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.