Playstation 4

[ImaNihilist]

The PS4 announcement was one of the worst announcements I have ever seen. Ever. It was embarrassing to watch.

What I took away from it is that there is no such thing as a PS4 today. There's a general idea of components that they will use to make one in the future. That's it. Right now it's a paper concept. I'm not even sure if the controller is real. They never really showed someone using it close up.

The other thing is that PS4 is really just the controller. That's it. The console is just a standard x86 machine. I'm guessing all the games are OpenGL. The only difference between a PS4 game and a standard Windows game is what, a few API hooks and controller support?

The massive pile of video memory is somewhat novel, but we'll be there soon enough anyway.

[kpxgq]

The other thing is that PS4 is really just the controller. That's it. The console is just a standard x86 machine. I'm guessing all the games are OpenGL. The only difference between a PS4 game and a standard Windows game is what, a few API hooks and controller support?

i dont see why thats a problem? isnt that basically what the xbox1 was and that was a powerhouse of a console compared to its peers (ps2 and gamecube). also one of the biggest knocks against sony during the ps2/ps3 era was the difficulty in programming for the cell and emotion engine... using an x86 based cpu should allow for easier development and porting.

edit: also, developers have chimed in that the orbis dev kit allows for lower level APIs than what directx allows on windows, so even if the hardware is similar to a desktop computer, the ps4 is rumored to have superior efficiency in code:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512488
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=510076

[dyne]

I didn't expect PS3 games to play natively on the PS4 but PSN won't transfer over either!?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ransfer-to-ps4

Current-gen PSN titles and save data won't transfer to PlayStation 4, Sony has revealed.

Sun setting on the PS3.
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed this earlier today when speaking to Endgadget. While the PS4 will have limited backwards compatibility via the console's cloud-streaming services, it won't transfer your game data and thus you won't be able to transfer your library of PSN games.

I've invested a LOT into both PS+ and the PSN. I'll be very upset if they slowly roll out compatible re-releases and charge full price for them.

[Kamakazie]

I don't mind the lack of backwards compatibility. It just means I need to keep my PS3 hooked up a bit longer.

[richardginn]

GDDR5 is based on DDR3 and is not suited for general purpose computing. It sacrifices latency for extremely high bandwidth which is what modern GPU's are often limited by.

BUTTT with 8 gigs of GDDR5 ram you should still be able a program like Adobe Photoshop with no problems on a Windows 8 install and the the PS4 APU...

[dyne]

I don't mind the lack of backwards compatibility. It just means I need to keep my PS3 hooked up a bit longer.

And that's fine but what if the system dies? How long will they make them? How long will they have the PS3 portion of PSN accounts turned on? Too many variables. If they do like Nintendo did and offer the games for a heavily discounted price but unlike Nintendo offer them all day one instead of trickling them I would be fine with that.

[Steven P Jobs]

I'm not impressed so far. They showed a few generic shooters with slightly better graphics than before, Diablo 3, and a game where you can shake your waggle stick to play the drums. The social stuff looks silly, my facebook friends don't really need to know that I beat level 7 in Warfighter 2: Arab Guy Shooter. Never mind that they didn't even show the actual console, or all that much actual gameplay footage. For all I know the PS4 could be vaporware at this point.

All they had to do was go for some Oculus Rift-type immersive VR and it might have been actually interesting.

[taggart6]

It was an hour and half of promises. I won't hold my breath until I see something real other then some game trailers.

[ImaNihilist]

i dont see why thats a problem? isnt that basically what the xbox1 was and that was a powerhouse of a console compared to its peers (ps2 and gamecube). also one of the biggest knocks against sony during the ps2/ps3 era was the difficulty in programming for the cell and emotion engine... using an x86 based cpu should allow for easier development and porting.

edit: also, developers have chimed in that the orbis dev kit allows for lower level APIs than what directx allows on windows, so even if the hardware is similar to a desktop computer, the ps4 is rumored to have superior efficiency in code:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512488
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=510076

I don't think it's a problem either. I just think it's a bit weird to still consider PS4 a "console".

