REVIEW: Sony PlayStation 4

     Well, its finally here. Nine months after it was officially announced, the PS4 is now standing on top of my desk. It compliments the array of other Noir-colored products that clutter the general vicinity. Based on observation over this past generation, the PS4 has been a long time coming. The PS3 has had a generally rough lifespan, with launch woes to game development issues (all thanks to Teh l337 Cell CPU), and The Great PSN Famine of 2011 when a collective of hackers brought the PlayStation Network down and kept it down for a month. The PS4 needs to be the saving grace for the PlayStation--and even Sony's--brand. I guess I can say that many were waiting for the PS4 for much longer than nine months, but to keep it official, I contained my excitement to these past nine months. Let me tell you why it was worth the wait. ALRIGHT, this is how its going to work: Its rather self-explanatory but if I must, this entry is broken down by Hardware, Software/OS (to include PSN-related network stuff), Game Lineup, Recommendations, and Conclusion. Its awesome if you read through it all, since I'm providing a lot of in-detail stuff on the most common used features and aspects of the system, but of course, feel free to jump anywhere you want. Cool? Cool.

HARDWARE

THE DUALSHOCK 4 CONTROLLER

     Well lets start with the first piece of hardware I received: the Dualshock 4. As you know, the DS3, and its design, spans in almost an identical way all the way back to the original DS controller for the PS1. Even with its tenure with the PS3, the design was a variant of much the despised Sixaxis Controller that was supplied with the initial PS3 lineup. While Sony was riding on the familiarity of  past controllers, it personally didn't compare with the likes of the 360 controllers comfort, responsiveness, and accessibility  in regards to PC use(though, that is later remedied via control emulation software). Still, the DS3 held its own.
     The DS4 takes the familiarity of previous controllers, and turns it into a more comfortable experience... as a start. The controller is very comfortable to hold. It's sturdy. The triggers are amazing! Overall, it feels well put together. In addition to the all the typical inputs, the DS4 has a clickable touchpad and a light bar for use with PSCamera-related software. I can't really comment on the usefulness of the light bar since I have no PSCamera (and have no plans to get one), and the only thing I use the touchpad for was OWL commands on Killzone Shadow Fall... which felt limited. Of course, it's been less than a week since launch... I'm sure better uses for both features will be seen in the future.
     The DS4 is by no means the perfect controller. A personal gripe I have is that while the analog sticks sit further apart, I still tend to bump thumbs while playing. Depending on how you set your thumbs down, that may be an issue. I do wish that Sony just gave in and swapped the D-Pad and left analog stick. A potential issue that I may see is the connection input that Sony decided to use. Micro USB may be a standard, but I have seen many break easily, in the past. The supplied cable does look well built (a lot better than the cords you would find provided in Smartphones), but I can imagine it breaking a lot easier than the likes of the 5 pin Mini USB that is used on the DS3. It's not like its sending a lot of information through (the wireless connection is a measly Bluetooth 2.0 connection.. more on that in a bit). While we're on the cable, it's also a tad bit short. Battery life on the DS4 is not that great when compared with the DS3. Luckily, my personal setup has it so I'm not that far from my system, so I can always be hooked up to a power source. Finally, I do see some notable wear on the rubber encasing the analog sticks. I have had the DS4 controller for a little over 2 weeks now, and I didn't really use it vigorously until I got the console. I'm not too confident about it being intact, in the long run... then again, I'm surprised that the DS3's rubber lasted as long as it did. Time will tell.

THE SYSTEM ITSELF...

     Aside from the edgy, parallelogram design of the unit, the PS4 is well built. Correction, MY PS4 is well built. I understand that there is a lot of negative feedback on places like Amazon over DOA PS4s, but typical launch woes are at play here. The 360 (which launched 8 years ago, as of this past Saturday) also experienced launch woes.. and then kept having issues. I can also bet that a lot of vindictive Xbox fanboys are culprits in the negative feedback. Anyway, different story for a different post. For the size of the PS4, it is a well-built powerhouse of a machine (for consoles.. c'mon now, lets be real.). NEW NOTE: As of yesterday (21 NOV), Sony and the Washington Post reported that PS4 failure rate was about 1% or 10,000 units of 1,000,000 total, so far. It's actually a lot less than I thought.

If you're keeping score, this is the specs for the PS4:
CPU: a custom AMD X4 Jaguar x86-64bit processor @ 1.6Ghz
GPU: a custom AMD Radeon Next chipset (based on the 7870, I believe.. a 2 year old GPU, btw). it outputs at 1.84 TFLOPS
RAM: 8GB GDDR5 w/maximum bandwidth of 176GB/s (shared with both System and GPU)
HDD: 500GB @ 5400RPM
OPTICAL: One BD 6x/DVD 8x drive
I/O: Two USB 3.0 front ports, One rear Auxiliary port (for PSCamera), One SPDIF Optical Output, One HDMI Output
NETWORK I/O: 10/100/1000BASE-T/TX Ethernet port, 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1

