Overall, I must admit that I'm a bit underwhelmed. Sony absolutely did not bring their A-game to this conference, and we saw nothing that really sold the system as being a necessity. Let's start with the hardware and first list what we know about it.
Hardware
- 8 GB Dedicated Memory
- High Range (assume 1GB+ DDR5) GPU
- AMD-based 8-Core(!) X86 Processor
- Large HDD (Hopefully 1TB, no definate size announced)
- DualShock 4 Controller includes Move functionality, has a Vita-esque touchpad on the front of the controller, and includes a headphone port.
- System allows instant sharing of video and screenshots through at least Facebook and Twitter and live streaming of game content through uStream. No announcements if they would be premium features or have any cost.
- Remote play allows you to use a Vita in the same manner as a WiiU GamePad, playing any PS4 game on the Vita. Not specified, but since it operates the same as the WiiU with the console acting as a server and the handheld acting as a client, the maximum range for this feature is likely to keep it isolated to the same room as the console.
- If people (such as friends) are watching you play over livestream, you have the option to actually allow them to take control of the game and attempt to play through a part.
- Move will be supported.
- You will be able to play games while they are downloading, much like Steam or many of the MMOs with dedicated launchers do on PC.
- No backwards compatibility.
I do think it's adorable how Sony still thinks the Move is a system seller, since they dedicated part of their presentation to a game that looks likely to have the same level of appear that the uDraw did. The fact that the new DualShock controller also can interact with the Move sensor means it will basically be the Sixaxis2, which nobody asked for. Expect every launch title to try and force it into their game in some way.
However, on a more positive note, I do like the social features they are including. First of all, allowing for a headset to be plugged into the controller is good, even if they should have done this with the PS3 instead of dealing exclusively with Bluetooth. Second, the ability to instantly share things to Twitter and Facebook is pretty cool, since it allows you to actually show off some of the cool things you see in your games with other people. That's a really smart move by Sony, because your friends that might not have PS4s will see your posts and might become interested in the system (or, alternatively, they'll just block your posts because you're flooding their feed by hitting the Share button on everything like a cocaine-fueled chimpanzee.)
Related to this, I think the livestream options offer a lot of possibilities. If they're smart, they will allow you to get the raw footage from your stream in case you want to edit it or use it as part of a review and/or compilation. That feature would actually really get some of the current generation of gamers who are big fans of being able to put together game footage without buying a lot of expensive tools. Additionally, the idea of being able to invite your far-off friends to your stream, and then be able to essentially "pass" them your controller while playing is as close as we're gonna get to being able to simulate sitting next to them on a couch without the aid of holograms.
Last items on hardware: I really like that Sony is embracing what has been a very important part of the PC gaming experience for a while now with allowing you to play the games as you are downloading them, because nothing is worse than waiting for a 7GB download to finish up so you can play a newly released game. Finally, the lack of backwards compatibility needs to be addressed. Look, your system is running with the Blu-Ray drive again, there isn't really a reason for removing PS3 support, and in fact will hurt your console if Microsoft announces backwards compatibility with 360 games. The biggest issue Sony faces is the lack of support for anything purchased on the PSN. Telling everyone to buy the same digital content they already purchased on the last system will be a hard pill to swallow, just ask any Nintendo fan about that.
That's the hardware, so let's talk about the non-game related software we saw.
Non-Game Software
- Some Move-based 3D sculplting and animation BS.
- Streaming of PS1, PS2, and PS3 back-catalogues
- Ability to demo full versions of any title at any time
As far as the Move... thing we saw? It comes across as offensive to 3D modellers and designers who have already been able to create much more interesting things that that demo offered up. It doesn't look interesting, the "animated" characters looked lifeless and boring, and might I mention that no one really seems to care about the Move? Basically, this looks like it will let you play with lincoln logs and marionettes with Move controllers. Woo hoo.
Alright, now into the meat and potatoes of what we saw, the games.
