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novicius
January 6th, 2014, 12:12 PM
[Continued from here (http://gtxfrefuge.freeforums.org/post78547.html#p78547).]

PlayStation 4 Shows Strong Momentum in Next-Gen Console Sales Chart (http://news.softpedia.com/news/PlayStation-4-Shows-Strong-Momentum-in-Next-Gen-Console-Sales-413150.shtml)


VGChartz's global hardware sales chart (http://www.vgchartz.com/#Last Generation) puts the PlayStation 4 at 3.4 million units sold, while the Xbox One sales only managed to amount to 2.5 million units. The Nintendo Wii U is at 5 million units, while the handheld console PS Vita sports a solid 7 million units sold.

The champion of this generation of consoles is the Nintendo 3DS though, with a considerable advantage, sitting at a comfortable 41.6 million units sold. Its predecessor was at the forefront of the previous generation, with a whopping 150 million units sold.

The Nintendo Wii U had a lead of close to 3.75 million units sold during its first year of release, and it seems that the both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are hot on its trail, and that is even before their launch in Japan, coming this February.
5+ million Wii U units sold? That's a lot higher number than I would have guessed.

TheBenior
January 6th, 2014, 04:33 PM
I'm more surprised by the PS Vita outselling the Wii U in Europe and the home market of Japan in the week up to December 28th. I suppose that could be aided by the new PCH-2000 model in Japan, and bundle pricing on the older PCH-1000 elsewhere, but that really doesn't look good for the Wii U.

novicius
January 15th, 2014, 08:27 AM
Weekend Reading: PlayStation Now and Sony's Big Streaming Bet (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Weekend-Reading-PlayStation-Now-and-Sony-s-Big-Streaming-Bet-415868.shtml)


By far the biggest announcement of the week coming from CES 2014 was Sony's PlayStation Now, the new cloud-based game streaming service.

For those that missed it, PS Now will offer, at first, select PS3 games (both first- and third-party ones) that can be streamed and played on the PS4 and PS3. At a later point in time, the games will be available for streaming on the PS Vita, Bravia TVs, smartphones, and tablets. Sony plans on bringing other games, including PS2 or PS1 titles, to the service once it sees just how popular it is.
Just a small reminder -- the original release time-frame was somewhere in the bottom half of January.

novicius
January 17th, 2014, 05:08 AM
Sony Blames Poor PS4 Sales in U.S. on Shortages (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Blames-Poor-PS4-Sales-in-U-S-on-Shortages-417848.shtml)


Sony has offered an official statement about the sales of its PlayStation 4 in the United States in December, blaming the poor performance on the shortages experienced by the next-gen console throughout the country. The NPD Group revealed the sales statistics for gaming hardware earlier today and the Xbox One has surpassed the PS4 in the U.S. last month.

Sony has released a statement after this reveal and emphasized that the poor performance was mostly owed to the shortages experienced by the console.

"According to the latest NPD report, PlayStation 4 remains the cumulative leader for next-gen console sales in the U.S. since its launch on November 15. We sold every PS4 available at retail in the U.S. and were out of stock in December due to overwhelming consumer demand," Sony said, via DualShockers (http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/01/16/ps4-is-still-keeping-ahead-of-the-xbox-one-in-the-us-says-sony/).

"With more than 4.2 million PS4 systems sold worldwide, it’s clear that the PS4′s gaming and entertainment features are resonating with large audiences and we’re doing our best to provide additional inventory in all of the 53 countries where it’s available."

Overall, Sony still leads with 4.2 million PS4s sold, as opposed to Xbox One's 3 million.

novicius
January 17th, 2014, 05:15 AM
Sony Won't Allow PS4 Owners to Turn Off DualShock 4 Lightbar (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Won-t-Allow-PS4-Owners-to-Turn-Off-DualShock-4-Lightbar-418074.shtml)


Sony has confirmed that it won't allow PS4 owners to turn off the DualShock 4 lightbar, as the LEDs on the controller don't use that much battery, according to WorldWide studios boss Shuhei Yoshida.

The DualShock 4 controller has a rechargeable battery that, unfortunately, isn't that capable of powering the device for periods longer than around eight hours. According to some users' tests, the main culprit is the lightbar which is really bright and uses a lot of power, so quite a few PS4 owners have begged Sony to allow them to turn it off.

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed on Twitter that such a thing won't be possible, as the "LEDs do not use much battery."

The executive ruled out a future firmware update that lowered the ligthbar's visibility, so don't expect it to go away anytime soon.

Tom Servo
January 17th, 2014, 08:16 AM
I've noticed that with the XBone controller too, they both suck up a ton of battery. I'd imagine it's due to more rumble stuff, that's almost always the culprit for poor battery life. I defintely believe Sony when they say that light bar has negligible effect on battery life.

Kchrpm
January 17th, 2014, 08:26 AM
I have gotten used to having to nurse the Wii U Gamepad, I just have the cable to plug it in right by my normal seat. I do have the extra large battery on the way, but that will be more useful during parties than anything else.

Tom Servo
February 4th, 2014, 04:33 AM
Woke up early, though I might play a little AC4 before work. Haha, nope, 2.3 gig update is required, will take about the entire time I have this morning to download. I love next-gen gaming.

21Kid
March 5th, 2014, 11:07 AM
Sony shamed for ‘lying’ to PlayStation 4 owners (http://news.yahoo.com/sony-shamed-lying-playstation-4-owners-164047780.html)

Native full HD 1080p gaming was one of the many promises of Sony’s new PlayStation 4 console and in many instances, it will deliver. A recent report revealed that one popular game that was being touted as “a 1080p 60 FPS monster” hasn’t delivered on its promise, however, and gamers are now lashing out as a result.
Last November ahead of the title’s release, Sony wrote in a blog post that Killzone Shadow fall features a “competitive multiplayer mode” that supports up to 24 players and “runs at native 1080p and 60 fps.” As it turns out, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In single player mode, Killzone Shadow Fall runs at a full 1080p. In multiplayer mode, however, the native resolution drops significantly in order to bump the frame rate from 30 fps to near 60 fps.
:shrug: Can anyone *really* tell?

Kchrpm
March 5th, 2014, 11:09 AM
INTERNET ANGER SHALL NOT BE IGNORED!

novicius
March 5th, 2014, 11:11 AM
Hey, Sony didn't say it was 1080p and 60 fps at the same time. :assclown:

thesameguy
March 5th, 2014, 12:54 PM
I dunno, if you make promises about features and then don't deliver you are actively soliciting backlash. Granted, many people couldn't tell the difference but some people certainly can and, if nothing else, it's the principal of the matter. Making promises about potentially unquantifiable features is deceptive and immoral, and you deserve whatever negative publicity results when they become quantifiable. Nobody would give Bugatti a pass if the Veyron only made 950hp or the C7 could only manage a 3.5 second 0-60 or if Chipotle burritos had 134,000 grams of sodium instead of 74,000 grams. Fair is fair, regardless.

Kchrpm
March 5th, 2014, 12:59 PM
This is different from those relatively simple tasks, though. You could easily make a game that runs on almost any modern system at 1080p/60 by making it graphically simple, or through proper estimation.

IMO this is more like saying "this car can do laps under 8 minutes on the Nurburgring" with the understanding that you need the proper situation and skills to pull it off.

GreatScawt
March 5th, 2014, 01:13 PM
Graphipcs, resolution, frames. Sony apparently promised all three, gave two. For one game. And they got busted for it.

thesameguy
March 5th, 2014, 01:18 PM
IMO this is more like saying "this car can do laps under 8 minutes on the Nurburgring" with the understanding that you need the proper situation and skills to pull it off.

When it comes to consoles, I disagree with that. Even with a computer, where processors and GPUs can vary wildly there is no expectation that results will be consistent across the landscape. But with consoles you know exactly what will work where - and in fact they demonstrated that fact by crippling the multiplayer's resolution so as to not lose framerate. That they knew this and never once mentioned "1080p is applicable only to single player" is deceptive. It's not like 'ring tests or Crysis results which were returned given an optimal compliment of variables, we're talking about guaranteed, reliable, reproducible, consistent results - 1080p only works in single player, period. They knew the score and they knew which conditions would yield which results and they never thought it important to share. When there are lots of variables, it is reasonable to believe results will vary. When there is exactly one variable and there are only two possible results... well, you get the picture.

