In recent years, gaming consoles have grown in popularity incredibly. We see that in addition to the established users of consoles, many people are switching from the “good old” PC to a games console every day.
Now this is happening for a number of reasons. ps4 slim 500gb gebraucht The main reason is that many great games are now exclusive to one console or another, offering a better multiplayer experience and finally allowing a mental separation between working on the computer and playing separately, comfortably on your couch with your friends or family .
Last year we were presented with big promises for a next-gen gaming experience. But did it deliver?
Well, let’s review one of the must-have gaming consoles, Sony PlayStation 4, and see for ourselves.
Compared to the PS3, the PS4 is a thoroughbred gaming console with better hardware, sleek design and new controllers to meet even the most demanding needs.
Draft
The PS4 is slim (only 12.01 x 10.8 x 2.09 inches), sharp, light, with clean lines and available in two colors, glossy white and jet black.
On the back you’ll find an HDMI, Ethernet, digital optical audio port (no more analog audio or video outputs) and finally the AUX port for PlayStation Camera peripherals.
On the front, the PS4 has a slot-loading Blu-ray Disc drive and on the right we find two USB 3.0 ports. A line bisects the console and integrates the power and eject buttons.
The console’s ventilation is well done and produces little to no noise.
Overall, the PS4 is attractive, nicely shaped, not too big, built with high-quality materials and fits perfectly with modern furniture.
Perfomance
On the inside, we found Sony using a similar configuration to Microsoft. With an octa-core X86 AMD Jaguar CPU, supported by 8GB of GDDR5 RAM and a Radeon GPU with 1.84 TFLOPS, the PS4 is very powerful and an important point is that it is developer-friendly.
The console also includes a 500GB hard drive for additional storage that can be upgraded.
The PS4 can display videos or photos in 4K, but we don’t expect games to run at that resolution.
Thanks to these specs, we found that the PS4 is generally quiet, occasionally gets louder (especially when loading game discs), it gets warm at times, but not beyond common sense, games ran smoothly, the graphics were great , so we had no complaint in that department.
Controllers
It seems that Sony heard all the screams from gamers about the DualShock 3 and decided to create an improved and better controller.
And so we witnessed the birth of DualShock 4.
The controller’s dimensions are 6.4 x 2.0 x 3.9 inches, it weighs 7.4 ounces (slightly more than its predecessor), and its design is quite similar to the DualShock 3. But make no mistake, DS4 is a far cry from DS3.
The new controller is much more comfortable, regardless of hand size, and much more precise. Depending on the order of players synced to the console, the controller will emit a different forward facing color for each player and the peripheral camera will closely track the controller’s movement.
The dual thumbsticks are much more precise and a more concave shape really helped keep the thumbs in place. In addition to the already mentioned light bar, the speaker, a new share button and a touchpad have been added.
The touchpad feels nice, it’s responsive, smooth and works basically like the touchpad presented on laptops. (Note: We hope developers will use this feature more often as it’s a great addition.)
The DS4 also has a 3.5mm jack so you can connect any headset directly to the controller.
We’ve seen plenty of people say the DualShock 4 is the best controller Sony has ever made, and we tend to agree that the DS4 was a joy to use.
Note: PS4 supports voice input control. You can use a microphone or camera to activate this feature.
Software
If any of you own a Sony TV, you will notice the striking resemblance between the TV’s user interface and the PS4’s user interface. It seems that the PS4 has moved away from the looks of the PS3 and while it retains the interface speed of its predecessor, the new one is much more flexible.
The main features of the new interface are simplicity, flexibility and ease of use.
Booting up the PS4 is almost instantaneous (it takes around 15 seconds from cold), and after that we’re presented with an easy-to-navigate design with a three-tiered menu.
The main menu consists of the games you have installed and some other additional apps, the top menu is a notification bar (alerts, messages, trophies) and at the very bottom the options and updates.
Note: The PlayStation 4 Orbis operating system does not require an internet connection to function, but an internet connection provides more functionality.
New to the PS4 (April update) is automatic connection to a PS Vita. This means you can keep playing on PS Vita even when you turn off the TV thanks to a direct WiFi connection.
In addition to the PS Vita, you can also connect smartphones or tablets, which can also act as second-screen devices.
One of PS4’s strengths is social media. When you open the What’s New page, you can keep track of your friends’ activity, the social feed, see who’s online, and overall have a better experience when trying to play social-focused games.
Another good feature that has been improved is the PlayStation Store. The store is easy to navigate, you can easily find the games you want, and if your download stops due to a sudden power outage, you’ll be presented with an option to continue.
IF you were using the old PS3 UI, the PS4 UI will feel much more intuitive, simple (no more PS3 confusion) and easier to use.
What About The Games
All games must be installed onto the console memory before they can be played, although you can play part of the game before installation is complete.
