Many outlets are covering the new PS4 unveiling including Twitter, but for the part of you not following all that, I have compiled some interesting bits about the PS4. Please add the things you find interesting to this thread.
The confirmed specs will be 8G RAM, X86 CPU, hard drive and new video card. Not much in the way of details, but a few confirmed facts that were speculation just a few months ago. They didn't say much about if it will come with BluRay, but I can't imagine it won't. The new DualShock 4 has a touch pad and seems a bit nicer of a design but largely the same. No huge need to change the controller much, in my opinion its already quite good.
Blizzard announced Diablo III will ship on the PS3 & PS4 confirming to me that this current generation of consoles will get way more life that the last ones.
Did you see any bits in the unveiling you found interesting?
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/02/20/2353229/sony-announces-the-ps4
http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/8717945
The confirmed specs will be 8G RAM, X86 CPU, hard drive and new video card. Not much in the way of details, but a few confirmed facts that were speculation just a few months ago. They didn't say much about if it will come with BluRay, but I can't imagine it won't. The new DualShock 4 has a touch pad and seems a bit nicer of a design but largely the same. No huge need to change the controller much, in my opinion its already quite good.
Blizzard announced Diablo III will ship on the PS3 & PS4 confirming to me that this current generation of consoles will get way more life that the last ones.
Did you see any bits in the unveiling you found interesting?
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/02/20/2353229/sony-announces-the-ps4
http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/8717945
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I would disagree with "way more life than the last ones." The PS2 lasted ten years, and it was pretty strong at the end.
But yeah, the D3 announcement is interesting. I could see that working well for controllers, and I hope that functionality gets ported to PC-- I'd love to try it.
I'm curious about the Move software they were showing off. Watch Dogs makes me happy in my pants. Blizzard had a chance to do something amazing, but continued their new tradition of using D3 to disappoint everyone. No real specs. Oh, and for reasons I don't understand yet, their stock took a massive swan dive after the press conference.
Funny that you posted a Slashdot link! I haven't been to that site in years, and almost forgot it existed. Trippy.
I'm disappointed in the singularity of Gaikai/PSN. Cloud gaming doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe if I were a more casual gamer, otherwise I don't get it as a serious option. I mean, I get it as a means of avoiding emulation or installing excess hardware, but latency and connectivity issues make it unappealing to me. Downloading and playing from a local library makes more sense.
The only thing that I really liked was the "share" feature. The games were cool enough, but they were cool before this announcement (Destiny, Watch Dogs, the idea of Blizzard possibly revisiting Starcraft: Ghost, and The Witness).
The emphasis of "immediacy" as an expectation was totally lost on me. Efficiency and ease of access, yes, but immediacy? Brian Regan has a joke about the microwave instructions on Pop-tart boxes, as if toasting it took way too long, "Listen, if you need to zap-fry your Pop-tart before you head out of the door, you might want to loosen up your schedule." Sony created the problem with installing games, installing trophies, updating, etc, all before you could even see the game. Just fix those problems, and we're good!
Don't get me wrong, I'll buy one, and it will be for the exclusives (cursed exclusives). I don't know when, but I'll buy one. Sony will drip more information in the coming months, and all will solidify. One thing about Sony, though, is that they are fond of promising, and not delivering. At least they are focusing on games. That's a nice change from the last system launch. I really want to be excited, but I'm not there yet. I'm just that much more excited about the Steam box and Ouya.
"I'm just that much more excited about the Steam box and Ouya."
You hit it right on the head, scrypt. That's where my hope lies.
If I had the money I would SO buy that the day it comes out.
@panickedthumb True, the PS2 had games come out for it long after it wasn't the hot new thing, but it wasn't a majority of new titles and we all moved on for the most part. But yeah, the PS2 hung in there but my statement was more about the longevity of the entire console cycle of that generation. The orig. XBox and Gamecube fizzled out at about the normal time. What I am try to say, :D is that this current generation of PS3 in Xbox 360 will see a pretty long life and my guess is more quality games possibly longer than the PS2. Again, a guess, but we shall see. I think d3 porting to the ps3 is proof of this and other thoughts, but we shall see.
Oh and I agree, Steambox, Ouya and Apple TV are the more interesting things to my eye.
Though I am wondering, will the ps4 ship with bluray?