Kchrpm
March 7th, 2014, 05:37 AM
Agree to disagree, then. There's so much more to graphics than resolution and framerate. Look at so many PC games with adjustable graphics, with dozens of variables that you can adjust, switch a couple from high to low and 1080p/60 "FAIL" becomes "PASS".

thesameguy
March 7th, 2014, 10:06 AM
Those settings are necessary because PC hardware is unpredictable. You don't know whether your target audience is rocking HD4600 or GTX 790. Consoles are all exactly the same as each other, capable of exactly the same thing. You know before you even start coding what your max throughput looks like, you know what gets switched off and on to deliver what experience. Choosing not to say "this works here, does not work here" when you know that is factually true and there is nothing the end user can do to change those truths is lying. In PC gaming with adjustable graphics, the end user always has the option of buying a faster video card if he wants a better experience - HD4600 guy can buy a GTX 790 if he wants 1080p and multiplayer. PS4 guy has no recourse, there is nothing he can do to unlock 1080p multiplayer. 1080p multiplayer doesn't in fact exist at all.

If you don't want to see that fact, that's fine, but you can't equate unpredictable PC configurations or unpredictable car/weather/driver configurations with 100% predictable console configurations. It's apples and celery.

Jason
March 7th, 2014, 05:21 PM
Dooooooooom

Kchrpm
March 7th, 2014, 05:55 PM
I am not saying that PC hardware and console hardware are the same. I'm saying that it's up to the developers to choose what graphical detail they want to use, and to optimize their own code. The hardware is predictable, but the software is not.

The PS4 can definitely output 1080p games at 60 frames per second, depending on many other factors that isn't really all that difficult for modern hardware. It apparently can't do it with a game where the graphics are as complex as in Killzone Shadow. IMO that doesn't mean Sony lied.

Edit: Unless they specifically said that Killzone Shadow would be 1080/60p throughout.

SkylineObsession
March 8th, 2014, 01:46 AM
In other PS4 news, i now own one thanks to wifey buying me one for my birthday last weekish (1st March).
But then, there is the fact that she is mad keen on Watchdogs, and Infamous Second Son - so it will be interesting to see who plays it more. ;)

Only played a bit of Killzone so far (and seen good examples of the advances in console power over the PS3/360), plus a bit of Outlast until i wimped out. Have Tomb Raider too, but i really should get through the rather large list of PS3 games i want to play/finish before i get too accustomed to next gen graphics...

Tom Servo
March 11th, 2014, 06:05 AM
Just managed to bag a couple of Man o' Wars on AC4, had about 20 minutes to play this morning, so thought I'd have fun seeing what kind of trade missions they could do for me. Start up AC4, try to go into the fleet, and am told that I *have* to be online to do that. Thought I was online.

Go to log in, get an error: ce-32883-4. PS4's website just says that's an "Internal Error", and to restart the system. I do. Try to log in, my password no longer works. Have to do the password reset, finally get in 20 minutes later.

There are definitely parts of this new online console world that can get fucked.

21Kid
March 11th, 2014, 11:12 AM
PSN was down yesterday... It may have not been back up yet???

Tom Servo
March 11th, 2014, 01:15 PM
Once I did a password reset, it worked again. What I'm thinking is somehow they hosed my account during their maintenance yesterday. Nonetheless, I was talking with a friend of mine and saying that I kinda miss the time where the only thing that might keep you from playing a game you own is whether or not you needed to blow on the cartridge first.

Tom Servo
July 29th, 2014, 09:02 AM
Had to do the password reset again. Just started getting popups while playing games about some system error, plus often times I'd try to start playing a game and it would tell me it was unable to validate the license. A password reset fixed it, but man, PSN seems like it's got some issues. I'm pretty sure it's not a successful password crack as I'm using a 20 character alphanumeric randomly generated password for it...

Glad I got it sorted, as Last of Us Remastered came out this morning. I never got to play Last of Us, so I'm pretty excited as it sounds like it was damned good. 'Course, I forgot to buy it and start the download this morning before work.../firstworldproblems.

TheBenior
July 29th, 2014, 11:03 AM
I'm thinking about going to GameStop to buy the remastered PS4 Last of Us. They've got some deal this week to trade in a PS3 copy to get half off of the PS4 version.

I started playing the PS3 version a few weeks ago (I got a used GameStop copy as a Christmas gift, but my games backlog is always several months long), but I didn't get very far in before the graphics started skipping and pausing during cutscenes. Other discs are still working perfectly fine, so I'm thinking that the disc is physically damaged/warped.

With that in mind, why not play the better looking version of it?

Tom Servo
July 29th, 2014, 06:01 PM
Doesn't hurt that I guess it has all the DLC and for $10 less than most new releases are.

Tom Servo
July 30th, 2014, 10:14 PM
Holy living Christ, this game reminds me of the first time I played Half-Life 2. Amazing narrative and voice acting. I don't even care about the gameplay, the ride is awesome.

TheBenior
August 2nd, 2014, 05:30 PM
Went to GameStop Thursday night, traded in my PS3 copy of The Last of Us and got the PS4 version. Right after I did that, another couple came in and asked about that deal.

Playing it will have to wait until I finish Wolfenstein, which I'm most of the way through now.

Tom Servo
September 25th, 2014, 11:43 AM
PS4 has succumbed to some issue that appears to be showing up in a number of launch day machines. I was playing Watch Dogs the other morning when it suddenly spit out the DVD that was in there. Then it beeped. Then it beeped A LOT and the motor that pulls discs in and pushes them out kept firing up and stopping. Looked online and found a few "fixes", and shockingly one of them appears to work, but only for a limited time. Three times now it's fixed it only to have it start happening again. One time it started 10 minutes after the fix, another time it was about a week.

So, they're sending its cardboard coffin and off it goes to Sony. On the plus side, a) it's still under warranty and b) I've had so much practice with this process with my 360 that this is old hat now.

Just hope I don't lose my savegames...

TheBenior
September 25th, 2014, 02:58 PM
If I were Sony, I would make sure you lost your saves to punish you for not paying for PS Plus. That'll learn ya. ;)

I finally popped in The Last of Us last night. I don't know if the graphics are a huge leap up from the PS3 version (which was admittedly one of the best looking PS3 games ever), the subtle improvements do add to the immersion.

SkylineObsession
September 25th, 2014, 10:10 PM
Oh great, hopefully our PS4 doesn't have that problem.

Pretty much doesn't get played at all (had it since March) as we have too many other games on PS3 to play. :D

Tom Servo
September 26th, 2014, 10:57 AM
I totally do pay for PS+ though! I like the free games.

Tom Servo
October 13th, 2014, 03:16 PM
Totally took longer for the box to make it here than it took for repairs, it's on its way back and should be here by the end of the week...yaay!

TheBenior
November 18th, 2014, 01:34 PM
Finally finished The Last of Us after a month and a half long hiatus. Great game, but halfway through, even I was thinking, "Man is this game bleak."

I picked up Shadow of Mordor, Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition, and Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition while Target had a buy 2, get 1 free sale going on a week back. I've only played a bit of Shadow of Mordor so far, and I sum it up as Assassin's Creed+Arkham City+LotR= Orc boogeyman. The main character Talion climbs and skulks around brutally killing orcs from concealment, freeing their slaves (who double as livestock), hacking away at groups of them in the open, using wraith powers, and coming back from the dead.

Janelle's Amazon pre-order of Far Cry 4 came in today, and she's enjoying it quite a bit. Graphics are great, voice acting is good, and the all-around feel of Far Cry 3 remains.

Alan P
November 18th, 2014, 06:00 PM
So the kids are getting one of these for their Christmas, what's the skinny on Internet connections? Does it need to be connected always or could we let him run it sans connection? They're wanting Destiny and The Club which I guess are next to useless without an Internet connection? And am I right in saying that PSN+ is a necessity now to play online?

TheBenior
November 18th, 2014, 06:52 PM
FWIU, you need an internet connection to play Destiny at all, and co-op and PvP portions of the game are locked away without a PS Plus membership. Most, though not all, games now require a PS Plus membership for online play.

You'd probably want to have the PS4 connected to the internet regardless of whether or not they plan to play multiplayer, as numerous games have day one patches full of bug fixes.

SkylineObsession
November 18th, 2014, 06:55 PM
They don't need a constant internet connection unless you want game/console etc updates and games to be downloaded while you're not using the console (convenience / laziness - take you pic ;) ).
But that requires having the PS4 in standby all the time which means you can't turn off the power to it, and it'll make your electricity bill increase (apparently it is worse than the PS3?).

We turn our internet off each night, and unplug the console from the power point (cheap surge protection when not in use).

You do need PS+ to play online games, and online in games (i just subscribed to it a few days ago).

Alan P
November 19th, 2014, 06:25 AM
He has a PS Vita as well, PS+ covers this on the same sub? And free games with PS Plus too?

TheBenior
November 19th, 2014, 07:04 AM
Yes, I use my PS Plus membership for my PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. Some [mostly indie] games are even cross-platform.

