More PS4 Thoughts & Musings

Posted on February 21, 2013 by No_Style

After some time to ponder and digest, I thought I would share more impressions and reactions on the PlayStation 4.

Do I care about the sharing features?

I generally think the idea of watching someone playing games live is dumb; I rather be playing a game for myself. I do watch people play fighting games and I occasionally tune into GiantBomb’s TNT but those are uncommon occurrences. So the idea behind live streaming does not resonate with me.

I am a fan of the ability to share videos though. I’ve always wanted share “Battlefield moments” and other gaming highlights with friends and on NeoGAF but I did not have the tools do so. This kind of sharing is usually woven with some context so it’s interesting to me in that respect. I don’t care for straight dumping of gameplay clips for the sake of sharing though.

The box, what about the box?

I’ve seen a fair bit of criticism laid against Sony for not showing the actual console itself and I cannot understand why that matters. Will the look of the box actually sway people? No. It’s the specs that matter. If the PlayStation 4 looks like a beige boxed PC from the 1990′s, the people who cared enough to watch yesterday’s live stream and were impressed by the specifications and the vision will buy it regardless of appearances.

I guess people could try to ascertain the console’s price point from its aesthetics alone but outward appearances isn’t everything.

What about the videos they showed off?

Even after today’s direct feed videos were released, I couldn’t tell which was running on PlayStation 4 hardware or CG. With so much uncertainty I just didn’t feel confident commenting on what I saw.

What if Ken Kutaragi designed the PS4?

As soon as the specifications PDF came out I began wondering what (if anything) Ken Kutaragi would have done if he was in charge? I review the specs and I can only think of the most obvious and low hanging “upgrades” like bumping wi-fi to a 802.11ac

Because of market realities and the whooping they took early on in the PlayStation 3′s life, I doubt they would have built their own chips again regardless of who was in charge.

Price Predictions

It’s not going to be $599.99. Sony will not repeat the mistakes of the past and debut the PlayStation 4 at that price. I believe a $499.99 price tag would be more tolerable in this day and age. I would like to see a viable version at $399.99 but I can see a $499.99 version being the one you would really want.

PlayStation 4 Announcement Impressions

Posted on February 20, 2013 by No_Style

The PlayStation 4 was officially announced today. You can watch the event here if you wish. Many of the hardware specifications rumors turned out to be true. The big surprise was the confirmation of 8GB of GDDR5 RAM. Early rumors were pegging it at 4GB so it was a surprise to see Sony double it.

Why is RAM so important? Because memory limitations were the source of feature parity and performance issues for many consoles. And if they were going to add all those sharing features and suspend features, having more RAM can only help. This means they’re not cutting into developer RAM.

The most impressive moment to me was the appearance of Mark Cerny as the PlayStation 4′s System Architect. Unlike with the PlayStation 3, the west has taken the lead on the PlayStation system hardware. This makes me feel more confident about the future of PlayStation Network services and developer relations.

By moving to x86-64 and “off the shelf” PC parts, the PlayStation 4 will be much more developer friendly. I’m hoping this enables developers to quickly ramp up and get quality games in the early years and not repeat the growing pains of the PlayStation 3.

Overall I was very impressed with what Sony showed. They showed more games than I thought they would and they spent the right amount time on the hardware, features, tech demos and games. Great job, Sony.

For more official info on the PS4, check out these PDFs:

Sony No Longer Working With SuperBot Entertainment

Posted on February 4, 2013 by No_Style

playstationlogo SuperBot Entertainment — the developer behind Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s Smash
Bros. — is no longer working with Sony. The remaining DLC plans are being handled by Sony’s Santa Monica Studio who seem to have their hand in everything Sony related these days.

I thought PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was a soulless and extremely short lived title. I received a free copy of the PS Vita version and could not muster more than half a day’s worth of enjoyment from it. Playing Smash Bros. evoke nostalgic feelings and I often learn a thing or two behind the characters and cameos Nintendo chose to include.

I hope SuperBot Entertainment continues developing fighting games in the future. Even if the presentation was lacking, they did well by the mechanics. If they were given a second chance, I’m sure they would have learned from their mistakes.

PSN Day 1 Digital Announced

Posted on September 25, 2012 by No_Style

Sony’s been quietly ramping up their day one digital releases. Borderlands 2 was the last game that was available both digitally and on store shelves.

Today Sony announced the PSN Day 1 Digital program for the month of October. The following titles will be available on launch day:

Resident Evil 6 - (Available for download on October 2nd – $59.99)
NBA 2K13 - (Available for download on October 2nd – $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members, with pre-order)*
Dishonored - (Available for download on October 9th – $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members, with pre-order)*
DOOM 3: BFG Edition - (Available for download on October 16th – $39.99/$35.99 for PS Plus members, with pre-order)*
007: Legends - (Available for download on October 16th – $59.99)+
Medal Of Honor: Warfighter - (Available for download on October 23rd – $59.99)
Need For Speed: Most Wanted - (Available for download on October 30th – $59.99/$53.99 for PS Plus members, with pre-order)*
Assassin’s Creed III - (Available for download on October 30th – $59.99)*

That’s very impressive for a console manufacturer. They’re sweetening the deal by giving 10% off for PlayStation Plus members. It’s not a huge discount but it’s better than nothing.

Latest PS3 Update Features No Brainers

Posted on June 25, 2012 by No_Style

PlayStation 3 update version 4.20 will drop soon and it’ll deliver some of the most innovative features on consoles including the ability to determine auto shutdown times and select multiple save files for copying.

I can’t believe these features took so long. They seem like no brainers to me. I want to know what the thought process was when someone decided to include the copy save function. Did they not consider the idea that people may want to copy multiple saves at the same time?

I sincerely hope the next generation console operating system from Sony is leaps and bounds ahead.

Checkpoint: Post E3 2012 Edition

Posted on June 10, 2012 by No_Style

checkpoint-post-e3-2012-edition

If we were strictly viewing E3 wins and losses through press conferences, then the big three were all losers.

Microsoft played it incredibly safe with no real game surprises. Sony thought it was a good idea to suck the life out of their presser with the Wonderbook. And Nintendo? They were the most disappointing with their lack of must have software for their upcoming Wii U.

Thankfully the rest of the trade show yielded many promising titles for the end of this year, early 2013 and perhaps even late 2013.

Continue reading →

E3 2012: Day 1 – Sony Edition

Posted on June 4, 2012 by No_Style

The last press conference of the day belonged to Sony. It started off on a high note and gradually fell into the dark depressing rut that the PlayStation Move occupies. But like all press conferences, they did end with a bang.

Thankfully this post isn’t a retelling of the entire event and thus I shall only share the noteworthy and impressive titles.

Beyond: Two Souls (PS3)
Release date: TBA