The PlayStation 4: Some Things You Need to Know

Alright, normally I’d make a post like this a little more in-depth, blunt, and I guess professional, but there’s a lot to cover. I’m going to pretty much wing this and write about what I saw from watching the live stream of the conference, as well what was exactly shown from tonight’s Sony press event, in which the PlayStation 4 was officially revealed.

If you want to watch the entire two hour conference, I haven’t found a link to a full video yet. You can definitely catch bits and pieces from the event in clips on multiple websites, like GT.TV.

So the conference opened up with a really loud intro in which Sony chose to give a short trailer to showcase their past generations of gaming. They used MSTRKRFT’s remix of Metric’s “Monster Hospital,” and I really like that song, so I paid attention. After the trailer, some boring guy got on stage and was like “Blahblahblahblahblahblah, thanks for coming out here. Here’s our PLAYSTATION 4!” Then everyone clapped because some people in the audience thought they actually wouldn’t fucking call it a PlayStation and they would call it an “Orbis.” 

(And by the way, if you’re still calling the PlayStation 4 the “Orbis,” and you’re blogging/writing for a gaming site, please get away from your keyboard and go outside or something. We have an official name for it. Motherfuckers don’t call Gamecubes “Dolphins,” so why you wanna call a PS4 an “Orbis,” still?)

Anyway, then some other guy who worked on some old games for the Atari and helped make Earthworm Jim or something started talking for a long time. Then he explained what’s new with the PlayStation 4, feature wise. The “share,” button was explained, and it was revealed that gamers can now instantly post screenshots and video clips directly into Facebook or somewhere on the Internet. Sony’s actually working with Facebook and UStream, actually. Or something like that. The controller has a touch screen, but we’ve known that for a bit thanks to numerous rumors from the Internet.

The PS4’s camera will allow players to look at each other while playing a game. Different games, same game, etc. You can look at each other, spectate, talk shit, and you can even stream yourself. Pretty much instantly. There’s a pic of that in the image dump up top.

The console is NOT backwards compatible (physically, I guess?) but you will be able to play PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on your system by streaming. Downloads can now be completed when your system is off, which is an extremely cool feature. Games you buy are available to play ASAP. If you want to play Killzone, you can purchase it and literally start it up and begin playing with the game being downloaded while you’re still in-game. Also, there’s a lot to do with clouds. You can transfer games to your Vita, much like Wii U and its controller.

Some other people talked and games were shown. There’s a new Killzone, some other game with some robot in it that looked like a Dreamworks film, and Square-Enix came on stage to show some video too. Then Square-Enix invited grandpa/Final Fantasy board director on stage to say “Hey guys, wanna know what Final Fantasy game we’re making NOW? Too fucking bad, you’ll see it at E3!” Then he got off stage and some other shit was shown. I don’t remember. There was a car game that seemed overly detailed and extremely realistic, but I don’t like cars to begin with so I kind of blocked that out. Oh, and Infamous.

What I do remember, game wise, was Watch Dogs. That game looks incredible. Here’s a trailer of that. Highly suggest watching it if you wanna see what’s on some next-level shit right now. It’s also coming to multiple platforms, but it’s releasing on PS4 first.

Then Sony said “Hey, you remember when we made this?” and then showed off the PlayStation Move. And then I left the room to make a sandwich and watch my girlfriend play Dead Space 2 for a little bit, so I missed a big chunk of it. It was boring though, I’m sure.

Then Blizzard came out! And whoever spoke for Blizzard looked like a really cool step-dad or something, so I really paid attention to him. He was seriously the Tony Stark of Sony tonight, looking real comfortable and making jokes people had genuine laughs with.

Then this motherfucker announced that Diablo III was coming to PlayStation 4 (AND PS3) and every superior PC gamer in the world lost their fucking minds.

Then Bungie came out and said “Hey guys, Destiny is coming out on PS4, too.” Then this team from Bungie came out and stood there in blazers, looked real odd for a while, and then Scotty beamed their awkward asses up so Sony could close the event.

