Playstation 4 is “meh” – American McGee

Prolific game designer American McGee, who’s behind such titles as Alice and the more-recent Akaneiro, isn’t overly ecstatic about Sony’s upcoming Playstation 4 console.

“I was hoping for innovation in control input. Didn’t see anything meaningful, so ‘meh,’” McGee said of the PS4.

The designer explained that he does appreciate that the console will be easier to develop for; however, he also believes that the rise of mobile and online gaming will be tough competition for the next-gen consoles.

“It’s nice that they’re moving towards what looks like more developer-friendly hardware and indie friendly distribution. Remains to be seen if the appearance matches reality.”

“Overall, I think this generation of consoles will struggle painfully against the momentum of mobile/online games we’re seeing globally,” he added.

McGee also gave gamers some advice – particularly referring to the uproars about Diablo III and SimCity, which both endured punishment after shaky launch periods.

“Do gamers or the media think EA or Blizzard wanted things to go so badly at launch? Do they think all the screaming and gnashing of teeth actually helped resolve those issues more quickly? There’s got to be a balance to the relationship,” he said. “People need to relax a little and stop turning everything into World War III – Gamers vs. The Man. There are no winners in that scenario.”

What do you think of the Playstation 4? And what about unsuccessful launches – should companies be criticised for them, or should we have more patience?

Let us know in the comments below and the MyGaming forums.