PS4 Announced

[SasoriSoren]

I am going to get it. I have always loved everything PlayStation has done throughout the years.

As far as the comments go for "Might as well build a PC". You seem to be forgetting that convenience is the biggest seller. The average joe can't build a gaming PC and can't afford the cost to have one built for him, having a $400 piece of hardware (as that is what I guess the cost will be) with easy hookup to the TV and a familiar controller is just more convenient. Consoles aren't going anywhere, however, I do believe we are approaching a graphics plateau, where the games wont be able to look any better and consoles will have to do what Nintendo has been doing, innovating in the gameplay market, to ever sell a new console.

[lumberjoof]

We aren't even close to approaching a graphics plateau, and the PS4 certainly isn't going to go anywhere near it. Check out the iCEnhancer mod for the PC version of GTA IV sometime. Truly impressive.

The PS4 should be a pretty nice machine, though.

[scarmullet]

I'll wait for the games. It does not matter how good the hardware is if the games can not back it up.

[sheep2001]

I will get one, thats just how i roll.

People dont seem to understand why the PS4 wont play PS3 games, and yes I know this sucks. The PS3 used the famous cell processors (lol) which was unique and quite proprietary to the PS3 so it meant developers designing games meant they had to make a version just for it as well. The PS4 uses pretty much plain jane PC architecture which 99% of developers design on anyways so it makes it ez mode to then put it on PS4. PS3 games were designed using PS3's architecture therefore it wont work.

Think of it like trying to put unleaded gas in a diesel engine, both are engines per say but it wont work.

Also, fully expect playstation to milk the hell out of downloadable PS3 games.

That said, I am actually quite excited about the PS4, some nice features such as a legitimate sleep function, vita love etc.

No, what I don't understand is why it's not ps1/ps2 compatible.  The mamount of grunt it has, it could easily run ps1/2 WITH upscaling.  But they chose not to. 

[madrocsz]

Oh, without a doubt it can, but again, they rather see you buy them on PSN, like the took a cue from nintendo. They completely screwed those who bought on eshop on wii and now have to re-buy on wii u

[kaysow]

Consoles aren't going anywhere, however, I do believe we are approaching a graphics plateau, where the games wont be able to look any better and consoles will have to do what Nintendo has been doing, innovating in the gameplay market, to ever sell a new console.

first off; i totally agree that innovation is needed to move the medium forward. when talking of a "golden age" a lot of people refer to the bump from 8- to 16bit, which in retrospect saw some good games, but 10-year old me lost interest and thought they were stagnating. but the advent of 3d saw some drastic changes that did the medium a lot of good. reading some in-depth development stories on resident evil & silent hill shows an environment where the higher-ups lost control over the development teams for a while. new rules applied, small teams couldn't carry a project alone anymore, and they had to let their employees do their own thing, which resulted in a fuckload of artistic freedom and creativity and the birth of a lot of powerful franchises.
we call them gimmicks, but new tech has the potential to turn everything on it's head and give us another leap forward. i'm cautiously optimistic of vr, ar and some other future tech because it's hard to do right, but there is some serious potential there.

as for horsepower and graphics - apart from 4k resolutions and framerate limitations i recently learned of ray tracing, which could mean a huge graphical overhaul. not quite like the 2d/3d leap, but still huge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_tracing_%28graphics%29

[wiggy]

There's only 3 instances where backwards compatibility has been a big selling point for me:

-Game Boy series
-DS on 3DS
-Wii on WiiU (I didn't like the notion of having 2 sensor bars and 2 separate sets of Wiimotes and nunchuks)

There are 2 more I would like to add:
Gamecube to Wii -- 480p progressive scan
PS1 -- PS2/3 -- 480p/1080p

It is also good for the people who do not have the money to buy the newest games for the system, or has to sell the old system to afford the system, or the old one brakes down. Or for people who did not have the old system to have more games to play, I had a Wii before a GC, and a PS2 before a PS1.