Games
- Knack, a 3D Adventure game from one of the lead designers behind Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, and Crash Bandicoot
- Killzone: Shadow Fall, a generic-looking FPS
- Driveclub, a Forza/Gran Turismo-esque game with a nice coat of paint
- Infamous: Second Son, which we know nothing about other than it exists since all we got was a 20-second teaser trailer with no game footage
- The Witness, a game by Johnathon Blow, which appears to be a very stylized Myst-esque game.
- Deep Down, a game made by Capcom on their new Pantha Rhei engine, looks like a very, very pretty 3rd Person Adventure game.
- Blizzard announced Diablo III will be coming to both PS3 and PS4, with local multiplayer and controller-based gameplay (duh).
- Square-Enix again showed off their new graphics engine using the same trailer from months ago, and announced that they would announce a new Final Fantasy game at E3.
- Ubisoft showed off more Watch_Dogs, which continues to look amazing. They announced it will release simultaneously on PS3 and PS4.
- Bungie and Activision showed off more footage of Destiny, and also said it would simultaneously release on PS3 and PS4. They also said PlayStation would get some unspecified exclusive features.
The Witness looked really impressive and I have been wanting someone to go back and visit the style of games we used to see in Myst, 7th Guest, and Zork: Grand Inquisitor. I am a huge fan of puzzle games and with the developers from Braid working on this I'm excited to see what The Witness ends up like when it's finished. However, that all said, this is by no means a system seller. It certainly can't be a $60 game and doesn't really show off the power of the system in any way. It's cool, but feels a bit misplaced being shown here.
Deep Down and the new graphics engine Capcom showed off were really damn impressive looking, so I'd be interested to see where this goes. I'm all for medieval combat, and since I've yet to see anyone get dragon-fighting to work well, I'd be very interested in what they bring to the table with the finished product.
Blizzard brings Diablo to the consoles for the first time since the original game was released on the PS1. Unfortunately, they made this announcement long after people stopped caring about Diablo III, to the point that people often point and it and laugh at it while they play games like Path of Exile and Torchlight II. I do dig the 4-player local co-op option though, so it might not be a totally lost cause. However, this better not be a full priced $60 game.
Square-Enix was so prepared for this conference that they showed off a 5-month old tech demo for an already announced graphics engine and then followed that up by announcing an announcement. Seriously. God, I remember when I gave a shit about this company.
The biggest and best parts of the conference followed all that, with Ubisoft and Bungie. Ubisoft showed off more gameplay for Watch_Dogs, which continues to look both interesting and innovative. Bungie then showed some more footage of Destiny and also talked up how PlayStation people would get some extra content exclusive to their platform. However, while these two companies had the best showing, they also highlight the biggest issues of this conference: we still ultimately were given zero reason to buy a PS4.
Now look, I'm not just trying to be a facetious troll here, but let's look at the real facts. PS4 isn't bringing anything truly groundbreaking to the table in their hardware. This is a fairly powerful PC, at best. When the PS3 was announced, it was the best (and cheapest) way to get a Blu-Ray player, which presented new entertainment possibilities to households. When the PS2 was announced, it was the first time graphics of that magnitude had been seen in the living room. What they've shown off has not been graphically leaps and bounds ahead of anything we've seen. PC gaming's return to form over the last 3 years has shown off graphics and performance that really take the piss out of what the PS4 showed off here. The announced social features already exist through peripherals that will be much cheaper than buying a PS4. The remote play feature already exists on the WiiU, except you have to buy an additional $300 paperweight called the Vita to do it.
Software-wise, there is literally nothing. There is no PS4 "killer-app", no big exclusives, not even a game based on any new concepts. They literally have given no reason at all to buy the system at launch. The two biggest games that were announced are multi-platform and in no way was any effort made to show off any "PS4" difference that might exist. Really, Sony came across here as an uncomfortable teenager having his first sexual experience. The conference was awkward, unimpressive, and seemed a bit premature.
I will hope that by E3 things will be a bit more fleshed out and Sony will bring some better incentives to present, but for right now I don't have a whole lot of optimism in what they're trying to do. This places the ball firmly in Microsoft's court. The big question now is what is the Xbox going to bring to the table to try and trump the PS4? I guess we'll wait and see.
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