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[phosphor112]

Thanks for danhese (once again) for pointing us in the right direction for massive info. A lot of this is already known but this thread is made to have everything in one place and not in 50 different threads on 50 different pages.

So, New PS4 infos so i figured a comprehensive thread should be created. The guys at Gaming Everything have compiled a crap ton of infos from GDC from IGN's Gregg.

Link

Info:

• Targeted to be the “central device in the living room”
• “Core gamers are our primary audience
• PS4 build around them, salable to the outsiders
• 5 core PS4 principles: Simple, Immediate, Social, Integrated, Personalized
• PS4 CPU: 64-bit x86 arch, low power consumption, low heat, 8 cores, 8 HW threads, 2MiB L2 cache per 4 core group, 32kib l1 I/D-cache
• PlayStation Shader Language, very similar to HLSL, allows featured BEYOND Direct X 11 and OpenGL 4.0
• “GPU – Tessellation – adding geometric detail to smooth edges or create more organic shapes”
• PS4 RAM – 8GB 256 bit GDDR5 (GDDR5 is very high end graphics memory only found on PC graphics cards)
• Will come with “very large hard drive in every console”
• PS4 Dev Environment – Windows 7 64-bit, tools are fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012
• “Debug your PS4 code as you would your PC code”
• PS4 Controller: Start/Select buttons are now “Options.” New System button is “Share.”
• Speaker, headset jack and “extension port” on the PS4 controller
• PS4 controller buttons are going back to digital over analog because no one used it on PS3
• PS4 controller L2/R2 – Curved design to get rid of the accidental netflix fast forwarding
• PS4 controller: 1920×900 resolution on the analog touchpad
• PS4 controller colors are the Player Numbers: 1-Blue, 2-Red, 3-Green, 4-Pink (Like the buttons)
• PS4 will charge controllers when it’s off. Unlike the PS3.
• PS4 controller light bar can be used for muzzle flashes, health bars, etc
• “The #PS4 Eye will enhance the PS4 user experience.” High sensitivity dual color cameras
• 1280×800, 12 bits/pixel, 60Hz
• Dedicated port for the #PS4 camera, exclusive SCE Connector. Means it won’t use a USB port on the console, but won’t plug into your PC.
• Cam suggested uses: walkthrough vids, taunting in killcam, login, speech recognition, etc; possible PS4 Camera Magic – Sees the controller, you guys move, splitscreen moves to be on the right side
• The above is what devs could do (not mandatory)
• Video example shown of PS4 combining the camera and the controller. “AR Menu”
• Zoom into the controller, tilt to shake little dudes inside, push into our world like EyePet
• 2004: XMB, 2011: LiveArea, 2013: New #PS4 one based on the five principles from earlier
• UI is meant to give you at a glance info without loading the game. See what new DLC is out and whatnot. What friends are saying.
• Have to enable people seeing your real name on the #PS4. Auto-enabled if you import from another social network. (Can be turned off)
• PSN friend limit raised
• PS4 Mock-up: Heavy Rain choice with the number of your friends that chose each option.
• All the PS4 streaming and sharing: that’s on the hardware. Devs don’t have to do anything special to their game.
• PS4 Remote Play: Screens are mirrored on PS4/Vita (Both on at same time). Hardware does it/not on devs. Start at any time; no special mode.
• Talking about the PlayStation App. Login, buy game, PS4 starts downloading at home, you get home and start playing the part that’s DWLD.

EDIT:

• Sony has sent their newly updated multiplat game engine PhyreEngine 3.5 to developers with PS4 support
• http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013...engine-3-5-arrives-today-for-ps3-ps4-ps-vita/

There are a few bits not on there you can get from here
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-friends-system-sharing-and-ui-detailed-at-gdc-249821.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-controller-and-cameras-fully-detailed-at-gdc-249816.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-user-experience-is-called-connected-ux-249813.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-overview-at-gdc-covers-tech-hardware-specs-249814.phtml

EDIT 2:
More info about the controller right hurrr:

• Force feedback has two (1 small, 1 big) analog motors, as opposed to the digital ones in PS3. Allows for "more precise, cool effects."
• Removing "analog" face buttons and going with digital will "cut latency way down" for the new controller.
• The system will stream 32Khz sound up to 2 controllers, and 16Khz for 3 or more players.

