Let’s see, who do we have here…ah yes, Mr. PlayStation 4. Thank you for coming in today. I know you are getting excited to play with all your new friends over Thanksgiving Break, but before you do, we have some business to discuss. As you know, you aren’t the first PlayStation I’ve had in my class. All three of your older siblings have walked in my door just like you, from your eldest brother, to my most recent to graduate. All three have been judged, scrutinized, and graded by me and my colleagues, and now it is your turn. That’s right; it is time to go over your freshman year report card. Take a seat and get comfortable; this could take while.

Now, I will admit, I am a big fan of your family. Yes, I do have a soft spot for the Nintendos (even though the youngest members of that family have been a bit odd). But when it was announced that you, PlayStation 4, would be entering our lives last November, I was very excited to see what you were capable of. And while I will discuss the actual merits of your performance this year a bit later on, I must say, you certainly hit the ground running. From the get-go, you came in with something to prove, and even before your arrival, you had the whole school talking about how you were positioning yourself against your family’s longtime rivals: the Microsofts. And where Mr. Xbox One got muddled in controversial ideas about the future, you stayed traditional and gained a lot of fans in the process. This strategy certainly payed off, as you are by far the most popular kid in you class, with $13.5 million in sales that both outpaced the performance of your older brothers AND far surpassed the $10 million shipped that the Microsofts just announced. Very impressive indeed. Keep this up and you might be Homecoming King.

But popularity isn’t everything–your actual performance more important. That is what we are here to discuss. I have evaluated you, Mr. PlayStation 4, and what you have accomplished over your freshman year. And I’d like to take the time now to discuss areas where you have excelled as well as the places where you fell short. I will do so utilizing the classic “compliment sandwich” method perfected by Stewie Griffin. I will also be dropping this absurd “I’m-a-principal” motif for the time being, as it is getting fairly unwieldy. Now, let’s begin.

Something Good: Overall Performance

From an out-of-the-box perspective, the PlayStation 4 performs very well. Its UI is smooth, speedy, and error free. This is particularly noticeable in how quick it is to jump back and forth between gameplay and the system menus. Cross-party chat, while a long time coming, is seamlessly integrated. Touted social features, including live-streaming via Twitch and Ustream, and the ability to share gameplay clips and screenshots over social media, work as advertised and are a breeze to use. Download and install speeds are fast. The PlayStation Store is no longer a nightmare to navigate. The integration of the PlayStation smartphone app is intelligent. And above all else, the PlayStation 4 is a powerhouse, and the next-gen titles that take full advantage of its specs are an absolute dream to behold.

Even a year later, I am still impressed by what this system is capable of, and things are only getting better, with the recent addition of support for SharePlay, themes, and YouTube. As a result, the few times I have had to fire up my PlayStation 3 this past year were arduous chores. Bottom line: with strong hardware, few technical hiccups, and features that deliver what they promise, year one has proven that the PlayStation 4 is a powerful system that just plain works.

Where You Need Improvement: Exclusives

Good, but not enough

This one is a bit shocking. Where the PlayStation 3 was known for its amazing coffer of console exclusives (one of the few legs up it had on the Xbox 360), the same cannot be said for the PlayStation 4. If anything, it is the exact opposite. This holiday season, the X1 is flush with strong AAA exclusive titles, including Forza Horizon 2, The Master Chief Collection,  and Insomniac’s wacky Sunset Overdrive.

But the PlayStation 4 is fairly barren by comparison. While there is no shortage of games to play, few if any are big exclusives. Worse still, the most recent, DriveClub, fell on its face after a year-long delay, as its cornerstone functionality–its social “Club” system–was completely broken at release. Looking back, few other must-have exclusives come to mind. Yes, The Last of Us Remastered was a masterpiece, but it was a masterpiece I’d already played. And yes, inFAMOUS: Second Son was fun, but outside of its graphics, it didn’t blow anyone’s mind.

Without a solid stable of exclusives, it becomes harder to argue why someone should buy a PS4 over an X1. And while there are some bright spots on the horizon, I am very disappointed in the selection of exclusive games Sony curated on the PS4 in its first year.

Something Good: Working With Third-Parties

On the other side of that coin, Sony has done a bang-up job with third-parties, making their games feel as close to exclusive as possible. This has been accomplished via a strong combination of branding and PlayStation-exclusive content. Destiny is perhaps the best example, with a slew of “only on PlayStation” bonuses, including the PlayStation exclusive Alpha and extended Beta. The same can be seen with the upcoming Far Cry 4, which grants PlayStation gamers 10 invites to send to their other PS4 friends, which let them try out the game’s co-op mode for free. While I would still prefer true exclusives, Sony is doing an excellent job of filling in the gap on PS4 by making certain third-party titles feel like they belong on PS4 and nowhere else.

Where You Need Improvement: PS Now

Certainly hasn’t picked up any steam in my circles…

Raise your hand if you’ve actually paid to play a game using Sony’s bizarrely priced streaming service. Judging by how little the industry has spoken about PS Now, and because I can’t see you through the computer screen, I am going to assume that nobody raised their hands. PS Now is an excellent concept–instead of buying classic titles out-and-out, it gives you the ability to stream them for less money. It is also a genius way to remedy the lack of backward compatibility. However, I don’t have a single friend who uses the service; in fact, I’d bet most don’t even know it exists.

I understand that it is still technically in beta, and with a strong library of legacy titles (including PS1 and PS2 classics), and a payment structure that makes sense, PS Now could be powerful horse in the PS4’s stable. But for now, its just the donkey Sony put out to pasture and forgot about.

Something Good: Remote Play

Picking up a PlayStation Vita a few months ago has been a revelation for me. Sure, the device may also be want for big exclusives, but the ability to play my PS4 away from my TV (and, under the best conditions, away from my apartment) is a boon that cannot be overemphasized. If anyone out there shares their TV time with a roommate or significant other, Remote Play is a feature custom tailored for you. It is also a feature with which the X1 can’t compete, and in a marketplace where the two systems are looking more and more similar, these kinds of delineations are as important as ever.

Improvements I’d Like To See Next Year:

• A better “Find Friends” feature: just pulling people who I have mutual friends with is not enough. Let me authenticate through Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail, scrape my contacts, and let me know who, if any, have a PlayStation account. I’m sure there are tons of acquaintances out there I would friend on the PSN, but have no good way to connect with.
• Better PlayStation Plus offerings: I know, I know, the AAA games will come in time. But in addition to the great indies we get for free each month, why not bring back the free trials that used to be on offer for PS+ members back on the PlayStation 3? I am not talking about demos; I mean timed trials of full games, giving players an hour or two to mess around in a game before deciding to buy it (with their progress transferring to the full game). There were tons of these types of timed trials back on PS3. They were great, and they are sorely missed.
• Folders: Kind of a no-brainer.
• Friends “Favorites” and Notifications: I understand some people may have tons of friends and may not want a pop-up notification every time one signs on or off, but at least give us the option! In fact, let us earmark certain friends as “favorites”, and then only notify us when our favorites sign on/off.
• EXCLUSIVES: also a no-brainer, but it is the most egregious shortcoming of all, and as such, it warrants extra emphasis. Come on Sony, where are the exclusives?!

The Grade

All in all, it has been an excellent first year, punctuated by record-breaking sales and strong technical performance. The real Achilles heel here is the lack of strong triple-A exclusives. As such, I cannot in good faith give the PlayStation 4’s freshman year an A. But all else considered, it deserves a grade as close to an A as I can give:

B+