News & Rumours: Playstation 4/ Orbis *spin*

WSJ is also saying "the company is generally focused more on "changes in how users interact with the machine" rather than spec improvements. "

Have we mixed up the Durango and Orbis specs? That would be funny

 

We've had rumors about a "Share" button on the new controller. I'm sure the new "user experience" will be about a social ecosystem and nothing to do with motion controls. For a long time I've been predicting that PS4 and Xbox 720 would have OS level live-streaming of gameplay. I think they're going to make it easy to instantly share videos, streams and screenshots of what you're playing on PSN, Facebook and Twitter, AND they're gonna make it easy for friends to peak in on your game ala OnLive's game browsing capabilities. This will probably involve some of GaiKai's tech. Think of a Google Hangout where you can create a cross-game party to chat, video chat, and also see exactly what each of your friends is doing in game at that moment. Maybe with an instant replay feature so if something crazy happens in one person's game we can all pause, shift over to his screen and watch a slow motion replay of whatever just happened.

A lot of speculation about the Gaikai acquisition keyed in on existing business models and how Sony could use that. Maybe they just wanted Gaikai to form the backbone of something new so they could go above and beyond the features that would have been possible if they just partnered with Twitch, NicoNico or YouTube (but maintaining the ability to publish to those services as well.

 

Gaikai could be great for the PS-Plus game trials, no need to download the 20GB+ game, just stream the game as a disc media abstraction, it could be native local code execution and only the load times would be longer depending on your connection. No need for a server infrastructure it's just data streaming.

 

These would be awesome features and things which have been talked about for years.

I think even MS touted being able to watch games others play as spectators but I don't think too many if any games implemented this.

Certainly some sports games with team multiplayer modes could have implemented this but I don't know of any.

It's odd, in some countries like South Korea, people actually watch "pro" gamers playing games so there might be some appeal there but maybe not globally.

 

The problem has always been that you needed to basically be running a local client of any given game to spectate because none of the consoles had the hardware to effectively encode and stream gameplay in real time. AFAIK the games that did have YouTube export type features usually recorded a demo of the gameplay and later rerendered the scene and dumped it to the hard disk as a compressed video for upload. Both the Durango and Orbis are purported to have hardware h.264 encoders built in, though. At that point the biggest problem become upstream bandwidth.

I do think we can perhaps expect universal Remote Play to Vita, and even old PS3s (and 360s on the Xbox side) connected to the same network. The 2010 Xbox 720 presentation implied such functionality, and Sony has been experimenting with the idea forever. It would be pretty great to be able to play your new PS4/720 games on the previous gen console you've retired to your bedroom, etc.

I will say this, I would not be surprised if the social video features I'm talking about turn out to be a pay service. I think Sony can keep basic multiplayer and voice chat free, but monetize these more advance features either as part of PS+, or another tier of service.

 

Also read somewhere that Sony wants to emphasize the "social aspect" of the new console.

That does it for me, I'm a stubborn old-school first person shooter gamer. No interest to constantly update my FB or Twitter friends (suppose I have them) with my latest and greatest achievements.

Or even worse imagine Playstation Home is pushed down your throat as the main user interface....

Fortunately, there's a HTPC with Steam in my livingroom as well..

 

It's probably a console announcement. Sony probably know that Ms are starting production so have little scope to change things if they announce first.

If orbis is more powerful as the 'realistic' rumours suggest then anything Ms do will be an anticlimax.

 

With the hype train in full force (I'm on board too ), if they don't announce the PS4 and show a bit of footage in that meeting, the ensuing meltdown in some forums will be apocalyptic!

Regarding February announcement may hinder PS3 sales and they should wait for May or June instead, I doubt that should be an important factor. First, I tend to think only a very small fraction of the people who buy a PS3 at this late stage would seriously think about buying a PS4 in it's first year. Second, whether you announce it this month or not, a PS4 before the end of 2014 is already anticipated. Third, even people who think they should wait are only talking about another 3 months or so. How much of a difference is that going to make for PS3 sales? There may be other good reasons not to announce yet, like game footage not ready, but I just don't think impact on PS3 sales is a major concern.

For game streaming, it'd be nice (for me) if they can let people try PS4 games before they buy those games, or even a PS4. Play the games remotely on their servers, or on a friend's PS4. Not expecting it to happen though.

 

So then you would have 2 events (PS Meeting & Destination PS) where you are tiptoeing around the 800lb gorrilla in the room (PS4)? That'd be an utter fricken disaster and a total waste of message. I can see why you would think that Sony would do it.

 

Sure, are they really too concerned that someone will wait to buy a SONY PS4 instead of buying a SONY PS3 now?

In the meantime, that's 20 days from now. Taking this into account:

http://majornelson.com/2013/01/02/countdown-to-e3-2013/

That's 109 days of Playstation.

109 days of every next gen 3rd party game sounding like its a PS4 exclusive.

109 days of turning every secret sauce rumor into not so secret and/or not that saucy.

109 days of AMD extolling the virtue of the PS4 and its Liverpool APU.

109 days of free PS4 hype.

109 days of preorders.

An entire GDC that's all playstation, playstation, playstation.

...............

 

It won't though if PS whatever is announced Microsoft will not wait until e3, even if they have nothing to show other than a mock up and a spec sheet. (they won't have that little obviously, exaggeration makes the point go further)

 

I think that would be fair

 

I don't expect specs other than maybe the amount of RAM mentioned. Although I bet they do mention that it is an AMD powered console. I'm sure AMD would like to release a PR statement saying how they're in the next generation of gaming,

I would expect tech demos and maybe footage of 1 or 2 actual games. I think at GDC we'll get maybe another game announced and more tech details. They may talk about the specs there. The majority of launch window and future releases being announced at E3 or by publishers at the time of their choosing.

I do wonder if we'll get the information on the supposed new Dual Shock 4 and Dual Camera stuff here. I would think they would want the Devs to talk about that at GDC and how great it's for gaming.

I don't expect them to say anything about backwards compatibility.

 

Edge says, JPN and NA launch by end of the year, Euro launch in early 2014

http://www.edge-online.com/news/playstation-4-revealed/

 

EU late launch with gimped hardware FTW.

 

Sony usually does tech demos and then some demos of what could be games but won't be officially announced as games.

They would speak more about games at E3.

As for Vita, they can try to flog it but the installed base is so small that it really can't be a significant part of their plans. Smarter thing to make the appeal of the PS4 broader is allow remote play on iPhones and some Android phones. Restrict it to Experia phones and it's the same old Sony, who won't get it through their thick heads that nobody is going to buy one of their phones just because of Playstation hooks, just as people aren't buying Windows Phones because of XBL or some other gimmick.

 

Vita could be a highlight if they say all PS4 games playable through gaikai on Vita first.