On Wednesday Sony took the stage in New York to formally introduce their next-generation console, the PlayStation 4. Though the company failed to show industry developers, members of the press, and gamers watching a live stream from all around the world what the actual console looks like, it did reveal two new PS4 accessories (namely the DualShock 4 wireless controller and the PlayStation 4 Eye motion sensing camera) and it did go into some detail about how powerful and socially integrated the system is. Read on to learn everything there is to know about Sony’s next-gen vid-game console.
We don’t know what the PS4 looks like just yet (Sony has to save something for E3, right?), but what we do know is that its internal guts are a boon for game-making developers. The PS4 features what Sony calls an “informed system architecture” since the development of the console was approached with consumers and developers in mind. In fact, Sony says they discreetly spoke with developers over the past few years gaining intelligent feedback from them so that they could apply what devs want in a video game system while they were imagining the PS3 successor. The result is an extremely powerful system that borrows most of its specs from high-end PCs. The PS4 is packed with a supercharged PC architecture, an x86 CPU with 64 cores, an enhanced GPU by AMD with 18 compute units which collectively generate 1.84 Teraflops of processing power, 8GB of GDDR5 unified memory providing 176 GB/second of bandwidth, local storage HDD (storage capacity was not disclosed), and a Blu-ray player with 6x read speed (plus DVD player with 8x read speed). In simpler terms, it’s a beast of a machine that will provide gamers with faster speeds and enhanced state-of-the-art graphics and developers with familiar, powerful tools to make innovative games with rich experiences.
The only piece of hardware that was actually flaunted on stage was the newly redesigned DualShock 4 controller for PS4. Though the DS4 with six-axis motion sensing technology bares a resemblance to its predecessors, it features an enhanced feel and there are some new additions. The joysticks and trigger buttons have been slightly updated to provide a tighter sense of control during gameplay. The DS4 also feature enhanced rumble capabilities and controller latency has been reduced. New additions include a touch pad that’s front and center on the controller positioned between the D-pad and the four action buttons that gives gamers a new form of input; underneath the touch pad is a built-in speaker to provide gamers with high-fidelity sound effects; there’s also a headphone jack, an Options button that removes the need for Start and Select buttons, and the Share button enables quick and simple ways to share your gaming experiences with friends via social networks (more on the Share button in a bit). Last, the controller sports a light bar across the back placed between the L and R trigger buttons that’s jammed with three color LEDs so that it can illuminate in a variety of colors. The light bar serves a few purposes: first, it can light up to match the color of characters in a game to offer a simpler, more friendly way to identify players when you’re playing with multiple friends in the same living room; second, it can also change patterns during gameplay to provide useful information such as when a character is critically low on health or has taken major damage; and third, it effectively turns the DS4 into a Move controller that can be tracked by the new PlayStation 4 Eye camera. The camera wasn’t physically shown on stage, but in pictures it is fairly reminiscent of Microsoft’s Kinect in that it ditches the one-camera design for a two-camera layout. It features two 1,280 x 800 cameras, four microphones, and an 85-degree diagonal angle views. The cameras work in tandem to ensure accurate tracking of multiple controllers in a 3D space and good picture quality. Sony wouldn’t delve too deeply into the Eye’s functionality; for example, we do not know if its microphones will allow gamers to control the console’s UI with their voices like Kinect allows. What we do know, however, is that it will allow users to login to their console using face recognition.
Moving onto software, Sony explained that the PS4 was built with these pillar words in mind: simple, immediate, social, integrated, and personalized. The PS4 features a new “suspend mode” which keeps the system in a low power state while preserving the game session. Gamers can quickly suspend and resume gameplay by simply pressing the power button on the controller; booting a console up and waiting for a saved game to reload is a thing of the past, Sony says. The console also features a secondary custom chip for background processing and for uploads and downloads. This chip enables two significant functions: one, games can be downloaded or updated in the background or when the console is in standby mode; and two, digital titles are playable even while they are downloading. After you purchase a game you can start playing it immediately while the system continues to download the rest of the title.
With the PS4 Sony is pushing a new initiative it is calling “shared gaming experiences.” The PS4 features dedicated, always on video compression and decompression systems that enables seamless uploading of gameplay. And here is where the Share button on the new DS4 controller comes into play. While you’re playing any game, hit the Share button and you’ll be presented with a screen that offers three options: Upload a screenshot, Upload video, and Stream (more on Stream in a bit). Screenshots and video recordings from your actual game footage can be shared with friends on Facebook in a few simple steps. If you choose to share a recording, you can scan through your last few minutes of gameplay and trim the clip to your liking to capture exactly what you wish to share. Screenshots and video will be uploaded to your social network and you can jump back into your game while they do so.
Last year Sony purchased cloud gaming pioneer Gaikai and the PS4 full advantage of powerful cloud services. The third option in the Share window is Stream and it enables social spectating. This is perhaps the PS4’s most exciting new feature. Gamers can broadcast their gameplay sessions in real-time to friends using Internet streaming services like Ustream. In addition to simply spectating, friends can comment on what they’re seeing in a chatroom that takes up half the screen next to the live gameplay and they can even jump in and take over the gamer’s controller if he or she is stuck on a challenging level. Additionally, friends can come into a session and drop special weapons and health potions if they decide the gamer is in dire need of assistance. Cross-game chat is also thrown into the mix, so gamers can interact with one another regardless of the title loaded. This streaming tech has the potential to really evolve the way we play games.
