Recently we posted a quote from Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida where he made a statement that the gaming media and fans have been running with as if its some sort of big deal. In an interview with Eurogamer, Yoshida said that Sony isn’t entirely sure why the PS4 has become such a run-away success.

Since then countless fans have given Yoshida flack for this statement and even some members of the media have written articles like this one trying to explain to Yoshida why the PS4 has been successful. I have to ask these individuals writing these articles, posting comments making fun of Sony for not “knowing” why their console is doing well: Can you not detect when a person is being humble?

Here’s Yoshida’s full quote for reference:

It’s just beyond our imagination. We are so happy. But I for one am a bit nervous because we do not completely understand what’s happening. You need to understand why your products are selling well so you can plan for the future, right? It defied the conventional thinking. Lots of people thought the dedicated game hardware might not be needed going forward, but still lots of people are very excited.

While its easy to get swept up in this comment we should pay attention to the wording. Yoshida doesn’t say that Sony has no idea why the PS4 is doing well he simply says they don’t “completely understand”. The use of “completely” is very important since it communicates that Sony does indeed have a good grasp on some reasons why the PS4 is selling well, just that some other reasons allude them. I don’t completely understand (get it!) why some people (and paid writers) are trying to make something out of nothing with this quote.

Don’t take this at face value folks. Yoshida is simply being humble. Of course Sony understands why the PS4 has been a success. That doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes in the future but they know what they’re doing. They’ve outspent Microsoft on advertising, they’ve taken every opportunity to twist the knife when Microsoft/Nintendo make a PR mistake (used game DRM, Resolutiongate, system price, etc) and they gave gamers exactly what they wanted without any added gimmicks that they didn’t ask for.

Sony didn’t bundle an expensive camera or touch screen controller (Love the Game Pad though!) with the PS4. They focused on making the most powerful console they could while not losing too much money per unit at $399. They gave developers what they wanted with the system’s RAM and have been promoting indie games much better than Microsoft or Nintendo. Simply put, they’ve been a better console maker to work with over the past year or two. Don’t believe me? Look at the entire indie game selection on the Xbox One market place and then compare it to the selection on the PS4’s store.

The PS4 may lack that Wii Sports like frill that grabs your attention and screams, “In 20 years we’ll remember this console because of this!” Maybe it doesn’t have a brand new exciting twist on traditional console gaming but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It offers the same method of gaming that fans are use to. It possesses the most powerful console hardware today, a very healthy lineup of indie support that only falls short of the indie selection on Steam and gets the majority of third party games aside from the ones Microsoft finances.

Sony knows why the PS4 is doing so well folks. Don’t think they’re unaware for even a second. Yoshida was being humble (something more common in Japanese culture) and didn’t mean to say that they don’t entirely know why the PS4 is selling so well. They know that the reason why their latest console is doing well is because it gives gamers what they want today from a new console: More power, new features, familiarity, and the widest selection of games out of any current-gen console.