Oh right, this.
http://www.destructoid.com/psn-purchases-will-not-carry-over-to-playstation-4-246229.phtml
@jdodson: Devils advocate: I'm not saying PS3 won't last for a ton of time, but a big game releasing on both the 3 and 4 doesn't necessarily say much about that. New, big-budget games will continue to come out for the PS3 for some time, until it makes sense to stop supporting it, same with the PS2. I think the GameCube and original Xbox faded much faster because the PS2 was the clear winner last gen. This gen, it's much more balanced between PS3 and Xbox, and the Wii has their own corner.
Basically, if people just switched gears right now, they'd lose SO much money. It doesn't make sense from a business perspective to stop supporting this generation when the next one first surfaces.
But really we're saying the same things. This generation *will* last a while. I just don't think you're giving last gen enough credit :)
No PSN content transferable from PS3 to PS4? This will hurt Sony, badly. Even less of a reason to jump over sooner rather than later. I was watching the IGN post show on Twitch, and one of the guys was talking about how developers and hardware makers are the only ones anxious to get this next gen started, while the consumers, namely gamers, are fairly content with what we have.
" No PSN content transferable from PS3 to PS4? This will hurt Sony, badly."
Yeah. I'm not biting until there's some killer game I need, and it's $200 cheaper, just for that.
And I can pick from any of my current gen games, fire up the console, and be absolutely blown away by how beautiful it is. I'm still getting that sense of amazement. I'm pretty content to keep it that way.
Hopefully (it'll never happen but...) we'll get PS3/PS4 combo packs so you can build a PS4 library while you play your PS3. There was a rumor about the NeXtBox having some kind of cross-compatibility,so you get the game and you can play it on 360, it just won't look as nice. But since the architecture for PS3 and PS4 is so different, that's basically impossible.
Its not impossible, its just a matter of priority. I wish we didn't have to throw all our stuff out when a new console came out, but it seems that's what we have to do. I would really love to get a PS4, but right now my excitement is purely on the technical not the user facing part of it.
When we were kids (I'm assuming most of us here are around a certain age) and the idea of home consoles were being birthed, we didn't have issues like legacy content, or backwards compatibility. When the Super Nintendo came out, I certainly don't remember thinking "God, I wish I could play NES games on this system." Our beginnings were not buried in the past at that point. Nostalgia was in the present. Now, on the other hand, one of the things we want the most is to revisit the adventures and challenges of our youth, and it's the one thing that keeps getting pushed further away, more and more difficult to grasp. The cloud could very well be the answer, as much as I hate the idea. It's one answer, at least. I suppose my fear of "losing control of my content" is a false fear. I don't seem to have much control over my content as it is.
I'm not trying to be a downer, or rain on the parade of new technology. I'm just expressing concerns and the types of things I fantasize about as a gamer. In the 90's, I always thought they would release some sort of CD changer attachment to store games in, allowing you to shuffle through your library and play your title of choice without having to leave the couch. If the Ps4 allows you to rip games to the hard drive and allow you to play them without a disc inserted, that's a day one purchase for me, cloud be damned. Probably won't happen, but it is possible...
I like hearing the different perspectives here. Seems a good group with open minds and the want to discuss!
@scrypt:
Kids expectations: I totally remember that :D I use to think there would be some kind of adapter I could plug into my NES to run SNES games. I swore up and down I was waiting for that and it never came. God the SNES anyway and it was awesome. But I think its a reasonable new expectation to say that companies can allow you to keep your content as you move to new systems. Pragmatically it adds value to the whole mix which is good for everyone.
I would also say, NES, SNES, Gameboy, etc will be forever saved in emulation. I can plug in a usb controller and play FFIV now with no troubles. Or in some cases, buy it on my phone. So some old content I own, like The Legend of Zelda, will never leave me even if the horrible day comes where my NES fails to work.
I think now with Steam and emulation the days of having a ton of content at your fingertips is now. Its just now with consoles... yet. I mean, unless you just keep around your old PS3 then you still have it and all. Which, right now, sounds like a simpler prospect that getting the PS4 and getting all new content or somehow making room for another boat under my TV which I don't really have.
https://us.playstation.com/ps4/
PS4 will not block used games;
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-21-sony-tells-eurogamer-playstation-4-will-not-block-used-games
Maybe, maybe not.