Speaking of which, Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai offers even more for the PS4. In the future, gamers will be able to instantly experience any game they want in the PlayStation Store thanks to the cloud service. For example, “lite”, stripped down versions of games and load times will be a thing of the past. Sony envisions a future where gamers can browse the PS Store and try out any game for free by jumping into a full version of the game with zero download/install time. Like the game? Purchase it and immediately start playing while it’s being installed. Another long-term goal for Sony is to make every PS1, PS2, and PS3 title playable on the PS4 and as well as mobile devices using cloud technology; “everything everywhere” is the company’s new mantra. Unfortunately it was announced that PS3 games are not natively supported on the PS4, but in phases Sony plans to make their entire back catalog available on the next-gen system. Another service supported by Gaikai’s cloud is Remote Play. Sony calls the portable PS Vita “the ultimate companion” for PS4 and with certain titles you’ll be able to wirelessly transfer gameplay from your console to your Vita. Another lofty goal for the company is to eventually make every PS4 title playable on the Vita via Remote Play.
Like Nintendo’s Wii U GamePad and Microsoft’s Xbox SmartGlass before it, the PS4 hopes to take advantage of users’ smartphones and tablets (and yes, the Vita) to provide second screen experiences. A “PlayStation App” will release for Android and iOS devices that’ll allow gamers to extend their PS4 experience beyond the tethered console in the living room. With such an app you can user your smartphone, for example, to browse your personalized profile and friends list, remotely watch friends playing games on their devices, challenge friends to matches, purchase PS4 games on-the-go (to be later downloaded to the console for actual gameplay); and developers will have the option to utilize second screens to provide auxiliary maps in an adventure game, for example.
Sony briefly showed off what gamers’ profiles will look like in the enhanced UI on the PS4. In this next-generation, Sony hopes that users will fully embrace being truly social on the PS4. The new console is transitioning to a new social network based on real world friends. You can still use your PSN name and avatar icons for anonymity’s sake, but Sony is hoping that gamers will want to use their real names and profile pictures like they do in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Adding to the personalization of the PS4 is the fact that it can “learn” your likes and dislikes based on the games you play and shop for. Once the system “knows” the type of games you like to play, when you wake up your console from standby you may discover new content already downloaded waiting for you to experience for the first time. Sony’s long-term goal here is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero: if the system knows enough about a player to predict the next game they will purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before they even click the “buy” button, says Sony. This has the potential to introduce gamers to a slew of new content they might never have stumbled upon if it weren’t for such smart recommendations. (Here’s hoping that the PS4 doesn’t evolve into Skynet, heh!)
And that brings us to the games. Sony used a chunk of its time on stage to bring out developers so that they could discuss the power of PS4 and introduce titles coming to the system. Here’s a quick list of games that were announced: Knack (Japan Studio), Killzone Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games), Drive Club (Evolution Studios), Infamous Second Son (Sucker Punch), The Witness (from Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid), Deep Down (working title from Capcom using the dev’s new graphics engine called Panta Rhei), Watch Dogs (Ubisoft, essentially Person of Interest the videogame), Diablo III (Blizzard Entertainment has entered into a “strategic partnership” with Sony to bring D3 to PS4 and PS3), and Destiny (Bungie is bringing its next FPS to the PS4 and PS3 with exclusive playable content for the PlayStation community). Media Molecule (the dev behind Little Big Planet) did not announce a title, but it did reveal that the PlayStation Move controller is compatible with the PS4 and it showed off a demonstration featuring gamers with Move wands sculpting words and puppeteering avatars in a jam session. Square Enix also showed off a technical demo that takes advantage of their new graphics engine called Luminous and they announced that a new entry in the Final Fantasy franchise is coming to PS4 with more info to be revealed at E3. Sony summed up that virtually every major third party partner across North America, Europe, Japan, and Asia will support the PS4.
At the very end of the presentation, Sony announced that the PS4 will release Holiday 2013. Though pricing was not disclosed, Sony America head Jack Tretton told All Things D, “I think our goal with this is to debut at a more consumer-friendly price” and he “hopes” that the PS4 will not launch at the PS3’s debut price of $599. More information surrounding Sony’s next powerhouse will likely surface as we get closer to E3 which runs from June 11-13 this summer.
Below, check out press shots of the DualShock 4 controller and the PlayStation 4 Eye. Again, sadly, Sony wasn’t ready to show off the PS4 itself. A handful of PS4-related clips are embedded as well.
In this clip Herman Holtz of Guerrilla Games plays a live demo of Killzone Shadow Fall with Jimmy Fallon and Anthony Anderson.
During Sony’s presentation, the Guerrilla Games developer uploaded the real-time demo of the new Killzone title to Facebook using the DualShock 4’s Share button; watch it here.
And if all of this wasn’t enough, you can watch Sony’s PlayStation 4 announcement in its entirety right here.