We are just 3 days removed from the Playstation 4 being formally announced and there has been so many things that has been said. Today, I thought that I would speculate what things might mean, and try to interpret what has been said for you lovely readers.
Coming from the conference, we now know the basic specifications of the machine, and these include the following;
- The Playstation 4 will have supercharged PC architecture
- an X86 CPU
- an enhanced PC GPU
- 8 GB of Unified Memory
- A local storage HDD
- System Memory is GDDR5
In other words, the Playstation 4 is gearing up to be a powerful machine. I’m excited to see the possibilities, especially because Sony has said that the PS4 was built with developers in mind. In 2008, they went around to companies, asking them what sort of things they’d like to see on a console. This obviously means that the PS4 is much more developer-friendly then the PS3 was, which should mean that companies will get more comfortable and unlock it’s full potential quicker. Now, just imagine what can be done given a console that has been built with developer input, the possibilities are both endless and exciting. The perfect example was Drive Club, a Playstation 4 racing simulation said to have been conceptualized over 9 years. Because of the Playstation 4, it’s finally able to come to fruition. The input from developers made this possible. Another game that was shown off was called Knack. I have to say, this game looks really nice, and I like the concept of it. Basically, you are a alien type creature that is made up of particles and because of this, you can take the form of almost anything. The art style and gameplay is reminiscent of Sony mainstays like Spyro or Jak & Daxter.
Sucker Punch also revealed the game that they had been working on and it is indeed Infamous, but not in the form of Infamous 3. The title is Infamous: Second Son, which fans will immediately recognize as related to the organization in the first two games, named “The First Sons”. My mind started clicking and I thought, could this mean that a new organization has surfaced, possibly using survivors of “The First Sons”? Another thing that I thought, though could be unlikely, is Cole’s brother. He was mention briefly and perhaps Sucker Punch will continue the McGrath story in the form of his brother, or if we were to take the name literally, maybe Cole had a child?
The setting for this game is set seven years after the events of Infamous 2, to my understanding. Makes sense; I was sort of wondering how they would make a third when one of the two endings in Infamous 2 made it impossible to continue Cole’s story. (No spoilers for those still needing to play, which you should!)
Guerilla also showed off a game, and I knew immediately that it was Killzone, but not the fourth one. The title is Killzone: Shadow Fall and there were jokes that this was actually the fourth one, and we were just being trolled and upon release, the “A” in Shadow would become a “4”. I don’t believe this, but thought it was humorous and surely plausible seeing as how publishers are known to make changes last minute.
There was a number of other games announced, but for sake of length, I will just name them off;
- Destiny (Playstation 3 & 4)
- Drive Club (Playstation 4)
- Infamous: Second Son (Playstation 4)
- Killzone: Shadow Fall (Playstation 4)
- Knack (Playstation 4)
- Deep Down (working title) (Playstation 4)
- Diablo 3 (Playstation 3 & 4)
- The Witness (Playstation 4)
- Watch Dogs (Playstation 3 & 4)
Square Enix was also present, showing off their Luminous Engine, a demo that we’ve seen before. Although, one worthwhile piece of information was that at E3, they would have information on a Final Fantasy for the Playstation 4. I couldn’t make out if he said new or not, but my initial thought the moment Square Enix was called to the stage was “Final Fantasy Versus 13 will be releasing for Playstation 4″. Only reason I say this is because Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns (XIII-3) is being released this year for the Playstation 3, and I really don’t see Square Enix releasing Versus 13 as well, creating competition for their own title. Releasing it for Playstation 4 makes complete sense on a business standpoint (It has been almost 7 years in the making, come on Squeenix!)
The key thing for me was Gaikai. The moment they came out and revealed all their plans, I was excited. They’re really pushing the social aspect of gaming, from spectating to playing multiplayer with your friends. But they also revealed plans on making Playstation 1, 2, AND 3 games streamable, so that you can play on the Playstation 4. This right here is selling it for me; so many great games, like Lunar and Grandia, that I would love to revisit, but can’t because I lack the console. Now, if this becomes reality soon or in a few years, remains to be seen. Finally, gamers will be able to immediately download a portion of a game, and while you play it, it continues downloading the rest.
The Playstation 4 controller was officially revealed, and was also the only piece of hardware we saw. So that means that Sony is no doubt showing off the Playstation 4 at E3, which is when Microsoft is supposedly showing off “Durango” or unofficially, Xbox720. The controller has been called “Dualshock 4”, and I’m one happy camper that they kept the loyal design. The analog sticks are different though, in the sense the the top curves inwards, much like Xbox360. So, when you’re vigorously playing an action-packed action adventure, such as God of War and your hands get a bit sweating, it’ll be harder to slip off. It also has a small touchpad in the middle, as well as every gaming site’s dream, a share button. No need to edit videos. A click of the share button allows you to post up gameplay footage directly. There is also a sensor bar at the top that communicates with a Wii-like sensor bar (Pressumably, the Playstation Eye). I can only assume this is for Playstation Move. Speaking of which, there was a virtual sculpture app that was shown. It was cool, I guess, but I’m not in the market to become the next Da Vinci. I speculate that upon buying the Playstation 4, you can expect to pick up the “Playstation Eye” as well. This comes from the fact that the controller will have move capabilities built in, and Sony wants to push Move, and expecting consumers to spend an additional so-and-so amount of dollars on the Playstation Eye will fail in my eyes, thus making adding move functionality to the controller redundant.
Now, Sony has a past with kind of emulating Nintendo — last year, with the release of Playstation Move and what looks like a Wiimote with a head. Sony took the idea, tried to make it their own, and failed, horribly. It died a meaningless, painful, fiery, bloody, death. They did show off something for the Playstation 4, which kind of resembles what Nintendo is trying to do with Wii U, but I believe Sony has made this idea theirs. Playstation Vita will play a huge part with Playstation 4 (Which plays into my prediction of “Orbis Vitae”, and both systems working together). From what was given, you will be able to play PS4 games on the go via your Vita. This will undoubtedly push a failing Vita out to consumers. They only showed Knack being played, but due to the crushing internet congestion, the quality sucked. I’m assuming it looked good? What seemed to be clear (see what I did there?) was that you would be able to play it at home on the Vita, and I believe there was mention of playing it on the go. The thought of playing Infamous or Destiny, oh man! As for me, I’m sold and am buying a Vita closer to the holidays. Well played, Sony.
I was really excited about this conference and I loved most of what I saw. There is so much I didn’t even mention, so I strongly suggest reading up on it. Playstation 4 is undoubtedly shaping up to be a great system. I did hear that Microsoft has registered a domain about an event this year, right after Sony’s cconference. Not surprising if Microsoft felt their hand was forced and decided that it was their turn to unveil their hardware.
We were also given a launch window: holiday 2013. This writer is saving up his dollars. A price range wasn’t given, so we have to wait till E3 I suspect. But given the Playstation 3 was $599 upon release, I’m predicting a $599 price as well for the PS4. And since two models are said to be releasing, I think the other one will be $499. But the fanboy in me screams top quality model, so I’m going to be broke this holiday season.
Are you guys interested? Will you be waiting for the first price drop before buying? Let me know in the comments, let’s have ourselves a good gamer discussion!
Similar articles from around the web
