Like a fart from a soaring eagle, the Playstation 4 was released into the wild in a somewhat quiet… but still majestic manner. There were no stabbings, no mass shootings from crazed Xbox fans, and Antonio Banderas is cool again (bizarre right?).
It’s a scientific fact that violent games turn people into sociopathic killers, but yet there was not a single death related to the Playstation 4 launch last night. In fact, there was overwhelming amounts of kindness. In the colder climates in both the US and Canada, Sony set up outdoor heaters to keep fans in line from freezing to death. Even members of the Dallas Cowboys were buying systems for people waiting in line at Wal-mart. Also, at the expense of Sony, they set up a YouTuber named Boogie2988 with a nice hotel room stocked with a PS4 and games, as well as an invitation to the New York launch event.
Speaking of the televised New York launch, that went off without any hitches as well. The people in line were polite to the television personalities covering the event… and really did nothing to give gamers a bad name. The first person to purchase a retail PS4 was Brooklyn native Joey Chiu. Joey said he was looking forward to playing Resogun and Knack (followed by like one guy clapping) and he then proceeding to strike a pose with Jack Tetton and Andrew House that’s been sweeping the internets.
Joey obviously knows internet memes as this has become the universal symbol for anticipating the PS4 as portrayed by the classically trained actor, Antonio Banderas. That’s right, the symbol for Sony fans is not some image of Master Chief getting curb stomped, it’s the guy who played Zorro. The kindness even goes both ways, as Microsoft’s Phil Spencer kindly tweeted congratulations to the people behind the launch of the Playstation 4.
Congratulations to @Playstation on their North American launch cc @yosp @amboyes
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) November 15, 2013
Other Microsoft executives also tweeted congrats to Sony, in which Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida accepted very nicely and said, “Your turn next week!”
@majornelson @PlayStation @amboyes Thanks Larry, your turn next week! 😀
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) November 15, 2013
If you were to look at the internet message boards, you would think that PS4 and Xbox One fans were ready to tear each other apart. Even the kids on Southpark are divided in this console war. Yet despite all that, when you get together a bunch of gamers in the non-digital world (analog if you will), they’re actually quite nice to each other, despite what we’ve been told.
I hate to use the tired “we’re all winners here” line… but we really are. The only real let down was watching the “big reveals” at the launch event that were nothing more than a logo for an Uncharted game, a Destiny beta, an OUYA game called Towerfall, and a Playstation 1 era Snake in Ground Zeroes. Or you could be one of those unfortunate estimated 20,000 people that will be getting a system that doesn’t work.
It will be interesting to see if there’s any drama during the Xbox One launch next week on November 22nd. Sony has done a lot to gain the good will of fans this year, so it has been an uphill battle for Microsoft in terms of their public image. We do know the first retail Xbox One is being guarded by live sharks, so there is inherently a higher chance of some bloodshed.
