The BILD is online and at the kiosk the largest German newspaper. In an online article, they portray Sony’s PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11 as a disappointment. This is because “only” games and the casing of the PS5 were shown, but neither the price nor the release date was mentioned. But is this portrayal really correct? Did Sony disappoint the fans?
This is what the BILD writes about the event: From the perspective of “Bild.de”, the live stream on June 11 was a disappointment. This is made clear by the title: “Sony disappoints PlayStation fans.” (via Bild.de)
According to the author’s argument, players were waiting for “the release date and the price” of the PlayStation 5, but instead were shown “only” games.
The author merely admits: “At least there was a look at the casing of the new PS5.”
As evidence for the thesis, Bild.de cites “hundreds of comments under the live stream on YouTube.” The article concludes: For many fans, the event was a disappointment despite the games shown and the first look at the casing.
The 3 Problems of the Portrayal
The BILD paints a negative picture of the event:
- BILD assumes that fans expected to learn the price and release date of the PS5 from the event.
- BILD further assumes that the design of the PS5 and the games only play a minor role for fans.
- BILD uses the reaction to the YouTube video as evidence for their thesis that Sony disappointed PlayStation fans.
We will examine the problems with these 3 factors individually.
This is the problem with expectations: The article states that many fans expected to receive details about prices and the release date.
However, these expectations were not as clear-cut as the BILD claimed. The focus of the reveal event was from the beginning on the games. Sony had communicated this focus just as clearly: The event was supposed to be about the games, not about the release or the price. Those would have been at best surprises.
Meanwhile, it is known that Sony will announce the price and release date of the PS5 at a later time.
Design of the PS5 is not a “consolation prize” for players, but important
This is the problem with the evaluation: BILD writes that the look at the design was only a “consolation”, as if it were a minor detail. However, this is far from reality.
In fact, the final design of the PlayStation 5 plays a big role for many players. They see the console as an object of decor that will stand in their living room for years. Therefore, the interest in the design of the PlayStation 5 beforehand was at least as high, if not higher, than in a price. The interest can be seen, for instance, in numerous “fan designs” that circulated before the official presentation.
From polls from MeinMMO, we see that the price plays a role and many players discuss the price. However, the price does not play the dominant, decisive role as assumed by the BILD. It is not so important that everything else pales in comparison to the price and no one is interested in the games or the design as long as the price is not clear.
The release date seems to be even less important. Most expect a release of the PS5 at the end of the year; whether it will be in October or November seems not so important to many as the final appearance.
This is the problem with the proof: BILD cites “hundreds of negative comments” under the YouTube video that clearly demonstrate how disappointing the reveal was.
However, the YouTube video has 619,500 thumbs up, with only 21,260 thumbs down. For every person who views the video negatively, there are 29 who rate the video positively. (via YouTube)
Among the current top comments, there are also some that explicitly state that the price would be irrelevant to them regarding the PlayStation 5. While there are some comments under the video complaining about Sony not naming a price, there is little to see regarding “disappointment” in the comments; otherwise, the “like:dislike” ratio would be different.
Was the reveal event a disappointment for many? The reveal of the PS5 event was a complete success in terms of reactions. Surely, at such a large event with millions of viewers, there were also some who were disappointed.
However, the majority of viewers seem to be anything but disappointed. A poll on MeinMMO shows that at most one in six of our readers was rather disappointed by the event” – the overwhelming majority viewed the event neutrally or positively.
PlayStation fans got to see new games and a first look at the casing of the PS5. The portrayal of the BILD newspaper here is too negative. Of the millions of PlayStation fans, “some” may have been disappointed by the reveal event, but certainly not many or the majority. Considering the ratio of likes to dislikes on the YouTube video, it was just under 5%.
Do you want to know more about the PlayStation 5? Then take a look at our overview, here we have summarized the most important information about the PS5 for you.