Further explanation of extended DirectX features:

Sony is building its CPU on what it's calling an extended DirectX 11.1+ feature set, including extra debugging support that is not available on PC platforms. This system will also give developers more direct access to the shader pipeline than they had on the PS3 or through DirectX itself. "This is access you're not used to getting on the PC, and as a result you can do a lot more cool things and have a lot more access to the power of the system," Norden said.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/...4s-hardware-power-controller-features-at-gdc/

EDIT 3:
More info about API:

• CPU and GPU performance analyzers (real-time and static analysis)
• Various supporting binary utilities
• Compiler: LLVM with a clang front end (highly conformant C and C++ front end, Great C++ 11 suport)
• Updated to newer versions will be regular (driven by SCE and the open source community), comprehensive set of intrinsics, compatibility to Microsoft, GCC, PS3, and PS Vita
• Debugger: Debugs PS4 code as you would your PC code, mirrors the Visual Studio multi-threaded debugging feature set, core dump debugging, parallel call stacks and watches, thread-specific break points and trace points
• SN-DBS: fault tolerant distributed builds of code and data, supports 32-bit and 64-bit native code tools on all versions of Windows
• Included for free (no licensing fees)
• Optional automated API call to tag chapters/sections of games into uploaded videos, available to console end-user.

http://www.gamerevolution.com/featu...echnical-specifications-for-the-playstation-4

 

[Ragus]

“Core gamers are our primary audience

Aww yiss.

 

[kevcampbell]

nice, some of the stuff I could not understand (the very technical stuff) but everything sounds very nice indeed

 

[Dabanton]

All sounding very nice.

 

[omonimo]

PS4 controller: 1920×900 resolution on the analog touchpad

uh? resolution of what?

 

[Eusis]

Digital buttons? Not surprising, but somewhat damning for PS2 BC. Well, Kojima games anyway.

 

[dragonflys545]

NOM NOM NOM. Let me get some of them PS4!

 

[BronsonLee]

Good that a lot of the stuff is on the hardware and not for devs to pick/choose.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Why does the controller have a resolution?

What to make of this?

“Debug your PS4 code as you would your PC code”

 

[QP3]

Sounding good!

PS4 Remote Play: Screens are mirrored on PS4/Vita (Both on at same time). Hardware does it/not on devs. Start at any time; no special mode.

So this implies it will be a day 1 feature?

 

[Sky Chief]

uh? resolution of what?

The touchpad, it says right there

 

[Karsticles]

PS4 controller colors are the Player Numbers: 1-Blue, 2-Red, 3-Green, 4-Pink (Like the buttons)

Friendships will be lost over who has to use the pink one.

PS4 controller buttons are going back to digital over analog because no one used it on PS3

Man, Nintendo and Sony are dropping analog buttons. Vicious!

Why does the controller have a resolution?

What to make of this?

It'll probably be removed in a future update after it proves useful for piracy.

 

[InPlosion]

I find the lack of multiplayer announcements worrysome. In my opinion, if it was indeed still free, they would be trumpheting it all over the place, just to rub it in microsoft's face some more.
We are getting this deafening silence instead.

 

[sono]

should "Windows 7-bit" read "Windows 7 64-bit" ?

 

[°°ToMmY°°]

uh? resolution of what?

Touch panel.

 

[Kagari]

Why does the controller have a resolution?

What to make of this?

Basically PC -> PS4 is going to be super easy.

