With several months until the release of Sony’s new PlayStation 4, the countdown begins.
According to PS4 Playstation4.com, the new console is scheduled for release in “Holiday 2013.”
The PlayStation 4 will take gaming beyond the walls of the living room or an isolated pastime. Consumers will not only have the ability to stay connected to their games but also to their gaming community.
Although Sony will maintain the alias and icon for some cases, the company is transitioning to a friend’s network. The majority of the console’s social aspects will be interacting with real friends from existing social networks.
Consumers can use their smartphones or tablets to browse live game video of what their friends or possible opponents are doing in real time. They can also help friends struggling in games by taking control of the game through their own console.
The PlayStation 4 is equipped with a Dualshock 4 controller. The controller allows tighter control for in game actions and consists of touch pad for input purposes, a light bar to help identify players and share button and headphone jack to enabled social interactions.
“People have shown before that they have, like those social aspects,” Brandon Supak, president of the Gamer’s Guild said, referring to systems like Xbox where such social aspects were successful among gamers. “I think it addresses the introversion perspective of [gaming].”
The CEO of Gaikai, a cloud gaming service purchased by Sony, Dave Perry, stated during Sony’s New York debut on Feb. 20, that they have partnered with Ustream to provide gamers with “multicasting capabilities.” With the PS4 gamers can schedule a time to broadcast their gameplay live and invite whoever they choose.
Additionally, the system will become more personalized. Over time the system should know what their consumer likes and dislikes. This can enable it to determine which game the user will purchase next. The game will be loaded and “ready to play before you press the ‘buy’ button” Mark Cerny, the lead system architect said in the debut.
Gamers will have the ability to get a full sense of the game prior to purchase.
According to Supak, PlayStation 4’s success can make or break Sony. “I think the PS3 was a financial flop and the Vita was definitely a financial flop…I think if they flop again, it’s going to through them out of the market” Supak said.
Six years ago, Sony admitted that the Play Station 3 had contributed to a 68 percent drop in profits, according to Neowin.net.
Though the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s portable console, did not fare well either with a price tag of $300, it ties in to the abilities of the new system.
Second Screens have been built into the architecture of the PlayStation 4, which has a key feature of Remote Play. The PlayStation Vita unlocks this feature, which allows gamers to transfer their games from their HD televisions to the Vita.
The change from playing on the Television to the portable console should be immediate.
It will provide an array of entertainment exceeding video games. This will include watching movies, shows and listening to music. The Service consists of Sony’s video and music unlimited and possibly other media services like Netflix, Amazon instant video and Hulu Plus among others.
Although the PlayStation 4’s price is not set in stone, the system could cost over $500, with its vast capabilities.
Gamer’s may end up spending even more as Sony’s new PlayStation is not backwards compatible, meaning that the new system will not play any of PlayStation’s former games.
However, during the debut, Perry stated that efforts are being explored through cloud technology to enable former PlayStation games to be played on newer systems in the future.
PlayStation 4 features a shooting based game and team based racing game “Killzone Shadow Fall” and “Driveclub” among others like “Second Son” and “The Witness.”
“I’m really excited about it but I wish some of the games were more original,” Supak said. “It looks really cool, but I’m sure if I want to buy [the PlayStation 4] right off the bat.”
