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PS4 Hardware Review Thread

K

kurbaan

Banned
Finally unbanned and just in time. Missed wobblegate but all i gotta say is. These reviews are pretty pointless aside from reviews of the OS and controller / camera.

Any review taking launch lineup in a "Hardware" review is just wrong. I think where launch line up comes into play is buy it now or not. Or will they re-review the console each year or every time a new game comes out?

Will Xbone get a 7 and then 9 when Titanfall release? Will PS4 be upgraded to 9 when Uncharted comes out?
 
N

nhlducks35

Member
turnbuckle said:
The hardware?

I wouldn't want a review of a blu-ray player to base part of the review on the library. Especially at first. It pretty much goes with the territory that software will be limited.

If a company comes out with an incredible 8k television with perfect everything should it get slammed for there not being much of anything available in 4k, let alone 8k?
Click to expand...

Yes. The whole point of these reviews is to tell customers whether to buy this product or not.
 
N

newsguy

Member
Zep said:
So many Sony threads I'll post it here...

Found it interesting that while nba2k14 was installing there was only one mode available, two teams and no commentary. So until the 4th quarter, when it finished installing, the game was a glorified demo. Good news was as soon as it was done everything became available during the actual game.

Took about 25-30 mins overall
Click to expand...

Umm... This sounds fucking cool. I would much rather play some ball for 3 quarters than watch Snake smoke 15 packs of cigarettes.
 
P

Pain

Banned
How can you even give a console a numerical grade? LOL
Do smartphones get grades like this?

Here's how console reviews should go IMO

-Must Buy
-Not Yet
-Don't Buy

The review itself should explain in detail why one of the above "grades" was chosen. A numberical grade is insulting especially if launch games are taken into account. These reviews would be pointless for someone reading them a year or two from now.
 
S

simplythebest

Banned
synce said:
So many Sony fanboys, WTF... I thought the Polygon review was pretty honest. The PS4's UI is a confusing mess, it can't suspend/resume or play mp3's, and the launch lineup is severely lacking (ZERO Japanese games, no next-gen fighters or RPGs, etc). 7.5 seems accurate to me, I'm holding off until it gets some more games and an OS update. Now if they give the Xboen something like 8.0, then I can understand the bitching.
Click to expand...

What's an Xboen?
 
A

AwShucks

Member
Karish said:
Clearly biased? You people are insane...
Click to expand...

I started reading Polygon a few months ago and get a distinct feeling that they are biased, with the favor being anything from Microsoft or on a Microsoft console. That's not to say it's 100% of the time, but it definitely appears that they favor Microsoft.

They do have some good write ups though, lots of well written stuff. But as of today I'm not longer going to Polygon for reviews of anything or news on anything Sony/Microsoft. Sad thing is, I picked them up after I ditched Kotaku (for just being bad all around nowadays). I've actually found myself reading Kotaku more these days again though. I think their reviews are much more grounded and actually like the Yes/No system.

Joystiq and Gaf will have to tide me over.
 
T

tirminyl

Member
Pain said:
How can you even give a console a numerical grade? LOL
Do smartphones get grades like this?

Here's how console reviews should go IMO

-Must Buy
-Not Yet
-Don't Buy

The review itself should explain in detail why one of the above "grades" was chosen. A numberical grade is insulting especially if launch games are taken into account. These reviews would be pointless for someone reading them a year or two from now.
Click to expand...

Actually, smartphones do receive a numerical value from some sites such as Verge.

Overall, I don't like assigning a score to something. I agree with the three you listed.
 
R

Romez

Member
Polygon's review actually makes sense but to then give it a score is dumb. Are they going to come back and edit the score when better games drop?
 
C

Calibus

Member
That Polygon one really sticks out. Other reviews seem to have had issues, but not nearly as much as Poly. Wow. I'll second the observation that many of the negatives seem contradictory to what other outlets have reported.

I'm guessing that these posted here are just the first round early birds, and more reviews are incoming on and after Friday?
 
R

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Pandemic said:
From what it sounds like with the reviews, it's just the launch games that let the PS4 down.
Click to expand...

Basically this.

I'd have pre-ordered months ago if there had been a single game I was interested in, even if it was only a mild, passing interest.
 
D

dsmoke1986

Member
Depressing that the only thing I'm excited about with this launch is the new controller.

This launch lineup is poo. There is not one game that I'm excited about.
 
D

Darryl

Banned
turnbuckle said:
The hardware?

I wouldn't want a review of a blu-ray player to base part of the review on the library. Especially at first. It pretty much goes with the territory that software will be limited.

