Sony Computer Entertainment has officially announced the Playstation 4 in New York. The company did announce details on its next-generation console but didn't actually demonstrate it. The Playstation 4 will feature a x86 System on a Chip (SOC) and 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM. To control the device it comes with a DualShock 4 controller with a touchpad. For a couple of weeks it became clear that something related to the Playstation would be announced on the 20th of February. Rumors said that it would be the announcement of the Playstation 4 and indeed, yesterday night Sony announced its upcoming console.
While Sony didn't actually demonstrate the console, it did announce that it will become available at the end of the year, likely before the holiday season. Sony did reveal details on the console, the Playstation 4 will contain a custom SOC with 8 cores based on the x86 architecture. The combined CPU/GPU would have a bandwidth of 170 GB/s and a performance of two Teraflops. The system also has 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM memory.
With the new console comes a new controller. The DualShock 4 controller which Sony showcased during the announcement looked similar to pictures of prototypes that already leaked to the internet. The most notable feature of the controller is the touchscreen on the upside, a headphone connector and the addition of Playstation Move functionality. The Playstation 4 also comes with a 3D camera that is able to track the controller for the Move functionality.
With a power button on the controller it's possible to put the console in sleep mode. A second custom chip in the Playstation 4 makes it possible for the console to continue downloading games and other content while in sleep mode and also ensures that games are downloaded in the background without affecting performance of the PS4. The same chip also makes it possible to start playing a game while the game is downloaded. Once the first part is downloaded the game is playable and the second chip keeps retrieving the rest of the content.
It's also possible to stream live in-game video to other devices and e.g. Facebook which makes it possible for friends to see live what you're doing and comment on it. It should also become possible for friends to take over the controls of the console over the internet. Playstation 4 games can also be locally streamed to the Playstation Vita.
The Playstation 4 can also stream games. Initially this will be Playstation 3 games but later also Playstation 1 and 2 games should become available. The games can be streamed through Playstation Cloud which is based upon the services of Gaikai, a company that was acquired by Sony. It won't be possible to play Playstation 3 games from a disc, only through the streaming service.
