ps

Pay a visit to Sony HQ today and you’ll no doubt see an awful lot of smiling, and perhaps tired-looking, faces. Following Friday’s launch of the PlayStation 4 in North America, President of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, yesterday shared the news via his Twitter feed that over a million units of the next-generation console had been sold within the first 24 hours of going on sale.

Screen Shot 2013-11-18 at 8.47.59 AM

Its software lineup may be a little underwhelming but Sony’s North American PlayStation 4 launch was a tremendous success, with thousands or people – our own game-loving staff included – lining up for hours to grab the shiny new console, though the majority were claimed via online preorders and delivered direct to those who either didn’t fancy braving the cold weather or were terrified of missing out and weren’t taking any chances.

Sony reported record numbers of preorders long before the PlayStation 4 was ready for shipping, but the news that more than a million units had been sold on day one alone still came as a shock to many, with technology and news media site The Verge reporting that the numbers make PlayStation 4 Sony’s fastest-selling console to date, surpassing even the mighty PlayStation 2, which launched to much fanfare back in 2000.

The PlayStation 4 launch was not without its share of hiccups, however. A handful of early adopters have been posting photos and videos online showing what people are already calling the “blue light of death”.

Reportedly, a small number of units are refusing to boot up properly, with the console’s blue light strip remaining lit (it should pulse blue on startup and then switch to white) and users’ TVs and monitors not registering a signal. Sony has released statements saying that this issue so far appears to be affecting only a very small number of consumers, and has offered a workaround via its online forums. It is not yet clear what has caused this small number of malfunctions, though internet chatter suggests that damage caused during shipping thanks to woefully insufficient protective packaging in some orders is the source of the problem, while others talk of a mysterious intern at the Foxconn factory in China where the console is made who allegedly boasted about sabotaging machines during his time at the factory, though this has yet to be confirmed as anything but rumour.

Microsoft’s competing Xbox One will also be arriving in just a few more days, launching on November 22 in North America. Will it have what it takes to catch up following Sony’s impressive head start? Will either platform perform as well when they launch in Europe later this month? Ever the gamers, we at RocketNews24 will be watching this particular tech war very closely!

Reference: Shuhei Yoshida, The Verge
Top image: Pushsquare