Begun, The Console Wars Have

So the PlayStation 4 got announced, that happened. Normally the hardware manufacturers announce new consoles at E3, which takes place in June, but apparently Sony just couldn't wait. In the long run, this early announcement will probably work out in their favor, since they are planning to launch this new console by the end of this year. If they had waited until June, it would have been too late to properly generate hype for this holiday season. Also, this standalone event was widely advertised, and saw viewership in the millions during the live press conference. These independent press releases may become the way of the future for hardware announcements, since Microsoft is allegedly planning one for April.

While the system itself was not shown during the conference, (it's likely still in the development stage, so the machine itself would look more like a PC at the moment) we did get a sneak peek at the PS4's internal architecture, and what we saw was both surprising and not. Unsurprisingly, the internal hardware is being compared to a PC at every turn. As this new generation continues to press forward into the realms of gaming that were previously unavailable to consoles, such as modding and streaming, the comparisons to PC's become more and more apparent. In the past, consoles existed separately from PC's on the gaming front, because they filled different roles, and offered different advantages, but as we face the dawn of a new generation, this line continues to become more and more blurry. The PS4 is tailor made for this style of crossover, offering an x86 8 core AMD processor, a “next generation” AMD Radeon based GPU, and an impressive 8 Gigs of GDDR5 RAM.

What is surprising however, is the degree to which these features are being implemented. The PS4 features specifications that are far beyond anything the current generation of consoles has to offer, which isn't too surprising since the PS3 came out in 2006, but still impressive nonetheless. Sony plans to make use of these features with their “Share” button, a new button on every controller that will allow real time screenshots, video recording, and even streaming of anything you are playing. The PS4 will also feature cloud based storage and streaming, features which will supposedly allow you to access your games and media anywhere through your phone, tablet, or PS Vita.

The new controller isn't anything special, it deviates very little from the established design of the PlayStation brand controller. The biggest change, aside from the aforementioned “Share” button, is the introduction of a touch-pad, and an LED light bar, that will be detected by a new 3D camera for motion detection.

From this angle it looks like a Dwebble

Sony claims that this motion detection is not a replacement for the PlayStation Move platform, but rather an addition to it, however nothing shows off how lazy a peripheral design is like when it is remade correctly, and actually integrates quite nicely.

There are still quite a few mysteries about the PlayStation 4 that have not been answered yet, most notably the price. By my estimate, it would cost in the ballpark of $600 to build a PC with the kind of numbers they are talking about, but that is definitely on the high end. After the press disaster that was the PS3 launch, I doubt Sony will charge any more than they absolutely have to, but I could still see it hovering around the $450 to $500 range. Another question involves the maximum capabilities of the system. If Sony wants these features like streaming and cloud downloading to be operational for every title, then games will have to be designed with an artificial cap in mind, since the system will need to keep resources reserved for those features. We’ll probably have to wait till E3 to get more information, but if Sony can live up to all of these promises, then you can bet I’ll be getting one.