Sony Reveals More PS4 and Dual Shock 4 Details

Yesterday, Sony gave a presentation explaining a bit about the new PS4 hardware, the development environment (Windows 7 based IDE), and the changes to the Dual Shock controller. From the article: "The system is also set up to run graphics and computational code synchronously, without suspending one to run the other. Norden says that Sony has worked to carefully balance the two processors to provide maximum graphics power of 1.843 teraFLOPS at an 800Mhz clock speed while still leaving enough room for computational tasks. The GPU will also be able to run arbitrary code, allowing developers to run hundreds or thousands of parallelized tasks with full access to the system's 8GB of unified memory. ... The DualShock 4 controller that's standard on the PS4 eliminates one feature that was seldom used on the PS3 —the analog face buttons..." The trackpad will support two touch points, the rumble motors can be controlled more finely, and the analog sticks were tweaked for "reduced dead zone and better feeling tension that grips your thumbs."

Comments

Re:Any Word On compatability?

[Somebody Is Using My]

The Playstation 4 will not be backwards compatible with Playstation 3 games.

Playstation 2 games will be supported via emulation, /if/ you buy and download them from the Playstation store (so no, you can't just pop in a PS2 disc and expect it to work; you need to buy the game again).

In other words, for full backwards compatibility you need all three devices.

The missing article...

[boarder8925]

I think this is the article in question.

Re:Analog face buttons?

[Tmann72]

Yeah, you do. It's the four face buttons with the X, O, Triangle, and Square. They had analogue capability in that they could detect how soft or hard you pressed them. This was used more in the ps2 days, but has fallen out of use since it rarely made things better.

Re:Any Word On compatability?

[tepples]

Acquisition of GaiKai and skinny on the street says it will be offered down the line by some sort of cloudy streamy service.

Which means if your home Internet is satellite, microwave, capped DSL, capped cable, or capped fiber, good luck.

Re:Anyone ever use

[Colonel Korn]

the analog face buttons? I gave up pretty quick on them after using them to play Mad Maestro on the PS2. Didn't even realize they were still in the PS3. I do wish Sony would stop adding pointless features to their game pads. It's not so much that the features bug me as I'd rather they spend time/money somewhere else. Plus it'd be nice if the gamepads weren't $60 bucks. On the plus side the PS4's gamepad looks cheap to produce.

I think the useless touchpad will drive up the price.

If you want Linux, get Ouya

[tepples]

Fortunately, for people who want a Linux box and a game console in one package, Ouya comes out this June. I have no need for Sony.

Re:What's the point of buying a Sony PC?

[Anonymous Coward]

PCs don't get to run Sony exclusive titles. People like them, a lot. It's the same for the other consoles, it's about the games, not the transistor configurations. The new xbox will also return to x86 architecture. Going to moan about that too?

Nuh uh

[fyngyrz]

No hardware compatibility, no emulation == no buy.

And I agree with you: I *am* going to hold my nose because of that linux thing. That was uncalled for. "Here! Have this console with this feature! Got it? Ok, yeah, that feature? We're taking that out."

I just can't see giving Sony any more money; as they chose to make it so that only used, older units will play the titles in my game library, then so be it: Used, older units is what I will buy when the ones I have go nipples north. I've already dedicated more shelves (and system inputs) to game machines than most people bother to; no more.

There's a silver lining to this, too... the used game market for the previous and earlier generation machines is inexpensive and rich with titles. Couldn't find and play all the good ones if I played one a day for the rest of my life. There are a few titles that have basically infinite re-playability, too, because they're about interacting with other people. So.... pfbbbt.

Re:Nuh uh

[Hatta]

No hardware compatibility, no emulation == no buy.

Why not? Don't you already have a PS3 you can play your PS3 games on? It's a brand new console. Backwards compatibility didn't help the Atari 7800, and it didn't help the Sega Genesis much either. Why spend so much effort engineering in backwards compatibility when you can just play your old console?

When DVDs came out, I didn't bitch that they weren't backwards compatible with what I already had. I kept my VCR and watched my tapes on that when I wanted to, and watched DVDs when I wanted to do that. What's so hard about that?

Promising backwards compatibility and then removing it is a shitty thing to do to your customers. Being up front about the lack of a feature that's barely useful is doing things right for a change.

Re:Nuh uh

[hairyfeet]

Besides lets be honest folks...its an HTPC. Both MSFT and Sony have gone with low power HTPC chips from AMD...so why not just build an HTPC and have control of the system?

Hell you can buy a nice AMD Hexacore for $300 that will curbstomp the chip in the Sony and MSFT consoles, just slap whatever GPU you prefer (If you want to save money the HD4850s are dirt cheap and play most games at 1080P and med/high settings, spend a little more you can get the HD7770 and double the memory and boost the performance by 50%) and whatever OS suits your fancy, I prefer Win 7 but on an HTPC Windows 8 actually works nice as those big ass tiles are easy to hit with a remote and since Valve has ported Steam Linux is always an option, and unlike the consoles its YOURS, want multiple OSes? RUN IT. Want to buy games from a dozen different vendors? DO IT. Nobody has control over the hardware but YOU.