    In this particular generation, with the exception of the WiiU, the PS4 and Xbox One have near identical systems. Both systems use the Jaguar CPU; both of which are based off a 2011 AMD X4 processor. Both systems use a GPU that's based off the AMD Radeon 78xx series graphics cards that's also been around for a bit. Both systems run on 8GBs of shared RAM, though RAM types are different (the Xbone uses DDR3), and they both have a 500GB HDDs. They're nearly the same system.
    Now that the technical stuff are out of the way, the performance (so far) is near flawless. The hardware has been running quite well for the time that I have owned and played on it. It runs mostly quiet, with the exception of an occasional fan speed increase and disk loading. It also runs a little warm at times, but its manageable. In general (and without putting on my Master Race hat), the PS4 is capable with the onboard hardware. On that note, There are some notable flaws; some may be fixed on your own and others that you're just gonna have to live with.
     The gripe that I encountered--the very first gripe I found--is that the wireless I/O is dated. While the common 802.11 speed has been g and n, the newest standard is now ac.. which the PS4 does not support. That leads me to my next gripe: the frequency is 2.4Ghz. While that's not too much of an issue, I been living with 5Ghz frequencies for about 5 years, now. For my house, 5Ghz is efficient for my wireless network. I had to mix my frequency up with a 2.4Ghz band just so I could get my PS4 to connect. Of course, I do have another wired port ready for the PS4, but my current setup (or rather, situation) prevents me from setting up a wired connection. Still, a lot of devices can run on a 5Ghz band, and I was disappointed that the PS4 just doesn't have it. Another thing that's lacking (but, really minor) is Bluetooth 4.0, which has better transfer rates, and less (if not, any) audio compression. It would have been nice to use my Jaybird Bluebuds X as my earphones/mic.
     The other gripe I encountered is overall a minor one, but it still falls along the lines of using dated hardware. In this case, I'm referring to the Hard Drive. Yes, it comes with a 500GB HDD.. OK, that's considered "enough." Well, tack on the games that have mandatory installs (i.e. all games) of sizes starting at 20GB and being as high as 45GB (so far), then whatever downloadable content you have for those games, then whatever media you happen to get through the store(s), and finally, all the streaming and recording that happens behind the scenes.. well, 500GBs doesn't seem like much. The other gripe about the HDD is that it runs at 5400RPM. Seriously? The standard is 7200RPM, and yes, it does make a difference. While most of the content is not really affected by the slow drive speed, some are heavily affected. Some, like Killzone Shadow Fall and Need For Speed Rivals; both having excruciating long load times. I can also see it with texture loading from games like Battlefield 4. Again, the HDD speed (for now) is tolerable, and most content loads efficiently, but the fact that Sony provided a 5400RPM drive is kind of alarming, but I know its something that the average consumer will overlook. Lucky that I'm here to inform you that Sony (and Microsoft) have been doing everything in their power to keep costs low!

Here's a reason why a slow Hard Drive is not ideal for gaming in 2013..

SOFTWARE/OS

OPERATING SYSTEM
     Starting this up for the first time, I took the precaution of downloading the Day One Update (version 1.50) onto a USB drive and installing it via Safe Mode. It was easy, and it was quick. Setting your PSN up, as well as privacy setup was also a breeze. I was all good to go within 10 minutes (and that was taking my time). The main screen starts you off in a set of tiles that has all the games you have recently played, a "wall" which posts your most recent activities (as well as friends on your PSN list), a web browser, a submenu for video services (like Hulu and Netflix), Music/Video Unlimited, The Playroom (PSCamera game), and Live from Playstation.

     The wall (pictured below) is exactly what you think it is: your social networking newsfeed, with a layout similar to Google+. If you so choose to, all of your recent activity is automatically shared to the wall. Since I have all my privacy settings to Only Me, I found the wall pretty useless, IMO.

     If you press up from the tile menu, you find yourself in familiar territory with an XMB-like menu that manages your direct interaction with your friends, Profile Settings, Trophies, System Settings, notifications (of various sort), and access to the Playstation Store.

     

     Hitting your Profile option will give you an overview of well... YOU. You can also manage your privacy settings, friend lists and all the share-related content that you have made (to include all the screenshots you see here).

Look at me... and my horrible track record.. lol :3

     While we're on sharing, one of the PS4's selling staples is its ability to pester people on Facebook and Twitter. In lieu of the "Select" button on your controller, there is now a share button that you can press anytime and just about every app. Long pressing the Share button takes a screenshot of whatever you're doing. Short pressing gives you the option of either sharing a screenshot or sharing the last 15 minutes of gameplay. Yes, if you're playing a game, the system is actually recording your gameplay (and at no performance hit, either). You may also double tap the share button to start and/or stop recording. In fact, you can even change the share button settings through settings based on what you share more.

     In addition to sharing through social networking, you may stream your gameplay live via UStream or Twitch. Livestreaming games isn't necessarily a new thing, but what makes this feature particularly   special for the PS4 is its ease of use and no need for any external peripherals to stream (though it's still ideal). 

Live from PlayStation menu.

Giant Bomb (.com) frontman Jeff Gertsmann's Twitch stream.

     The stream feature is also tied into the remote feature which allows friends to either jump in the game and even jump into a friends single player session in order to say... help your friend get to the next level. I have yet to see that feature in action, through my experience or even YouTube, for that matter.

