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Nov. 15 (UPI) -- As the gaming revolution expands, Sony faces rising competition and launches its first new PlayStation since 2006: the PlayStation 4. Hundreds were in line for the new gaming console's release in New York at midnight Thursday. The console will have a number of new features and exclusive content that's both family friendly and made for avid gamers.
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The first person in line waited for 20 hours at the High Line Hotel in New York. Sony only released 444 devices Thursday night. Hundreds also waited outside the GameStop on Market Street in San Francisco, where only several devices were given away.
More than 20 games are available for the console now, and the company is also partnering to add more exclusive games and partnering with indie and independent game makers.
Sony competes with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox. But Sony is expected to outperform both in sales, with more than 120 million PS4's sold. This contrasts with 100 million Xbox One consoles and only 30 million Wii U units.
Microsoft's newest Xbox One will be released Nov. 22, and will be $100 more than the PS4, which is $400. Wii's are $300. The PS3 has dropped down to $200, but the newest Sony console has 10 times the processing power.
A few customers were unimpressed with the PlayStation 4's performance, with a number of consoles freezing upon use. Sony reported only 0.4 percent of consoles released showed imperfections.
Yet there is more time for Sony to impress. The PS4 will be available in 31 other countries by January, and will work as an entertainment system, as will the Xbox. It allows streaming of popular content from sources like Hulu and Netflix and will also begin to stream original content, a key element in Sony's marketing strategy.
[CNET] [Bloomberg] [NBC]
