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Three things you should know about the PlayStation 4 OS
Sony laid its social networking ambitions out on the table when it announced the use of real names on PSN, its online network, for the PlayStation 4. Now, as the company preps that next-gen console for launch this week, we're finally learning more about how those new PSN profiles will work and just what it is the PS4 Eye camera can actually do. And not everything works the way you would think.
Sony abandoned plans to bundle Eye camera with PS4 to keep price down
Sony attempted to include the PlayStation 4 Eye camera peripheral with the console at launch but dropped its plans after costs proved prohibitive, Sony Computer Entertainment president and Group CEO Andrew House revealed this week. SCE Japan senior vice president Masayasu Ito notes that the company was determined to reach a $399 price point for the PlayStation 4 at launch, putting it $100 under the Kinect-bundled Xbox One. At the same time, Sony executives wanted to minimize loss on each console sold, driving the company's decision to release the PS4 Eye separately at $59.99. House downplayed the Eye's importance to PlayStation 4 buyers at launch. "Certainly for the earlier part of the lifecycle, the vast majority of the audience that we speak to tells us that their primary wish is for the full controller interface and there's not necessarily a huge emphasis being placed on camera interaction," he said. House hinted at plans to "adjust messaging" regarding the peripheral over the PlayStation 4's lifespan, suggesting that the PlayStation Eye could be included with future PS4 bundles.
Sony confirms PS4 camera supports commands via voice, face recognition
You can order your PS4 about without picking up a controller, thanks to the console's add-on camera. Revealed by Sony Senior VP and Business Division President Masayasu Ito at the Tokyo Game Show, you can use its voice and face recognition tech to do things like loading up Knack. Although, sadly, you'll still have to get up and grab a controller to play it (we were so close to the future). The news isn't a great surprise given the leak from earlier this month. It's still unclear how these commands work in practice, but we expect Sony to show off the tech soon enough. The PS4 camera will be priced $60. Ito also revealed another interesting tidbit at Sony's keynote, namely that the PS4 supports video capture over HDMI, something the PS3 did not. SCE America VP of Publisher & Developer Relations Adam Boyes took to Twitter afterwards to say there'll be "more details to follow down the road." The PS4 launches on November 15 in North America, November 29 in Europe, and February 22 in Japan. Sony estimates by the end of March 2014 it'll have shifted 5 million units of its next-gen console.
Report: PS4 to support voice commands, recognition with camera
The PlayStation 4 will support "navigational voice commands" and "facial recognition" through the PlayStation Camera, according to YouTube user lex1020's recording of a slide from Sony's presentation at GameStop Expo 2013. At the GameStop Expo, SCEA's Group Manager of Retail Training and Advocacy Sean Coleman described the camera's ability to "track your body movements in games or even recognize your face for easier system navigation." A Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson confirmed with Polygon that the PlayStation Camera "allows for voice recognition" and that more details will be shared "in the lead up to the launch of the PlayStation 4."
PlayStation 4 uses both real names and PSN handles, DualShock 4 charges in standby
Chris Norden, Senior Staff Engineer at Sony, just concluded a talk about development on PS4 here at GDC. While mostly aimed at the improvements to the development environment over its predecessor, Norden also offered some interesting factoids for those of us lacking the know-how to create games. For example, the upgraded Blu-ray drive spins discs at three times the speed of PS3. Norden's talk didn't offer much on the PS4 architecture that we didn't already know, but he elaborated on the DualShock 4 and PS4 Eye peripherals. The DualShock 4 features enhanced dual vibration over the DualShock 3, with lower latency and reduced dead zone – the area surrounding the center point on the analog sticks where the console doesn't pick up input. Unlike the PS3 buttons, the face buttons, L1, and R1 on the DS4 are digital. DualShock 4 controllers will also charge now when the system is in standby mode – not possible with the DualShock 3 on the PS3 – and he said every PS4 will include a headset in the box, another thing Sony avoided with the PS3. The new ID system was also demonstrated, where each PS4 player will have two identities. There's obviously the requisite online handle, but also true names for friends pulled from Facebook and through true name search on PSN. By default, true names will not be displayed. Finally, Norden said that per the PlayStation 4's ability to capture game footage and share online, the system itself will automatically record your last few minutes of gameplay at all times. If you did something interesting or impressive by accident, you can hit the Share button and retrieve that footage; each clip is broken down into chapters that are labeled right in the video editor suite.
PS4 Eye has two cameras: One to watch you, one to make you pretty
Sony's PlayStation 4 Eye has two cameras each with a max resolution of 1280 x 800, four microphones and a field of view of 85 degrees, and all of these aspects work together in new ways, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida tells Engadget. The cameras, for example, mark a departure from the current PS Eye's single lens, and they each have specific tasks: One is in charge of capturing the setting and ensuring a quality picture, and the other handles motion tracking. The cameras will triangulate the 3D space, recognize gestures, enable Kinect-style body tracking and will work with Move functionality embedded in the DualShock 4 controller. Sony's goal is for players to be able to snap 3D pictures and video and store it on the PS4. The microphones will be incorporated into PS4 games, though Yoshida was tight-lipped about their role in potential voice-control functions for the console itself.%Gallery-179477%
Take a closer look at the DualShock 4 and PS4 Eye
Sony has sent out some glossy close-up shots of today's newly-unveiled PS4 controller, the DualShock 4. It features a largely similar setup to its predecessor, the DualShock 3 – save for that front touchpad, light bar on top of the controller, redesigned analog sticks and the fact that it has no start button. Sony also sent over shots of its new PS4 Eye peripheral, a log-like improvement over the single-lensed PlayStation Eye camera that currently exists on PS3. The PS4 Eye has two cameras built in that can gauge player distance from the television and the like. %Gallery-179397%
