Sony just took to the stage to announce their much-awaited next-gen console; the PlayStation 4 and its accompanying new controller; the DualShock 4.
It has been clear for a while that the major players in the traditional home entertainment industry have been looking to shake off the ‘games console’ tag, and that motif was echoed once more by Sony today with the announcement of the PS4. According to Sony’s Andrew House, the PlayStation 4 "represents a shift from thinking of a box or console," and after the recent leaks and conflicting reports pertaining to the fourth-gen offering, it was finally unveiled to the world just moments ago.
Despite the intent to break away from the traditional, ‘archetypal console’ typecast, there’s plenty for the hardcore gamer to be excited about with the PlayStation 4. First and foremost, it is to be based on what is described as "supercharged PC architecture," and packs in an x86 processor, a GPU remnant to that of a PC, along with a whole 8GB of GDDR5 high-speed memory.
The controller, which we’ve been seeing a lot of just recently, is called the DualShock 4, and as well as packing that touchscreen we’ve been mulling over for the past couple of weeks, also includes a light bar to the rear, which helps identify players. The PS4’s 3D camera will detect the players from these light bars, and with an impressive 8 CPU cores, performance clearly still remains atop the agenda.
Despite seeking to appease the long-standing, 8-hours-a-day types, the PlayStation 4 is also largely focused on making the user experience as simple and seamless as possible. Akin to the pick-up-and-put-down gaming world we’ve become accustomed to with smartphones and tablets, users will be able to halt and resume play simply by pressing the power button, removing the need for those cumbersome boot times.
We’ll have all the details of the PlayStation 4 coming right up, as well as our initial thoughts on the entire announcement, so stay tuned to our coverage here at Redmond Pie!
Update x1: Here’s everything you need to know in one place about PlayStation 4.
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