I’ve finally got my hands on the coveted game console by Sony. As it turns out, after failed attempts of begging family, friends, relatives and anyone I know to get me a unit on their respected released dates abroad, i would eventually get mine just in the nick of time before Christmas. An early Christmas present indeed.
Obviously I can’t suppress my excitement, just like a kid getting his first bike, I couldn’t sleep even if put it beside my bed. Naturally in the wee hours of the morning I proceeded with setting it up.
Installation was a breeze. The unit came with an HDMI cable which is the only thing you need to connect it to your flat panel TV. Compared to PlayStation 3, this one is around 20% lighter and smaller, which made it easier to move around and fit easily into our home theater center.
Design. It’s combination of matte black finish with piano black accents give it a truly next gen look. The slanted square shape of the Playstation 4 helps hide the wires and connection ports in the back that also doubles as huge exhaust vents to prevent the console from overheating. Stunning and beautiful the Playstation 4 maybe, but it was never made to be marveled at and stared upon. It’s built for gaming and mostly for gaming only.
Software. Learning from the mistakes with PS3, where they tried to make a daring move by making the console an all-around entertainment center, thus making it harder for developers to make games for their system, PS4 is more game focused and features an easier code for developers to work on. As a result, Sony predicts that games would be released faster, perform better, and look better on the PS4 compared to its rivals. Unfortunately, this also means that Sony decided to make it game focused and omitted some useful features of the old console, such as playing various media files such as downloaded movies and music.
User interface. The moment I booted up the game console, it was evident that Sony is going for a more streamlined experience with the revised User Inter face or UI. Gone are the complicated layers of menus that the previous XMB of PS3, instead the menu is presented in a linear way. Now its even easier to open your games, check your messages, browse the Internet, or simply check what your friends are playing on their systems.
Social media. A share button is even embedded in the much improved dual shock 4 controller to easily post on social media your achievements or captured videos and images of your games.
Graphics. However, let’s not kid ourselves, these images and videos of your gaming session will be the true test of the power and worthiness of this “next gen” console; how life-like and crisp the visuals are. The games never really change per generation, you still go around shooting people, killing zombies, wandering around in open fantasy world, or shoot hoops like in the old days of Nintendo’s Double Drible. What truly sets games from different generations is the graphics.
We were blown out of our minds when PS3 first came out with HD graphics and replaced the older PS2. This time however, the difference in graphics quality isn’t that big to automatically wow us yet. What this current generation is providing is much more fluid animations and movement, because games are displayed in 1080p and moves at a constant 60 frames per second. While the difference isn’t enough to make us jump out of our seats, the difference in quality is indeed noticeable, the graphics quality is at par with a mid-end gaming PC, and that’s saying a lot.
Final word. Honestly, the launch of PS4 has been really successful, probably the most success Sony has had since PS2. The console itself is a gem, the hardware is powerful and efficient, the design is modern and hip, it features a revised and improved User Interface and social media functions, the price is relatively affordable and cheaper than the competitor, but the lack of game titles that truly take advantage of its awesome capabilities doesn’t make it a “buy now” but definitely a “buy soon”.
