Let us put our disappointment and dissipation aside because Sony did not show the actual machine of PlayStation 4 on their Press Conference.
It’s been more than six years since the big, black, boxy PlayStation 3. At a press event in New York, Sony presented gaming, live streaming, networking, the Cloud and lifestyles. Did We hear a Cloud word ? Yes! PlayStation 4 will utilize Cloud platform for its gaming experience.
Sony computer entertainment unit chief Andrew House said PS4 “represents a significant shift from thinking of PlayStation as a box or console to thinking of the PlayStation 4 as a leading place for play”.
PS4 was designed to get to know players, ideally to the point of being able to predict which games people will buy and have them pre-loaded and ready to go. Which is sounded like business intelligence will play big chunk on this.
What about multi-player and social aspect ? Our hunch is correct. It also allows live streaming of gameplay in real-time, letting friends virtually peer over one another’s shoulders and even letting game makers to act as “directors” guiding players along.
Sony has also given a “green light” to building “the most powerful network for gaming in the world”, according to David Perry, chief of Gaikai Cloud gaming company purchased last year by Sony.
Gaikai specializes in Cloud Streaming Games which will allow customer to play video games streamed from the internet “Cloud” instead of buying titles on disks popped into consoles or computers.
“By combining PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network, and social platforms our vision is to create the first social network with meaning dedicated to games,” Perry said during the event.
A button on the PS4 controller will let players instantly stream in-game action to friends in real time, and even allow someone to transfer control to more capable allies when stuck, according to Perry.
He expressed a vision of letting people access and play video games old or new on the Internet using PS4, smartphones, tablets or PS Vita handheld devices.
“We are exploring opportunity enabled by Cloud technology with a long-term vision of making PlayStation technology available on any device,” Perry said.
“This would fundamentally change the concept of game longevity, making any game new or old available to get up and running on any device, anywhere.”
“We believe PlayStation 4 proves we have more to offer than ever before,” said Sony Computer Entertainment Group CEO Andrew House, before he left the stage without giving us a glimpse of … friggin’ hardware.
Andreas Wasita 