     For now, TV and Video related services are limited to ten channels, to include Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. There has been talk of adding more services in the future, but with Microsoft getting the jump on the monopoly on everything else, the entertainment services pale in comparison to the media-centric Xbox One. Even worse, basic media options that are present in the PS3 are not available. That means, no media-server, no custom soundtracks, hell, you can't even play an audio CD if you ever wanted to. Whatever the Xbone is, as far as entertainment is concerned, the PS4 is definitely not... for now (so we're told by Sony). The move to include what seems to be a standard is puzzling, to say the least. I do like a custom soundtrack in a game from time to time... then again, for me, my PC or Apple TV can easily fulfill that role, as well as all the other forms of entertainment. Still, the lack of media features is enough to deduct some positive points.

GAME LINEUP

     The PS4 launched with 24 different games; most of them being multiplatform titles. I managed to pick up 4 of those games, with a 5th game waiting to be downloaded (Resogun). While I have two games lined up for independent reviews in the coming weeks, I feel that a quick rundown of the games I do have would be useful for some who are planning on picking these titles up. Editor note: ALL screenshots are taken via the PS4 Share feature... all of em.

KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL

     The new KZ title is pretty much a tech showcase to set the precedence for all upcoming PS4 titles. Shadow Fall renders and outputs at 1080p resolution, and runs (mostly) at 60fps. For lack of a better term, its beautiful. For singleplayer, it is pretty good and enjoyable and the overall control/feel is much better than previous KZ titles, but that's about it. Maybe I'm starting to gain some sort of FPS fatigue, but the SP gameplay itself is pretty lackluster, IMO. I have a hard time getting into it for some reason. I think I need to play further.. The multiplayer is somewhat fun, and the maps are perfect for 12 v 12 Warzone, BUT.. for some reason other players like to stick at one corner of the map and stay there. They mostly stick by a spawn, and that team usually loses. I had to place portable spawn points on the other side of the map (Forest) just to get my other teammates to spawn away from the main spawn. It's.. dumb. Anyway, Shadow Fall is a title that you're really either going to like or dislike (no grey area), so I can't really recommend (or not) this with absolute certainty... but do enjoy the eye candy:

   

ASSASSINS CREED: BLACK FLAG
     I haven't really sat down to play this game for an extended period of time, but based on what I seen so far, ACBF is very, very enjoyable! It's a much better experience than the likes of AC III, and it looks pretty well done for an "across-the-board" multiplatform title. Black Flag seems to be mostly a singleplayer experience, but it is no less an experience you should be missing out on.
     So far, I found the open world gameplay as gorgeous, and I have the urge to steer away from the main storyline just to explore. The naval combat is definitely top notch and out-classes ACIII by a ton. I also really enjoy its progression system and it keeps you engaged throughout. Black Flag seems to hold a pretty good balance of land and sea exploration. I may do an independent review on it but for now, I highly recommend this game. The wonderful thing about this multiplatform title is that its seamless throughout all the systems (unlike Battlefield 4), so even if you're still stuck on PS3 or the 360, I still recommend getting this. Black Flag is available on PS3/PS4/360/X1/PC.

NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS
     NFS makes its debut on the next gen platforms with a bang! Yeah, that means I'm REALLY enjoying this. I'm more of a sim-style racer but there are just some moments where you gotta unwind from the realism. This game is the escape (for other like-minded sim racers). Rivals is also a seamless multiplat title that spans through the PS3/360, PS4/X1 and PC.
     For starters, Rivals has amazing visuals! This is probably due to its use of the Frostbite 3 engine, championed by Battlefield 4 as a very powerful, dynamic, and scalable gaming engine. Of course, that's hype talk but in Rivals case, Frostbite 3 makes this games visuals look great. The gameplay itself is fun, aggressive and risky. Yes, risky. I'll go more into that when I finish this full review at a later date. This is a definite buy that's strangely overlooked for some odd reason.

Thought you can get away from DOGE, did ya?

BATTLEFIELD 4

     Seeing that I mentioned this several times now, you would figure that I'd be talking about this, right? Well, I'm still in process of doing its full review, so like Rivals, I ain't gonna talk too much about it. Now, being that I am dominantly PC and my platform of choice for BF4 is PC, I'm very impressed by BF4 on PS4. If you set your PC resolution to 1600 x 900 and have minimum AA running, that would be about the equivalent of what BF4 looks like on PS4. Unless you're nitpicking upclose at your screen, you're really not going to find a notable difference. I'd say, at the most, the only difference you'll see is framerate. First of all, framrate doesn't seem to drop. Its a solid 60fps. add the fidelity of the graphics and the experience is going to be impressive. 