Tom Servo
July 29th, 2015, 03:35 PM
It has occurred to me that since I sent my PS4 off for repairs, I have yet to actually turn it on. Well, that's not true - I turned it on to see if it had Netflix's copy of "The Room" in it (it didn't, we used the laptop).

Judging by the activity in this thread, is the PS4 pretty much a dud at this point?

Rare White Ape
July 29th, 2015, 04:22 PM
Nup, I play it quite often.

I think the main factor is that almost everyone here has an X-bone and not many people have the PS4.

Activity in PS4-land is quite alright, there's the usual mulit-platofrm titles making their rounds; I've been playing Project Cars on-and-off for a bit, and there's SW Battlefront, Mass Effect, Doom 4 and Fallout 4 on the way. Exclusives-wise, Journey was just ported to it this week (that game is excellent, BTW), No Man's Sky will be out soon, Horizon Zero Dawn looks very promising, and apparently everyone has been frotting themselves silly over The Last Guardian.

Expect the inevitable GT7 announcement within 12 months, then expect the inevitable delays and complaints over it.

SkylineObsession
July 29th, 2015, 04:28 PM
Nope, mine still goes on most days. Mainly Minecraft or Far Cry 4 at the moment though.

Tom Servo
July 29th, 2015, 04:28 PM
I think I'm mostly holding out for GT. I missed the entire PS3 generation, so I'm still looking forward to trying that.

I was playing Watch Dogs and The Last of Us, but that repair hiatus really took the wind out of my sails. Maybe I'll try to pick it up again, but Rocksmith monopolizes so much of my gaming time that I have a feeling that's not going to happen soon.

TheBenior
July 29th, 2015, 06:22 PM
Wife and I use our PS4 fairly regularly, though not every day.

FWIW, we've got 12 disc games for it, so Sony's definitely made some money off of us.

pl8ster
July 30th, 2015, 04:12 AM
My son has a group of friends that have PS4s, so they play Destiny or Minecraft or that free car-soccer game Rocket League that actually looks like a lot of fun.

I play Project Cars on the PS4 sometimes, but lately when I have time to play, I've been mostly playing NCAA Football 14 on the PS3.

Kchrpm
July 30th, 2015, 05:51 AM
Rocket League is indeed a lot of fun.

The359
August 1st, 2015, 11:54 AM
I'm finally on the PS4 bandwagon. Have FarCry, Batman, Minecraft, and Project CARS thus far. You know where to find me on the network.

SkylineObsession
August 1st, 2015, 05:23 PM
Have seen you online playing Minecraft/Far Cry when i've been online before.

How are you liking Minecraft?

The359
August 1st, 2015, 08:48 PM
Minecraft is good, it's just nice to have one that just straight up works instead of having to fiddle with settings on PC. Using a controller takes getting used to though. I'm mostly playing it for the trophies, I have all but 6-7 left.

SkylineObsession
August 2nd, 2015, 08:46 PM
Ah yeah, my brother has the PC version and was saying how it sometimes crashes (like when going into the secret setting menu thingy).

I'm aiming for platinum too, have three left on Far Cry 4 as well, but by tomorrow i should hopefully have platinum as getting someone to help me with the co-op ones. :)

21Kid
August 3rd, 2015, 06:23 AM
If Rocket League is still available for free, I'd suggest picking that up. Much fun!

The359
August 3rd, 2015, 09:48 AM
Today should be the last day it's available. I already have a full plate of games though, and I'll probably pick up Limbo for free in the coming days.

21Kid
August 3rd, 2015, 10:27 AM
Get free now... Play whenever.

Excellent value!!! ;)

Rare White Ape
August 3rd, 2015, 01:45 PM
Get free now... Play whenever.

Excellent value!!! ;)

This^^^^!!!!!!

You should see my library of PS Vita games. I don't even own a PS Vita.

21Kid
August 3rd, 2015, 01:52 PM
:lol:

LHutton
August 30th, 2015, 01:38 AM
With a PS4, do you need to download games or do they come on DVDs?

If you do need to download them, can you play them without being connected online?

I'm asking because I ideally want something that I can simply plug into my TV and play there, rather than being connected to the wire. I have wireless, but it's shit, so I use a CAT 5 connection.

Dicknose
August 30th, 2015, 04:15 AM
Blu-ray Disc.

LHutton
August 30th, 2015, 05:37 AM
Awesome, just bought.

Rare White Ape
August 30th, 2015, 05:54 AM
Blu-ray Disc.

Well, both, really. There's more games available on the PS Store than there are in shops.

And I don't see why you wouldn't be able to play a game if you're offline. The console itself is 'authorised' to play games so phoning home is not required every single time.

Tom Servo
August 31st, 2015, 10:39 AM
Yep, what RWA said. I've bought most of my games online just because I'm lazy and don't feel like getting up to change out the disc all the time. Like Steam and the XBox, it'll still let you play games when you're offline even if they're downloaded.

LHutton
September 1st, 2015, 08:51 AM
Excellent. I plugged it into my PC internet link just to register, in case I feel the need later on.

SkylineObsession
September 1st, 2015, 04:25 PM
Couldn't play Driveclub PS+ Edition when we had no internet last week. Nor a few other things? Most can be played though i'd hope.

overpowered
December 14th, 2015, 01:57 PM
http://games.slashdot.org/story/15/12/14/2127246/developer-claims-ps4-officially-jailbroken

21Kid
April 19th, 2016, 02:04 PM
PS4K (http://www.denofgeek.com/games/sony/40025/report-sony-to-release-upgraded-4k-ready-playstation-4)

I knew it was short-sighted to not include it from the beginning.

Dicknose
April 19th, 2016, 10:45 PM
Well to be fair to Sony 4K has barely taken off and the lead time on the ps4 design meant it would have been a gamble, especially as they were being price sensitive against Xbox.
The idea of ps4/neo4k games sounds reasonable, if it's not to hard for the developers.

Rare White Ape
April 19th, 2016, 11:25 PM
It would have been nice if they had the room to delay by 12 months and have it from the beginning, but this generation was in the awkward position of a) following the previous generation, which was the longest in games console history, and b) being on the cusp of the 4K era.

But the next generation will be all over the 4K bandwagon, although we'll still be playing some games at 30fps so idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21Kid
April 20th, 2016, 06:22 AM
IDK... BluRay with the PS3 was more of a gamble IMO, since it was fighting with HD-DVD. 4K was already being discussed in the PC arena when the PS4/XBone came out. And there wasn't a fight between 4K and some other format. I think they are still working out differences in encoding, but they wouldn't have been obsolete like the Microsoft HD-DVD drives are. Everyone knew 4k was coming eventually.

Kchrpm
April 20th, 2016, 06:47 AM
The gamble with 4K wasn't just supporting the encoding format, it was putting in the hardware that could handle that resolution and still have the effects people are expecting. The XBox One can't even consistently do 1080p/60 fps. It's no simple matter handling high quality 4K games.

thesameguy
April 20th, 2016, 08:25 AM
Indeed - some of the best hardware out there right now still struggles, and it's not cheap!

21Kid
April 20th, 2016, 09:45 AM
True. I guess this is the problem with fixed hardware generations.

LHutton
April 20th, 2016, 11:08 AM
The gamble with 4K wasn't just supporting the encoding format, it was putting in the hardware that could handle that resolution and still have the effects people are expecting. The XBox One can't even consistently do 1080p/60 fps. It's no simple matter handling high quality 4K games.
You mean 1080p/30FPS.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z6ONWZ7etA

LHutton
April 20th, 2016, 11:12 AM
PS4K (http://www.denofgeek.com/games/sony/40025/report-sony-to-release-upgraded-4k-ready-playstation-4)

I knew it was short-sighted to not include it from the beginning.
Wonder what GPU that's getting. Must be next gen, there's almost no single GPU out there right now that does 4K well, except maybe an overclocked GTX980Ti. Maybe DX12 will change that, or whatever API the PS4K will roll with.

Rare White Ape
April 21st, 2016, 02:26 AM
IDK... BluRay with the PS3 was more of a gamble IMO, since it was fighting with HD-DVD.

Nah, the only gambler was Toshiba, who tried to push HD-DVD against Sony's Blu-Ray juggernaut without a major hardware leader like PS3.

4K is an inevitability, the gamble there is not doing it.

Drachen596
April 21st, 2016, 02:42 AM
I think PS3 is the reason Blu Ray won that battle honestly.

Didn't something like half the people buying PS3s use them for Blu-ray players only since they were the cheapest option to get one at the time? Plus unlike the X360 and the HD-DVD it was built into the system and not an additional cost add on.

