PlayStation 4 Console Announced

20 February 2013

3 Comments

Posted by:Ferry Groenendijk

Sony has officially announced the PlayStation 4 console for Holiday 2013! It comes with a brand new DualShock 4 controller that has a touchpad input on the front and a social media video and screenshots gameplay share button. Also included is a PlayStation 4 Eye dual camera with built-in microphones for video streaming, and it adds extra precision to the compatible PlayStation Move motion controller.

The big PS4 announcement came from a live PlayStation 2013 Meeting that was broadcast directly to millions of PlayStation gamers worldwide.

You can watch the full PlayStation 4 announcement here with all the technical details explained. It includes sneak peeks at Sony´s first party games Killzone: Shadow Fall, inFamous: Second Son, Knack, DriveClub, and exclusives like Jonathan Blow´s The Witness and Capcom´s Deep Down.

Hot PlayStation 4 info:

• PS4 promises games that can be experienced whenever, wherever and however you want, thanks to a system specially built to cater to the needs of the best developers in the world.
• You’ll be able to play digital titles as they download from PlayStation Store, and update PS4 even when it is switched off.
• Immediately pick up any saved game where you left off – the “suspend mode” of PS4 gets rid of loading times and lets you carry on by simply pressing the power button.
• Gaikai technology will let you instantly try out sections of any game that catches your eye on PlayStation Store.
• Check out what your friends are up to and see the games, TV shows, movies and music recommended especially for you on the newly designed PS4 menu screen.
• Broadcast as you play via Ustream. If you get stuck, your mates can join in to help you or offer comments in real time.
• You can use a variety of applications, such as a web browser, while you play a game.
• Your favourite PS4 games will be playable on PlayStation Vita via Wi-Fi with Remote Play.
• Meanwhile, the new PlayStation App lets you turn your smartphone into a second screen – for example, to let you view a map or see how a friend is tackling the same part of a game.

DualShock 4 controller info:

• A new, built-in sensor will enable highly sensitive motion control.
• You’ll be able to interact with games in new ways thanks to a touch pad on the front of the controller.
• Additional sound effects will come from an inbuilt speaker; a headset jack lets you hear these in detail as well as chat with friends.
• The controller’s familiar dual analog sticks have been enhanced to provide better precision.
• New, curved L2 and R2 buttons will give you greater control.
• Upload images and video to Facebook with a tap of the new SHARE button.
• An LED Light Bar on the top of the controller will match the colour of in-game characters so players can keep track of each other. You’ll also be able to spot when a character has been injured, for instance.
• A new camera has been developed alongside the controller, and tracks the location of DUALSHOCK 4 via its LED Light Bar.

Tidbits about the PS4 games:

• Killzone: Shadow Fall: You play as an elite Shadow Marshal charged with keeping tensions between the Helghast and Vektans from boiling over.
• inFAMOUS: Second Son: Seattle is the setting and Delsin Rowe is the new hero with the ability to manipulate smoke.
• DriveClub: Social connectivity, cutting-edge graphics and the world’s greatest supercars feature in the latest title from Evolution Studios.
• Knack: Turn into a gigantic fighting machine thanks to the power of ancient relics in this vibrant new adventure.
• Watch_Dogs: Learn what it is to have complete control over a hyper-connected city.
• The Witness: The latest puzzle game from Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid.
• Destiny: A brand new first person shooter from Bungie Studios.
• Other titles being readied include Capcom’s Deep Down and Diablo III from Blizzard.

Here is a PlayStation 4 event recap, with the slogan: “Push the Boundaries of Play.”

The focus on the event seemed very much on showing the PS4´s next generation experience for players…

Example 1: How Gaikai cloud services is integrated with the new PlayStation Store to recommend you your next game and eliminate download waiting times… you press `Buy` and you can immediately that very second start playing the full game via the Cloud as the rest of the game downloads to your harddrive! Wow!
Example 2: As you play your game and get stuck, you can ask a friend online to use his/her PlayStation 4 to take control of that section of the level to play and beat it to help you out! You can continue your PS4 game on the PS Vita at any time as well.
Example 3: A pet-peeve of many gamers has been solved. If you power down the PS4 in the middle of your game you no longer lose your progress, and there´s no minutes-long startup time. Instead the console turns on immediately and you can continue playing exactly from where you left off. No doubt this is thanks to the massive 8GB of RAM the system has.

Next we have some game developers gushing about the PS4´s possibilities.

Did anyone else find it odd they gave so much detail about the PS4 specs, social capabilities and games, but did not show what the console looks like or what it is priced at? I guess they are keeping that a secret until a E3 2013 reveal in June.

Has Sony got you excited for the PlayStation 4?