     I'm not too sure how the controls for the PS3 version have improved over BF3 (which I found to be horrible, btw), but playing BF4 on the PS4 with the new controller is amazing for me. I really feel like the controller is responding to my inputs without any lag to speak of. Maybe I can finally be good with a controller for once! Overall, I have definitely enjoyed BF4 on this platform. Of course, I have to recommend that if you own a capable PC, you might as well get the best version of BF4. If you're planning on getting the new consoles, I still recommend it and definitely recommend it over that other, poorly put together Call of Madden of Duty: Ghosts (and Doge). Yeah, I went there. Fight me. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

     This is mainly going to serve as tips, should you happen to get a PS4. Unfortunately in its current state, its not going to replace anything. Having said that, the PS4 is not, I repeat NOT backwards compatible. PS3 games are dependent on hardware that is based on their previous Cell chipset. The PS4 is x86 based; which is the same as most computers in the market. In order for capatability to work, it would have needed some previous hardware onboard the PS4 in order for PS3 games to work. That would have brought manufacture costs up and most likely the price tag itself. The same story goes for the Xbone. So, what does that mean? Keep your previous gen system! GTA V is only rumored to make a next gen debut. Gran Turismo 6 is also on that rumor boat (though I doubt that one very much). Until their Gaikai Cloud Service comes online, you won't be seeing PS3 titles on the PS4 and even when you do, its gonna be through the cloud which isn't 100% reliable. If you're like me and have the fat PS3 with multi-card readers and 4 USB ports, keep that PS3 alive for as long as possible. It is the only PS3 variant that runs PS1/2/3 games directly through the hardware. The fat model after that (with no reader and 2 USB ports) only emulates PS2 titles, and every model after that  runs PS1/2 titles via PSN. Gran Turismo 6 will be releasing on December 6th, and other games such as South Park: Stick of Truth will be out in 2014. As demonstrated with the PS2 (with FIFA 14 being the last game ever released for it), the PS3/360 will continue its lifespan well into this generation, so for now... keep your systems.

     Another piece of sound advice is privacy settings for social networks. Be careful of that. Unless you want to spam everyone's newsfeed on Facebook with all your achievements and screenshots, make sure your privacy settings are set to "Only Me." Of course, if you're a dick, feel free to spam everyone's wall about your 1080 no-scope kill in Call of Doge. -_- If you have the means to, replace your hard drive. Seriously, don't settle for the lesser standard, especially if you plan to do all of your gaming on consoles, instead of PC. An SSD with a high read/write transfer rate is ideal at the highest tier, but it'll  cost you anywhere from a 3rd to almost double the price of the PS4 itself! Of course, this is not the end all, be all solution. You may also settle for the standard 7200RPM drive or a hybrid; both of which costs much, MUCH less but gives you more speed than what's currently onboard. If you're planning to invest in the PS4 for the long term, I highly recommend getting an SSD. If you get a platter drive or hybrid, make sure its of the 2.5in type and no more than 9mm thick (basically, a laptop HDD). The process for installing a new drive is also very easy, and there are more than enough sites and videos to show exactly what you need to do.

     Minor recommendations include using your own earphones as your mic rather than using the supplied, shitty mic. Also make sure you look at all the offers given inside the box. I definitely got $10 for my PSN wallet... why would you pass up money? If you can find a long Micro USB cord, get it. The provided cable is not that long. The PS4 wobbles. Find something to counter said wobble and place it under the disc drive end of the console. Finally, standing it up is also a great option, and no, you don't need that $20 plastic stand to do so.

CONCLUSION
     Nine months ago, Sony officially announced the PS4's existence to the world. The hype (at-large) for both consoles has been overwhelming and extremely prominent due to the communities vast access to online outlets and social networks to discuss and have dick-measuring contests as to what system is better, who has better hardware, and the dreaded "P" argument (1080p vs 720p). I already know where I stand on that issue, but its really not about me. Whatever you're getting--regardless of my or anyone else's preference--is all on you. In fact, the launch lineup for both systems are so enthralled with multiplat-games that it doesn't really matter what you get right now.
     As far as the PS4 is concerned, if you were set to purchase one anytime soon, I highly recommend it. For those who want a massive entertainment hub of various types, you might want to look into getting an Xbox One, instead. Under my own PERSONAL opinion, I think the PS4 will be a sleeper, just like the PS3 was. It's already selling well (1 million units sold), and they're selling at a gain. In the long run, the PS4 will be way stronger. Sony's theme for the PS4 is games. Yeah, this launch lineup isn't strong (though it's really not that different with the Xbones lineup... according to reviews), but with their strong collaboration with developers, major and independent, they're set to dominate in the near future. The PlayStation 4 is definitely a worthy investment. Good luck if you're trying to get one by Christmas. 

TECH RANT: Next Gen Consoles and Shortchanging Customers

      Well, guess I ain't sticking to my schedule from earlier.. not like anyone reads this anyway, so I'm good. I do have a pressing matter to discuss (while compiling my BF4 review). It confuses me as to why people--gamers, in particular--still think like this, regardless of whether a new system is being released, let alone two. Before I begin to rip into Sony, Microsoft, and the gaming community at-large, I have state that I am out of my persona, as I type this "emergency" blog out; emergency because all of this has surfaced within the past couple weeks and weeks before these new systems release). I am a gamer. I don't care about the platform. I don't care about allegiance. If there is a game that I see, that I really want, I'm gonna get it. I'm going to play it. If its multiplatform, my personal preference is get the version on the platform with the best visuals, knowing the gameplay is already established as good. That's my personal preference and no one is influencing that decision but me. My persona is PC Master Race. Its a funny play in the "system wars." There are many misconceptions about PC gaming and its obtainment in the monetary sense. While elitism is rampant within the Master Race,  they're not wrong about it. I won't dive into specifics, but i'll just say that its fun to be in that role.