21Kid
April 21st, 2016, 05:10 AM
Yeah, from my memory there were just as many HD-DVD supporters as BD. Had the Xbox 360 included it, who knows. The PS3 was a lot more expensive because of it though. They counted on their massive PS2 user-base, which didn't want to spend that kind of money. And most of them jumped to the 360.

The PS3 was my first BD player as well.

Rare White Ape
April 21st, 2016, 05:22 AM
Didn't something like half the people buying PS3s use them for Blu-ray players only since they were the cheapest option to get one at the time?

The original PS3s (I'm not sure of which exact models, but it was within the 'fat' console era) were actually equipped with some top-notch innards that rivaled the high-end dedicated Blu-Ray players that were available for something like 4x the price of a PS3. It was so good that a company called Criterion Collection used it as their reference Blu-Ray player to evaluate the Blu-Ray films they were mastering at the time. Here's a link: http://www.cnet.com/au/news/criterion-collections-reference-blu-ray-player-is-a-ps3/

So not only were they cheaper than 'good' BR players, they were as good as cinemaphile gear that you'd find in a decent home theater setup.

TheBenior
April 21st, 2016, 07:00 AM
PS4K (http://www.denofgeek.com/games/sony/40025/report-sony-to-release-upgraded-4k-ready-playstation-4)

I knew it was short-sighted to not include it from the beginning.

Sony wasn't keen on repeating the higher launch prices of the PS3 (which let the XB360 take an early lead that generation), or the massive losses per unit (the estimated manufacturing costs of the PS3 were $840.35 and $805.85 for the $599 and $499 versions, respectively, before factoring in development costs). Given that the PS4 has massively outsold the XBONE, Sony made the right decision. Most estimates have the PS4 outselling the XBONE by a 2-1 margin; whatever it is, it's a big enough gap that MS stopped reporting console sales.

Yw-slayer
April 21st, 2016, 09:18 AM
The original PS3s (I'm not sure of which exact models, but it was within the 'fat' console era) were actually equipped with some top-notch innards that rivaled the high-end dedicated Blu-Ray players that were available for something like 4x the price of a PS3. It was so good that a company called Criterion Collection used it as their reference Blu-Ray player to evaluate the Blu-Ray films they were mastering at the time. Here's a link: http://www.cnet.com/au/news/criterion-collections-reference-blu-ray-player-is-a-ps3/

So not only were they cheaper than 'good' BR players, they were as good as cinemaphile gear that you'd find in a decent home theater setup.

Yeah, my fattie PS3 is still a great BD-ROM player. One might even say that it was...

Kchrpm
April 21st, 2016, 09:21 AM
Unexpectedly satisfying.

MR2 Fan
April 21st, 2016, 12:41 PM
AMAZING DEAL

thesameguy
April 21st, 2016, 02:39 PM
Bluray was definitely my reason for getting a PS3, and why I wasn't mad when there wasn't anything to play on it. It was totally worth it. Sadly, the PS4 offers no such secret sauce.

Reynard
April 21st, 2016, 05:00 PM
Word. My original fat PS3 started out as a dvd/blu-ray player for the most part, then became a game machine too and now is back to being a disc player 90% of the time which it still excels at. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Rare White Ape
April 22nd, 2016, 03:34 AM
My fat PS3 died at the start of 2014. Power supply problems associated with poor heat management.

So now I have a new 3rd-gen slim PS3 in red, which I only use as a digital TV PVR (with PlayTV), and the PS4 gets all gaming a Blu-Ray duties.

JSGeneral
April 22nd, 2016, 07:23 AM
How long does it take to set-up a new PS4? (Downloading updates, setting up a PS+ Account, etc.)

I'm going to be purchasing a PS4 (last Sony machine was a PS2) for a game I've already pre-ordered that is coming out in June. Obviously, I'm pretty excited and already committed... I'm just wondering if anyone has any input on how many days ahead of time I should get the unit so that I can be properly ready to go.

21Kid
April 22nd, 2016, 10:56 AM
I'd give it at least 5-6 hours. One day in advance should be sufficient.

Rare White Ape
April 22nd, 2016, 03:47 PM
You should be able to set up a PS account on the internet, then just log-in to it when you fire up the console. That'll save some time, but the sign up process only takes 10 minutes anyway. Add your CC details to it while signing up so that you don't have to do it via the console's crappy onscreen keyboard. Once you're signed in on the PS4 then just go to the store app and look for the PS+ category and buy it from there.

Assuming you buy a console from a recent shipment, you might not even need to update anything, as it will come with the latest OS on the drive. Updates for this are few and far between anyway. And there's the normal console preferences and connecting to your internet, which take 15 minutes, at most. I found the whole setup process to be quite easy and seamless when I bought mine in Nov 2014, I think you'll be up and running in an hour.

But since you're getting one anyway, why not buy it a week before your game arrives and start playing some of the free titles you get on PS+?

Kchrpm
June 10th, 2016, 06:31 AM
Sony confirms the higher end Playstation 4, which will be more powerful and more expensive than the current PS4, and support 4K. It will be sold alongside the current PS4. Every game will work with the original PS4, and games can be made to support the new PS4 with a "small but manageable" amount of work.

Tom Servo
June 10th, 2016, 12:47 PM
I have visions of Sega CD dancing in my head.

balki
June 12th, 2016, 02:34 PM
word is xbox one-and-a-half (scorpio) will be more powerful than PS4k and the NX, with all three out next year
They need to make the storage interfaces quicker, an external USB 3.0 drive is quicker than the internal on the xbone

21Kid
June 13th, 2016, 09:38 AM
Ah yes, Sewer Shark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDz7reqssSI

balki
June 13th, 2016, 09:53 AM
I like the idea, basically 2-4x the power and backwards compatible.
The again, I also had the SegaCD and 32x (after massive price-drops b/c they were major flops).

Rare White Ape
September 6th, 2016, 11:54 PM
Big hardware announcement coming soon: PS4 Slim and Neo.

We've already seen the Slim (because derp) but not the Neo, so this should be interesting.

Here's a link that might be geoblocked for all of you: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/09/everything-you-need-for-sonys-playstation-meeting-tomorrow/

And here's the text; the times listed are about 12 hours away from right now.


Sony has some new consoles coming out. One of them they’ve mentioned before — their 4K console, the PlayStation Neo — and one they haven’t, the slimmer revision of the PS4.

But tomorrow morning the company will finally show all and sundry what they’ve been developing. So if you’re intrigued and want to follow along, we’ve got all the details.

Officially titled the PlayStation Meeting, Sony’s conference — where they’re expected to talk about PlayStation Neo, the PS4 slim and the upcoming PlayStation VR — kicks off from the following times:

3:00 AM AWST (Perth)
5:00 AM AEST (Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart)
4:30 AM ACT (Adelaide)
7:00 AM NZST (New Zealand)

Rare White Ape
September 7th, 2016, 01:55 PM
Upgraded CPU, GPU, outputs HDR and 4K, plays all current games and a couple of them already support it.

http://cdn3.dualshockers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Screenshot-9_7_2016-9_53_29-PM.jpg

Rare White Ape
September 7th, 2016, 02:01 PM
Also every PS4 is getting a firmware update next week that adds HDR output for every console, so you can take advantage of that if you have a capable TV.

dodint
September 7th, 2016, 02:43 PM
Wish they'd add something useful, like, oh, I dunno, being able to transfer media to the HDD like you can with PS3.

GreatScawt
September 7th, 2016, 05:13 PM
I read that PS4 has HDMI 1.4. HDR requires HDMI 2.0. I don't know how they're updating the old gen PS4s.

GreatScawt
September 7th, 2016, 07:07 PM
Wait... it doesn't play 4K Blu Rays? :twitch:

Kchrpm
September 7th, 2016, 07:40 PM
Nope.

Rare White Ape
September 7th, 2016, 11:42 PM
Pfft who buys Blu-Rays anyway?

That just means getting off the couch if you want to watch a movie. Both to get it from a store and to change the disc.

Kchrpm
September 8th, 2016, 04:39 AM
I buy them for a couple reasons: my internet has a tendency to become too slow to stream video consistently around 7 pm every night, even YouTube low-res videos start buffering horribly; and many Blu-Rays come with a digital copy and cost nearly the same as buying the digital copy directly.

Example:
Captain America: Civil War, HD digital (https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Captain_America_Civil_War?id=efBgXjbd2uQ): $19.99
Captain America: Civil War, 2D Blu-Ray + 3D Blu-Ray + HD digital (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/captain-america-civil-war-3d-includes-digital-copy-blu-ray-blu-ray-3d-2016/5141101.p?skuId=5141101): $22.99

Tom Servo
September 8th, 2016, 06:00 AM
Wonder if they'll get to the same point CDs have gotten. I wanted to buy an album a few months back, and while I don't remember the exact pricing, it was something like $9.99 for the digital version on Amazon, but $5.99 for the CD + digital version with free shipping.