 

[Hoo-doo]

5 core PS4 principles: Simple, Immediate, Social, Integrated, Personalized

I am so happy they are actively mentioning the immediacy of everything, including the main OS, the in-game OS, the downloads, the demos. It has a huge impact on the user experience.

Thank you based Cerny.

 

[BadTaste]

Cam suggested uses: walkthrough vids, taunting in killcam

Interesting..

 

[Baleoce]

@notaxation (Colin Moriarty, IGN)

At a GDC PS4 panel, Sony reportedly said "core gamers are our primary audience." That's music to my ears.

Just popping this in here.

EDIT - nvm, it was already in the OP.

 

[dEvAnGeL]

I find the lack of multiplayer announcements worrysome. In my opinion, if it was indeed still free, they would be trumpheting it all over the place, just to rub it in microsoft's face some more.
We are getting this deafening silence instead.

i have no problem paying for that if is bundled with ps+, people that don't have ps+ have no idea on what they are missing

 

[Miles Quaritch]

It'll probably be removed in a future update after it proves useful for piracy.

Basically PC -> PS4 is going to be super easy.

Thanks.

So, uh why does the touch panel need a resolution? What am I missing here? I thought it was a touch pad not all dissimilar from the back touch panel on the vita?

 

[ascii42]

uh? resolution of what?

That's how many distinct touchpoints there are on the touch pad.

Thanks.

So, uh why does the touch panel need a resolution? What am I missing here? I thought it was a touch pad not all dissimilar from the back touch panel on the vita?

A touch pad has to identify where it is being touched. It has a finite precision for doing that.

 

[test_account]

Thanks for compiling all of these tidbits into one list Some interesting points in there i think.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Cam suggested uses: walkthrough vids, taunting in killcam, login, speech recognition, etc; possible PS4 Camera Magic – Sees the controller, you guys move, splitscreen moves to be on the right side
The above is what devs could do (not mandatory)

Lots of uses for the camera but it's not mandatory. Something doesn't quite add up, they've built a lot of potential features around the camera, but have then decided not to make it mandatory?

 

[Rebel Leader]

I find the lack of multiplayer announcements worrysome. In my opinion, if it was indeed still free, they would be trumpheting it all over the place, just to rub it in microsoft's face some more.
We are getting this deafening silence instead.

I don't think it's gonna be charged.

And if it is charged hopefully basic multiplayer will be free

 

[Triple U]

Why does the controller have a resolution?

What to make of this?

I'm guessing they are just making a play on the VS integration. Don't know how it is on PS3, but perhaps you can utilize the VS debugger for PS4. It seems to be declassified so maybe a developer chimes in.

 

[sqwarlock]

Man, Nintendo and Sony are dropping analog buttons. Vicious!

I'm assuming they're talking about the face buttons and not the triggers. At least I HOPE that's what they're talking about.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

This all sounds so fucking great.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Lots of uses for the camera but it's not mandatory. Something doesn't quite add up, they've built a lot of potential features around the camera, but have then decided not to make it mandatory?

It seems to add it quite well based on this

Core gamers are our primary audience

If that's their target audience then they can't make such a thing mandatory. You won't find a group that despises motion controls as much as core gamers do.

 

[darkwing]

I'm assuming they're talking about the face buttons and not the triggers. At least I HOPE that's what they're talking about.

face buttons

 

[dallow_bg]

Pretty high res for the touchpad.

 

[Marty Chinn]

What to make of this?

Debugging PS4 games like PC games, makes me extremely happy. The Visual Studio integration is a godsend. It always sucked having to have two different IDEs opened while going between PS3 and 360 and knowing how much easier it was to debug stuff on the 360. It generally meant I would do stuff on the 360 first and then check it later on the PS3.

Thanks.

So, uh why does the touch panel need a resolution? What am I missing here? I thought it was a touch pad not all dissimilar from the back touch panel on the vita?

