Dubbed “everything everywhere” and “by game creators, for game creators” Sony finally pulled back the curtain (partially) on their next gaming console, the Playstation 4 during a special press conference that lasted nearly 2 hours long.
And say “partially” because we never actually got to see a console. But we did however hear about what’s inside the console as well as see what the future of the dual shock controller looks like.
The new controller has a touchscreen on the front and center. Also inputs for headphones, a “light-bar” that identifies other players (no clue what that means) and the ability to use it as an additional Move Controller. Also you will be able to share videos of your gameplay almost immediately via the Gaikai technology.
Gaming blog Joystiq, who was at the live press conference said “Sony’s lead system architect on PS4 Mark Cerny revealed some technical specs on the upcoming PlayStation 4. It’s build on an x86 CPU, with an enhanced PC GPU and 8 gigabytes of onboard GDDR5 memory. Cerny also confirmed there would be a local hard drive and includes a Blu-ray drive that spins game discs a brisk 6X and 8X for DVDs”.
Hardware/Game Notes
- PS4 will live stream PS1, PS2 and PS3 games using possibly the Playstation Cloud service.
- Unit will arrive in time for the holidays of 2013
- Tying in with the “everything everywhere” theme, the Vita will be able to stream your PS4 games.
- A secondary chip in the PS4 will handle game downloads so that you can start playing your new game immediately while the rest of the game is being downloaded in the background (THANK GOD)
- Despite having applied for a patent that suggests buying used games would soon become pointless, Sony insists it will not block playing used games on the PS4 (still remains to be seen if some kind of activation code would be required to play the used game–would would make developers happy)
- Pissing off a bunch of PC die-hards, Diablo III announced that it will be leaving the exclusive world of PC only to the world of PS3 and PS4.
- As for the rest of the games? Joystiq has a nice roundup of the specifics but we did hear about “Knack from Mark Cerny, Killzone: Shadow Fall from Guerilla Games, Driveclub from Evolution Studios, Infamous: Second Son from Sucker Punch, The Witness from Jonathan Blow, Watch Dogs from Ubisoft, and Destiny gets Sony-exclusive content from Bungie. Quantic Dream and Capcom showed off some pretty tech demos, including one for Capcom’s new original IP, codenamed Deep Down.
Gameplay from Killzone on PS4
Disappointments
- No price point was given. But it’s expected to stay around the $400 range.
- No picture of the what the console will look like. I know Sony is probably trying to make everything as powerful as possibly, but they also don’t want to send out a console the size of two phone books like the original PS3. It would have been great to see a hint of what the new console will look like let’s just hope they are merely fine tuning the final display before it’s grand reveal at E3 in June.
- The controller was meh. We heard rumors about a change to the beloved dual shock controller and I for one welcomed an addition of a LCD screen to the same dual shock we have all come to know and love. But the screen could have served a greater purpose by utilizing a map or weapons list. Not sharing features. I share enough of my life socially, thank you very much.
In closing…
Sony made a big push to capture the hardcore market at last year’s E3 with a number of exclusive and original titles so it’s great to hear that his console is being dubbed “by game creators, for game creators” which can only mean more great original titles.
Now we just have to play the waiting game to see the evidence that shows off the goods, which will certainly take place at this year’s E3 in June.
Your move Microsoft…