Bow before your Lord and Savior..

     I type before you with grave concern over these next gen consoles; consoles that I have invested in by preordering the PlayStation 4 (for a wicked deal of $150.. thanks 360 trade-in!). Sony officially revealed the details of the PS4, back in February and Microsoft followed suit with the Xbox One in May. Both of these systems run on similar architecture revolving around a certain AMD-based CPU and GPU which were made a couple years prior to 2013. In other words, these are considered "old" by tech standards. Now, old doesn't mean incapable. In fact, these are chipsets that are capable of playing titles and upcoming console titles at 1080p, 60 frames per second, at the least. Before I digress further, both systems were marketed as easy-to-program and capable of the above stated.

     Fast forward to today... November 5th, 2013. We are 10 days out from the release of the PS4 (17 for the Xbox). The biggest titles being released at both launches are multiplatform games.. and only one of them (as in one of the blockbuster multiplat titles) is capable of rendering textures at 1080p @ 60fps... and on one system only. That's Call of Duty Ghosts.. on the PS4. How shameful is that? The one title that has Xbox timed-exclusive rights.. and its running and looking better on the competitions system?  What!? So, this next gen title is only rendering at the same resolution as its current-gen counterpart on the Xbox One. The next gen system that's supposed to usher in 1080p gaming at a mass-scale, is running a game that is STILL a heavily modified version of a 14 year old game engine at 720p (id Tech III... Quake III Arena. 1999). Meanwhile, we have PCs that cost less to build than the Xbox One, and is more graphically capable, let alone high-end PCs that renders games at 4k, 60fps.

     Another example is EA's Battlefield 4. I am currently running this game on my PC at a mixed high/ultra setting, 1080p with a framerate of anywhere between 45 and 85fps, on my monitor which has a refresh rate of 144hz, with the option of playing it comfortably on my HDTV. Why did I just tell you this? No, its not to show off. You should already expect gaming PCs to do all of that. I'm telling you this because its a standard that PC gaming has had for years. The over-the-top settings that PC Elitist boast about is the fact that they can run this game at 1440p and beyond. What does this game run at on the systems in which its based architecture can run this game pretty well at 1080p? Its 900p on the PS4 and 720p on the Xbox One. *sigh* Again, this is a system that was supposed to usher in another era of great, but more importantly, current visuals on a platform that is essentially unified with the other platforms (architecture-wise).

     Now, why am I stating all this technical stuff? Why am I sounding like a graphics whore? Why am I repeating myself? Well, if you're reading this, you may have an interest in buying a next generation console? That's rhetorical, by the way. Don't answer that. Do ask yourself this simple question: would you buy a product, full well knowing that its not being pushed to its full potential? More So, would you buy a product that will not be doing its baseline potential? Well guess what? If you're buying an Xbox One of PlayStation 4, that's exactly what you're getting. Another reason is that the user demographic at-large is uninformed about these woes. Yeah, that works out with the companies trying to sell the product, but it hurts the customer in the long run, and it hurts the industry.
     "Ryan, that's pretty bold statements!" Yes, reader. I am going there. Why in the hell are these titles not running as advertised only a few short months ago? Why is the consumer-base okay with that?! Has the community become so casual, that they become passive to the fact that these systems aren't running as advertised? WHY DO YOU HAVE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME!?!? As you can see, I have more questions than answers. I'm personally baffled by what the comments I read regarding these issues; how passive people are about the whole thing; how willing these people are to be shortchanged simply because these are the "only" avenues to get their game on.

INEXCUSABLE.

     A famous counterargument to this perplexing issue is "Gameplay > Graphics." In most cases, I'm inclined to agree. Yeah, I would have liked to have seen an updated version of Final Fantasy VII, but every time I play the original (which I still have), I feel right at home. Same for SNES titles like Super Earth Defense Force, Donkey Kong Country, and Mario Paint! Yeah, the argument stands with me. My only exception to this is right now. These are new systems to usher in the 8th generation of video gaming. New systems are meant to set a new visual standard... so, again, why in the hell are we starting this on the standard of the last generation? I'll go lenient to say that these consoles seem to just start where the 7th generation left off. I mean, did you see COD Ghosts on the PS3/360 and put them neck and neck with the PS4/X1? You tell me how different they actually are... go on.

Make sure you full-screen it and set it to HD... for maximum sadness.

