This is a big month for console gamers with the debut of Sony’s PlayStation 4 on Friday and the Microsoft’s Xbox One on Nov. 22. New releases of gaming hardware are rare — far less frequent than an iPhone or iPad — and the near tandem release of two competing devices is getting noticed.
But some gamers who might have camped outside stores for such devices in the past aren’t going to bother this time. They are not falling for the hype that greeted the PlayStation 3 seven years ago and the Xbox 360 eight years ago. They’ll get it when they get it, they said.
“I don’t want to fight crowds or waste time trying to get one on day one, since it isn’t an actual need, just a want,” said Joshua Freeman of Robbinsdale, who is planning a PlayStation 4 purchase. “So I’ll wait until the hoopla has died down and see if any issues (with the Sony device) surface, and wait for the title library to be a bit bigger.”
This is hardly what retailers such as Best Buy and Target want to hear.
Many Best Buy stores in the Twin Cities will open at midnight Thursday to begin PlayStation 4 sales. Microsoft’s retail store in the Mall of America will follow suit for the Xbox One release next week.
Target, however, is keeping regular store hours.
And although hardcore queuers will surely come, it’s clear the new consoles are entering a radically changed gaming world.
Tech enthusiasts have more gaming choices — including smartphone- and tablet-based gaming apps — that have sucked some of the oxygen out of the console-gaming scene.
Consoles are far easier to obtain from the comfort of a living-room couch, as well, which means many have pre-ordered their Ones or PS4s for delivery to their homes, or convenient pick-ups at brick-and-mortar retailers.
Richfield-based Best Buy, recognizing this trend, is rolling out the red carpet for such pre-order customers by letting them into stores at 10 p.m. Thursday while others stay out in the cold for two more hours. This is welcome news for customers like Jesus Moreno Granados, who pre-ordered the Xbox One from Best Buy.
What’s more, some experts see the technology in the new consoles as evolutionary, not revolutionary.
“I don’t think the average gamer, Joe Sixaxis, will be able to see a discernible difference (in visual quality) between the PS3 and PS4,” said game-industry observer and former game developer Trevor Stricker.
“From a retail perspective, this will not be the driver of sales a console generation historically has been,” Stricker added. “They are way too expensive and offer no compelling value. That’s why a lot of publishers are releasing anticipated titles on the current generation.”
Besides, many tech consumers are so over the gadget-queuing thing.
Such tech fatigue was on display early this month when Apple’s new, lighter and thinner iPad Air drew far shorter lines outside Apple’s local retail stores and other tech stores than previous iPad releases did.
Though Alex Brekken is a serious console gamer with both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 in his Eagan residence, he’ll wait a bit on his planned PlayStation 4 purchase.
“I plan on getting the PS4 by Christmas,” he said.
Mike Stenhjem of Detroit Lakes also is a hardcore console gamer. “I don’t hunt or fish, rarely go out to the bar or watch much TV, so gaming is pretty much my thing,” he said.
And yet he said “I have only done the midnight queue once, otherwise I just order online and refresh the tracking info over and over until it arrives.”
He pre-ordered a PS4 from Amazon two months ago. “I will say that getting a system this year has been much easier than in years past.”
