The Official PS4 Thread

[Arkaign]

MS has a lot of cash to grease palms with... come on theyve been scandalous since long before entering the console market.

As someone with very close ties to the industry, I can confirm this. I know someone that is a fairly popular online gaming personality who has taken no side in the new console 'war'. He was contacted by MS marketing, and they offered to send him an XB1 and a bunch of games, the catch was he had to sign a bunch of documents that amounted to : anything posted online relating to the console had to be reviewed by MS before being okay with publishing. It was full of thinly veiled hints about how to describe things, things to play up, and things that weren't supposed to be relevant. I'll see if I can get a redacted copy.

 

[futurefields]

Played some Knack at Fry's and was completely underwhelmed. Looked like a budget-priced current gen game with higher res textures. The framerate was bad too. Not impressed really yet with these consoles. Whoever said Xbox 360 launch titles didnt look much better than OG Xbox is smoking crack. OG Xbox games werent even in Hi-Def. Not only did Xbox 360 bring us games in hi-def (twice as many pixels) but the graphic quality was greatly improved. The generational leap this time around is much smaller. Because they emphasized power saving, and quiet operation, over raw power this time.

 

[sze5003]

When I first plugged it in, it beeped two times. As for the disk, it spins when you first put a disk in. But I don't hear it while I am playing. Also, who ever asked about usb and mp4, I tried it. You can't access a usb unless you are in safe mode. Nothing shows up on the dashboard if you plug one in.

I know durvelle tried to upgrade the hd in his and it wasn't compatible. He was able to install the 1.5 update but then got only black bars on boot. When he put the stock hd in, it was fine. I think was something to do with how you initialize a new hd. I'm not sure what exactly has to be done to upgrade it yet.

Also, I'm not sure if you can install a full game. I tested it out by deleting everything related to killzone and put the disk in. It installed then I started the game. I quit, and few minutes later I get a notification saying killzone is ready to install.

I went to downloads and it looked like I could click killzone to let it install. I deleted it from downloads and was still able to play the game. But the next time I put the disk back in, it just updated on it's own, probably installed too. Not sure what exactly it does or if you can choose to install I think it's based on the game.

 

[purbeast0]

Played some Knack at Fry's and was completely underwhelmed. Looked like a budget-priced current gen game with higher res textures. The framerate was bad too. Not impressed really yet with these consoles. Whoever said Xbox 360 launch titles didnt look much better than OG Xbox is smoking crack. OG Xbox games werent even in Hi-Def. Not only did Xbox 360 bring us games in hi-def (twice as many pixels) but the graphic quality was greatly improved. The generational leap this time around is much smaller. Because they emphasized power saving, and quiet operation, over raw power this time.

read my comments about my initial impressions of knack in this thread - they are basically identical to yours. but now that i've played the game, i am really enjoying it. it's nothing ground breaking, but it just flat out fun.

also, knack is pushing much more pixels than the ps3 was for the most part ... 1080p vs 720p. similar to xbox pushing 480p and 360 pushing 720p.

and the higher res shows for sure. and if you think ps4 can come even close to graphics like killzone, you are crazy. killzone looks incredible, and this is a launch title.

 

[blurredvision]

All of these stories of what people are having to do just to get their consoles going is ridiculous. Kind of defeats the purpose of a console, for it to turn on and just work.

 

[futurefields]

Or does anyone here feel that once this generation hits its stride, we'll be seeing some truly mind blowing stuff?

Impossible really. PC gaming has been pumping out better visuals than the new consoles for years. The only way it could blow somebodies mind is if its a kid who has only ever owned consoles and never experienced what a powerful gaming pc can do. The internet has made it common knowledge that these consoles are significantly underpowered especially when you consider how powerful PC's will be 2-3-4 years from now. This was personally verified when I played the PS4 at Fry's. I was simply not impressed by what I saw, and given the PC like architechture and lack of specialized silicon in comparison with previous generations, there will be less of a leap in quality when comparing late cycle games to early cycle.

 

[Arkaign]

read my comments about my initial impressions of knack in this thread - they are basically identical to yours. but now that i've played the game, i am really enjoying it. it's nothing ground breaking, but it just flat out fun.

also, knack is pushing much more pixels than the ps3 was for the most part ... 1080p vs 720p. similar to xbox pushing 480p and 360 pushing 720p.

and the higher res shows for sure. and if you think ps4 can come even close to graphics like killzone, you are crazy. killzone looks incredible, and this is a launch title.