And that was it, for the most part. I’ve linked this post with a bunch of articles to further explain what I can’t right now. There’s loads of photos, videos, etc, so check them out. There’s bits I missed out on, but I’m okay with that. That’s pretty much what happened. I was kind of struggling to not fall asleep.

What we still don’t know is what Sony will price this thing at, what the actual console looks like, and what else is in store for the console. We know it’s out this holiday season, though. Maybe more will be revealed at E3, perhaps?

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In Less Than 15 Minutes, Sony Is Having a Press Conference

And more than likely, it’s about their next gaming console. PlayStation 4? Maybe. Live streaming by Kotaku is going to happen, as well as live updates. Stay tuned to them for info when it drops. We’ll have a wrap-up post tonight on the event. Stay put.

WSJ: PlayStation 4 to Stream PlayStation 3 Games

The Wall Street Journal has revealed that an unnamed source “familiar” with Sony’s plans with the Playstation 4 claims that the next console will be able to stream PlayStation 3 games. This is very interesting news, as it’s been swirling around that the PlayStation 4 will not be accepting used games. This may be the way around not pissing everyone off.

Joystiq’s report suggest “that online streaming of current PS3 games will be paired with new games sold on optical media through regular channels.” A good solution to not having backwards compatibility? Maybe.

Announcements from Sony regarding the PlayStation will be on the 20th. Stay tuned to Albotas for more on the next generation console.

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An Interesting Article on What Sony Should Do to Succeed With the PS4

Earlier this week, I wrote about a rumor that Edge broke news on. That rumor stated that Microsoft will not be allowing playable used games for their next console. There were a couple of other things mentioned in that write-up with the next Microsoft system, but hardly any of the 5,000+ notes on Tumblr had any opinion or 2 cents on those other new features, such as the console’s new blu-ray format, or the new Kinect being bundled with the next Xbox.

Well, in case some of you weren’t aware already, Sony has patented technology that could very well stop the use of used games on their next console. It’s also been rumored for the last two years that both Sony and Microsoft will indeed be stopping used games from being playable at all on their next gen consoles.

Also, for those of you upset with this tactic and think that neither company would ever do this: stop being naive. They’re both companies who need money. That’s what they do. Simple as that.

Steam does it now. You cannot sell or lend out a previously purchased PC game you have bought from Steam. Same idea here, except with consoles. Granted, neither Microsoft or Sony price their digital games low enough to make me want to purchase them online as opposed to handling physical copies, but I’m sure that would change in the future gen of consoles. Hopefully…

And stop kidding yourselves — you’re not going to buy a Wii U if Microsoft or Sony “betrayed” you. You weren’t planning on that ever. Most of you have jobs and can afford more than one console, so I don’t see the need for elitism with sticking with one system for one entire generation of video game systems when you can simply buy another.

So now I’m going to make this perfectly clear before I go on with saying this. I’ll even bold this next statement, as to not confuse some of you with this post.

It’s rumored that the next PlayStation will not be backwards compatible and the next Xbox might not be either. Veteran gaming journalist, Chris Morris, speculates that the new technology being brought onto both upcoming systems will not allow either console to achieve that task. 

Reading some headlines on Kotaku this afternoon, I found this article I’d really like you all to take the time and read, written by Chris Morris. The article goes in-depth into explaining what exactly needs to be accomplished for Sony to succeed with their upcoming PlayStation 4 console. Pretty damn great ideas and a very realistic look on what Sony will be doing with their upcoming console. Read it here. It’ll get you pumped, from a business aspect at least.

And yes, rumors are rumors. But sometimes they can be true. Sometimes.

We may know more about the PlayStation 4 in less than two weeks. Sony has planned a press conference for February 20, and many speculate it’s for the PlayStation 4.

This Is What The PlayStation 4 Looks Like

Or at least it’s what it should look like according to this conceptual mock-up by Nathan Gandotti and Danny Haymond Jr. The pair envision a slimmer, more futuristic body with a solid state drive, WiGig Alliance connectivity, and an attractive light-up controller. Hopefully Sony is taking notes.

Buy: Concept Design 2
Check it: Nintendo 3DS Pro concept design