PlayStation 4 Check-In: Nine Months Later

It's been nine months since Sony's PlayStation 4 arrived in North America, beating out its European release by a week and its Japanese launch by a few months. When it did finally launch in its homeland in February, total global sales of the console passed 6 million units. According to the most recent numbers posted by the NPD Group, PS4 still sits atop sales charts, with 10 million units sold to date. The PS4 is the current next-gen sales leader, but can Sony keep the momentum going?

Games

The PlayStation 4 launched with a handful of  exclusives: Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, and Resogun were there on launch day, and sold well. Infamous: Second Son released in late March and sold 1 million copies in its first week. However, much of PS4's software lineup still consists of better-looking versions of games released last generation, a problem we lamented 6 months ago. The Last of Us Remastered is the latest and arguably greatest game to follow this trend. If you missed this modern classic on the PS3, it's a welcome addition to the PS4 library. But if you played it last year, you're probably ready for something new.

The future for PS4 software looks solid, with games like The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4 coming exclusively to Sony's machine. Released this week, the stand-alone Infamous: First Light is a bite-sized addition to the Infamous series and should keep fans engaged. The reveal that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be a timed-exclusive for Microsoft - and whatever positive effect this may have on Sony's number-one rival - remains to be seen. But the move came as a surprise even to Sony's Shuhei Yoshida.

Evolution Studios' highly-anticipated racer Driveclub has suffered from numerous delays. Initially planned as a launch title, the game will finally be available on October 7. Director Paul Rustchynsky cited the game's dynamic menu system as a leading cause for the delays. "Dynamic menu doesn't mean a lot to most people, but it means a lot to us because it connects them on so many different levels," Rustchynsky told IGN in May, "It's a window to what goes on inside of Driveclub, and that's present all the time."

Of course cross-platform games make up the brunt of most any system's library, with Destiny leading the third-party charge. Add to that the recently released Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V, the now-delayed PS4 version of Minecraft, and a bevy of polished Ubisoft experiences, and the console's library continues to add solid, time-tested titles to its library.

Hardware

With a price tag $100 cheaper than the Xbox One, powerful hardware, sleek lines and a redesigned DualShock controller, Sony's PS4 delivered exactly what gamers wanted.

Not long after cross-platform games were revealed, gamers began to notice graphical differences between the two major consoles, with PS4 software almost always looking a little sharper and running a little better than Xbox One versions. Many games run in full 1080p/60 frames per second on PS4, and run with lower resolutions, framerates, or both, on the Xbox One. While this difference may be largely in the eye of the beholder, the pure numbers are pointing to PS4's hardware having a graphical edge in many instances.

System Sales

The PlayStation 4 has sold better than anyone anticipated, outpacing Xbox One nearly two to one. So far, 10 million units have been sold, a number that surprised even Sony's Shuhei Yoshida. In an interview with Eurogamer, the president of Sony's Worldwide Studios said the sales numbers are more than anyone at Sony had hoped for. "It's just beyond our imagination. We are so happy," he said.

Driven by strong sales of the PS4, Sony's game revenue jumped 95.7% year-over-year. However, gaming is a bright spot in what turned out to be a losing year for the company, where Sony posted a loss of $1.29 billion USD. This was in spite of a rise in sales over-all of 14%. This was due in part to massive internal restructuring and Sony's exit from the PC business.

So, while Sony's PS4 sales pace is beyond impressive,tThe console's software line-up still has plenty of room to improve. What do you want to see from the PS4 in 2015 and beyond? Let us know in the comments below!

Seth Macy is a freelance writer who likes taking photos. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy, and MyIGN at sethgmacy.