M+E Daily

By Jeffrey Hyatt

PlayStation 4 went on sale early Friday, marking the first new gaming system in seven years from Sony.

Sony’s PlayStation 4 is faster than its predecessor, and also is able to render more realistic graphics for a better gaming experience, according to Sony.

The new PlayStation 4, with a price tag of $399, arrives with plenty of hype, expectations, and significant improvements to the video game console. But the gaming system will only have the spotlight for a short time – Microsoft’s rival Xbox One goes on sale in one week.

The Xbox team was kind enough to congratulate Sony on the launch of PS4 with a simple tweet: “Congratulations on your launch, Sony.”

Happy Tweets aside, it’s serious business time for the console giants. With the holiday shopping season about to kick into high gear, both Sony and Microsoft are focused on driving robust sales. It’s no surprise shoppers have been lined up outside retail stores everywhere, waiting hours to scoop up a PlayStation 4 while supply is plentiful.

To adapt to the swift changes in how consumers utilize their media, the Playstation 4 features better connectivity to social media networks (including Facebook and Ustream), plus new apps to link to online streaming video services. There is also a catalog of 20 games, which is set to expand up to 30 games by the end of the year.

Among the countless PS4 reviews crisscrossing the web, USA Today gives the new gaming console high marks, closing their thorough review with this: “For Sony, the message it sends to competitors through the powerful PS4 is simple: Game on.”

Engadget’s Ben Gilbert says the DualShock 4 controller is the best that Sony has ever created, adding: “I love the DualShock 4. It’s a very comfortable controller, and as stated earlier, the best of its kind.”

A trio of writers for The Verge closed their in-depth review with this: What Sony’s done, though, is mark its territory. Stake its claim. Sony’s not making big, grand gestures about the future of the living room the way Microsoft is, or attempting to alter the way we watch TV and talk to our families. It just wants us to play games. The PlayStation 4 is absolutely, unequivocally a gaming console for people who want to play video games, and it never pretends to be anything else. And even though the games aren’t yet there for Sony — as is really always true with launch titles for consoles — they will be. Sony’s earned the benefit of the doubt on that. “

The New York Times offers a quick look at a few games available on the new video game console from Sony.

AdWeek points out that one thing PS4 shoppers will likely notice right away is Sony’s partnership with Facebook, which allows gamers to log into the new console with their account on the social media platform.

Speaking in New York for the US launch yesterday, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House said that , whose Xbox 360 console outsold Sony’s Playstation 3 in both Europe and the US.