The Sony PS4 has been announced by Sony! At long last we've had our first look at the new console and so far it looks... next-geny.
With TechRadar in attendance at the event on the 20th Feb, Sony revealed some tantalising details about the hardware specs, along with some amazing software features that the new console will have.
But sadly, and almost unbelievably, we STILL don't know what the PlayStation 4 looks like. Sony has, however, revealed some fundamental details about the PS4 hardware, announced during the event and revealed in a post-conference spec sheet just what we'll see when the console launches during the holidays this year.
PS4: Hardware specs
AMD, as we guessed all along, is coursing through this new system's veins.
Post-event, Sony revealed the system runs on a single-chip custom processor and utilizes eight x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU cores, with a next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine powering the way.
The "highly enhanced PC GPU" packs 18 GCN units - that may sound a like a lot of techy mumbo jumbo but what it essentially means is that the GPU packs 18 processing clusters, each packing up to 64 cores. That provides a lot of parallel processing power, and will thus handle the majority of the PS4's grunt work. It hits 1.84 TFLOPS of processing mojo.
Sony announced at the NYC event that the console will use GPU compute features to take advantage of this components raw power - it'll be used for general computation tasks as well as building graphics.
Memory
The PS4 will ship packing 8GB of GDDR5 memory. That's some super-fast stuff right there and should enable lightning fast performance.
Indeed, Sony has revealed that you will be able to power down the PS4 mid-game and then switch it on again in seconds and pick up right where you left off. That's the sort of loading power that this memory enables.
Other specs
We're also looking at Blu-ray disk support plus good ol' DVD, plus HDMI output support as well as Analog-AV out and an optical digital output.
PlayStation 4 Eye
What's really grabbing though is the development of the PlayStation 4 Eye, a newly developed camera system that utilizes two high-sensitivity camera equipped with wide-angle lenses and 85-degree diagonal angle views.
Sony said the cameras (amounting to 1280 x 800 pixels) can cut out the image of a player from the background or differentiate between players in the background and foreground, enhancing game play handily. There's also mention of logging in using facial recognition and using voice and body movements to play games "more intuitively."
If you want to know how these specs stack up against what we know so far about the Xbox 720 (clue: PS4 is more powerful) - check out our comparison of PS4 and Xbox 720 specs.
Will the PS4 be 4K capable?
In a chat with Kotaku, Sony has revealed that the PlayStation 4 will be able to playback 4K/Ultra HD video. However, it will not upscale to 4K or play games at 4K resolution.
Backwards compatibility
The PS4 will definitely not offer native support for PS3 games. However, there will at some point be a service on the Sony Entertainment Network that offers server-side emulation and streaming of games from PS One classics right through to PS3 Platinum Editions.
PS4 controller: DualShock 4
The PS4 controller comes in the form of the DualShock 4 pad. Very much a classic design, the DualShock 4 nevertheless offers upgraded vibrations, enhanced motion sensors and a Vita-like touchpad on the front.
PS4 release date
The PS4 release date is "Holiday 2013". That's the only detail Sony revealed at the launch and it's unclear which territories it applies to. Certainly the U.S., almost certainly Japan. We have a feeling the U.K. and Europe may have to wait a little longer, maybe even until early 2014.
This is pretty much what happened with Sony's previous consoles - the PS3 came out in the EU in March - and is backed up by various leaks and rumours. At least you'll have plenty of time to save up if you live outside of Japan or the USA.
PlayStation Move
Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Move will play a big part in the PS4 ecosystem. However, it has not yet been revealed whether the PS4 will launch alongside a new PS Eye camera and new Move controllers or whether the peripherals are staying the same with all the enhancements made console-side.
Synergy with PlayStation Vita
Sony has revealed that the PS4 will launch with the ability to stream games directly to your PS Vita. In exactly the same way as the Wii U allows you to switch off your TV and continue playing on the tablet controller, the PS4 will wirelessly send your games to the Vita.
There will be similar synergy between "all Sony devices" which means Xperia handsets and tablets, Bravia TVs and BD players.
Sony hinted that there will be more announcements in this area, too. We think the obvious next reveal in this area is the ability to play PS4 games on your Vita from any location using a wireless connection.
PS4 Instant On
The PS4 will be one nippy device if Sony is to be believed. It will have an instant on/off feature allowing your to shut down during a game and then boot up from scratch in seconds and resume where you left off. The days of waiting 60 seconds as your console loads up are about to end.
PS4 price: how much will it cost?
No pricing details were revealed at the event, so all we've got to go on are various rumours from before the launch - but it might be that Sony has a price point of around $400 in mind for the US release. That translates to around £255 so you could extrapolate that to around £299.
This is further backed up by a recent report in The Times which states that Sony is aiming for a price of under £300 in the U.K. Many people think it'll be more than that though - we'll just have to wait and see.
Second-hand games on the way out?
Sony has yet to discuss this area of the PS4, but you'd think it would dispel the rumours if they're not true.
The rumours suggest that Sony is going in the same direction as Microsoft in that it wants to kill off the second-hand games market. Current industry wisdom suggests that future PS4 games might be tied to your Sony Entertainment Network account and will thus have no resale value. That's a similar approach as used by PC developers using Steam so we reckon this is a likely development. Doesn't mean we're happy about it, though.
