PlayStation 4 Announcement Summary - Article
by Craig S , posted on 20 February 2013 / 11,771 Views
Below you'll find a live stream (which is a repeat now) and a key summary of the main announcements coming out of Sony today for those of you who want a quick catch up.
Live Stream:
Summary of Events:
And we're go!
- Things kick off with a typical E3-style PlayStation trailer.
- Andrew House takes to the stage, delivers lots of PR speak (House loves buzzwords!). Plugging Vita, PSN and the PlayStation brand in general.
- And now PlayStation 4 gets its first mention! Phew! House says presentation will take up two hours.
- PS4 will 'allow developers to explore' more flexible business models. Lots of focus on being developer-friendly.
- Lead system architect introduced - Mark Cerny - he's been working on this process for about five years. His focus here seems to be on interactivity and inter-connectivity.
- Specs: Supercharged PC architecture, X86 CPU, Enhanced PC GPU, 8GB Unified Memory, Local HDD.
- DualShock 4 shown off. Looks similar to (but better than) those leaks we've been seeing. There is indeed a touchscreen.
- Epic's Unreal Engine 4 shown off in real-time. Havok physics engine also demonstrated.
- Cerny introduces a trailer for the title he's been working on. It's called Knack.
- Background real-time downloading, simple gameplay video uploads, real time spectating of others' games, new friends network. In general much more integrated and personalised experience.
- Next speaker is up - David Perry, CEO of Gaikai. Naturally this means Gaikai cloud tech will be on PS4.
- You'll be able to play games straight away when browsing the PlayStation Store - instant access and experience.
- Facebook and USTREAM integrated.
- The 'Share' button on the PS4 controller will allow you to livestream your gameplay. Gamers will be given casting abilities.
- Remote play built into the PS4 (i.e. BUY A PS VITA!)
- Lots of PSN services touted - Netflix, Hulu, MLB, Crackle, Amazon, PS+ (naturally), and more.
- Gaikai backwards compatibility (streaming) confirmed. PS4 itself will not be BC however.
- These cloud services will be rolled out gradually.
- Now there's a montage trailer. Developers praising the ideas behind the PS4.
- Next speaker - Michael Denny. He in turn introduces Geurrilla Games (Killzone).
- Killzone Shadow Fall trailer. Lots of gif material here; very pretty and detailed (also - yey, colours!). Lots of gameplay footage.
- Next game trailer. It's a racer from Evolution Studios (of MotorStorm fame) - Drive Club. 'The game we've always wanted to make'. Team-based racing. Painstakingly detailed recreation of car models. And now we see some gameplay.
- Now a political broadcast on behalf of the Sony Freedom Party.
- It's actually a guy (Nate Fox?) talking about Sucker Punch's latest exclusive - Second Son - which is for the PS4. Seems to be about people who have superhuman abilities who are fighting for their freedom from oppressive government, or something along those lines (very next-gen inFAMOUS-y).
- Scratch that, it is inFAMOUS.
- Indie gaming now. Jonathan Blow (of Braid fame) is introduced. He's working on a new game - it's actually The Witness - for the PS4 (the word exclusive was used, though from the words used it suggests just timed).
- Moving on from actual game demonstrations now. David Cage is introduced. Delivers his usual shtick about storytelling and emotion in gaming.
- Cage demonstrates the character model capabilities of the PS4 with a tech demo.
- Media Molecule up next. Talking about the creative process and sculpturing and how the PS4 and Move fits into that. They demonstrated... something. It was weird.
- Third party support now. All major third parties behind the PS4, etc. etc.
- Yoshinori Ono of Capcom on stage now. I'm getting flashbacks to Konami's infamous E3 presentation right now. They've developed a new engine for PS4 (codename Panta Rhei). Trailer now, showing off a new IP - Deep Down (working title) - running on the engine.
- Square Enix next. They show off their E3 Agni tech demo. Final Fantasy title is planned.
- Ubisoft's turn. Yves Guillemot is on stage. Watch Dogs being talked about. New, live demo shown. Coming to PS4 (duh!).
- Blizzard's turn (...to disappoint their old fans - nope, you're still not forgiven for Diablo III Blizz!). Oh wow, it actually is Diablo III - The epic fail that is Diablo III is coming to PS3 and PS4.
- Last publisher tonight. Activision. 'Multiple launch window' titles. The one they're showcasing today is Bungie's Destiny. They're going to show gameplay. They also announce exclusive content for PS3 and PS4.
It's coming Holiday 2013.
And that's all folks. Let us know what you thought about the presentation in the comments!
