Even as both the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and Xbox One have already each had full media reveals and we finally know what the consoles will physically look like, it's still unclear when either gaming machine will officially roll out. Preorders are already available from Amazon, Best Buy and others, however, all we know so far in terms of a release date is that both consoles will hit sometime in Holiday 2013, i.e. until now
An advertisement in the UK newspaper, The Sun, states plainly that the PS4 will have its launch date on November 21. While the ad look pretty real, it's nonetheless highly unlikely that Sony would begin advertising the PS4 release date prior to making an official announcement. The most likely scenario is that The Sun simply made a mistake and ran the ad early.
Whether the ad is real or not, Sony still has a lot of latitude in when it decides to launch the PS4. It's likely both Sony and Microsoft will seek to capture some of the retail momentum of Black Friday, which is on November 29.
Sony's primary concern in choosing a release date will likely revolve around Microsoft's Xbox One. The company has already been quick to play up the PS4's advantages over the new Microsoft console and it may choose to let the Xbox go first again so it can pounce on it.
"The most important thing we need to make sure we do at least initially is that we all agree and understand that the PS4 is a great videogame console that appeals to video gamers," said Kazuo Hirai, CEO of Sony at the D: All Things Digital Conference. "If we miss that part then I don't think we get the initial establishment of the console. We take a look at this first and foremost as a game console. We don't want to end there. That's an area we will obviously reveal and talk about in the coming months."
Microsoft has emphasized the Xbox One's media center capabilities, such as seamless transitions between games and television while the PS4 is being billed as a machine designed with gamers in mind. Sony will likely be leveraging this distinction in the coming months.
