PlayStation 4

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell must not have paid much attention to the positive word of mouth surrounding Sony at this year’s GDC, as the industry legend has predicted that Microsoft will conquer the next generation due to the Japanese manufacturer’s “lame” software tools.

“I personally believe Microsoft is in a superior position, and the reason is Sony, whenever they change consoles, the software tools that they have are lame," he said as part of an interview with GameTrailers. “A lot of times in the past they were in Japanese [and] not well documented.”

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He added: “The American software community just says, 'Oh boy, what a pain.’ And a lot of people don't realise how strong the software community is at making the hardware platform sing and dance."

Of course, that’s exactly what the so-called software community has been doing with regards to the PS4. Numerous high-profile industry names such as Braid creator Jonathan Blow and Epic Games executive Mark Rein have complimented the console over the past couple of months, praising the platform holder’s decision to switch to a simpler development environment.

Sadly, it seems that Bushnell didn’t get the memo. "Microsoft, because of their strong software tools, will end up with much better products sooner [and] easier, in my estimation,” he continued. “And with that, I think will be at an advantage.”

The veteran – who played a pivotal role in the production of Pong – suggested that Sony’s “god awful” online infrastructure will also put the PS4 behind its closest competitor, adding that the firm really needs to “get its act together”.

You can watch the full interview with Bushnell through here. Obviously he raises some relevant points, but it strikes us that he’s a bit behind the curve with regards to what Sony’s trying to achieve with the PS4. The next generation console has been designed with many of the problems that the luminary mentions in mind, and thus his tirade seems a little unfair as a result.

[source gametrailers.com, via uk.gamespot.com]