Just an FYI, the PS2 is capable of 480P, it's just that not all games support it.  NONE are output in 1080.  The PS1 is not capable of progressive scan, thus none of the games support it.

No, what I don't understand is why it's not ps1/ps2 compatible.  The mamount of grunt it has, it could easily run ps1/2 WITH upscaling.  But they chose not to. 

I've got to imagine that it's because nobody cares except for people like us, which are few and far between. 

[kaysow]

actually, i hear two ps2 games have the option of full 1080 hd; the japanese valkyrie profile 2, and american gran turismo 4.

[larryinc64]

There are 2 more I would like to add:
Gamecube to Wii -- 480p progressive scan
PS1 -- PS2/3 -- 480p/1080p

Just an FYI, the PS2 is capable of 480P, it's just that not all games support it.  NONE are output in 1080.  The PS1 is not capable of progressive scan, thus none of the games support it.

I know the PS2 is capable of 480p, I got component cables that I use with it. I know no PS1 games are able to use PS, but they look better on a PS2 with component cables, less blurry, If my memory serves me right.

What exactly is Progressive scan? I have a vague idea of it, but I'm not to sure.

[wiggy]

PS1 games won't even display via component cables if I recall correctly.

Progressive scan refreshes the entire screen at once (left), interlaced only displays half of any image at any given moment with the other half flashing a fraction of a second later.  It does this over and over to refresh the image that you see, thus refreshing only half of the image at any given moment.  Technically you NEVER see the entire image at one time.  As my understanding goes, anything that's been designed to only product interlaced images (movie, game, etc.) CANNOT be displayed in or converted to progressive scan. 

[SasoriSoren]

The only reason I still have my Wii is so I can play Brawl with a Gamecube controller.

[madrocsz]

The only reason I still have my Wii is so I can play Brawl with a Gamecube controller.

Similar, only reason I have my wii hooked up is to play MELEE (smash balls ruin gameplay like blue shells in mario kart do lol) with a wavebird controller

[Azarkhel]

PS1 games won't even display via component cables if I recall correctly.

Progressive scan refreshes the entire screen at once (left), interlaced only displays half of any image at any given moment with the other half flashing a fraction of a second later.  It does this over and over to refresh the image that you see, thus refreshing only half of the image at any given moment.  Technically you NEVER see the entire image at one time.  As my understanding goes, anything that's been designed to only product interlaced images (movie, game, etc.) CANNOT be displayed in or converted to progressive scan.  

Just need a good deinterlacer. Results in a small amount of input lag but a much better option overall.

EDIT: Actually PS1 games display just fine over component IF your display accepts 240p over component. A lot don't though so most often you'll need to run your older consoles through a linedoubler/scaler when using more modern plasmas and LCDs.

For instance, my Panasonic plasma accepts and scales old analog signals quite nicely. My Panasonic LCD just shits itself.

[SasoriSoren]

I just play my old consoles on an old Sony CRT Trinitron I got for free off craigslist.

[wiggy]

PS1 games won't even display via component cables if I recall correctly.

Progressive scan refreshes the entire screen at once (left), interlaced only displays half of any image at any given moment with the other half flashing a fraction of a second later.  It does this over and over to refresh the image that you see, thus refreshing only half of the image at any given moment.  Technically you NEVER see the entire image at one time.  As my understanding goes, anything that's been designed to only product interlaced images (movie, game, etc.) CANNOT be displayed in or converted to progressive scan.  

Just need a good deinterlacer. Results in a small amount of input lag but a much better option overall.

EDIT: Actually PS1 games display just fine over component IF your display accepts 240p over component. A lot don't though so most often you'll need to run your older consoles through a linedoubler/scaler when using more modern plasmas and LCDs.

For instance, my Panasonic plasma accepts and scales old analog signals quite nicely. My Panasonic LCD just shits itself.

Good info to know, thanks