Sony在PS4獲得亮眼成績，仍在行動裝置遊戲的年代中掙扎

Sony搶在Microsoft Xbox之前，在這週推出PlayStation4，這台399美金的主機，在第一天銷售量就超過一百萬台，不過這樣的搶先上市，隨之而來面對到許多系統上的問題，Sony官方也坦承確實有許多玩家抱怨相關問題。
這次的新產品對Sony而言相當重要，因為這是繼2006年推出PS3，相隔7年再次推出的新主機，而且PS3在首月的總銷售量也不過19.7萬台，遠遠不及PS4第一天所帶來的瘋狂搶購。另外，Sony在電影與電視頻道的部門嚴重虧損，把今年的預期獲利大幅調降。
另外還有一個值得研究的議題:到底把新的主機發售日設離重要假期近一些，會不會有更高的銷量？Microsoft因此把發售日期延後，目的就是要更靠近年底的聖誕節購物熱潮，來自日本的分析師跟Bloomberg表示：「沒有任何一個主機在美國可以在第一天銷售就賣出100萬台，我想一定有什麼不尋常的事情，但就長期來看能不能提供最有趣的遊戲，仍然是競爭的主要指標。」不過最大的問題，應該還是面對行動裝置遊戲的蓬勃，Sony、Xbox甚至是Nintendo要怎麼提供玩家更好、更快速、更便宜的遊戲經驗。

Sony scored a hit this weekend when its PlayStation 4 went on sale to the masses, selling over 1 million of the $399 consoles in the first 24 hours.
But with any major launch, Sony ran into a few problem. “A handful of people have reported issues with their PlayStation 4 systems," Sony said in a statement to IGN. “There have been several problems reported, which leads us to believe there isn’t a singular problem that could impact a broader percentage of systems. The number of affected systems represents less than .4 percent of shipped units to date, which is within our expectations for a new product introduction."
The launch is significant for the brand, which hasn’t had a new console since it unveiled its PlayStation 3 in 2006—an unprecedented seven-year gap in the tech world. That console only sold 197,000 units in the first month, but the debut of the PlayStation 4 holds much more weight. Sony reported a 25 percent loss in its second quarter due to “the poor performance of its movies and TV shows in the pictures division” and lowered its full-year profit outlook from $509 million to $305 million.
It remains to be seen if putting the new console on sale ahead of the holiday rush will benefit sales throughout the whole season or not. Microsoft, on the other hand, is choosing to put its Xbox One on the market a little closer to the holidays.
“No other consoles in the US sold 1 million sets during the first day, so I think having some issue is not unusual,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. “In the long term, the major problem will be whether it can continue to provide interesting game software.”
And that may be the biggest challenge of all. With mobile-based games encroaching on traditional game console territory, brands like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been forced to create better experiences, faster, and for a lot cheaper.

摘譯自BrandChannel: