Godlike Indeed
You can have two groups of PSN friends: regular friends and "true" friends. To be true friends, or BFFs, you both have to agree. Regular friends will just show up on your lists and games by their handles, but the machine will display true friends' real names, so you don't have to keep remembering that SexCowboy77 is actually Kirk Hamilton.
Multitasking is super-easy. If you double-tap the PlayStation button on the DualShock 4, you'll swap between your last two applications. So if you play a game, then pause to look at your friends list, it's easy to switch back to where you left off. No saving required. This is the future!
There's a whole hub for broadcasting. This is a system built for sharing and streaming—Sony's so into this stuff that they even put a share button on the controller. The PS4 will automatically record up to 15 minutes of your gameplay, and you can edit/trim that footage using a snappy interface that seems to work well. (We didn't get our hands on it, but we'll have more definitive thoughts when we do.)You can also broadcast live gameplay on Twitch or Ustream, and you can search for keywords on the system's broadcast hub to see what people are sharing at any given moment. This could be big.
The homepage shows what your friends are doing. You'll see things like "Stephen just started streaming Knack" or "Evan is playing Killzone: Shadow Fall." You can interact with your friends from that page.
As you download a game, you can start playing it almost immediately. It'll take a minute or two for the system to install enough data for you to start a game, but you won't have to wait for the software to download completely—which is good, because these games are big. Different games will allow you to prioritize based on how you want to play while they download—Call of Duty: Ghosts, for example, will let you choose whether you want to start playing single- or multi-player, and then you'll download the bits accordingly.
Playing as a guest will let you sign in on other peoples' PS4s. You can just choose "play as guest" and sign in on your own account. It'll automatically wipe all of your data when you're done with the machine.
You can watch Netflix without a PlayStation Plus subscription. Okay, so this isn't a fun fact about the UI, and really, we already knew this would be the case, but it's pretty damn cool that Sony isn't locking this stuff behind a paywall. On Xbox One, just like on the 360, you'll need Xbox Live Gold to use Netflix and other media services.
The machine is designed to stay in stand-by mode. And it'll charge your DualShock 4 while it's resting. FINALLY.
The PS4 is shaped like a parallelogram. Not a rhombus. Just FYI.
Don't want to keep blasting the lems but the domination is just like that. It hurts feelings and make asses to start hurting. The PS4's only days away, the next-gen slaughter is about to begin.
User Interface Layout
The UI appears to be clean and responsive. A horizontal list of sections, similar to the PS3 interface, are at the top of the screen. The more important sections like the web browser, apps, the game being played, and the “What’s New” sections are housed under the horizontal bar.
“What’s New” and “Life Tiles”
The “What’s New” tab has a heavy social component. Icons called “Life Tiles” are displayed that show all of your friends current or recent activity. This layout is similar to Microsoft Windows’ tile system. If a friend has connected his or her PSN account to Facebook, the person’s Facebook profile picture will be shown next to the username. Users can also choose to display his or her actual name, rather than a PSN name.
If someone recorded footage or is in the middle of streaming a game, you’ll be able to quickly view that from the “What’s New” page. While watching recorded footage or a stream, you’ll have the option to buy the game being played from the PSN instantly.
Facebook integration appears to be a big part of Sony’s new direction. Trophies can be automatically posted to Facebook, as well as screenshots and recorded game footage.
Game DVR and Streaming
The PS4 is capable of taking a screenshot at any time. This includes the system menu. These screenshots can be uploaded to facebook instantly. There is no “processing” or “uploading” status bar after you select to do so. The action is handled in the background.
Game footage can be captured and recorded on day one. The maximum amount of time for video capture is 15 minutes. Video clips can then be uploaded to Facebook. YouTube uploading is not possible at launch, but the Sony representative stated that it was “something the team is looking into.”
There is currently no way to load the saved screenshots or footage to an external source, such as a USB drive or hard drive. The videos are bound to the PS4, with the exception of Facebook uploading.
Twitch and Ustream livestreaming will also be available on day one. Users can login to Twitch.TV or Ustream and start streaming a game right away. PlayStation Camera and mic support for commentary are built into the program. The user can choose to turn these features off or on.
The developers decide whether streaming will be enabled or disabled for their game, although it is enabled for every PS4 launch game. Developers can also choose to disable streaming for specific parts of their game, presumably to prevent the spreading of spoilers.
Trophies
Trophies will now have a rarity level. They are split into four categories: common, rare, very rare, ultra rare. Each trophy will have a percentage assigned to it that shows what percentage of people who played that game earned that trophy. This adds another layer of competition to the trophy collecting culture.
New PlayStation Store
The store has been given a massive upgrade that will be native to the PS4. The PS3’s store will remain the same.
The store seemed to be significantly faster than the current store. Every PS4 game will be available in the store on its launch day. Games can be purchased, and then played while it downloads. The downloading process will start by downloading just enough of the game to allow you to start playing, and then finish the downloading process while you’re already in the game.
In the case of first-person shooters, the user can tell the PS4 to start downloading single or multiplayer first. This will make it possible for the user to jump right into the mode that he or she wants to play quickly.
This seems to take full advantage of the huge RAM upgrade from the PS3 to the PS4.
Party Chat
Party Chat has finally made its way onto a Sony system. Parties can include a maximum of eight people. The new party chat system also works cross-console with the Vita, meaning vita and PS4 users will be able to chat within the same party.
Quick jump to the browser
The browser can be quickly accessed while double tapping the PlayStation button. The demo suggested the scenario of reading a walkthrough online. A user can quickly switch between browser and game simply by double tapping the button.
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