Sony’s at it again! Sony has boldly unveiled their release of the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and is diligently working towards a release date, which is rumored to be around the 2013 holiday season.

Many new improvements have been made since Sony’s PlayStation 3, which was a shocking disappointment because it had to play a game of catch-up with Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s X-Box 360. As this new system creeps towards its release date, many college students await the arrival of this new generation of systems.

According to Sony, the PS4 has a memory of 8GB, which provides 15 times the amount PS3’s memory.

In addition, the PS4 contains a built-in hard disk drive; however, Sony did not specify the amount of space on the drive. The PS4 also contains a Blu-Ray drive as well as a DVD drive, along with many other significant improvements.

One major component that Sony has modified was the DualShock 4 controller, which includes motion sensor, a touchpad on the front and a light bar to easily identify players, reporter Brett Molina of USA Today has reported in his article, ‘Sony reveals the PlayStation 4.’

Moreover, on the concept of the new controller, gamezone.com states the new adjustments of the DualShock 4 controller. In addition to the touchpad and light bar, Sony revealed that the PS4 will be equipped with a dual camera bar that tracks and detects the player’s movements in a 3-D space.

The PS4 has many gamers talking about the release date, price and if they will or will not buy it. According to a survey conducted by the website gamersuggestions.com, the system received a rating of 8.1 out of 10. Furthermore, 57 percent of the 233 surveyed gamers said they will buy the PS4, while a skeptical 4 percent said they will not buy it, leaving a 39 percent of undecided gamers.

Comparatively, students and professors at Iona have their own input about the PS4. Many Iona students display their excitement, while others express mixed feelings about the PS4 coming to campus.

Freshman Eric Martinez plays video games three to four hours a week while also handling schoolwork. Martinez is aware of PS4’s release, but he said, “I am not really excited about it. I’m more of an X-Box kind of guy.”

However, Martinez admits that the PS4 will be better than the X-Box 360 only because the PS4 is a new console, but he also states that it depends if Microsoft releases its own system.

Freshman Josué Reyes used to play video games 25 to 30 hours a week, but since he attends school, he does not play anymore. “I can’t wait!” said Reyes despite his recent withdrawal from video games. “The only problem is that I don’t think people who are casual gamers are excited for the PS4.”

“Bringing game systems to dorms [is] very popular. I know people who have three game systems in their dorms,” said Reyes. The popularity of game systems in residential halls is still substantial to college gamers.

Freshman Frank Williams weighed in on the controversial issue of video games distracting students from their academics, specifically the PS4. “I think it will distract students because the thrill of having a new system could make them not realize that they still have school work.”

The students at Iona clearly have mixed feelings about the PS4 and its upcoming release, which can leave professors worried about classroom performance.

English professor Scott Morgan sheds light to the situation.

“I don’t think the PS4 will be any more distracting than the consoles that already exist,” said Morgan. “Two concerns that I do have, however, are the possibilities of more in-game micro purchases and the new social features of the PS4.”

“First, game companies are developing more ways to easily purchase games and game features from the console, and a student might lose track and wind up spending quite a bit on one game without realizing it,” said Morgan. “Second, the new social features sound great, but I worry that becoming too social in a fake place prevents students from developing social skills – something crucial during the first two years of college.”

Iona’s welcoming of the PS4 might not be as warm as expected. Although this is a new game console of the generation, academics still play the key role as the top priority for many students and professors.