Not trolling:
PS3 owner here, buying a PS4,...
Ummm.... only 1 million?
The PS3 sold 75 million with stiff competition from MS and Nintendo, the PS2 sold 150 million.
The gaming industry is if anything bigger than ever and Sony arguably started STRONG out of the gate on this launch which should indicate a lot of pre-orders.
1 million is 1 in 75 existing customers (give or take 5) not convinced enough to buy the new console at launch?
I'm genuinely surprised it's not like 5 million, when you consider just how many gamers there are around the world, especially since the console is fairly cheap this time too. 1 million? Big deal! Man that's surprisingly low :/
It really is
a lot. Both PS2 and PS3 pre-orders were significantly lower. You are saying: 1 in 75 customers buy the PS4, so 74/75 customers are 'uncertain' and not convinced.
What if I put it the other way around? 74/75 is so satisfied with PlayStation 3, that they do not feel the instant need to upgrade to PlayStation 4... but when the moment to actually buy a new console gets there, well, it probably won't be an Xbox One.
It just depends on the way you look at it. The only advertising PlayStation 4 has had so far was from Gamescom + E3 articles... but those are directed at the 'hardcore gamer'. Basically, all the
true 'standard media' coverage Sony has had would have been these kind of articles:
In February, "Sony announces new PlayStation" + few matches "Be the first to know. Feb 20."
In June, "Sony announces PS4 for $399, undercuts competitor"
In August, "Sony launches new PlayStation in November"
Articles like "Sony announces The Order: 1886" won't be read by 'the casuals'. The customers who will make the platform a success, they read the standard news media. They watch the news at their (local) news station, they read their favourite local news paper. Those people don't stay up, or get up early to follow a Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo press conference.