     Alright, alright. It's not all doom and gloom. Madden 25, FIFA 14, and NBA 2k14, all obviously multiplatform titles, both run at 1080p/60fps native. Forza Motorsport 5, an Xbox One exclusive also runs at 1080p/60 native, as well as  Killzone Shadow Fall (PS4 exclusive). While I commend EA and 2k Sports for setting those standards right, Forza and Killzone are the cop-outs in this shortchanging dilemma. Of course, the exclusive titles are going to be running at 1080p/60fps native! Can you imagine the fallout one company would receive if one of their exclusives were running at a lesser standard? Regardless, exclusives should be running as intended, but unless we ever have more exclusives than multiplat titles, it holds little weight over the fact that we're being shortchanged.
     A final gripe that will completely be looked over is the provided storage space for both consoles. Consoles are fully entering the world of how Steam handles their games: we download them. Regardless of size, games obviously takes space. Both systems come with a 500GB Hard Drive. There is no credible word as to how fast the Xbone's HDD is, but the provided HDD for the PS4 is only 5400RPM.. that is SLOW by today's standards. Read/write speeds are important in gaming. There is really no complex way to say it. They're important, and it plays a big role in gaming. Luckily, Sony gives the option of removing and replacing the HDD, so if you're willing to help your system out, get a bigger, faster drive. You want bigger because well... I have Killzone Shadow Fall already. Gamestop is selling copies already, so why the hell not? Anyway, there is a minimum install requirement of 45GB... 45 freaking Gigabytes! That's 45GBs taken from your 500GB drive, in which a good chunk of it will be already used when you startup the system. Do I need to say more? Have fun if (and possibly when) Sony decides to implement a DRM scheme which requires you to install every game. Relying on the cloud service is not an option for everyone, either. Not everyone has an awesome connection to stream games from some node... Xbone users, these are non-factors for you since your HDD is non-removable .. as in you're stuck with that HDD. Congrats.
      I really hate to break it like this. I really do. It makes me sound super biased. The truth of the matter is that I'm invested and I want the product that was advertised. Yes, I can't blame all this on the hardware, since the developers do have a hand in all of this. But then again.. this all goes back to the whole "this is x86 architecture! It'll be easy to code with!" spill that was heard from both parties, earlier this year. Remembering that, being hyped over these systems, and seeing the first results of such makes me cringe. The entire moral of my rant is that you're buying into something that is half-assed. You want the visuals that you come to expect in the 8th generation of gaming? Wait for a little bit. Stick with current-gen. Unless you're strictly gonna buy exclusives, sport titles, or want nothing but "TV, TV, TV, SPORTS, SPORTS, SPORTS, NSA, COD DOG (looking at you, Microsoft)," go get the new systems. Other than that, don't expect to be "wow'd." Don't even expect to be elevated. For now, you're only getting a nudge of nicer graphics, and you're not missing much.

REVIEW: New PC Build 2013 "The Admiral Yamamojo-jojo" PART I

     Yes, this PC has that as a name. It's actually a funny story (to me, anyway). So, I was chatting with my good friend, who is well versed and acclimated in the "The Art of the PC," and I was trying to figure out what to call my nonexistent PC (At the time). After some thought, I was convinced that I was gonna go with "New Rig 2013," when the man dropped something insanely ridiculous and genius. I mean, Who can name anything after a WWII Admiral who was instrumental in taking over and controlling a land (and sea) mass area that was larger than any part of the world by 1941, AND the most diabolical villain on the Cartoon Network during the late 90s to early 00's? Obviously, this guy. So, as such, the name of this powerhouse shall be known, and forever known as the ADMIRAL YAMAMOJO-JOJO.

     So this is how it's gonna go down: This part is just a rundown of the build process, thoughts, and overall general performance (as if I'm just talking to the average person). Part II will be the more technical aspect with benchmarks and the like.. 

Be Proud.

AT A GLANCE: 

CPU: Intel Haswell Core i5-4670K Quad-Core @ 3.4Ghz (currently NOT OC'd)

      -CPU COOLER: Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler w/addtl. Corsair SP120 120mm fans

MOTHERBOARD: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX (LGA1150)

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (9-9-9-24-2N) (16GBs in use)

GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB @ 7010Mhz

STORAGE:

     SSD Boot: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB

     SSD 1: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB

     SSD 2: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB

     HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB @ 7200RPM w/ 6GB/s SATA interface 

PSU: SeaSonic X Series 850W

CASE: Corsair 650D ATX Mid 

MONITOR: LG 23EA83V IPS LED Monitor


THE BUILD: 

     Building a new machine was a long time coming, for me. My last build lasted me quite awhile, and while I was satisfied by the lifespan of the older rig, I was bummed to see it go. Another factor was the fact that I was waiting over the course of 3 months to even start building. Things out of my control were the main culprit of that, but it gave me a lot of time to do other things and appreciate the machines that Console Peasants use (PS3... The Last of Us... awesome).
     August rolls along, and the circumstances preventing me from investing on the parts dissolved; it was time to build the this monster. Ordering all these parts were a pain, to say the least. I had to input the build parts into PC Parts Picker so it could aggregate the cheapest prices. Easy enough, except for when the part wasn't available at the cheapest price, or you had a nazi bank that controls where you want to buy your parts. I mean, they even blocked my transactions from Newegg! After that SNAFU was taken care of, the parts started rolling in... it was definitely time to build, and what better way to show that than to do it through pics??

Most of the parts, minus the horrible Intl. Organization textbooks (why did I even enroll in this class!?)

The Corsair H100i with the Corsair SP120 replacement fans.

The Intel Haswell Core i5-4670K with Stock fan (obviously not being used)

The MSI GTX 770.. the beast of a GPU (and possibly one of two... still up in the air with that one, though)

The Samsung 840 PROs and the Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM drive... good choice but more on that later.