If a company comes out with an incredible 8k television with perfect everything should it get slammed for there not being much of anything available in 4k, let alone 8k?
Click to expand...

I thought review scores were dumb back when the Wii U got trashed as well. I thought they should consider the future library and potential. Well, it took a long ass time for any of that potential to be met at all. Reviewers were right. Many people were unhappy with that purchase. It turns out a lot of people aren't in it for the long haul, like we are. They hear 10/10 then they go to the store and they want the 10/10. They want accurate representation of the product in the now.

I can see it, too. If I bought my kid a gift and told it was the hottest shit, then it took a year for that product to have been worth buying at all - I'd be pretty pissed. The reviewers have been overall consistent with their methods in reviewing consoles. I think everyone buying a console should consider it for what it is - a console - and that it is an experience that constantly will get better. These scores are obviously meant for the moment only, rather than a final say.
 
J

Jabba

Banned
JetBlackPanda said:
Can't wait for the 9/10 XBone review.

"Truly next gen features like Skype and snap"

"While there aren't many games to play right now Xbox fantastic lineup of first party exclusive games is enough to look ahead"

Goodbye 360 old friend but daddy's got a new mistress.
Click to expand...

Something like this, for sure. With no mention of it's competition being $100 cheaper.

OT:
@ElTorro
Check your pms please?
Pitched you a gif idea.
 
M

mocoworm

Member
The PlayStation 4 is appealingly dull

http://www.avclub.com/article/the-playstation-4-is-appealingly-dull-105837

The AV Club said:
Maybe the PS4 is more graceful than those other consoles simply because Sony hasn’t larded it up with “content partnerships” and revenue-generating schemes yet. But it doesn’t feel that way. The console holds the promise of an enduring philosophical shift. The PS4 does have a slew of new features, after all; it’s just that Sony isn’t so insistent about shoving them in your face. Instead, the most appealing features of the PS4 do their work in the background—recording your game video, installing new games, adapting its menus to fit your tendencies.

None of these comforts is spectacular, but the PS4 doesn’t aspire to be a spectacular machine. It is, in a word, dull. And that’s a compliment. The console shouldn’t be the star of the show. The games and the players deserve the spotlight. Sony seems to recognize this, and the PS4 hews closer to the notion of a “platform”—a blank infrastructure on which amazing things can be built.

Players have plenty of time to wait and see if the platform grows into its potential, as there’s no killer exclusive title that makes it worthwhile to run out and buy one right now. But Sony has laid solid groundwork, both in its powerful hardware and its austere software, for a machine that can stand back and let players occupy the stage. If only every console were so boring.
Click to expand...
 
Slaylock

Slaylock

Member
IGN PS4 Review - 8.2

Like any launch console, the PS4 isn’t perfect. The software is lacking some key functionality, the DualShock 4’s more distinctive features are underutilized, and remote play is still rough around the edges. But in spite of these issues, the PS4 is an exceptionally well-crafted console. It's impressively small and attractive design sets a new bar for the industry, and its powerful hardware offers not only stunning visuals, but higher player counts, constantly connected experiences, and larger, more detailed worlds.
Click to expand...
 
M

mocoworm

Member
Very comprehensive review. Click the link to read it all:

Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/25/ps4-review-uk_n_4337327.html

Huffington Post said:
Is the PS4, at this early stage, a better value proposition than the PS3? Possibly not, if you just want to play a few games and watch a Blu-Ray this Christmas and don't care about the long term. And is it a no-brainer buy compared to the Xbox One? Also no - particularly not if you're attracted by the wider media features and vision Microsoft has delivered so far and has in mind for the future.

And the thing to remember is that buying a PS4 is still an investment - if not in outright financial terms, at least in buying into the long term future of a machine and a service. The upside is that the console has a rich and rewarding life on the cutting-edge of games. The downside is that, well, it might not - there is risk here: the games might not come, at least not for a while, the network and future features like the Gaikai streaming games services are unproven, and the prev-gen competition is still really decent.

But at £349, is a PS4 worth the money today?

Yes. It is. The hardware is beautiful and powerful. The controller is brilliant. The games aren't overwhelmingly amazing, and are mostly very familiar - and it's not backwards-compatible. But the games it does have are all much more impressive visually than their current-gen rivals, offer a wide range of familiar and extremely tight genre experiences, and hint at a potentially dazzling future. It's not that expensive to buy, and you'll have loads of fun with just a couple of the above titles. Out of the box, today, the PS4 is a super-fast, top-of-the-line, focused gaming machine. Buying one is still a gamble - but it's as sure a bet as has ever been offered by a new video games console at launch.
Click to expand...
 
M

mocoworm

Member
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