Since the PS4 is more than a year old, many games have been developed exclusively for this platform. Games like Resogun, Assassin’s Creed 4 or Infamous Second Son ran smoothly on PS4, the graphics were good, but more recent games like The Order 1886 really showed what the PS4 GPU can do.
The gameplay feels great in most games thanks to the awesome controller, the graphics are really good, but even if it offers a great gaming experience, Sony has strong competition with Microsoft.
The next generation is here and we are waiting
Xbox One and PlayStation 4, collectively known as “next gen” consoles, have the ability to enable far more polished games with better graphics, a larger game world, and more creative game development. The gaming public is excited about the possibilities of next-gen and how the expanded capabilities of next-gen consoles translate into better and more stylish games. But where will the big leap in game quality come from when we already have amazing graphics?
In the last decade, the most significant gaming advances have come from better game graphics. I remember playing the very first FIFA football game for the Mega Drive and thought it looked amazing. Now try to play the game and it’s archaic! Compare that to the NBA 2K 14 game for PS4 where your computer player even seems to be sweating in a realistic way during the game and we can safely say we’ve reached a point where the players look almost lifelike.
Not satisfied with looking realistic, player movements and AI decisions mimic the personalities and playstyles of real sports stars. Messi and Bale play like Messi and Bale in FIFA 14. This increases realism and is more immersive. Next-gen gamers expect attention to detail in every nuance of a game, and the standard set by the first games to release on next-gen consoles has raised the bar for other developers to meet and to be surpassed over time.
It’s still so early for next-gen games that there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Compare the quality of the games in PlayStation 3 when it was first released to what is being released today. Here we are in 2014 speculating that we haven’t yet seen a fraction of the potential possibilities of next-gen games.
The main release of 2013 for PS3 and Xbox was Grand Theft Auto 5. This game presented the best possible game of the current generation and squeezed every bit of performance out of the console. It can be seen as passing the torch and an acknowledgment that this is as good as it gets on current-gen consoles. Rockstar Gaming even said so. Emphasizing that this is a starting point for PS4 and Xbox One, GTA V posed the tantalizing rhetorical question to the player: “If we can offer you that on the current gen, imagine what we can achieve on the next gen?” “
Early releases on next-gen consoles have taken the freedoms offered by increased hardware capacity and opted to increase gaming immersion. They have chosen to empower the player to make choices that determine the direction of their gaming experience. I believe this is the way forward for future game development. The limitations of the PS3 mean that the “rats in the maze” feel of some games can be relaxed, and while every game must have its limits, the net can be cast wider, reducing the impact of being caught like pinball, which bounces around but is ultimately pulled for the game-specific conclusion. With larger game environments, the next-gen open-world games offer the player more opportunities to explore subplots where, instead of just completing set missions, you can trade to make money, run businesses, or simply expand the vast game environment explore your free time.
Recent trailers for upcoming open-world game Watchdog, set for release in the UK on next-gen consoles from May 27th, reveal that the user will be able to interact with any AI member of the public in interact with the vast virtual landscape of Chicago in her role as a vigilante who opposes the city’s tight security system. The game is so massive on Next Gen that the developers Ubisoft have posted online videos of hours of gaming sessions without worrying about revealing all the game’s secrets.
Given the massive possibilities of open world games on Next Gen, it is very interesting to note that the most successful developer of open world games, Rockstar Gaming, has not yet released any details about future next-gen titles and instead opted for an update of GTA V later this year. We know from experience that Rockstar can take up to two years to deliver a title for PS3, and it will likely take at least that long for a next-gen game. I truly believe that Rockstar will set a new standard and deliver a brilliant next-gen open-world game far bigger than anything we’ve seen before. Considering Watchdog’s looks, this will be a significant accomplishment for Rockstar if they get it right.
For the sports fans and sports simulation lovers out there like me, one title has already set a high standard for others to follow. NBA 2K 14 delivers an exceptional level of graphics quality and the gameplay looks as real as I’ve imagined for a number of years. ps4 500gb gebraucht Even at this early stage of development of the next-gen sports sim, NBA 2K 14 has set a very high standard. Their decisions provide a glimpse of how developers will seek to harness the power of next-gen technology in future games. The vignettes in which your player makes off-field decisions such as Features such as interaction with opposing players, coaches, backroom staff and sponsors will be further developed to enhance the gaming experience and give the player a more immersive experience of life as a professional basketball player, rather than just focusing on gameplay. I was surprised that such a polished game came together so quickly. If this is as bad as sports sims are getting, PS4 will be a happy place for the sports game enthusiast.
Without a doubt, game developers are under delivery pressure. PS3 games have been good, but PS4 players have been conditioned by the robust promotion of Next Gen to expect excellence, and anything less than a sharp rise in quality is met with derision from a hard-line audience who are quick to bemoan any inferior release. Ask any Madden 25 fan who bought the PS4 version. Apart from slightly smoother graphics, this game could have been released for the PS3 and differs only slightly from the current generation of consoles. That’s not good enough and fans of this franchise can expect better from developers EA next year.
