The cat’s out of the bag and Sony has finally announced the release date of their newest addition to the PlayStation family, the PS4. With all of the buzz circling the PS4 and it’s games as well as features, it leaves us wondering when and how Microsoft will present to us the next Xbox and if they are even ready for the “next gen” market.

It seems as if Sony is putting pressure on Microsoft by surprising them with the PS4 in 2013. Judging by Microsoft’s reaction on how shortly after the Sony event they called for a similar event confirmed for April; the sheer overall response makes me believe that this wasn’t planned. Both Microsoft and Sony touted that this generation will last a bit longer than the previous generation, but  Sony may feel that they will benefit more if they hit the market before Microsoft. Looking at the track record of the last few generations on who released their console first, factually stayed ahead of the game in their respective places.

There is no doubt in my mind, taking into account that this time around Sony has a sweet line-up of stellar games both exclusive and non-exclusive, opposite of this generation, that Microsoft needs more time. The lack of first party developers may hurt the next Xboxes launch especially if the PS4 hits the market first with what they already have in store. Sounds like a good strategy for Sony. But the question is: is Microsoft ready for this? More so, will they take their time to perfect? Or be forced out onto the market just to keep up?