PS4 News: Sony President Discusses Release Date, Games, Console Reviews

The PlayStation 4 hasn't arrived yet, but that hasn't stopped critics from turning in early reviews of the console and its launch titles. However, the reception some games are receiving hasn't been entirely positive, to say the least: Knack has a 59 Metacritic score, and Killzone: Shadow Fall faired slightly better with a 74 Metacritic score. Despite the poor critical response to the titles, President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida is not very concerned about the low scores.

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Yoshida revealed that he is confident that the launch titles for the PlayStation 4 will find an audience that apreciates them once they are more widely available:

"I haven't spent enough time reading reviews, but I would characterize them as mixed...It's disappointing but I don't think it's worrisome for the launch of the system. I've played through all of our games, Killzone,Knack and Resogun, and I totally enjoyed playing through these games. I'm now on my second run of Knack and Resogun at a higher difficulty - these games really grow on you when you play more. I'm very confident that once you purchase these games and play, you'll be happy that you've done so."

In particular, Yoshida focused on the low scores Knack has received, and stated that the game was meant for a wider audience than hardcore gamers, which may explain the game's low score with critics. 

"I was hoping Knack could score in the mid-70s and last I checked it's around 59-60, so I'm hoping it goes up. The game uses only three buttons to play, so it's not the type of game reviewers would score high for the launch of a next-gen system.The game was targeted as what we call a second purchase; you know, people may purchase PS4 for Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed or Killzone, but if they also buy Knack, this is a game that you can play with your family or your significant other.It's a message that as a platform we are not just trying to cater only to the hardcore, shooter audience - we are looking at all kinds of gamers - but Knack is a great game for core gamers as well because when you up the difficulty level it becomes a really tight, tense action brawler."

It will be interesting to see if the low grades for the PS4's launch lineup affect sales of the console, especially as the holiday shopping season begins.