Sony unveils the PlayStation 4, coming this holiday season

Shawn Knight

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Sony introduced the PlayStation 4 at a media event on Wednesday evening nearly seven years after launching the company’s current console back in 2006. Some 1,200 members of the press were on hand to witness the unveiling of a new era of gaming that features a very heavy emphasis on social.

ps4 sony playstation 4

Sony described the next generation console as a supercharged PC, powered by an eight-core x86 processor that can pump out nearly 2 teraflops of computational performance. The PS4 will contain an enhanced PC-style GPU and 8GB of GDDR5 high-speed memory – lending credit to some of the rumors we have been hearing leading up to today’s announcement. Detailed hardware specifics were noticeably absent from the press conference but we were told that a secondary processor will be used to allow gamers to download titles in the background and play them as they are being downloaded.

ps4 sony playstation 4

On a performance level, we are told that the system is capable of rendering 30,000 polygons in real time. For comparison, Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3 utilized just 15,000 polygons.

Those hoping to get a glimpse of the new hardware left empty-handed as Sony failed to show what the actual console will look like. They did, however, show off the new DualShock 4 controller featuring a touchpad, headphone jack and even a dedicate share button. The gamepad also contains a light bar that’s used to identify players and allows a 3D camera to track its movement and depth.

ps4 sony playstation 4

Sony has completely revamped the PlayStation 4’s user interface which now features a notification bar across the top of the screen. The system will use real-name profiles that will more than likely be pulled from social networks like Facebook while other aspects like the trophy system appear relatively unchanged. Overall the GUI has a heavy social network feel and there’s even an app that essentially mirrors the look for your mobile device(s).

PlayStation 3 games won’t be backwards compatible with the new console natively although the company did say they are exploring advanced technologies that could bring PS3 games to the PS4 in the future. This could possibly happen through Gaikai, the cloud gaming service that Sony acquired last summer.

ps4 sony playstation 4

Officials confirmed that the PlayStation 4 will use Gaikai's technology to stream games over the web. Details were sketchy but it sounds like the service will be used to allow gamers to try a game demo through the PlayStation Store before purchasing.

The press conference gave everyone around the world a first-look at some of the upcoming games for the PS4 including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Deep Down, Watch Dogs, Knack, Driveclub, and Infamous: Second Son. Blizzard’s Chris Metzer was on hand to announce a strategic partnership with Sony that will deliver Diablo III to the PS3 and the PS4 while Bungie showcased their just-announced title Destiny. The post-Halo game will also arrive on the PS3 and PS4 with exclusive content for PlayStation gamers.

ps4 sony playstation 4

In addition to the updated user interface, the PlayStation 4 will include a number of social-focused features. Players will be able to stream games over the PlayStation Network and watch other players in action thanks to always-on video compression. Friends will be able to interact with you as you play by posting stuff to your screen or even take over control for you if you allow it. Sony is teaming up with Facebook and Ustream for even greater social interaction and sharing.

Gamers with a PS Vita will be able to use a new remote play feature that lets you stream games from the PS4 directly to the handheld. Sony said their ultimate goal is to make every PS4 title playable on the Vita. It sounds an awful lot like what Nvidia is doing with Project Shield where PC gamers can stream a game to the portable device.

ps4 sony playstation 4

At the end of the day, we still don’t know how much Sony plans to charge for the PS4 nor do we have an exact release date. We are simply told to expect the system to show up during the 2013 holiday season. This move no doubt gives Sony some leverage to respond to whatever Microsoft may announce during E3 and price their console accordingly.

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The new virtual PS4 exists in the clouds ???? teaser release that disappointed majorly!! Selling all my ps stuff getting a shield :)
 
It all comes down to pricing if it costs over $400 it'll be a failure for sure. The PS3 started taking off once the sticker price lowered. Have to remember the new Xbox will be coming out as well and if PS4 is more expensive then it could be their downfall.
 
Sounds like a 3.5mm jack for the controller, good. Sounds powerful. Easy architecture (saving grace for the devs).
Predictive downloading sounds dumb and download heavy. Sounds too powerful (expensive). Seems too early (much sooner than the xbox).
Otherwise this looks interesting. Will be waiting on the announcement of the xbox 720 (or whatever, whenever they should announce it this year) to compare...
 