21Kid
September 8th, 2016, 06:23 AM
Wish they'd add something useful, like, oh, I dunno, being able to transfer media to the HDD like you can with PS3.

That pisses me off. You can add an external HDD to the Xbone and use both. But on the PS4, you can only use the external HDD to store movies & music. You can't use it for games that often take up 50+gb. :smh:

You can replace the internal HDD, but then I'd lose the 500gb storage that's already there. :mad:

21Kid
September 8th, 2016, 09:14 AM
Pfft who buys Blu-Rays anyway? That's what the games come on. :p So none of the games will be in 4k either. :(

Wait... it doesn't play 4K Blu Rays? :twitch: Even the new Pro model won't play them. :twitch:
The PlayStation 4 Pro will not play 4K Blu-rays. This was confirmed to IGN by a PlayStation representative at the PlayStation Meeting in New York City.

Kchrpm
September 8th, 2016, 09:21 AM
That's what the games come on. :p So none of the games will be in 4k either. :(
Totally different thing. 4K games do not require 4K UHD Blu-Rays.

21Kid
September 8th, 2016, 09:36 AM
Oh, whew. That's good. :D

dodint
September 8th, 2016, 11:57 AM
If they did, I would assume it was a ploy to further move folks to digital downloads.

21Kid
September 28th, 2016, 12:10 PM
That pisses me off. You can add an external HDD to the Xbone and use both. But on the PS4, you can only use the external HDD to store movies & music. You can't use it for games that often take up 50+gb. :smh:

You can replace the internal HDD, but then I'd lose the 500gb storage that's already there. :mad:
I just ran across his which helps solve that problem. :up:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ-2m75CwGw

21Kid
October 5th, 2016, 06:23 AM
PLAYSTATION VR REVIEW (http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/10/05/playstation-vr-review)

Sounds like it's not quite there yet.

Though the PlayStation VR is advertised at only $399.99, that price is misleading because it’s mostly useless without the $59.99 PlayStation Camera, which is sold separately. Additionally, many of the launch games either require or make use of one or two motion-tracked PlayStation Move controllers, which must also be purchased separately for between $20 and $30 each. Bundles (like the one on which this review is based) are available with the full set for $499.99, which is still a major price advantage.

The other crucial part of a VR setup like this one is the motion tracking, and here is where I felt the pinch most. Relative to the Vive and its two sensors placed in opposite corners of your play area, the PlayStation VR’s reliance on its single camera is a significant weakness. It does work reasonably well thanks to the depth-sensing capabilities of its two lenses, but its field of view is narrow enough that I frequently bumped up against its limits with the Move controllers. With the recommended six feet of distance between me and the camera, I find I have to frequently adjust the angle to cover me when switching between a standing experience like Batman: Arkham VR and a sitting one like SuperHyperCube.

Also, that inherent limitation means that even though we’re being immersed in a 360-degree virtual world where things can happen anywhere, we’ll never be able to turn around 180 degrees and shoot a monster that pops up behind us. Any time your body is between your hands and the PlayStation Camera, it has no way of knowing where they are and completely loses the ability to track them.
In general, the motion tracking reliability ranges from adequate to flakey, especially on Move controllers – for no reason I could pinpoint, it would sometimes wig out and one of my in-game hands would vanish or start flying away uncontrollably. Yet the next session in the same environment would be fine. To be clear, it works well the majority of the time, but when it doesn’t it’s frustrating.

novicius
October 5th, 2016, 08:13 AM
Just reading this today -- I'm going to go the Samsung Gear VR + XBONE Controller route when I upgrade my phone in 5 months.

Rare White Ape
October 5th, 2016, 06:27 PM
I'm not interested at all in the Wii-style gimmicky shovelware games that seem to be all that VR can offer so far. If I get a VR setup it'll be for games like Project Cars and GT Sport where I can sit there and be properly immersed in a racing or flight sim.

novicius
October 5th, 2016, 06:42 PM
There's a lot of hardware to account for in a driving/racing sim, tho'. You can't see it -- unless you're wearing small wristbands or gloves and they render your arms..?

Personally, I just need a phone so I figure I'll try out Samsung's gear. :)

Rare White Ape
October 6th, 2016, 03:54 AM
I considered the need to see your arms in a racing sim. I decided I could do without them and just have in-car view with no wheel, like you can in Project Cars. That is my pipe dream.

Rare White Ape
January 11th, 2017, 12:48 PM
Fuck man. Horizon Dero Fawn might have a clunky title (that was a genuine typo) but hooo-leeee-sheeeee it looks good.

https://youtu.be/5KGoFScxFCM

Tom Servo
January 13th, 2017, 09:57 AM
Yeah, if it plays anywhere near as good as it looks, I'll definitely be picking that up.

'Course, I'm ridin' a wave of smugness for not having pre-ordered No Man's Sky, so I'll wait until this has been out for a couple of weeks before I get too excited.

Rare White Ape
January 13th, 2017, 04:29 PM
I'll just wait for it to be on sale for cheap, since it comes out on March 1st, while Nintendo got the drop on them with Zelda a few days later lololol

On the surface they look to be very similar games and I was planning to play Horizon to tide me over until Zelda came out just in case it was delayed to the last half of 2017. I won't have to worry about that now!

Rare White Ape
February 1st, 2017, 02:44 PM
This game... Resident Evil 7.

Look at it in fucking VR would you? Holy shit! Hahaha!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROcCfbnZoUM

HNNNNGGGG. I'm so tempted to buy it but I am such a big scaredy-cat.

That said, I love the demo to bits. I only brought myself to playing it again last week. Initially I chickened out in July after watching the VHS tape and finding the note on the table. Big NOPE moment. Then this week I fired up the demo again (up there with MGS 2 as the best damn demo of all time) and completed it up to the 'bad ending' where you try and exit out the back door. Baby steps.

I felt intrigued so I watched a YouTube video on where to find the fuse to open the stairs up to the attic. So I did this, then opened the attic. This required going up the stairs to the room with the mannequins, AND going up to the attic itself. TWO NEW AREAS! I'm so brave.

I saw a door up in the attic. No fucking way am I opening that door. Another nope. Instead I went back down to the mannequins room because it's a safe place and it's close to the VHS room that I have seen before and nothing will scary happen to me there. HOLY FUCK THE MANNEQUINS TURNED AROUND FUCK QUIT.

So that's where I'm at. Too scared to complete the demo.

Imagine it in VR!

Rare White Ape
February 1st, 2017, 02:56 PM
Instead I might play Yakuza 0. It's more colourful and friendly.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dW6SQ09baM

Tom Servo
February 1st, 2017, 08:03 PM
Man, Kotaku sure fawn over an uncanny valley. I'm playing FFX remastered, and very much remembering how good I thought the character models were then, only now to notice how stiff and goofy they look now. That's this band. Yes, the mechanicals are there, but there's no expression in their faces at all, it's sorta creepy. It's like a super realistic country jamboree band at Disneyland.

Rare White Ape
February 2nd, 2017, 12:07 AM
I think Kotaku's angle was that it's neat how someone (or a group of someones) cared enough and went to the effort for five seconds in a cut scene.

And yeah. I went and bought Yakuza 0 today. It's cool so far, having done the first chapter. The story and setting are very good, with heaps of attention to detail and depth. If I was 22 and living in Tokyo in 1988 I'd say they've nailed it.

A lot of the time it strikes me that the graphics are so 2012 but they run at a true 1080/60 on PS4, so it's smooth and lovely to look at. Typical bright and ultra clean Japanese style visuals but in the 4K gaming era. Western developers tend to push technology to its limit so we get a lot of games limited to 900p and 30fps, so I like this a lot.

I can't wait to get to the crazy side missions involving chickens and pizzas.

novicius
February 2nd, 2017, 03:28 AM
What is that, Shenmue III? :lol:

The Resident Evil 7 vids look great -- very creepy. Would love to play that in VR! :twisted: #someday

Yw-slayer
February 2nd, 2017, 03:53 AM
What is that, Shenmue III? :lol:

The Resident Evil 7 vids look great -- very creepy. Would love to play that in VR! :twisted: #someday

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5LNaVdZ0K0TXjfqEWZKlzw

You can watch it RIGHT NOW thanks to my schoolmate, who has uploaded videos of him playing it in VR.

