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The Console
The Playstation 4 (as it's now officially known) was not seen in the flesh, but the specs were detailed on the screen and it looks like it could answer a lot of the concerns developers had over the PS3.
Designed by the famous games developer Mark Cerny , the console is based on making it easier for developers to program and giving them better access to the resources from the CPUs to GPU in order to make them more versatile..
The device itself was described as a Supercharged PC architecture, containing the latest X86 CPU, to enable easier porting and programming based on a design that developers have been using for years. The enhanced PC GPU with DDR5 RAM is similarly designed for ease of use and will be familiar to many PC developers. Lastly, 8GB of unified memory provide enough RAM to cope with the vast worlds the power of the console could create. To allay fears of a cloud only device, a standard HDD storage.is also included.
exact point you left off.
The PS4 is designed with always-on video recording, handled separately from the rest of the system by the hardware so you can upload clips of your gameplay. to your friends and it will even allow others to watch you play in realtime and help you out.
A sleep mode has been built in that suspends the gameplay with very little power usage and allows you to begin to play again the moment you switch on. It's similar to the way current Apple Macs are set up.
Backward Compatibility
The machine itself won't be physically backward compatible, which may sadden many, but using Sony's acquisition of Gaikai, the cloud-based streaming service, you can play most games in Sony's back catalogue from the PS1, PS2 and PS3.
The Controller
The Dualshock 4 is the newest in the Dualshock series with a slightly redesigned button and joystick layout, but the main difference is that in place of the start and select it has a small touchpad for use in games. This should provide more functionality to developers, though it seems pretty small to be of much use as a touchpad in general.
A new version of the PS Eye was also briefly shown, this time looking a little more like Kinect. It should work with the Move controller to allow for a far more accurate motion sensor.
Games
Over 70 different companies were announced as supporting the PS4, with some being invited to show off their new games.
Killzone: Shadowfall ,from Guerrilla Games looked great but seemed to have very little difference in gameplay to this generation's FPS games, bar some interesting cloaked enemies.
Drive Club., the new racing game from Evolution, looked very impressive with photo-realistic driving action and easy access to create and join clubs and race against others.
Sucker Punch surprised everyone with Infamous 3, which is all about being watched by CCTV. It looked like another strong entry in the series.
The Witness from Jonathan Blow., creator of Braid, looked really interesting, though it did seem a little like a set of puzzles in an open world environment.
David Cage's Quantic Dream studio showed off a new graphics animation engine with an old man's head being modelled in realtime (they should have that for the demo disc!).
No surprise that Media Molecule were back with a new title for PS4 too, using the Move fcontroller or digital sculpting which looked too good to be true (expect my creations to be much worse)
Capcom's Yoshinori Ono presented Deep Down using a new engine codenamed Panta Rhei. There wasn't much to go on based on the short video, though.
Square showed their t E3 demo for their new graphics engine too, though it was no different. They announced that the next FF game on PS4 would be announced at E3 (so, an announcement of an announcement, then!)
Next Ubisoft's Watch Dogs was shown and confirmed for PS4, though not necessarily exclusive to the platform.
Then a surprise guest!: Blizzard turned up to announce Diablo III released on PS3 and PS4. It sounded like an exclusive console release, too, in partnership with Sony.
Finally Activision followed this up with Bungie's developers showing off their new multi-format game Destiny. This is due to launch on PS4 first, which was a big surprise from the previously Microsoft owned team.
The Console
The Playstation 4 (as it's now officially known) was not seen in the flesh, but the specs were detailed on the screen and it looks like it could answer a lot of the concerns developers had over the PS3.
Designed by the famous games developer Mark Cerny , the console is based on making it easier for developers to program and giving them better access to the resources from the CPUs to GPU in order to make them more versatile..
The device itself was described as a Supercharged PC architecture, containing the latest X86 CPU, to enable easier porting and programming based on a design that developers have been using for years. The enhanced PC GPU with DDR5 RAM is similarly designed for ease of use and will be familiar to many PC developers. Lastly, 8GB of unified memory provide enough RAM to cope with the vast worlds the power of the console could create. To allay fears of a cloud only device, a standard HDD storage.is also included.
exact point you left off.
The PS4 is designed with always-on video recording, handled separately from the rest of the system by the hardware so you can upload clips of your gameplay. to your friends and it will even allow others to watch you play in realtime and help you out.
A sleep mode has been built in that suspends the gameplay with very little power usage and allows you to begin to play again the moment you switch on. It's similar to the way current Apple Macs are set up.
Backward Compatibility
The machine itself won't be physically backward compatible, which may sadden many, but using Sony's acquisition of Gaikai, the cloud-based streaming service, you can play most games in Sony's back catalogue from the PS1, PS2 and PS3.
The Controller
The Dualshock 4 is the newest in the Dualshock series with a slightly redesigned button and joystick layout, but the main difference is that in place of the start and select it has a small touchpad for use in games. This should provide more functionality to developers, though it seems pretty small to be of much use as a touchpad in general.
A new version of the PS Eye was also briefly shown, this time looking a little more like Kinect. It should work with the Move controller to allow for a far more accurate motion sensor.
Games
Over 70 different companies were announced as supporting the PS4, with some being invited to show off their new games.
Killzone: Shadowfall ,from Guerrilla Games looked great but seemed to have very little difference in gameplay to this generation's FPS games, bar some interesting cloaked enemies.
Drive Club., the new racing game from Evolution, looked very impressive with photo-realistic driving action and easy access to create and join clubs and race against others.
Sucker Punch surprised everyone with Infamous 3, which is all about being watched by CCTV. It looked like another strong entry in the series.
The Witness from Jonathan Blow., creator of Braid, looked really interesting, though it did seem a little like a set of puzzles in an open world environment.
David Cage's Quantic Dream studio showed off a new graphics animation engine with an old man's head being modelled in realtime (they should have that for the demo disc!).
No surprise that Media Molecule were back with a new title for PS4 too, using the Move fcontroller or digital sculpting which looked too good to be true (expect my creations to be much worse)
Capcom's Yoshinori Ono presented Deep Down using a new engine codenamed Panta Rhei. There wasn't much to go on based on the short video, though.
Square showed their t E3 demo for their new graphics engine too, though it was no different. They announced that the next FF game on PS4 would be announced at E3 (so, an announcement of an announcement, then!)
Next Ubisoft's Watch Dogs was shown and confirmed for PS4, though not necessarily exclusive to the platform.
Then a surprise guest!: Blizzard turned up to announce Diablo III released on PS3 and PS4. It sounded like an exclusive console release, too, in partnership with Sony.
Finally Activision followed this up with Bungie's developers showing off their new multi-format game Destiny. This is due to launch on PS4 first, which was a big surprise from the previously Microsoft owned team.