Sony PlayStation 4: Human Tested

Gaming consoles, this is not some kind of flagship smartphone that can be updated every 12 months. These are devices that are really created for years - we grow with them, we nostalgic for them ... And, at the same time, we are waiting for new game consoles. That is life.

As you probably know, the PlayStation 4 beat Xbox One and officially came to Russia first. Today we will talk about PS4, the eighth generation from the Sony company (we’ll warn you right away: we’ll tell you about the games some other time - but for now about hardware, usability and the console as a whole).
')
Naturally, let's start with the technical characteristics of the game console. Sony abandoned the Cell processor's inconvenience that brought them a lot in favor of the hybrid AMD, which, in addition to the cores, also has a memory controller and a graphics core. So, 8 cores, 1.6 GHz. Graphics - AMD Radeon is close in parameters to the Radeon HD 7850/7870. All this "farm" is designed to support 1080p resolution without any "upscales" and most games will match this parameter. Inside the console - 8 GB of RAM, a hard drive on half a terabyte and an optical drive for Blu-ray and DVD.

One can argue indefinitely about how such iron is modern, but just do not forget that each generation of consoles is designed for several years. And game developers can only optimize their creations under the appropriate electronic filling.

Numbers, numbers, numbers (and some letters):
Processor: AMD x86-64, 8 cores, 1.6 GHz
graphics: AMD Radeon (similar to Radeon HD7850 / 7870)
RAM: 8 GB GDDR5 + 256 MB DDR3 (for background tasks)
HDD: 500 GB
drive: DVD, Blu-ray
video format: games - up to 1080p, video - up to 4K
Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 3.0, Ethernet 10/100/1000

What is important in any console besides performance? Gamepad It is with this thing in your hands that you will have to spend hundreds (or even thousands) of hours. DualShock 4 is a kind of engineering masterpiece. In the hands is great, the design is attractive. Appeared touch panel, which is used so far sporadically. The Share button allows you to record and share screenshots and video of the gameplay - we will tell about it a bit later. There is also a 4-mode LED indicator that can change color - depending on game situations, or to identify gamepads - if several players are playing. Built-in battery withstands 6 to 8 hours of play. Recall that the third “dual shock” could have worked 4-5 times longer. In the network you can find information about the unreliability of rubber pads on sticks. We haven't had any problems with them for a couple of weeks - even on the contrary, we have not even rubbed the corns (but hardcore gamers have rubber, surely, they can burn under their fingers).



A few words about the "appearance" of the console. The beveled parallelepiped of the Quartet looks strictly and solid. It looks good contrast gloss and matte surfaces - just do not particularly poke your fingers into the gloss.



By the way, under this shiny panel hides the hard drive, which, if desired, can be replaced by something faster or more capacious. Neither tambourines nor dances will be needed. All you need is to pre-create a backup of the save, unscrew one bolt, remove the old screw, reinstall the operating system and restore the backup of the save.





In the front are two USB and optical drive slots, in the back are HDMI, LAN and S / PDIF connectors plus a slot for connecting a PlayStation Camera. And no external power supply - all inside.



As promised, the Share function. This is perhaps the most interesting opportunity besides the gameplay itself. It's really fun to share videos, screenshots with friends and make gameplay broadcasts. Just press a button on the controller - and after a few seconds a frame or video from the gameplay will be in your Facebook or Twitter. By the way, the default console constantly records gameplay - the last 15 minutes are automatically saved. Well, the most advanced gamers can organize online broadcasting of their game through the services of Twitch or Ustream.



How did PS4 start and what are its prospects, what is the situation with games for the new console as a whole and can games released for PS3 run on the Quartet, how can the situation with the cost of the game console change? These questions were answered by Konstantin Govorun, editor-in-chief of Country Games magazine:

Geek to the Future: Konstantin, how did the Quartet start in Russia? Were there any unexpected turns?

Konstantin Govorun: PS4 started off well both in Russia and in the world, breaking all records set by consoles of previous generations. And it sells so well that it is quite difficult to find it in stores now.

GTTF: Will games written for PS3 be supported by the Quartet?

KG: There is no direct backward compatibility and probably cannot be. Because PS3 has a different iron. And it will be very difficult to emulate on the Quartet. Backward compatibility, if there will be, is only through the Gaikai cloud service, which Sony has recently acquired and plans to develop.

GTTF: Iron with iron, and nowhere without games. The situation that is emerging now can be described by the Internet meme "Igor is drowning." Is this really true?

KG: Any game console starts with a small number of games. This is normal. And it is silly to be surprised. At the start of the PS4, there were a couple of exclusives, great multiplatforms, and during 2014 more and more games will catch up. The only console that ran with a good number of games was the Sega Dreamcast, but it ended very badly.



GTTF: There is an impression that the developers abandoned the multimedia component and placed emphasis on games and services ...

KG: Sony didn't give up on anything. Just put them in low priority. On PS4, you can watch movies and listen to music - such services are and will be added. We must understand that they are not something unique - today it is in any mobile device and it is rather silly to sell PS4 at the expense of these services.

GTTF: Before the new year there was a sharp rise in value, after the holidays - a decline, now the exchange rate is growing and ... Can we predict further changes in the cost of the console?

KG: The recommended price for the console has not changed - it is 18,990 rubles. The sale price also did not change. What happened before the new year is only the greed of retail chains, which have raised the price one and a half to two times, taking advantage of huge demand. The price fell after Sony delivered another batch of consoles to Russia. As soon as this supply is over the price can go up again. In addition, Sony may reconsider the recommended price if the euro continues to stay at such a high level.



GTTF: Microsoft and Sony representatives congratulated each other at the start. It was beautiful and polite. But, nevertheless, what will the confrontation of two new consoles, Xbox and PlayStation, look like?

KG: The confrontation started back at E3 2013, when Sony made fun of Microsoft. As a result, gamers sided with Sony. Microsoft was forced to abandon their plans. This clash resembled a standoff from the 1990s, when Sega fought Nintendo. But you need to understand that this confrontation does not reach to any trash and intoxication, companies treat each other positively, especially since they have common enemies - pirates, online games, casual games.



In total
To summarize There are several reasons why you should drop everything and run to the store: excellent PS4 performance, games in Full HD resolution, a really cool gamepad.

There are also reasons to wait - a small number of games at the start and a slow-moving browser (it is really not the fastest + there is no support for Flash) - let's hope that all these shortcomings will be fixed in the coming months.

We carefully go around the price issues - now the console can be purchased from 19 thousand (the average price is about 22,000 rubles) - the fascination with console games has never been a cheap pleasure. Well, with a weak battery in the gamepad will have to accept. Or buy a couple of game manipulators in reserve.

A note that is not necessary to read at all: yes, we have a Sony PlayStation 4 video review - it is here