Vladimir Rakhmanin | Deputy Online editor
The coming of the PlayStation 4, Sony’s successor to their previous home console, the PlayStation 3, was announced last night during a press conference held in New York. Sony focused on the social features of the console, the new controller, and first and third-party games during their two-hour presentation.
The controller does not differ all that much from the current PS3 one – the shape and button placements are exactly the same. The main difference is a small touchpad located in the middle, presumably as an alternate control input. There is also a sensor on the back of the device, which can be tracked by a camera which sits on top of the TV – it seems that Sony is trying to emulate Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral in their own way.
One of the more interesting features talked about at the event is the ‘Share’ functionality. Players will be able to record bits of gameplay directly from the console and upload them to YouTube – in fact, this was showed off in one of the software demos later on. The PS4 also boasts a ‘suspend’ feature, much like the ‘sleep’ function on a regular PC. Furthermore, there are also ways to boost the PS4 gameplay experience by upgrading the console’s storage capacity. For more information take a look at this ps4 storage expert website.
Sony’s recent acquisition of Gaikai, a cloud-based streaming company, was also showcased. A representative for the company promised that Sony’s entire back-catalogue of games, regardless of age, will eventually be available for streaming on the new console. This feature will not, however, be available at the time of launch. Consumers will also be able to try demos of any games on the PS Store, which will stream to the console as they download.
In an attempt to beat Nintendo’s WiiU at it’s own game, Sony also announced that the PS Vita, their current portable console, will be able to stream PS4 games to it. A tech demo of this was shown – indeed, the PS Vita was running the PS4 game on the tiny screen, a replica of what was happening on the home console. It remains to be seen how many games will support this feature, but it’s exciting nonetheless.
After showcasing these features, Sony focused on games for the remainder of the event. Out of the first-party offerings, the most impressive announcements were Killzone: Shadowfall and The Witness. Killzone bucked the usual franchise trend of brown and grey colors with a glorious live demo set in a Dubai-style futuristic city. The flight through the air traffic in the cityscape was particularly impressive. Hopefully, Killzone will be the standard for upcoming PS4 releases in terms of graphical capability. The Witness, an indie game by the creator of the critically-acclaimed Braid, was announced to be exclusive to the PS4. The gaming world has heard of the title before, but not about the exclusivity deal, making this a very exciting announcement indeed.
The third-party announcements were, unfortunately, not as exciting. Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs, which wowed viewers at the last Electronic Entertainment expo, was confirmed for the PS4 – the title looked better than ever as we got a larger glimpse at the open world conspiracy-laden game. In a shocking move, Sony has also decided to partner with Blizzard, a developer known for their PC titles such as World of Warcraft. Diablo III, one of their newer games, is set to be ported to both the PS3 and the PS4.
Square Enix disappointed everyone by showing a trailer that was revealed months ago, and by only teasing the fact that a new Final Fantasy was in the works. Finally, Bungie, creators of the enormously successful Halo franchise, stated that their new IP, Destiny, will also be making its way to Sony’s line of consoles.
While a lot remains to be seen – the price, the design of the console itself, the full launch lineup – it is clear that Sony is doing its best to get out of their current financial slump. All eyes are now fixed the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo – next-gen is finally here.
