Amid the great debate about Microsoft allegedly rolling out its next-gen Xbox 720 gaming console with an "always online" functionality that we reported on this week as being perhaps denied by Microsoft as only a "rumor," comes rival Sony saying it never intended its next-gen gaming console, the PS4, to be intended for "always online" use.
Sony apparently never even considered that its forthcoming PS4 would be "always online," according to a recent interview with Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida.
Due to the fact that "many countries don't have robust Internet connections," Yoshida's claim that the PS4 was never going to be always-online as discussed in an interview with Game Informer via Game Spot comes off as both veracious and reasonable, considering the backlash Microsoft has received for the implication that its Xbox 720 would be always-online.
As we all remember, Electronic Arts made a humongous splash in the always-online discussion earlier this year when its SimCity game suffered so greatly from the always-online component that the company was forced to publicly apologize and offer up credit to enraged users.
Always-online isn't all bad, of course, so it's possible Sony is simply being less courageous than competitor Microsoft (should the company actually come out with an always-online Xbox 720).
But that does depend on where you live and the kind of Internet connection you may be dealing with, especially if you're a big gamer and want the most out of your PS4.
"It makes sense for people to have Internet connections to play online games, but for offline games there are many countries that we saw [that] do not really have robust Internet," Yoshida said.
"We need to make sure users consider the PS4 version to be the best and the one they want to play," Yoshida said in an interview with 4gamer.net.
"That might mean that the graphics are better, the controller is more comfortable, or the console is more user-friendly, like you don't have to turn the power on and off or you can switch between your game and Netflix at will. Those things will become key."
The Xbox 720 will be unveiled on May 21, whereas the PS4 will likely be unveiled itself some time prior to E3, which takes place in June.
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