Yep, 720p vs 1080p is literally double the pixels (slightly more IIRC). 900-something thousand compared to 2+ million. The detail difference is considerable, provided you're playing on a good display at a reasonable distance. On my 60" Panny Plasma at couch distance, I see ridiculous differences between 720p and 1080p. It's not that 720p is super terrible, but 1080p is vastly superior.

 

[sze5003]

Impossible really. PC gaming has been pumping out better visuals than the new consoles for years. The only way it could blow somebodies mind is if its a kid who has only ever owned consoles and never experienced what a powerful gaming pc can do. The internet has made it common knowledge that these consoles are significantly underpowered especially when you consider how powerful PC's will be 2-3-4 years from now. This was personally verified when I played the PS4 at Fry's. I was simply not impressed by what I saw, and given the PC like architechture and lack of specialized silicon in comparison with previous generations, there will be less of a leap in quality when comparing late cycle games to early cycle.

I have to agree, once you have a great computer and can max out pretty much any game I no longer say wow when playing on a console. But definately I agree that killzone looks pretty damn good for a console. Reminds me of crysis.

 

[blurredvision]

Impossible really. PC gaming has been pumping out better visuals than the new consoles for years.

Meh. Not many people have the hardware to run these games at top settings, plus most PC games these days are just upscaled ports of console games, so it doesn't look anywhere near as good as it could if it were optimized.

I know the "PC master race" like to think they're top dog but when it comes down to it, the games played on the PC are only worth it when they hit the $5 Steam sale.

 

[futurefields]

Yep, 720p vs 1080p is literally double the pixels (slightly more IIRC). 900-something thousand compared to 2+ million. The detail difference is considerable, provided you're playing on a good display at a reasonable distance. On my 60" Panny Plasma at couch distance, I see ridiculous differences between 720p and 1080p. It's not that 720p is super terrible, but 1080p is vastly superior.

TV Calibration is going to be key here as well. I am pretty sure the PS4 demo unit at Knack was hooked up to a 1080p TV, but I think it was still overscanning, because it did not look like how a game in native res looks like on a computer monitor. The image still looked scaled.

 

[ManBearPig]

I'm not really familiar with game design but is it possible diminishing returns is at work here? Like adding more pixels or polygons or whatever looks better but less so the more that are added or something?

 

[futurefields]

Diminishing returns is definitely a factor which is why it requires a tremendous increase in raw power to provide a true next-gen experience and show people something they haven't seen before.

 

[jpiniero]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/11/playstation-4-hardware-review-off-to-a-mixed-start/

Don't know if it was mentioned here, but the power draw is higher than I had expected. They were able to get it over 150 W when playing Killzone. Even the active idle mode which (I think) is only using the additional ARM processor is still using 10 W. Netflix uses 93W, which is really poor compared to something like a Roku.

 

[basslover1]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/11/playstation-4-hardware-review-off-to-a-mixed-start/

Don't know if it was mentioned here, but the power draw is higher than I had expected. They were able to get it over 150 W when playing Killzone. Even the active idle mode which (I think) is only using the additional ARM processor is still using 10 W. Netflix uses 93W, which is really poor compared to something like a Roku.

How does this compare to the previous gen?

 

[Anteaus]

Impossible really. PC gaming has been pumping out better visuals than the new consoles for years. The only way it could blow somebodies mind is if its a kid who has only ever owned consoles and never experienced what a powerful gaming pc can do. The internet has made it common knowledge that these consoles are significantly underpowered especially when you consider how powerful PC's will be 2-3-4 years from now. This was personally verified when I played the PS4 at Fry's. I was simply not impressed by what I saw, and given the PC like architechture and lack of specialized silicon in comparison with previous generations, there will be less of a leap in quality when comparing late cycle games to early cycle.

Agreed. I know console gamers hate being compared to PCs but as a PC gamer when I see console gamers get all excited about PS4/XB1 graphics, to us its like the kid who thinks their local street fair and Walt Disney World are the same thing. I have been gaming at 1200P for over 5 years now and currently game at 4XAA, 8XAF on a GPU that's already 2 generations old. I'm completely an utterly jaded over graphics. Only games with good design even make it onto my radar.