I could understand the consoles in the past because it was hard to hook a PC to a TV for the average Joes and the consoles used exotic chips that gave them advantages in some areas...but its an AMD Jaguar folks, a bog standard X86 netbook chip, all they did was bolt 2 jaguar quads together and there ya go. I built a system just like the one linked for my oldest and it just blows through games like they were nothing WHILE playing his tunes AND having his chat running AND his browser loaded in the background, it never bogs down. And hooking a PC to a TV is as simple as an HDMI cable now, my mom could do it, it will detect the TV and do all the setup and Bob's your uncle. And if you want the little case? They make VCR looking cases you can use if that is what melts your butter but I've built several HTPCs and when folks see how nice the new cases look they usually just skip the HTPC case.

So I don't get it this time, like Jim Sterling said about the current consoles they are just crappy PCs with all the hassles like long updates and online passes but none of the upsides like cheaper prices and better MP...so why? Its not like you can't plug a wireless controller into a PC, Valve has big picture mode now which makes driving with a wireless thumbstick or remote easy peasy, the games are cheaper, MP lasts longer, hell you can still fire up Counterstrike Classic and be blasting away with dozens of folks inside of 4 minutes, and the best reason it leaves YOU in control of your system, so why? Why get worse prices and all the BS from Sony and MSFT along with gimped hardware? The sad part is when MSFT and Sony move to the Xbox 5 and PS5 they'll abandon the systems but thanks to DMCA they'll make sure nobody can just put out a simple unlock so all that bog standard X86 hardware will be dumpster bait...why put up with that?

Re:Any Word On compatability?

[butalearner]

In other words, for full backwards compatibility you need all three devices.

My 60 GB first generation PS3 begs to differ! Just a month ago I was looking through my games and I realized I never played Growlanser 3 (which came in the set with 2, which I played through twice), so I've been going through that one. As a bonus, it takes some of the load off my aging furnace.

DNAS error -103

[tepples]

There are a few titles that have basically infinite re-playability, too, because they're about interacting with other people.

If by "interacting with other people" you mean "online play", Sony is known for closing these titles' matchmaking servers with DNAS error -103 ("This software title is not in service") to make you buy the sequel. If by "interacting with other people" you mean something else, please elaborate.

Re:DNAS error -103

[cayenne8]

If by "interacting with other people" you mean "online play", Sony is known for closing these titles' matchmaking servers with DNAS error -103 ("This software title is not in service") to make you buy the sequel. If by "interacting with other people" you mean something else, please elaborate.

Yeah, I'm a bit concerned on this front, but for a different reason.

I bought my PS3 a few years back because then it was a reasonable price for:

1. 3D Bluray player

2. It streamed Netflix 3. Now, it also streams Amazon Prime

4. Oh...apparently it plays games too.

I use it a great deal for watching HD YouTube these days, and streaming NF and AP.

I've bought like 3 games, I tried Red Dead Redemption and love the game, but can never get the hang of it.

I used to could play game quite well as a kid, but I can't seem to get the real memory and muscle memory to get down all the freakin' controls on the dual shock. Two joy sticks (that also are press-able buttons) and the other plethora of buttons, and then on top...this new (to me) 3rd person view.

I do ok till a gunfight hits, and next thing I know, I'm staring at the sky or the ground and blood stains are filling the screen.

I guess I need to find 2-3 weekends in a row, with nothing else to do but sit down and learn the damned controller.

The games look cool, I would thing that the Batman Arkham Asylum would be fun, but shit, I don't think I stand a chance to play that one till I can somehow develop the muscle memory for the controllers.

Anyway, I digress, but I bought the PS3 mostly as a nice BR player and streaming machine.

I hope those functionalities aren't dropped anytime soon after the PS4 comes out.

GPU already years out of date

[InsaneLampshade]

1.8 teraflops, 800MHz clock speed... so they're aiming for a GPU with roughly the same power of something nVidia released in 2010?

Not to mention only 8GB RAM shared between GPU & CPU, I'm sure that'll last us for years to come!

Re:GPU already years out of date

[Voyager529]

1.8 teraflops, 800MHz clock speed... so they're aiming for a GPU with roughly the same power of something nVidia released in 2010?

Not to mention only 8GB RAM shared between GPU & CPU, I'm sure that'll last us for years to come!

Two pieces of fairness here...

1.) the PS3 had 256MBytes of RAM on its release.
2.) like every other console, it can get away with having lower specs than a general purpose PC - it doesn't have to run an operating system in the same sense that a desktop does; in broad terms it's closer to ESXi and its requirements than Win7/OSX/Ubuntu in its, so far more of that RAM can go to the game itself.

Bonus: Even if we postulate that the OS takes a gig of RAM itself, 7GB is roughly 1/3 of a single layer Blu-Ray disc. I know that HD textures can eat up graphics RAM pretty quickly, but is it really limiting to have 1/3 of a game in RAM at a time? Let's face it, console game creation has always involved working within some incredibly tight limits...even Crysis 3 doesn't require that amount of RAM to play. If 7GB of RAM and streaming the rest from an internal hard disk is a constraint, then I'd be forced to assume that the people writing games cut their teeth on ActiveX controls...

Used

[tepples]

I don't have a PS3.

Then why do you have PS3 games that you would use with backward compatibility? Or would you be buying used games?