The launch of the Sony PlayStation 4 is very nearly upon us, and with just a matter of hours to go before it makes its debut in the United States, the last thing Sony needs right now is a large-scale technical hitch. However, according to a tweet from the company’s President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida, Sony has mounted an investigation into supposed reported pre-launch hardware issues pertaining the PS4, and although he was reassuring in is announcement that “the number [affected] is very small compared to shipped” and that the Japanese firm believes the units affected are merely “isolated incidents,” the situation is far from ideal.
“Be assured we are investigating reported PS4 issues,” he told those following his Twitter page, many of whom are now naturally concerned that they too might encounter issues. Anybody adopting a new product early undertakes at least a degree of risk, for they are the proverbial guinea pigs who could bear the brunt of those early teething issues. But small bugs and hardware failures are two completely different conversations, and if Yoshida is down-playing the severity of these problems, the grand PlayStation 4 launch could go down like a lead balloon.
The investigation stems from the fact that some with access to pre-release consoles have complained of units being shipped in unusable condition. Moreover, a major games publication stated in its review of the PlayStation 4 that the first retail unit sent over simply did not work, and although the blog has been using several pre-release and retail PS4s without any kind of issue, that ratio alone does not make for happy reading.
With others reporting of the console freezing up during updates or simply failing to boot, those queuing in their droves tomorrow will be hoping they don’t get home and open the box to find their console is faulty. With many tens of thousands of units expected to sell this weekend, the odd issue here and there is to be expected. But with while Yoshida appeals for calm in noting that only a small faction of the PS4 production line has been hit by problems, there’s a growing feeling that there could be more to it.
Thoughts?
(Source: Shuhei Yoshida [Twitter]) (via: Polygon)
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