As it stands now many PC gamers are already at 2560X1600 and the latest GPUs can push 4K. This is the main reason why I discourage console gamers from reciting technical specifications like they are so great. Play the games and enjoy the consoles for what they are, but please stop acting like the PS4 is SOO much more powerful than the XB1. They are both weak.

Note that I'm talking about pure hardware capabilities. Consoles in general are more practical for the money given what you get. The way I see it, the PS4 and XB1 are V6 Camaros in a Corvette ZR1 world.

 

[cmdrdredd]

All that wall of text crap doesn't matter. Killzone looks like it could be a PC title. Plus a lot of PC games look good and play like crap because of driver issues and os bugs.

I dont even know what the point of this argument is to be honest, look at my Sig line.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

just fyi, 360 most definitely does have amazon streaming on it.

Huh - had no idea they had added that. Apparently it was more than a year and a half ago, showing that I can be slow to read the news! I still prefer the PS4 because my 360 (an HDMI Elite console) is so much louder. I don't really mind the noise when playing games, but I wouldn't prefer it to watch movies on for that reason.

 

[zerocool84]

Agreed. I know console gamers hate being compared to PCs but as a PC gamer when I see console gamers get all excited about PS4/XB1 graphics, to us its like the kid who thinks their local street fair and Walt Disney World are the same thing. I have been gaming at 1200P for over 5 years now and currently game at 4XAA, 8XAF on a GPU that's already 2 generations old. I'm completely an utterly jaded over graphics. Only games with good design even make it onto my radar.

As it stands now many PC gamers are already at 2560X1600 and the latest GPUs can push 4K. This is the main reason why I discourage console gamers from reciting technical specifications like they are so great. Play the games and enjoy the consoles for what they are, but please stop acting like the PS4 is SOO much more powerful than the XB1. They are both weak.

Note that I'm talking about pure hardware capabilities. Consoles in general are more practical for the money given what you get. The way I see it, the PS4 and XB1 are V6 Camaros in a Corvette ZR1 world.

And you have to spend a ton of money to be able to play at a steady frame rate at that high of a rez. I'm not done with PC gaming but it's just too expensive for me to keep up with it anymore.

 

[purbeast0]

the thing is, most console gamers (myself included) dont give a crap about pc graphics being better. yes, they can have better graphics than a console, but i can guarantee that my pc doesn't look better than ps4 does.

but how does that have any affect on the consoles? it doesnt so the constant bringing up of it is pointless and i just do not understand why it's constantly brought up.

yes, the pc can look better, so what?

 

[purbeast0]

Huh - had no idea they had added that. Apparently it was more than a year and a half ago, showing that I can be slow to read the news! I still prefer the PS4 because my 360 (an HDMI Elite console) is so much louder. I don't really mind the noise when playing games, but I wouldn't prefer it to watch movies on for that reason.

yeah i didn't have prime until last december and it was on there at that time. but just fyi, the amazon prime streaming looks/sounds MUCH better on ps3 than xbox360. at least to me it does. i compared the same stream on both platforms, and the 360 one was crap compared to the ps3 one. also, the app in general, is much better on ps3 than 360.

 

[HeXen]

All of these stories of what people are having to do just to get their consoles going is ridiculous. Kind of defeats the purpose of a console, for it to turn on and just work.

That's typical though of any device like this fresh off the engineering table. It will get better and everyone knows this.

 

[cmdrdredd]

All of these stories of what people are having to do just to get their consoles going is ridiculous. Kind of defeats the purpose of a console, for it to turn on and just work.

I turned it on, updated, and it worked. Psn was only down for me early morning Friday. Is has worked 100% with no issues and it is near silent.

For what its worth I am on psn right now and it is working. So it isn't down all weekend.

 

[Imported]

Amazon teased about a black friday deal for the Vita in their last e-mail so I'll hold off until then before buying it.. but the remote play stuff looks good.

 

[Tom]

That's typical though of any device like this fresh off the engineering table. It will get better and everyone knows this.

It is not typical of "any device" that it doesn't work when it's available to the public.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the PS4, I have no idea. Just commenting on what you're saying about devices in general.

 

[HeXen]

It is not typical of "any device" that it doesn't work when it's available to the public.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the PS4, I have no idea. Just commenting on what you're saying about devices in general.

Bugs are very typical. From cell phones, tablets and even my Sony Car stereo had an update that resolved some initial bugs of things not working as intended. Are you just wanting to bicker or are you really that daft?