From this article: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/15...-specs-compare

Well, sometime in 2014 is better than swept under the rug. I'm still assuming this will work like OnLive.

Exactly. Think about how the friendly Gamestop employees will sell it to the clueless moms that come in to buy games for their kids. GS will push the PS4 much harder then Xbox if for no other reason than their margins on used PS4 games will be about 1000+% greater.

Explain

I'm really easily amused, and preceived value of a $399 console with a $100 optional add-on that people could actually use (PS4 + Vita) instead of a mandatory add-on being shoved down your throat (Xbox One + Kinect 2.0) is amusing to me.

I'm a nerd, leave me alone

Of course, the Vita is a $200 unit, so that'd be a price drop.

I think any bundles will be time sensitive retailer-bundles (obviously approved/sponsored by Sony), like we see around black-friday. Not a full single package from Sony.

I like this article myself.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6972/x...-playstation-4

One thing to remember about hardware differences is that developers code to the lowest common denominator. So non-exclusive games are going to look pretty much the same across platforms.

I don't know, I thought Oblivion looked much better on PC than it did on the PS3 or X360.

I'm talking consoles only, although sometimes PC games do that too. I'm looking at you, Dark Souls.

I was discussing this a bit with a coworker yesterday; with everything being x86 now, and not having to directly port between architectural differences, I wonder if it will be far easier for developers to add graphical improvements on multi-platform games. Nothing significantly major, but the way PC games have "Very High" or "Ultra" settings, increasing view distance, anisotropic filtering, anti aliasing, shadow detail, etc seem like it should be possible. And no space constraints due to the size of a DVD for textures.

You know what else was region free? HD DVD. And look how that turned out.

That's the way I figured it, the consoles will basically be quickly ported and have their sliders manipulated to peak balance.

Basically it seems like it should be a big boon for PC gaming.

Yes.

Need more TressFX hair!

That was awesome. My only concern is the fact that they emphasize "disc based games". In the past, Sony (as everyone else) has had a tendency to oversell and not give specifics when it has come to E3 console launches (1080p w/ dual HDMI anyone?).

Could it be that major publishers won't be selling "disc based games" (other than Sony of course) for the PS4? Perhaps it will be a situation like RedBox, and games will be released on disc 30 days after they can be downloaded.

There almost has to be a catch, otherwise MS has to do some major back peddling. The price difference alone will do them in. I think fans of both consoles owe Sony a big high-five, your move MS.

Well of course they're going to emphasize disc-based games. Trading of downloadable games has never been an option.

True, but I had the same thought myself. Publishers that truly believe the used game market is the root of their problem can just publish downloadable versions only. With both companies shifting towards downloadable purchases, it won't be long before major titles won't need to put out a disc release at all. Certainly it will happen within this next generation.

"Region free", is that for games only or also for movies on BR?

Unless they made changes to the Blu-ray rules (I'm betting they didn't), it's just games.

Correct, but why not just say "games"? Even on the slide that says "Won't require you to check-in online" also has the DISC BASED GAMES tag. Does that mean any game I choose to download will require me to "check-in online" every time I want to play it? I think it is just Sony telling us what we want to hear without giving full disclosure.

No. Any publisher who went this route would make Microsoft's PR disaster look like a day of kissing babies and saving puppies.

Somebody, at some point, is going to figure out that it makes sense to take trade ins of licenses for downloadable games and DLC. Give people 30-40% of their purchase price for their license, and they are sure to use that credit to buy something else. It would also prompt more people to buy downloadable versions of games rather than disk based versions because they would be more convenient but would have similar residual value.

If you want to beat Gamestop, that's how you do it...not with silly DRM schemes but by replacing them entirely.

Speaking as someone who lives in an area where fast internet is expensive, and data capped (my current phone + internet bundle is $88 a month for a 1.5Mbps connection capped at 10 gigs a month, it's ridiculous) I wouldn't be buying download only games. It's also one reason why I don't stream movies from Netflix and rent actual physical Blu-ray discs. Also, it's probably where the streaming PS3 games feature wouldn't work that well for me.

But for those who do have easy access to fast internet, it would be an absolute coup.

If they offered partial reimbursement for licenses, even on first party games, I would download everything and would probably buy more games than I do now.