Sony’s reveal of its new console was a greatly anticipated event. Rumors all over the net were talking about yesterdays upcoming announcement, with speculations, wonders, hopes and questions. And we have to admit, we here at DFAT are huge fans of the Playstation lineage, so to us, it was like Christmas morning.
The opening to the presentation was great. The music got us going (not to mention the inclusion of Metric’s song Monster Hospital), and the montage of all the great games, including the iconic image of Sephiroth standing in front of the flames, made us realize how BIG these consoles (and games) have been in our lives.
Sony decided to keep to their naming formula and call it the Playstation 4 (aka PS4). This could be a good thing. Why mess with a name that has such a strong backing? Apple does the same with their products, and it seems to be working for them. PS2, PS3, and now PS4, just has a nice way of rolling off the tongue.
It was a great night of showing off it’s games, new controller, some specs on the console; and yet we never even got to see what the PS4 would LOOK like. We also never got a definite price-point or release date. All we heard was a lot of “this holiday season” and “in the incoming months.” Thanks Sony! Though, they would prefer to shroud us in mystery whilst talking about this revolutionary system for 2 hours; we here at DFAT prefer to show you the goodies you were looking for. Check out our coverage and first impressions below!
The Playstation 4 itself
The Graphics
So, lets start off with the specs. PS4 will have an X86 processor, a combined CPU/GPU, a local HDD (from the speeds they are talking about, this can possibly be s solid state drive) and an 8GB GDDR5 memory. As Sony declared it, the PS4 is made to feel like a “Supercharged PC”. The PS4 is not meant to be revolutionary in itself. It’s meant to be the perfect device for “creators” to be able to create anything revolutionary they can imagine.
As great as PS3 graphics are, the details in what the PS4 can do are amazing. As you will see in the clips farther down the post, you will notice the clarity of everything – both foreground and back ground, in flames and smoke and shrapnel and lighting.
Streaming
Where Nintendo tried to revolutionize its next-gen console by creating a new remote with the Wii U, Sony decided to do this their streaming. It seems they are taking the “cloud” to a whole new level. Every game, every film, every song, every friend you have for co-op, every person that can help with a game, every older game they’ve ever had… it’s also meant to feel live. Every single thing is meant to be so easy to access, there would be no loading time to stop you. As mentioned during the presentation, they basically want everything to be available to your “impulses”.
Sony is also trying to focus on the “streaming” between devices themselves. Between PS Vita, notepads, PS4, and smart phones, everything is meant to seamlessly work together.
The Controller
This new controller seems to have hit the spot when it comes to changes. Still keeping to their classic design, they’ve elongated it and curved it very subtlety to feel more “ergonomically” fitting in your hands. With a new light bar addition to it (similar to what the Wii had done with it’s Wiimote), and a touchpad on the controller, the Dualshock 4, seems to have al its basis covered.
New Controller Specs:
DualShock 4
External Dimensions Approx. 162mm x 52mm x 98mm (width x height x depth)
(tentative, excludes largest projection)
Weight Approx. 210g (tentative)
Keys / Switches PS button, SHARE button, OPTIONS button,
Directional buttons (Up/Down/Left/Right),
Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square),
R1/L1/R2/L2 button, Left stick / L3 button, Right stick / R3
button, Pad Button
Touch Pad 2 Point Touch Pad, Click Mechanism, Capacitive Type
Motion Sensor Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, threeaxis accelerometer)
Other Features Light Bar, Vibration, Built-in Mono Speaker
Ports USB (Micro B), Extention Port, Stereo Headset Jack
Wireless Communication Bluetooth® Ver2.1+EDR
Battery Type Built-in Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery
Voltage DC3.7V (tentative)
Capacity 1000mAh (tentative)
The New Eye:
PlayStation 4 Eye
External Dimension Approx. 186mm x 27mm x 27mm (width x height x depth)
(tentative)
Weight Approx. 183g (tentative)
Video Pixel (Maximum) 1280 x 800 pixel x 2
Video Frame Rate 1280×800 pixel @ 60fps
640×400 pixel @ 120fps
320×192 pixel @ 240fps
Video Format RAW, YUV (uncompressed)
Lens Dual Lenses, F value/F2.0 fixed focus
Capture Range 30cm～∞
Field-of-View 85°
Microphone 4 Channel Microphone Array
Connection Type PS4 dedicated connector (AUX connector)
Cable Length Approx. 2m (tentative)
Exclusive PS4 Games
Knack: I’m not really sure how I feel about this game. It looks like “Blue Dragon” that came out when the XBOX 360 dropped. Nothing spectacular in terms of storyline or graphics.
Infamous: Second Son- I love these games. I love the main character and the world they’ve created over at Sucker Punch. Just keep them coming and keep adding awesome new powers.
Killzone: Shadow Fall- I’ve always thought that the Killzone games have had the best graphics that the Playstation has to offer. That trend has continued from the PS2, and now up to the PS4. Simply amazing looking.
Driveclub: I don’t care about racing games unless they involve a gorilla and turtle shells that blow up.
3rd Party Games
Witness: I was too young to appreciate Myst when it came out in the 90’s but this looks like it could be interesting and a more expanded take on what we saw from the old PC classic.
Watchdogs: When I saw this game premiere at E3 last year I knew it had to be for a next-gen system. Glad to know I was proved right, because Watchdogs has the potential to be a game changer.
Bungie’s Destiny: Everything that I’ve seen/read/heard about this game makes me want to play it. The MMORPG looks like everything that was amazing about the Halo series, only ramped up to 11. I will buy this game on day one, and probably be playing it for the next decade, like Bungie intends everyone to do.
Squre Enix’s Next Final Fantasy:
Though there was no new footage from the game, it was announced that there would be a new FF. The company also showed some more footage of it’s Luminous Engine which will drive the capabilities of the game to heights we’ve never seen before from a game.
Capcom’s Deep Down: Capcom really impressed me with Dragon’s Dogma last year. It was like a version of Skyrim on crack. Let’s hope that continues with better graphics on Deep Down.
It’s good to know that these are just the basics, and there is more to come. And with E3 coming up in a few months, we’re sure to see more.
We’ll keep you posted as new PS4 news comes here to us at DFAT!
~Mozeus and Chaz