If you don't have VR, I highly recommend watching it at night, on a curved 34" monitor, on your own.

novicius
February 2nd, 2017, 04:08 AM
Naked? Clutching a knife? :D

Awesome vid, btw!! Everytime he fired his gun, I winced -- those bullets are precious, man! :lol: :up:

Yw-slayer
February 2nd, 2017, 04:46 AM
Naked? Clutching a knife? :D

Awesome vid, btw!! Everytime he fired his gun, I winced -- those bullets are precious, man! :lol: :up:

If you so wish!

Thanks, I'll pass him your feedback. :up:

21Kid
February 2nd, 2017, 05:08 AM
This game... Resident Evil 7.

Look at it in fucking VR would you? Holy shit! Hahaha!

So that's where I'm at. Too scared to complete the demo.

Imagine it in VR!

Hell yeah!!! :hard:

Rare White Ape
February 3rd, 2017, 10:14 PM
Yakuza 0 has some bizarre conversations between NPCs and the player. Like, beautifully bizarre.

Take this discussion on bowling technique my character had with the lady at the bowling alley after a game of ten pin.

http://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16402901_10154829982345792_7163978942005657961_o.j pg?oh=b8dc05a7c649a0556402edd0ec3fec1d&oe=59064CE0

http://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16422308_10154829984015792_5239998182441161293_o.j pg?oh=a2980f03d2984fca415928077ce2124b&oe=594277FB

http://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16402769_10154829984210792_4684453595151424052_o.j pg?oh=0f3364a41fd6fe802fc96fc62b1ae55c&oe=5905E06B

http://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/16402708_10154829984615792_6022152207500962671_o.j pg?oh=7c0bf30d910c1992d70ff1051b5c5e78&oe=593DAD21

Tom Servo
February 4th, 2017, 07:39 PM
Wait....is this the Shenmue 3 I've been waiting for? I know it's got a different name, but I'm suddenly intrigued. Weird, uncanny valley characters spouting bizarre nonsense? All with that ultra-odd Sega touch? I'm in.

Rare White Ape
February 4th, 2017, 10:10 PM
Mate, it's a fucking great game. It's so Japanese. There's even an arcade where you can play the old Space Harrier coin-op.

I had another great interaction with a very polite police officer. He wanted to search my possessions, so I gave him one of those little packets of tissues. Nothing to see here!

And another one where a high school couple were having a lover's tiff. The boy suspected she was selling her body based on the amount of money she was making. Of course, Mr Yakuza hero went in to investigate, and had a super awkward conversation with her on a street corner.

You know how atmospheric today's GTA games are, how they completely nail a certain aspect of modern USA? It's the same with this game. A serious underworld crime story line woven into a slightly bizarre take on late-80s Tokyo. It's a small open world in comparison, but it's an extremely rich one.

TheBenior
February 5th, 2017, 12:12 AM
Have you played Yakuza 4? I'm wondering how compares.

I was pretty excited about Yakuza 4, but I got most of the way through before I just got bored with it and never went back to it. :/

Rare White Ape
February 5th, 2017, 12:32 AM
No unfortunately. I do have Yakuza 5 thanks to PS Plus but never played it.

Tom Servo
February 5th, 2017, 07:50 PM
Well, I need an excuse to fire up the PS4 (seriously, I think I've started it once since moving here a year ago), so lemme look into this.

Rare White Ape
February 6th, 2017, 12:07 AM
Here's the video that initially piqued my interest in the game.

Jim Sterling, yeah. Yeah, Jim Sterling.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCaySI6wRm4

Note: picking up the motorcycle and swinging it around in a fight. Daintily carrying the pizza over your head in that side mission. The extremely quaint dialogue. I'd love to know if it was that amazing in it's native language, or if it's the result of some cheeeeeky translation work.

novicius
February 6th, 2017, 03:33 AM
Wait....is this the Shenmue 3 I've been waiting for? I know it's got a different name, but I'm suddenly intrigued. Weird, uncanny valley characters spouting bizarre nonsense? All with that ultra-odd Sega touch? I'm in.


What is that, Shenmue III? :lol:

:lol: :up:

Rare White Ape
February 23rd, 2017, 02:08 PM
Digital Foundry has got a video up of some lovely time-lapses from Horizon Zero Dawn.

Holy guacamole.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZYcS8_XSkI

Rare White Ape
February 23rd, 2017, 11:36 PM
I've been rolling with the system software 4.5 beta like a pimp for the last few weeks but I've finally used it's showcase feature and hooked up an external USB drive.

I cleared off a 1TB USB 3.0 drive that had heaps of HD movies that I pirated but will never get around to watching, so for the price of $0.00 (AUD) I tripled the available storage space of my console. Easy as that.

Now I won't have to judiciously cull a number of games every time I want to download a demo or a new batch of PSN freebies :up:

TheBenior
February 24th, 2017, 12:52 AM
Oh, I get a 2TB internal drive and now they allow external drives.

Ah well, I put the bigger drive in a year ago.

M4FFU
February 24th, 2017, 04:32 AM
I will be inheritting a PS4 500GB with a broken optical drive. I see replacements are £40 on ebay. Plan: new drive (if I want physical media) and external HDD = WIN!

Didn't think I'd own a playstation again... :D

Yw-slayer
February 24th, 2017, 05:49 AM
SWEET.

21Kid
February 24th, 2017, 06:24 AM
Oh, I get a 2TB internal drive and now they allow external drives.

Ah well, I put the bigger drive in a year ago.
Glad I held out. ;) I need to get another external now.

Tom Servo
February 24th, 2017, 10:22 AM
Reviews for Horizon Zero Dawn look tremendous, and it's a good sign that reviews are already out for it. Wife pre-ordered it for me for Valentine's Day, so now I'm getting all impatient waiting for it to release.

21Kid
February 24th, 2017, 11:16 AM
The Verdict
Across a vast and beautiful open world, Horizon Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity - combat - is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising - and moving - conclusion.

AMAZING- 9.3 (editors' choice)
Horizon Zero Dawn presents us with a beautiful world full of unforgettable challenges.Great... another game I want to play, and won't have time for. :(

dodint
February 24th, 2017, 11:22 AM
Reviews for Horizon Zero Dawn look tremendous, and it's a good sign that reviews are already out for it. Wife pre-ordered it for me for Valentine's Day, so now I'm getting all impatient waiting for it to release.

My buddy that works for SonyIE is really excited to be working on that project. He was on the sinking ship of Konami when it went down and this has been the most active and vital project he's worked on in years. Really happy for him.

Rare White Ape
February 24th, 2017, 12:31 PM
Looks like it's going to be Guerilla Games' breakout hit, despite the fact that they've been doing big budget games for a long time.

And it also bodes well for Death Stranding, seeing as Guerilla is in a technical partnership with Kojima Productions.

TheBenior
February 26th, 2017, 01:38 AM
Glad I held out. ;) I need to get another external now.

Eh, Jillian would probably just yank an external HD off the TV console anyway.

Rare White Ape
February 26th, 2017, 05:54 PM
A tip about external drives: if you put the console on standby the drive is still running, like, constantly, 24/7.

Best you turn it fully off if you don't want the drive to wear out.

21Kid
February 27th, 2017, 08:19 AM
Good to know. I think that's how my last one died. :(

Tom Servo
February 27th, 2017, 09:04 PM
Played through the hour-long as-a-child tutorial part of Horizon Zero Dawn. Enjoying the storyline so far, and the faces on the characters are almost good enough to cross the uncanny valley. Visually, Skyrim's got nothing on this. Still not too far into the gameplay, just had an introduction on how to track the Watchers so I can sneak through the grass and killing off a Strider.

I also had forgotten that the PS4 controller makes noise, having the focus-in/focus-out noise come from the controller is a really cool effect.

Digging it so far, looking forward to having more time to play later.

Rare White Ape
February 27th, 2017, 09:49 PM
Woah you got it early! It's out tomorrow here.

I'll not be buying it for a while, too much on my gaming plate for now!

TheBenior
February 27th, 2017, 11:20 PM
I also had forgotten that the PS4 controller makes noise, having the focus-in/focus-out noise come from the controller is a really cool effect.
Hah, I'd forgotten about that too!

The last game I remember playing that made decent use of that feature was Shadow of Mordor, which was over 2 years ago.

novicius
February 28th, 2017, 04:53 AM
Visually, Skyrim's got nothing on this.
Skyrim came out in 2011! :lol:

I've read great things about Horizon Zero Dawn, screenies look great. :up:

Tom Servo
February 28th, 2017, 05:28 AM
Skyrim came out in 2011! :lol:

I've read great things about Horizon Zero Dawn, screenies look great. :up:

Heh, well, admittedly I played that mostly on my PC so the graphics had been augmented to a point. Didn't realize it'd been six years though!

