Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4 on Wednesday, which executives said represents a shift from thinking of the PlayStation as a simply "a box or console" to simply the best place to play games.

Andrew House, chief executive officer of Sony's PlayStation unit, announced the product at an event in New York.

Sony didn't immediately disclose prices or say when the machine will go on sale.

The PlayStation 4 makes its debut amid an industry shift toward mobile play on smartphones and tablets, raising the question of whether gamers will shell out several hundred dollars for a new console.

Sony, Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co., are adding features like movies and music, and more portable controllers, to keep mainstream consumers attracted.

"We've gotten to the point of diminishing returns on the technology," Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said in an interview before the announcement. "The inflection point for them is going to be software and whether it's different enough to make you really want to go buy it."