The four (of six) G.Skill Ripjaw RAM that I bought not too long before the last build busted on me. Remember, 16 of the 24GB are in current use... at least I have spares.

By far, the "Most Impressive" packaging award goes to the Seassonic PSU. That Crown Royal-like bag house the PSU, and that bag on the upper right holds the connection modules. It also feels well built. I'm very impressed by this PSU.. did I mention that this was 850W? I highly recommend this PSU.

 Another [mostly] impressive part is this Corsair 650D case. There is a ton of room cable management, clip-based door panels (no screwing or unscrewing doors), plenty of airflow, one 80mm fan, two 200mm fans (front and top vent), holes on top vent for various radiators, modular drive bays (that you can also move around, if you desire), easy-to-remove dust filters for easy cleaning, a modular SATA plug up top for non-external enclosed drives, fanspeed adjuster (not in use), two USB2 ports, two USB3 ports, and one Firewire port. This case is way more feature-packed, and larger than my last case (which also had a lot of room for management. I'm very impressed by it. 

Closer look...

Note the lower drive bays are removable and you may either stack it like the pic depicts, or side by side. Of course, if you have 3 or less drives in use, you can completely remove the additional bay for more airflow from that massive front fan. ONE MAJOR FLAW of this case is that the USB3 ports are actually a straight passthrough and doesn't connect directly through the motherboard. Instead, I have to channel it out and connect it to the I/O jacks.. which sucks, for now. Yes, there is a passthrough attachment. No, I have not order it yet. The fact that I even have to order that kind of pisses me off. It's definitely more sensible to just have the USB board plug instead of mounting two extensions to a control panel. Lame.

The top vent, SATA port, and front panel.

Finally, I have the ASUS Maximus VI Hero motherboard..

The supplied accessories to said mobo..

..and finally the mobo itself. 

Of course, we can't talk about the mobo without mentioning the I/O that's onboard. A couple notes: A BIOS reset button is prominent (more than my past mobos). Optical output seems to be the standard today, but I wasn't too impressed by it (more on that, later). The HDMI port is a result of the emergence of much better onboard GPU solutions provided with Ivy Bridge and Haswell CPUs. Of course, I'm not using it (and for obvious reasons). Aside from the even four USB2 and four USB3 ports, don't let that analog audiojack array fool you. Yeah, at it's most basic, it runs with the typical AC97 audio drivers, but ASUS provided a dedicated audio processor directly to the board (Supreme FX). It used to be that manufacturers provide tiny soundcards that take up at least one PCIE x1 slot, but now it's built directly to the board.

     Now, I never fully documented my build process, but I do have more pics to explain some stuff: 

As a start, I removed the CPU from its protective case and (very carefully) placed it in the CPU slot. I did inspect the pins and got instantly scared when I saw that at least one pin was protruding out, abnormally. I grabbed my narrow-necked screwdriver, used the tiniest star-pointed head I had available and pushed the pin in very, VERY slightly. Let's just say that was successful. I set the CPU in place and locked the pin. I then proceeded to lock the RAM in place.

Removing the mobo from it's packaging, I made an inspection of the board and found a very non-impressive corner, bent up. This was a manufacturer screwup since the box itself was completely intact and not damaged. Bad QA... BAD! Anyway, this is as minor as it looks. It still held it's ground and I was able to snug a washer and screw in without screwing it up even more. 

Fast forward: the board is now mounted to the case. Notice the stupid USB3 passthroughs stick out the back of the case. >:(

The backplate is also impressive-looking. It fit like a glove :) Do note the 770 with it's two DVI-D, HDMI, and Displayport inputs.

Fast forward even more: This is the setup, all complete! Take note of the H100i all set into place and the giant 770 occupying it's PCIE slot. Other notes: i'm not the best cable manager, but I thought it was as good as its gonna get. 

The Yamamojo-jojo isn't complete without its racing stickers! Do note that the old (and rare) HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo still works! I just couldn't bring myself to depart with this dying technology, but it is showing its age and relevance (more on that in a bit).

SETUP/INITIAL RUN

     

     Building a comp takes time. I think that's a simple but effective enough description (short of comparing it to building a Lego set). Setting up is a different story. The Maximus VI carries the lastest UEFI builds available and I found it very easy to use. the drive controller was set to AHCI by default, and much of the settings that you would usually fiddle with prior to installing your OS was set on desirable presets. All I did was set up the boot order (to the 256GB SSD), and booted my Windows drive.

     I was initially having major issues with my board interfacing with my boot-formatted Windows flash drive. It was set up to be an MBR-based bootup drive through my Macbook's Disk Utility program, and it has worked on another build that I installed Windows with, in the past. It was driving me insane and I kept reformatting the drive to see if that fixed the problem. I finally decided to do it the old way and make a boot drive through the command prompt. I restarted my Macbook (being the only other computer I had available) and booted up Windows 7, run the proper commands, and rebuild the drive to boot Windows. Of course, this worked like a charm and I was installing in no time. I chose the 256GB Samsung SSD over setting up a RAID array with my 2 additional 128GB SSDs. I felt that I wasn't going to see that much of a boost, and I wanted to leave at least one of the drives for a future Hackintosh project that I want to do (we'll see how Mavericks play with other peoples Maximus VI boards). 