And yeah, I was surprised that it unlocked at 9pm on the 27th. That'd be midnight eastern, but I figured it'd just unlock at midnight in whatever time zone you're in. Unfortunately, I'm also old and was getting sleepy by 10, so I just played through the first hour or so.

Super impressed with it so far, and of course now it's making me want a PS4 Pro so I can play in 4K.

dodint
February 28th, 2017, 05:43 AM
I want to upgrade to a 1TB SSD for my PS4, I'm at about 400GB now. The PS4 has been acting laggy lately but I can't tell if that's a product of age/HDD filling or my new and terrible Verizon DSL. The 1TB drives still cost more than a new PS4 Pro though so I'm a bit hesitant.

dodint
February 28th, 2017, 05:50 AM
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-ps4-pro-ssd-upgrade-does-sata-3-make-a-difference

Really great article benchmarking the PS4/PS4 Pro with and without SSDs. Awesome.

Shaves 20% (10 seconds) off of a Project Cars race load time if you upgrade a regular PS4 to SDD. Niiice.

Tom Servo
February 28th, 2017, 10:23 AM
I'm starting to get a little better at Horizon.


The striders give you blaze which helps craft fire arrows. Helpfully, the fuel canister on their back makes a handy target for fire arrows - hit one and the strider will eventually detonate, and often takes out the ones near it with the explosion. They don't always drop blaze, but so far the exchange rate has worked out.

Also, don't forget about the spear and rolling. I managed to put a trap too close to a group of scrappers and watchers and alerted everyone, but managed to take them all down with some rolling and spearing.


I'm super impressed with this game so far. I'm trying to take my time and not go into the first main quest too fast, hoping to level a bit to take care of the fact that I still suck. I've got a shock trap I can use to stun (but not hurt) the machines and some fire arrows to go along with my normal ones. I'm surprised at how often I need to change weapons, I need to get faster at that. Also surprised at how open it's become so early in the main storyline.

EDIT: Get Silent Strike early. Between it and throwing rocks, it'll make life a lot easier in the early game.

Rare White Ape
June 5th, 2017, 03:48 PM
The PS4 remaster/remake/collection Wipeout Omega comes out this week. Base in the U.K. has it cheap with the retro case sleeve. PS4 games are region free, so anyone wanting the cool PSOne style artwork should jump on this.

https://www.base.com/buy/product/wipeout-omega-collection-with-classic-sleeve-and-4-x-ps4-team-themes-ps4/dgc-weocps4.htm

Rare White Ape
July 4th, 2017, 04:36 AM
This month's free PlayStation Plus games are epic. Until Dawn and GoT Telltale? What a ripper of a lineup!

And I remember Tokyo Jungle being one of the main killer apps in the early days of the PS3, back when the phrase 'killer app' wasn't so dorky.

Until Dawn – PS4
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series – PS4
That’s You – PS4 (4th July onwards)
Tokyo Jungle – PS3
Darkstalkers Resurrection – PS3
Don’t Die Mr Robot – PS Vita (cross-buy with PS4)
Element4l – PS Vita

Rare White Ape
July 10th, 2017, 11:34 PM
Purdy...

http://drdw8nfjvtevv.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/White-PS4-Pro.png

This was announced today. It's being launched as part of a Destiny 2 bundle in September.

Rare White Ape
December 4th, 2017, 03:39 AM
So calming... I forgot how nice the S2 dashboard was.

Now it's a new dynamic theme for PS4 :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_bWybAn08

Rare White Ape
February 12th, 2018, 02:04 AM
Rime is up for grabs this month on PS Plus. As is… Knack?

Yeah. Knack.

Rime is pretty good. Beautiful game. Some say it feels like it’s inspired by Team Ico games like The Last Guardian, but I think it’s like Journey, just five times longer. We’ll see how game pacing and structure goes after the 5th hour.

I was going to buy Rime for Switch, but baulked when reports of shitty performance came through. It hurts a wee bit, knowing that it would be an awesome Switch game, but I guess it’s ok since I saved almost the cost of a PS Plus subscription in not buying it.

Kchrpm
February 20th, 2018, 12:58 PM
Related: the Switch version of Rime just got an update that fixes much of the graphical stuff, but doesn't fully fix framerate issues.

stephenb
November 25th, 2018, 03:22 AM
I'm back in the game! Been eyeing up PSVR for a living room/standing experience for a while but the price hadn't quite got to where I want it. With the black Friday deals on offer this weekend they finally got me to bite :) £230 for the PSVR starter pack + move controllers + Astro Bot. £330 for 1TB PS4 Pro with RDR II, which I immediately traded in (£32) against a years PSN subscription (£40).

All in for £568 / $440. Remarkable when you consider my Rift alone cost £500 two and half years ago, although you can now pick them up for £350 with the touch controllers and two tracking sensors.

3151

Rare White Ape
November 25th, 2018, 12:11 PM
Good score :up:

stephenb
December 1st, 2018, 10:44 AM
Thought I'd provide a few thoughts of my experience so far with PSVR.

Setup, playspace & tracking:
Setup is dead easy as you'd expect. Just plug the break out box in line with the HDMI out from your PS4 and connect up the USB and power and you're ready to go by plugging in the headset. You don't need your TV on to play in VR.

The camera currently sits atop my TV and after moving the coffee table to one side I have a standing area where I can take 1.5 steps sideways or forward and maintain tracking. The camera being around 6ft/180cm from my starting standing position. Crouch right down or step further to the side and I'll get out of range with the move controllers. Tracking when within the range of the camera is solid. Not had any problems with the headset itself and this tracks just as well as my Rift. The move controllers are fine and get the job done but can get jittery when approaching the limit of your tracked play space.

3156

Comfort, ergonomics & display quality:
Headset is a cinch to put on and much more comfortable than the Rift when wearing glasses due to way the visor hangs in front of you face and adjusts in and out. I have several 1 hour+ sessions under my belt now and other than a little tightness at the back of the headband no ills to report. The move controllers and comfortable to hold in the hand and the main buttons all within easy reach. They seem to have good battery life too as I've charged them once and they are still showing full change in the PS dashboard.

The display used by Sony, while on the surface lower resolution than that of the Rift and Vive, doesn't seem it in practice due to it's use of an RGB stripe sub pixel layout compared to the pentile layout of its competitors. There are pluses and minuses compared to the Rift. On the plus side screen door effect is barely noticeable compared to the Rift and there are no god rays. Colours and blacks are just as good. On the minus side my headset has clearly noticeable mura in low light scenes, such as the interrogation during the London Heist experience, which I've never seen in the Rift and the field of view is a touch smaller.

Games
The best headset in the world counts for nothing if there are no good games to play on it. Thankfully the PS4 seems well stocked in this regard.

Playstation VR Worlds will probably be most peoples first foray. I'm sure you've all seen the experiences on offer from the launch coverage. London Heist is pick of the bunch and there is a full game based on it coming next year :cool: It does a great job of showcasing the move controllers and 3D sound field/tracking.

Rush of Blood: Until Dawn (demo). A on rails shooter providing plenty of jump scares. Yes I screamed like a girl at the first one, and the second time through a couple of days later even though I knew it was coming :D A great one to strap your family and friends into and have a laugh at their expense.

Wipeout: Omega Collection (demo). Wipeout in VR, what more needs to be said. I've read some people saying they get sick very quickly playing this but I had no trouble at all. Most likely as I've had so much time in seated cockpit simulations with my Rift. Will definitely be picking up down the line.

Superhot VR. Spent a couple of hours on this today. This is very cool. It's a stylised shooter where time only moves when you do. Each level features a series of set pieces themed around one setting such as a building site, office, airplane. Your job is to take down all the boogies. This has involved the most movement so far and would definitely benefit from a little larger play space than mine. Think the bullet scene from the Matrix where Neo doges the bullets as time slows down and you get the idea. Requires brains as well as you work out your plan of attack at the start of each set piece.

Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. Thoughts to follow as I've not played it yet. It's a 3D platformer designed to showcase all the clever stuff you can do in VR. Look forward to getting stuck into it.


Overall impressions very positive at this stage.

Tom Servo
December 1st, 2018, 03:12 PM
mura?

dodint
December 1st, 2018, 04:55 PM
If the SDE is better on PSVR than Rift, it must be horrific on the Rift.

stephenb
December 2nd, 2018, 02:13 AM
^ Everyone views these things differently. I don't think the SDE is bad on the Rift by any means. Noticeable against a solid background colour if you go looking for it, sure, but most of the time it blends into the background and isn't an issue.