I have a hunch the price will be equivalent to the launch price of the ps3 (which was waaaaaaay too much). My guess is $499 for the 120gig model and $599 for the 250gig model.
 
You have to dump your memory on how to use a PS3 controller in order to make space for "how to use a PS4 controller." Now if the controllers are backward compatible then that fixes everything ;) I also read somewhere that they're expecting a $399 release price.
 
Advanced PC graphics...Whats that a 9800GT? or a 86x CPU that's not detailed enough for my tech tastes. I do like the 8GB ram, for a console that is juicy and very needed. As for price, this baby already has been rumored for Mid 400s and a bigger HDD probably with some accessories for mid 500s. As a console it sounds....appealing, but the price is a problem...Like others said, even if the 720 is weaker(as it has been rumored) by even 50%, or 33% if it's sticker price is lower gamers will flock and Sony will lose big time. But I guess you get what you pay for right? PS3 in my opinion was a far superior product then 360s mess.
 
SIGH..another site completely blows the headline. Nothing was "unveiled". We've gotten a handful of details and a look at what is in all likelihood a prototype controller that could still see changes. And their biggest selling points? Social media and sharing your in-progress games. Like anyone gives a f#*k about watching you play a game, LOL! Sony made complete fools of themselves with this meaningless waste of two hours.
 
8GB unified memory is not 8GB GDDR5. It's more like 2GB DDR3 for graphics.
 
"On a performance level, we are told that the system is capable of rendering 30,000 polygons in real time. For comparison, Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3 utilized just 15,000 polygons."

Huh... Beyond Two Souls is going to do 30,000 polygons per character and that is a PS3 game.

The PS4 is probably going to be more like 200,000+
 
Am I the only one who thought last night was very impressive?

The game engines look stunning and the console has a while before they bring out the full potential, so things are only going to look better from here.

I like the fact that its x86, meaning PC gamers can now moan if the port isn't very good as there isn't much of an excuse anymore, I like the 8GB of GDDR5 Ram, I like the share button, I like the GPGPU accelerated Physics, These are firsts for consoles and are looking darn impressive, the old man with the expressions was particularly impressive to me, I am genuinely excited about this console, I think Sony are taking gaming seriously this time round, to have Bungie turn up? and Blizzard?! that's feat almost on its own.
 
Am I the only one who thought last night was very impressive?

The game engines look stunning and the console has a while before they bring out the full potential, so things are only going to look better from here.

I like the fact that its x86, meaning PC gamers can now moan if the port isn't very good as there isn't much of an excuse anymore, I like the 8GB of GDDR5 Ram, I like the share button, I like the GPGPU accelerated Physics, These are firsts for consoles and are looking darn impressive, the old man with the expressions was particularly impressive to me, I am genuinely excited about this console, I think Sony are taking gaming seriously this time round, to have Bungie turn up? and Blizzard?! that's feat almost on its own.

I was very impressed and quite frankly did not expect them to achieve those levels of graphics. And we haven't even seen what their premiere developers have done yet, IE: Naughty Dog, Polyphony Digital, and Sony Santa Monica.
 
I was very impressed and quite frankly did not expect them to achieve those levels of graphics. And we haven't even seen what their premiere developers have done yet, IE: Naughty Dog, Polyphony Digital, and Sony Santa Monica.

Imagine what Polyphony Digital could so with that raw power! and RAM for that matter, the amount of detail they could add to a track (and car) could be astonishing!

I just wish they could have released a few more details and actually show off the console, we didn't get to see it at all and they didn't go into the details such as hard drive space (and if it is changeable like the ps3) or show the OS properly from boot up, Hell my stream cut off a few times but I didn't even hear a mention on Blu-ray! but I think thats a given :p
 
Original Crysis had more than 2M poligons on some scenes on highest settings. 30k is very low...
 
8GB "GDDR5"? The GeForce Titan only has 6GB. This thing could blow all gaming PCs out of the water.
The 7970 has 3gb of GDDR5. My 680 has 2gb of ram and it's the same speed as the 7970. The 680 with 4gb is barely faster than the 680 with 2gb. The amount of ram is not what counts for a GPU.
 
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