     The install only took 15 minutes to finish, and with the additional driver installations, I was ready to roll within the hour. After all the setting up, the bootup time from after POST was about 12 seconds and has stayed consistent since. Overall, I had a relatively smooth experience setting up. It definitely wasn't a perfect process, but it was far better than my last builds. 

GENERAL PERFORMANCE

      If you haven't noticed, the Yamamojo-jojo is ultimately a gaming rig. In reality, this computer was built to be capable of gaming... and gaming nicely. This may bear the same meaning, but I go with the second wording because I honestly don't have the time to play games. Still, it's always a better choice to have/build a computer with plenty of room to breathe, and that's one of the main reasons why I rather build a computer over buying one at Best Buy. By default, it is a fact that this rig is capable of doing basic computing tasks such as Office related tasks, browsing the internet, and A/V-related tasks. In fact, on of the first things I did after I finished setting up was watch 13 Assassins using Media Player Classic.

     My initial active visual outputs was a direct HDMI connection to my 40inch Sony HDTV, and was going to be my media display for movies and whatnot. My second input was a VGA (w/DVI converter) to my old 23in. Hp Monitor. It was an ideal setup for me for the first couple weeks. Two big factors caused a switch in the lineup: the first being the resolution of my Hp monitor. Its a modest 1680 x 1050 display resolution. I wanted a monitor that could at least do 1920 x 1080 (or 1080p, for those more familiar with the term) and have a DVI-D port by default. The second factor was that the VGA input prevented me from having a proper HDCP protocol, so it interfered with iTunes movies that are in full HD 1080p (which prevents playback on non-HDCP compliant inputs/displays). It was time for a change... and this was the result:

This is the LG 23EA85V IPS LED display. It outputs at 1920 x 1080 resolution @ 60hz, it carries a DVI-D, HDMI and Displayport input in the back, it's less than a inch thick, has a resolution sharpener, and has a bezel of only 1cm (with the exception of the bottom).

     If you ask me, I found the perfect display for my uses. No, it's not gaming specific like a BenQ MLG ( xXLeGiTqUiCkSCOPEzzXx [[MLG]] 1v1mEnUb .::1337::. ..damn, I hate MLG... so much.) monitor, but it's a definite step up from a 6 year old Hp monitor (I can't believe that its 6 years old!). While we're on video-related stuff**, it's worth briefly noting the immense graphic processing power of the GTX 770. It dominated my very processor-heavy Flight Simulator X with framerates between 60 - 140+ frames (at near max settings)! Of course, FSX runs optimally with a frame limiter, so its limited to 30fps, but I have never seen frames drop no lower than 29fps. Another game I run with mostly max settings is Digital Combat Simulator. This is a game that optimizes CPU and GPU processing, but is really memory-dependent. I was getting average framerates of 91fps with a low of 63 and a max of 137fps. This is using an A-10A on a random generated mission with Max ground and helo settings. The last game I benchmarked was Crysis 3. I had the game settings at max (and "Very High" is the new Ultra setting, for all you Crysis fans). The average framerate clocked in at 48fps with a 35 low and 61 high. 

      A noticeable but minor flaw is video playback performance. I'm not entirely sure if this is a card-related issue or a CPU issue, but from time to time, full screen playback on the Sony output gets slightly choppy. I never experienced that issue with my last build (with a GTX 560 ti), and it's not that bad, but its still noticeable and is note-worthy. Perhaps an update to that is in order, sometime down the line. 

     As for temperature and fan/cooler performance, I'm delightfully surprised by the performance.** You know you done something right when temperatures  slightly change (but never exceeds max) at load capacity, while playing a game, and the db output of your fans is softer than your Fat PS3 at idle conditions. Just imagine when I'm playing GTA V with that damn PS3. It produces way more noise and heat than the Yamamojo-jojo. It's glorious, to say the least. 

**More technical benchmarks and further insight to the tested titles will be on the next part (for all those wanting more technical stuff). 

FINAL THOUGHTS

     It's always a fun time for me when building season comes along.  Yeah, there will be those moments when I'm replacing parts with better parts, but when you're creating a full build, its a satisfying achievement. The great thing about computer building is that the level of performance is completely up to you. Building a comp with cheaper parts doesn't necessarily make the computer obsolete. You can actually thank the stagnate game developing community for that one, since they moved to this multi-platform developing model. Essentially developing a game that is designed to run on 8 year old hardware (such as the 360 and almost the PS3) gives PCs a lot of breathing space. While that window is now closing with the advent of the next generation of console gaming, you can see hardware such as the 6 year old Nvidia GeForce 8800s running todays games on decent settings that either still exceeds the image quality of console equivalent titles or matches them. Always feel satisfied about the builds you make and at what budget you want to invest in. For the performance-to-price ratio, (some $2200 total) the Admiral YAMAMOJO-JOJO is more than satisfying for my needs.  

If you're tech-savvy, I'm posting a dedicated entry with all sorts of benchmarks and further insight to the gaming benchmarks that I mentioned here.