Really, we are entering an era of platforms where the console is just a reference box. There's no reason why any of this can run on a standard x86 box. The entire stack should run just fine on a standard desktop, if they allowed it (which of course they won't, but expect a crack before launch). Maybe it's this fact that made the whole presentation so awkward – they don't really know how to talk about it. Video memory is great, but we are really just talking about texture resolution and draw distance.

The reason that the dev kits allow for lower level access than DirectX is because everything is OpenGL – which has always made it easier to access hardware. With PS3, OpenGL was a layered API. Emulated, so to speak. On PS4 it's native the same way it is on your desktop. There might be one or two libraries that are unique to that specific hardware, but at the end of the day we are talking about an OpenGL implementation that is anything but special. The standardized hardware is nice, but we've been writing games for years now with features that only work on specific hardware subsets.

I mean, I think this is kind of great. The biggest problem with the PS3 was that it took almost TWO YEARS before anyone knew how to write a decent game to take advantage of the hardware.

[Geforce255]

This is actually good news for PC Gaming. The X86 architecture makes porting a smooth process. I hope MS follows suit and uses PC architecture.

[richardginn]

And that's fine but what if the system dies? How long will they make them? How long will they have the PS3 portion of PSN accounts turned on? Too many variables. If they do like Nintendo did and offer the games for a heavily discounted price but unlike Nintendo offer them all day one instead of trickling them I would be fine with that.

I fully agree. I think the PS3 will be made for only a few years after the PS4 comes out.

All the old games need to be super duper discounted which would be nice. Would be really really nice to insert an old game into the machine and then get streaming rights to the game instantly.

[PCVSNotebook]

PS4 Advertisement :

It is not only a Console ! it is a PC ... Install Windows 8 on an external USB3 Drive and you will have a full functioning 8 cores PC !

guys the this machine has HD 7850 performance ...

and I think if AMD wants to defeat Intel , they should release this kind of hardware FAST... I would pick an 8 cores AMD with built in 7850 and 8G DDR5 shared !!! or maybe 16G in case of desktop.

add another HD 7850 for cross fire ..

all this for like 500$ !

Intel is in GREAT DANGER here ! they dont even have DDR4 yet for desktop.

[PCVSNotebook]

The PS4 announcement was one of the worst announcements I have ever seen. Ever. It was embarrassing to watch.

What I took away from it is that there is no such thing as a PS4 today. There's a general idea of components that they will use to make one in the future. That's it. Right now it's a paper concept. I'm not even sure if the controller is real. They never really showed someone using it close up.

The other thing is that PS4 is really just the controller. That's it. The console is just a standard x86 machine. I'm guessing all the games are OpenGL. The only difference between a PS4 game and a standard Windows game is what, a few API hooks and controller support?

The massive pile of video memory is somewhat novel, but we'll be there soon enough anyway.

Really? wanna bet it will be advertised as 2 in one ? a Console and full PC at the same time ?

This is a GREAT machine ... if done right.

it will be the only PC with DDR5 memory in the market for like 5 years .. plus the 8G of RAM which is enough for most. and the low power tiny size POWERFULL 8 cores machine.

even Apple MAC Mini is in Danger here . I would replace my desktop pc machine with PS4 if they release it open for windows install.

[Trunks]

And that's fine but what if the system dies? How long will they make them? How long will they have the PS3 portion of PSN accounts turned on? Too many variables. If they do like Nintendo did and offer the games for a heavily discounted price but unlike Nintendo offer them all day one instead of trickling them I would be fine with that.

I'd like to think their prolonged production of the PS2 is a good indication that the PS3 will still be in production long after the PS4 is introduced. Maybe not quite as long as the PS2, but even half as long would be awesome. I still can't believe that the PS2 has been available new as long as it has been.

[dyne]

I don't think it's a problem either. I just think it's a bit weird to still consider PS4 a "console".

Really, we are entering an era of platforms where the console is just a reference box.

This is exactly the point they were trying to make the whole show. It's not the box, it's the experience and user interface that will be the only thing to set the "boxes" apart. With their plans to eventually have the entire catalog available across any device shows that they realize the money is in the game sales, not the "boxes." Companies only hurt themselves when they make their goods available to one device.