their console, but it is thought that the console will also be released in November, probably a few days before the PS4 launch date to directly compete with the competition.
Sony announced last night that they have had over one million preorders worldwide, so it is likely when the PS4 is released it will sell out before a blink of an eye. “The response we have received is nothing short of incredible,” gushed House about the large numbers coming in.
In addition to the launch date announcement, Sony also cut the price of the current PS3 with the 12 GB model being cut to $199 and the PlayStation Vita will also be $199 with a significantly lower price for memory cards.
Sony has made it’s move, now it is Microsoft’s turn to see who will dominate this upcoming holiday season.
