After some time to ponder and digest, I thought I would share more impressions and reactions on the PlayStation 4.
Do I care about the sharing features?
I generally think the idea of watching someone playing games live is dumb; I rather be playing a game for myself. I do watch people play fighting games and I occasionally tune into GiantBomb’s TNT but those are uncommon occurrences. So the idea behind live streaming does not resonate with me.
I am a fan of the ability to share videos though. I’ve always wanted share “Battlefield moments” and other gaming highlights with friends and on NeoGAF but I did not have the tools do so. This kind of sharing is usually woven with some context so it’s interesting to me in that respect. I don’t care for straight dumping of gameplay clips for the sake of sharing though.
The box, what about the box?
I’ve seen a fair bit of criticism laid against Sony for not showing the actual console itself and I cannot understand why that matters. Will the look of the box actually sway people? No. It’s the specs that matter. If the PlayStation 4 looks like a beige boxed PC from the 1990’s, the people who cared enough to watch yesterday’s live stream and were impressed by the specifications and the vision will buy it regardless of appearances.
I guess people could try to ascertain the console’s price point from its aesthetics alone but outward appearances isn’t everything.
What about the videos they showed off?
Even after today’s direct feed videos were released, I couldn’t tell which was running on PlayStation 4 hardware or CG. With so much uncertainty I just didn’t feel confident commenting on what I saw.
What if Ken Kutaragi designed the PS4?
As soon as the specifications PDF came out I began wondering what (if anything) Ken Kutaragi would have done if he was in charge? I review the specs and I can only think of the most obvious and low hanging “upgrades” like bumping wi-fi to a 802.11ac
Because of market realities and the whooping they took early on in the PlayStation 3’s life, I doubt they would have built their own chips again regardless of who was in charge.
Price Predictions
It’s not going to be $599.99. Sony will not repeat the mistakes of the past and debut the PlayStation 4 at that price. I believe a $499.99 price tag would be more tolerable in this day and age. I would like to see a viable version at $399.99 but I can see a $499.99 version being the one you would really want.
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