It feels as if Sony's PlayStation has been around forever. And maybe, the popular gaming console has been around long enough to establish itself as a timeless gaming device. Last week, the Japanese gaming console is well into its twentieth year since it has been launched in the U.S. The PlayStation has generated billions of dollars in sales over the past year.
Entertainment Software Association puts the number at $22 billion in 2014. The Japanese tech company has launched four different versions of the PlayStation in the course of twenty years, all of which have been met with positive responses and impressive sales. The latest version, PlayStation 4, has been reported to have outsold both the Xbox One and the Nintendo Wii, making it the top-selling gaming device. The PS4 has been reported to reach 25 million units in sales early last month.
Now, the company is looking ahead to the device's next twenty years in the gaming industry. The industry has expanded over the recent years, as more big names in the tech field are competing to be the gaming platform and device of choice. Names such as Google, Netflix and just very recently, Apple, among many others, have joined in the innovation of big devices that have gaming focus.
Apart from the gaming focus, such devices are expected to deliver many other functions as well nowadays. Some of them are equipped with services that enable video streaming and streaming via the internet. Also, upcoming virtual reality headsets and innovative virtual reality gaming and matching wearable, as seen in the soon-to-be-launched Nintendo game Pokemon Go, are raising the bar for gaming devices all the more. How different will gaming be in the next couple of years?
Sony has already begun working to address these progressions with two new projects, the wireless Vue online television streaming service and Project Morpheus, the company's own virtual reality headset, according to USA Today. Vue has been launched earlier this year while Project Morpheus sees a 2016 launch. Eric Lempel, PlayStation Network's general manager in America, says that the company is looking into expanding its TV service, much like Google Chromecast.
"We're kind of saying to the consumer, 'here's a different way to get the TV that you love, it gets better as you use it and helps you find things after.'" Lempel said.
