Sony’s new PlayStation 4 has been in the news for quite some time. The console will launch in November and speculations, rumors and facts from the company itself are making headlines every day. Today, at “The Arrival of the New Era: Gentlemen, Let’s Make Games!”, an event held at CEDEC 2013, Sony Asia’s Kensei Akiyama summarized the additional features and user interface of the upcoming PS4.
The event kicked off with Akiyama demonstrating the new console, its specs, concept design, and architecture. Some of the console’s features, also highlighted earlier in the summer, include a large memory footprint and generally strong specs. The console has also been praised for being extremely developer-friendly.
At the CEDEC conference, Akiyama also showed off the new Dualshock 4 controller. The new controller will be better and much more advanced than the Dualshock 3 controller. It will have all the features and buttons that the previous controller had, but aside from that, it also has a panel. multi-touch that will allow users to pinch, swipe, rotate and press while playing. Additionally, the controller will also have a Share button that will allow users to take snapshots of the games they are playing, as well as game activity to share with their friends on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Menu-wise, the new console will have a dynamic menu dubbed the “PlayStation Dynamic Menu” which Akiyama says will provide real-time feedback to each player. Also, the on-board camera will support high-definition video and photos. In addition, it will have an enlarged angle. The camera is said to enhance the experience of the users while gaming as long as they are playing the games meant to give an enhanced look.
Players will also be able to log in with multiple accounts at any given time on the new PlayStation 4. Another feature of the new console includes the Companion Apps feature that will support both iOS and Android devices. This particular feature will allow players to share information about the game with their friends. However, that does not mean that if multiple players connect their device on the same network, they will be able to share the second screen with them. However, first, they will have to link them.
That’s not all though, as the best feature, in my personal opinion, is the ability to play games before they’ve been fully downloaded: users will be able to play the parts of the game that have been downloaded.
PlayStation 4 will arrive in North America on November 15 of this year. The indicated retail price of the console will be $399. On the other hand, it will make a somewhat late entry in Europe on November 29 and will be available for €399. The same is true for the UK, as the device will hit UK stores on November 29 and will be priced at £349.