Xbox 720 vs. PS4: The pros and cons of early announcements (Photos)

The PS4 has already been announced and there are many people who expect the Xbox 720 to be announced sometime not to far from now as well, but is there a good and a bad to announcing a next-generation console earlier than later?

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According to a report from GamesIndustry on Thursday, EEDAR vice president Jesse Divnich talked about how it was smart on the part of Sony to announce the PS4 when they did.
"It was wise of Sony to announce the hardware and key features early in the year.
"By announcing early and at an isolated event, it allows Sony to capture 100% of the attention of gamers, technology enthusiasts, and industry insiders; whereas historical hardware announcements would occur at E3, which often created a mind-share battle between others announcing new technology.
"Sony's announcement now gives publishers plenty of time to prepare for E3 and it shifts the focus of the show to the software, which ultimately is what gamers look forward to the most," Divnich said.
Divnich then talked about the pros and cons of announcing a system like the Xbox 720 and PS4 early.
"There are pros and cons to both announcing early and potentially being the first market, but what it comes down to is the current sentiment in the market.
"If the market is vibrant, thriving, and innovation is still occurring, you generally want to abstain from being first to market with a new technology.
"In our current climate, console sales have stagnated. We've squeezed nearly every bit of innovation out of the current platforms and consumer interest in high-definition gaming is waning. Sony's timing was perfect," Divnich said.
Divnich then said he thinks it was the best move for Sony to announce first and then talked about how he isn't surprised with the fact that Sony did not mention price.
"Sony's best chance at changing momentum is being first to market.
"For competitive reasons, I am not surprised that pricing was not discussed.
"I think Sony learned a valuable lesson with the launch of the PlayStation 3 and I wouldn't expect the same mistakes to be made next generation. We wouldn't expect pricing announcements until closer to launch," Divnich said. 

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Xbox 720 vs. PS4: The pros and cons of early announcements (Photos)