So there it was… the presentation of the new Playstation 4. But unlike Apple,
Sony did not show the actual device in completion, only the new controller
and some tech demos on what the new console may be able to show. Also
the timeline is very tight as Holiday season 2013 usually means Christmas.

So while the new design is already questionned, the next question will be: Is Sony going to show us a prototype of the new PS4 on the upcoming E3 gaming convention then when the console is about to hit stores around December 2013 (which means that production and pre-sale preparations shoul be done in October/November!)?

I am still thinking that Sony is going to make the same annoying thing like Apple, Microsoft and all the companies that try to attract customers with rarity of a specified goodie. what worked for Apple in the past and with all it’s iDevices might not be the successful story for Sony&Co.

While the response upon the Wii release was tremendous (and the console had only a short time of unavailability, the WiiU already had to suffer from it’s limited availability to the customer. Till now, only 120.000 units of the new WiiU are sold yet. One thing might be that the games are still limited in number (13 as far as I recon) and why purchase a new console to play Wii games when the old console is still doing fine?

Okay, the WiiU is now able to produce FullHD graphics which is a real step forward. Yet the multimedia capacities are limited and one is not very happy with the rather limited capabilities of the console so far. Maybe Nintendo will enhance the console’s features by time using firmware updates and one important factor: bringing out more software for the WiiU. Otherwise the WiiU will not sell well and Nintendo might have produced a deadbeat on the console market.

So what is the PS4 throwing in in order to drag customers away from the WiiU?

First, it’s the graphics which look really good nearly photorealistic to be exact. Some tech demos after this text will show you some insights.

The controller is a combination of a move controller, a touchpad and a classic controller. All united in one handy control unit. Good or not, that’s to decide. To be honest: I like the WiiMote and the Move controller better (especially when you play games like sports games or skill games a la “Tumble”. So another question will be if the existing additional controllers will also be usable with the Playstation 4.

But what I fear is that the Internet may be flooded with tons of trash as the controller engages a “Share” button where you can share your gaming moments at the push of a button. Way to go, Sony! The ‘net isn’t already flooded with hundreds of thousands of useless videos and the like. Why not create an own social platform people can visit if they’re interested in watching game sessions and the like? So expect lots of messages from people on your facebook friends list when they have just shared another game video. Or when you seek Youtube, don’t be too surprised to see some game videos instead of your requested topics upon the first 30 pages… great stuff… NOT!

Like the WiiU, the PS4 can stream games onto a controlling unit with a screen (in this case, the PS Vita would be pre-destinated for this!) while the PS4 is playing a big title. Or use the PS4 Vita as separate control unit with additional features? That would be the same concept, the WiiU is following, with the difference, that the PS Vita is capable of more things to do…

One thing is for sure. The new console won’t be that cheap. So better save some money if you’re going to own one yourself AND expect waiting times and buggy firmware at the beginning. A thing, Nintendo had also to fight with until the Firmware 2 for the WiiU had been released.

Last but not least: The multimedia capabilities of the PS3 have already shown great material. The PS3 IS able to cope with BD-3D and also has shown superior performance over most of the actually available standalone BD-Players. Will the PS4 also fint in here or also fail like the WiiU which still does not offer Multimedia playback tho the drive would be ready to do so? Now you may ask why the WiiU cannot handle any video disc. The answer is simple: Nintendo has saved some dollars on licensing the necessary techiques for video playback on devices and thus was able to squeeze down the price a little.

So final words for now: Although Sony has already revealed some information about the PS4, the core component of all has still missed: The console! So we will have to wait until the E3 is finally opening doors in L.A. and maybe we will have a chance to gaze upon Sony’s next-gen console…