Tom - See here for an explanation on Mura: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/comments/5tmq4c/poll_does_the_mura_effect_on_your_playstation_vr/ On my headset it looks like the random noise pattern. From reading various forums it seems all PSVR headsets suffer with it to greater of lesser extent. Possible mine is at the worse end of the spectrum or that many people just don't see it.

stephenb
December 2nd, 2018, 10:28 AM
Finished off the main campaign of Superhot before lunch and got stuck into Astro Bot this afternoon. As I expected it's a very cute platformer in the vain of Lucky's Tale on the Rift although this one has you looking all around you a bit more. Mostly been playing it seated, standing up on occasion to get a better view. The automatic camera is mostly good but there have been a few occasion where I wished for a manual override.

As you progress through the main story you unlock challenges which can be played separately. The two I've done so far have both been speed runs. At various points your virtual dual shock gets upgraded with gadgets, like a winch which opens up new gameplay opportunities. These make good use of the touch pad. Easy to see why the game has garnered such good reviews and I'd defy anyone not to fall in love with the little bots :)

Rare White Ape
March 7th, 2019, 12:43 PM
In the latest system update we can now use remote play on iOS devices!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-03-07-ps4-remote-play-finally-available-on-iphone-four-years-after-sony-xperia

It’s great. Well, I mean, it works on a technical level. I played GT Sport using touch controls.

I’ll never play GT Sport using touch controls ever again.

Freude am Fahren
May 31st, 2019, 06:57 AM
Well, looks like my PS4 pro just bit it.

I just installed the ESPN app on it and started watching and poof, green screen. Unplugged it, got another HDMI cable, tried booting in 'safe mode' and all I get is this like slightly gray screen (I assume it's 'black' output) that fills like 80% of the screen. Or if I boot it normally, I get the green screen.

It was downloading an update in at the time, I wonder if that killed it.

FUCK.

SkylineObsession
June 4th, 2019, 02:05 AM
Rude. :(

How old was it, and is/was it under any sort of warranty/guarantee or anything?

In NZ we have the Consumer Guarantees Act which usually protects purchases for a decent length of time.
https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/general-help/consumer-laws/consumer-guarantees-act/

Rare White Ape
July 30th, 2019, 04:53 AM
Heckin' milestone.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-07-30-sony-has-shipped-100-million-ps4-consoles-worldwide

SkylineObsession
July 30th, 2019, 04:30 PM
Holey crap.
:hard:

TheBenior
August 11th, 2019, 09:47 AM
Started playing the PS4 exclusive Days Gone, largely at my wife's behest. I bought it because it looked like something she'd enjoy, which she did, apart from the early bugs.

I'm finding it to be a rather... adequate game. Good, but not great. SIE/Sony have been pretty aggressive about patching since release, and I have yet to encounter any of the more annoying bugs that my wife did like falling through the ground or getting stuck in terrain.

I like well done open world games, but I'm not really a survival horror game fan, so I find the survival mechanics a bit tedious at times. Your motorcycle guzzles gas pretty quickly, you can't carry that much inventory or ammo without some high-level perks, and your melee weapons degrade quickly.

My wife, being more of a fan of survival horror than I, played through it about as quickly as one with an infant and a toddler could. So, if you like the genre, you can get Days Gone feeling safe that the bugs have been patched.

Rare White Ape
September 6th, 2019, 10:33 PM
Y’all know the PSVR cinematic mode? The one where it presents a giant virtual 2D screen about 10 feet away from you?

It’s supposed to work if you plug any HDMI source into it, isn’t it?

I can’t get it to work. Well, it works just fine with my PS4 dashboard. But I try swap it for my PC’s HDMI cable at 1080p and it doesn’t work.

Did they patch it to only accept a PS4 signal?

Tom Servo
August 31st, 2020, 04:41 PM
The wife is out tonight so I thought "ya know, I haven't played GT:Sport much at all, I should really give it a shot."

Fire up the PS4, try to start GT:Sport, tells me that I need to install a system update. So I try to, gives me error code "su-42481-9". I look that up and find an article on Sony's website saying that I need to reboot into safe mode, so I follow those instructions. It reboots, but then runs a disk scan and yells at me for pulling the power cord without shutting it down properly (I did not do this, I just held my finger on the power button long enough for the second beep, per their instructions).

I try again, now I get error code ce-43461-8. I hit the triangle button as that's supposed to search Sony's site for information. I do that and it tells me it doesn't know what the fuck I'm talking about. So I exit out, go to settings, system updates, try again to install the same update it just complained caused an error code and it happily updates. Hooray!

Then after a couple of reboots I'm finally back at the home screen and I go to play GT:S. Oh, if you want to play that, that's a 40GB update. And it's going to take 5 hours to download, despite the fact that you have a really fast internet connection that should be able to get that in less than an hour.

I swear, every time I try to use my PS4 it's at least half an hour of fighting with it, even if I'm just trying to use it as a Blu-Ray player.

Tom Servo
August 31st, 2020, 05:35 PM
Aaaahahah, while I let GT:S download, my PS4 just popped up a prompt telling me it's getting bored and is going to sleep.

Rare White Ape
August 31st, 2020, 06:18 PM
It’ll download while in sleep mode.

Just go to bed :)

Tom Servo
August 31st, 2020, 06:46 PM
If only it had done that IN THE PAST FOUR MONTHS WHILE IT WAS IN SLEEP MODE

Sleep mode is only so handy if I constantly have to coax it into doing the things it was supposed to be doing. Pretty thrilled to know it was slowly leeching electricity for no good reason.

In the meantime, it's only 7:45PM, so going to bed seems a little silly.

Yw-slayer
August 31st, 2020, 07:23 PM
This is one reason why I log into Steam every now and then. If I want to play a game, I want to be able to play it now, rather than have to wait 5-30 mins for whatever crap to update, despite having a 1000Mbps fibre connection. I know that it is even worse with the PS4 and GT:Sport.


In the meantime, it's only 7:45PM, so going to bed seems a little silly.

Watch some adult romantic drama?

Tom Servo
August 31st, 2020, 07:51 PM
Watch some adult romantic drama?

Top Chef reruns it is!

Kchrpm
September 1st, 2020, 03:34 AM
This is the kind of thing Google wants people to think about when it comes to Stadia. I doubt it's working for them.

dodint
September 1st, 2020, 11:39 AM
Brian is singing my song. Every time I turn the PS4 on, it needs something. And GT:S is one of the neediest of the needy. And there comes a point where you think "Gee, I haven't turned this on in a week or so" and then you do the math and figure it isn't worth it. Then a few weeks later you know the updates are really piling up.

Can't help but feel like I'm working for the PS4, not the other way around.

21Kid
September 10th, 2020, 04:15 PM
This is the kind of thing Google wants people to think about when it comes to Stadia. I doubt it's working for them.

Oh yeah... Forgot about that service.

You can manually search for updates by pressing the options button on the game home page. I do that every once in a while when waiting for someone.

balki
October 16th, 2020, 06:28 PM
I loved how the PS3 functioned really well as a media hub, but I completely skipped the PS4:
Does PS4 play audio and home video right out of the box? Couldn't get the X1 to do it (they're on at least their 10th menu layout and it's still cumbersome).

balki
March 28th, 2021, 12:14 PM
The Playstation Store has ten games for free (no subscriptions required):
Abzû, Enter the Gungeon, Rez Infinite, Subnautica, The Witness, Thumper, Astro Bot Rescue Mission*, Moss*, Paper Beast* all through April 22.
Ratchet & Clank through March 31 (Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition starting April 19).

*PSVR required

Tom Servo
March 28th, 2021, 02:37 PM
A few of those require VR, but I went to pick up the rest of them.

As for using it as a media hub, I hated using it, but mostly because my controller was super finicky and wouldn't charge unless it was attached to the PS4, which meant I didn't use it much and when I'd try to I'd have to go through a whole update cycle and just get annoyed. If you don't have that problem, I'm imagining it works pretty well.

balki
March 28th, 2021, 03:43 PM
Edited to show the titles that require VR

With that said, has anyone tried PSVR? I'm seeing a bunch of them on craigslist and am tempted (also looks like they're be a ton of wires involved)

dodint
March 28th, 2021, 03:57 PM
I had it. Screendoor effect was bad, returned it a few days later.

Rare White Ape
March 28th, 2021, 04:40 PM
I have PSVR and it is worth it for the price you can get them for now.

REZ Infinite is a must-play game in VR. Absolutely a must. It's good in 2D but you really want it in VR.

Tom Servo
March 28th, 2021, 08:17 PM
Yep. I thought Rez was cool in 2D, it's great in VR.

balki
April 17th, 2021, 06:52 AM
Yep x2. Got a used VR set and was surprised how much of a difference it made for Rez.

About halfway through Astro Bot Rescue Mission; it's still free and recommend that everyone get it in case you ever pickup VR (they can be found under $200, then sold for the same price, excluding logistics).