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/ps4-may-not-allow-used-games-after-all-02-23-2013/
http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/think-the-ps4-wil-be-best-friends-with-used-games-not-so-fast
It's unlikely that they'll block used games, but it's still not a closed case.
http://www.fmvmagazine.com/?p=15772
A typical "launch window" is, what, up to 4-5 months following the system launch? We won't know what the Ps4 launch games will be until maybe December/January of this coming holiday season. I mean, we'll know most of them by around October at the latest, but the few that they've announced so far are mostly current-gen games that will see next-gen versions. They really don't need to do much to improve on the Playstation family of launch games. To be fair, though, most launch games tend to be pretty weak sauce; developers familiarizing with their new playground. Not all, but most.
I'm certainly curious.
Fair enough and I typically only pickup titles that are cross platform anyway. Killzone and the Uncharted games never really appealed to me.
I found the Killzone's to be boring as hell. I'm a big Halo fan, in the FPS respect, so I tend to be picky. Resistance is a nice series, though I haven't played enough of the third one. I loved the Uncharted games (except for the Vita title). That Indiana Jones vibe really comes through, and the characters are really engaging. Looking forward to The Last of Us for that reason.
Last of Us looks interesting. I have Killzone 2(used) and some Resistance game. They seem kind of the same to me. The games I loved on the PS3 were: Civilization Revolution, Wolfenstein, Portal 2, Fallout 3, Rage, The Orange Box, NBA 2k(guilty pleasure for certain), Borderlands, Borderlands 2 & Street Fighter IV. Nothing really "Playstationy" in that mix and all told I it gets more use on Netflix and as a BluRay/DVD player than a game console now.
That said, they haven't ruled out Disc based PS4 compat and if they had that I might be down. I didn't really dig in much for downloadable stuff so my loss in that arena isn't huge. I never trusted consoles to keep the DLC bits going forward so I didn't buy much of it, save Zuma for my wife :D
Good foresight on your part about the downloadable games, at least regarding moving forward onto the new systems (as far as we've heard)!
The only PSN title that I'm eternally grateful for, is Journey, which is a moot point now, because it's on disc. In fact, the two games that impacted me the most in this current generation are Portal and Journey. Brilliant, brilliant games. Journey even brought me to tears. Both relatively short, but I'd bypass a number of titles to have those types of experiences again, no matter which platform they are on, and that's the rub, right? You never know where that next moment will occur, and so you prepare for it (at least I do) by investing in the real estate, the many consoles and platforms that give us access to these things, these creative visions. It's the blessing and the curse of being a gamer.
Well, I think at the start of this current generation of consoles and getting a new PC in the last few years I really didn't trust any form of digital store, Steam included. So I stuck to console stales because, generally speaking, you had a physical thing you could loan or resell. Over time Steam sold me on the prospect that when I got something it could have a longer life beyond the span of PC I bought it on. I got my feet wet with a few bundles and then jumped into getting a few games and a bit more and now my collection is pretty awesome :D
But even at the launch of CG I wasn't certain of the future of digital. So, at the end of the day now I sort of think it was good to not go digital on a console, and I still won't because they can't get that right and jumping into Steam was a really good idea.
I'm with you on Journey, scrypt. Two of the best moments in gaming came from that game.
I had been playing with a stranger (obviously) for about two hours. Then my internet died or theirs did. Suddenly I was alone again and felt real loss. It was something I don't think has ever happened to me in a game before.
And the ending, which I won't spoil.
The experience I had with Journey, the first time through, was with one other player joining in sometime around the second area, and we stuck together the entire rest of the game. Each moment was a discovery for both of us, and developing our own "morse code" for communication... the whole experience felt so satisfying. I actually felt for that individual as we struggled through the drama, and felt uplifted at their/our mutual accomplishments. So much so, that when the game ended, I messaged him/her on PSN, proclaiming how that was one of the definitive moments in gaming for me. Not more than a few seconds went by, and I had received the same message from them. They must have been typing just as I was typing. I don't know if that kind of experience could ever be recreated in any other game. I treasure it deeply.
I think it's time to go back to that game. I didn't want to just jump right back into it because it couldn't be the same. Maybe I'll see you there :)
Maybe :)
Sony drop details on the new UI for PS4: http://www.joystiq.com/screenshots/playstation-4-interface/
As long as they can keep advertisements off of the pages outside of the store, I'll be happy. Oh, and allow us to sort downloaded games and content alphabetically. Seriously.
I'm pretty OK with that interface.