Let 
the games begin.
The unveiling of Sony’s PlayStation 4 on Nov. 15 and Microsoft’s Xbox One on Nov. 22 doesn’t just mark a new console cycle but is a new start of sorts for the companies: The former is trying to right the ship after years of losses, while the latter is moving to expand its empire beyond the PC desktop.
There 
are two stories to follow this holiday season in the gaming world: Hardware and software.
With the high-profile launch of two new gaming systems and a slew of new games still to come, the video-game industry is hoping Santa brings it a turnaround this year. U.S. consumer spending on video games at brick-and-mortar retail stores has fallen nearly 30 percent in the past three years. In 2010, the industry took in $18.6 billion on sales of hardware, software and accessories, according to the NPD Group. In 2012, that number had slipped to $13.26 billion.
The 
PlayStation 4 has a space problem – one that could get more significant in the near future.
The console ships with a 500 gigabyte hard drive – of which 409GB are useable – and requires all games to be installed to that drive. If you pick up Killzone, Battlefield 4 and Assassin’s Creed 4 at launch, that will devour nearly 95 GB more. At that rate, it won’t be long before core gamers have to do some significant housekeeping – deleting games to make room for new ones. It’s not exactly an optimal situation.
Adam Boyes, vice president of publisher relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America, says he isn’t worried, though – and says players shouldn’t be either.
The 
2006 launch of the PlayStation 3 didn’t exactly go smoothly. The launch games were tepid. The controller sacrificed beloved features for new ones no one wanted. And system setup was overly complicated.
This Friday, Sony hits the reset button with the launch of the PlayStation 4. It’s a notable improvement over the early days of its predecessor – one that’s likely to satisfy most players. But for nearly every step the PS4 takes forward, it takes a half step back. It’s a healthy start to the next generation, but it’s not the decisive victory some fans were hoping to see.
You 
might want to watch what you say when you’re playing on your PlayStation 4. You never know who could be listening.
The latest update to the next-gen console’s software usage terms includes the disclosure that the company may monitor and record the content of voice and text communication over the PlayStation Network.
Sony 
has cleared up the few remaining mysteries about the PlayStation 4, though the answers may not please everyone.
In an exhaustive FAQ posted on the company’s official blog, Sony addressed dozens of issues as it nears the launch date for the PS4.
It’s a pretty long list — and an even longer read — but here are the most notable highlights:
The 
launch of next-generation consoles generally means one thing: A retail feeding frenzy. And this year, with both the PlayStation 4 (Nov. 15) and the Xbox One (Nov. 22) hitting the market a week apart, it should be especially ferocious.
The best way to ensure you get one was to pre-order, but that ship, for the most part, has sailed. Microsoft says pre-orders for the Xbox One sold out quicker than either of its predecessors, and the PS4 has been red hot since E3. Antsy gamers snatched up pre-order allotments for both systems from sites like Amazon and GameStop.
There’s still hope nabbing a launch day system if you haven’t reserved yours, though it won’t be easy.
Day 
One software patches are fairly common for modern games, and they’re becoming just as expected for console launches.
But that doesn’t make the PS4’s launch day shortcomings any less of a bummer. According to the official PlayStation blog, Sony’s upcoming system won’t be able to play DVDs or Blu-ray discs out of the box despite having a perfectly fine Blu-ray drive built into the hardware.
The 
video game industry hasn’t done a lot to endear itself to investors in the past few years. Competition from the mobile space, player fatigue with the lack of innovation and aging console systems have resulted in slumping annual software sales since 2009.
But it has shown signs of life in the past two months. Game software sales were up 52 percent last month from a year earlier, after rising 23 percent in August, according to The NPD Group.
Analysts say that momentum could continue into the holiday season and beyond.
The 
PlayStation 4 might have won the price war in the U.S., but that’s little comfort to gamers in Brazil.
Sony has announced that the next generation console will cost players 3,999 Brazilian reais when it goes on sale Nov. 29. That’s a little more than $1,850 in U.S. dollars.
Chris Morris: Journalist 