The Vita's touchpad has a resolution too. It's about how sensitive it can distinguish your touch input. Think of it this way. If you had a resolution of 1, all inputs on the touchpad would be exactly the same no matter where you touched. If it had a resolution of two, you could tell if you touched on the right side or the left side of the touch pad. Now make that 4, and you can touch upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. That's what the resolution means.

 

[Dead Prince]

Aww yiss.

hard core or soft core?

 

[Orayn]

If that's their target audience then they can't make such a thing mandatory. You won't find a group that despises motion controls as much as core gamers do.

I think that's a one-dimensional way of looking at it. While there are some vocal detractors, quite a few GAFers like motion controls who would still be considered "core" by any reasonable standard. Heck, there's plenty of positive buzz for the Move control schemes in Heavy Rain, Killzone 3, and MAG.

 

[tusken77]

Friendships will be lost over who has to use the pink one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isVj2tNDAjQ

 

[iceatcs]

Pretty high res for the touchpad.

Wacom level?

 

[Ziek]

PS4 will charge controllers when it’s off. Unlike the PS3.

PRAISE KAZ

 

[davepoobond]

Why does the controller have a resolution?

same reason your phone has a resolution size. your touch points on the phone are the same as your phone's resolution. which means that the resolution size of the touch pad = whatever your phone is.

in this case, since the touch pad is not on a screen, it is 1920x900 which is the size of the area you can touch that is compacted into the space for the touch pad.

 

[TheChaos]

I don't see the region-free announcement. Is it region-free? Sony is the last of the big three not to region lock. The lack of announcement is worrying when they were upfront about it before. =(

 

[Crimson_Gold]

Sounding good!




So this implies it will be a day 1 feature?

Yup. It is all via hardware. At least from everything that has been said. I can't wait to use it

 

[noobasuar]

Like they would say anything different about the audience they're targeting at GDC.

You guys are quick to buy into whatever these people say.

 

[grimshawish]

Thank you for making this thread and danhese for making the list.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

I'm guessing they are just making a play on the VS integration. Don't know how it is on PS3, but perhaps you can utilize the VS debugger for. It seems to be declassified so maybe a developer chimes in.

Interesting. Hopefully a developer can chime in.

It seems to add it quite well based on this

If that's their target audience then they can't make such a thing mandatory. You won't find a group that despises motion controls as much as core gamers do.

It wouldn't necessarily have to be used for motion gaming. A lot of the features mentioned are so far removed from motion gaming that it wouldn't really risk running the ire of the 'core gamer'.

It seems Sony might be missing the forest for the trees. Make the camera mandatory so everyone is using it to upload walkthroughs, taunting in killcams (this is going to get a lot of mileage from me), etc.

Would a core gamer (a term I've come to loathe) be angry if it was mandatory for the features listed above? It seems to enhance the experience for the gamer in a way that should have been the norm this generation.

 

[H_Prestige]

I don't see the region-free announcement. Is it region-free? Sony is the last of the big three not to region lock. The lack of announcement is worrying when they were upfront about it before. =(

They've never really been upfront about it. I don't remember them bragging about vita games being region free.

 

[Darklord]

This sounds so good. PS4 may just be my first day 1 console.

 

[Takuya]

Like they would say anything different about the audience they're targeting at GDC.

You guys are quick to buy into whatever these people say.

It's a Game Developer's Conference, that statement was directed at them. i.e. "We as game developers on PS4, our main audience is the hardcore gamer".

 

[Triple U]

Like they would say anything different about the audience they're targeting at GDC.

You guys are quick to buy into whatever these people say.

They've shown nothing to suggest otherwise so whynot? You seem quick to downplay and damage control...

 

[zroid]

Trying not to get too hype.

Please be affordable for my broke ass ;_;

 

[dragonflys545]

They've shown nothing to suggest otherwise so whynot? You seem quick to downplay and damage control...

He's been doing that in every PS4 related thread. Just ignore him.

 

[ascii42]

Interesting..

Takedown cam in Burnout Paradise was amusing.