Today at E3 Sony unveiled the console hardware for the PS4. I personally really like it, it’s rather unassuming, but looks sharp. Instead of me blathering on about the hardware, why don’t I just show you.
What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments.
By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody
Introducing Xbox One
The Xbox One hardware is sleek and modern and complements any décor. The console is shaped in the 16:9 aspect ratio and employs a horizontal orientation optimized for its high-speed Blu-ray™ disc player. It is molded in a deep and rich liquid black color and includes a distinctive beveled edge.
The completely redesigned, revolutionary 1080p Kinect is more precise, more responsive and more intuitive. Its unparalleled vision, motion and voice technology let you reach into games and entertainment like never before by dramatically expanding its field of view and fidelity. It works in nearly any lighting condition, recognizes precise motion control from a slight wrist rotation, and distinguishes your voice even in a noisy room using advanced noise isolation.
The class-leading Xbox controller is refreshed with more than 40 technical and design innovations. Updated directional pad, thumb stick and ergonomic fit immerse all gamers in ways that are uniquely Xbox, and precision and control have been dramatically increased with all new vibrating impulse triggers.6 The Xbox One Wireless Controller is designed to work in concert with the new Kinect, allowing the two to be paired automatically to create seamless player syncing.
With Xbox One, games push the boundaries of realism, and TV obeys your commands.1 Say “Xbox On” to launch your personalized Xbox One Home screen, discover what is popular on TV or see friends’ latest gaming achievements all using the most natural interface — your voice. The more you interact with Xbox One, the more it gets to know you and learns what you like. Some of the breakthrough Xbox One features that put you at the center of your living room entertainment include the following:
To create the most advanced Xbox system ever designed for games, TV and entertainment, Microsoft created a state-of-the-art gaming operating system and fused it with an equally amazing entertainment platform, so you will not have to switch inputs to watch TV or play a game. An eight-core, x86 processor and more than 5 billion transistors helps make lag and load times a thing of the past, so you can instantly jump between a game and your entertainment at lightning speed or run a host of apps right alongside your game with no loss in performance.
Introducing Xbox One titles and exclusives
Gaming on Xbox One immerses gamers in cinematic worlds that look like real life, with characters that feel more human than ever before. AAA blockbuster titles unveiled for Xbox One include the following:
In addition to the amazing lineup of games coming to Xbox One, Microsoft unveiled exclusive content partnerships with some of the top names in TV, sports and entertainment.
Introducing a new generation of Xbox Live
Xbox One is built to amplify an all-new generation of Xbox Live that is more powerful, more personal and more intelligent. Unleashing the virtually unlimited power of the cloud makes everything more convenient and accessible, from allowing games to be installed in segments so that gameplay can start quickly to updates downloading in the background. Save and store your personalized profile, games and entertainment in the cloud to access them anytime, from any Xbox One console.4 In addition, existing Xbox Live Gold Membership for Xbox 360 will seamlessly carry over to Xbox One.5 Xbox Live takes you deeper into the games you love with all-new features.
More details about Xbox One and blockbuster games will be explored at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.
Features and requirements are under development and may change prior to release. Available features and content may vary by country. Broadband Internet (ISP fees apply) and advanced TV hardware required. Games and media content sold separately. Xbox Live Gold Membership, paid subscription and other requirements apply for some Xbox Live features.
¹ Live TV with Kinect navigation, Live TV with OneGuide, Trending, and NFL on Xbox available in U.S. at launch; anticipating global scale over time.
²Kinect voice functionality only available in supported locales and languages.
3 At launch, Live TV will require a supported receiver device with HDMI output (sold separately).
4 Subject to geographical content restrictions.
5 Some Xbox Live content and features available on Xbox 360, including avatar content and some apps, are not available with Xbox Live on Xbox One.
6 In supported games.
via Press Release
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
So yesterday Precursor Games launched a crowd-funding campaign for Shadow of the Eternals. They are looking to raise 1.5 Million Dollars to bring this episodic game to the Wii U and PC in Q3 2014. They are hoping to create a total of 12 episodes in all and are asking for your money to do it. Some are calling this a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Now this is a relatively new company which, after looking at their website, appears to be filled mostly with Ex Silicon Knights employees, which for better or worse includes Denis Dyack. Denis Dyack was the Writer, Producer and Director for Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Now this is not a Kickstarter campaign, so I would tread carefully with this one, as there is no way to back out after you pledge. Teaser trailer is below.
– Link to Website –
By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
@DayneCody
Ok, lets get something straight right now. This is not another doom and gloom post about how Nintendo won’t be around in a few years. This is a post to remind people and maybe even Nintendo about what they seem to be forgetting. I thought I would write my opening post here at Geekoholics by saying they are not nearly as far off mark as everyone is claiming. But I understand that they have somehow gotten a little off course since the Wii U.
I think the first issue that Nintendo has with the Wii U is the name. Instead of the Wii 2 or something completely different they chose the Wii U. I feel that this doesn’t do enough to send a message to people that this is in fact a new console and not just another Wii. Even in the original E3 press conference no one was sure if this was a new controller for the Wii or if in fact it was a new console. I feel that if they do want to get people buying the Wii U they need to do a better job of educating people that this is in fact a whole new HD Wii 2!
The Second issue that Nintendo needs to address is the games. Now I think this is a twofold issue at the moment. Firstly, they need to get some good games on the way from their own first party studios. We want a new 3rd person Mario game in HD! We want a new more grown up Zelda in HD! People buy Nintendo consoles for the great first party Nintendo games, but we don’t just want rehashes, we want something new from Nintendo that pushes the new hardware, something that we haven’t seen for a while. Maybe a new Starfox in HD? Or what about a new Fire Emblem in HD on your TV, that is not a 3DS port? Or what about a new third person Donkey Kong? These are the kinds of games that they need to be developing.
Secondly, They have to get third party developers excited and developing for their system. We are already hearing about too many games that are bypassing the Wii U. Without that support the Wii U will always struggle. For whatever reason Nintendo seems to be scaring away developers instead of embracing them and helping them to develop for their system. Third Party Support is key here.
Thirdly, I think it is very important to land some 3rd party exclusives that make sense for that system. As great as i think it was getting Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive, it really is not the kind of game that they should be aiming for as a Wii U Exclusive. They did great with the Lego City Undercover, they need more of these kinds of creative games that work to the strength of their system. They need to start working with 3rd party developers to get unique content for their system instead of just the quick hash of current gen games. Without these no one is going to feel the need to buy a Wii U. Give me a reason to buy your console over the other guys!
The Third issue that for whatever reason seems to scare Nintendo is online. They need to get their online strategy figured out and fast. They have so much potential with so many great games, and backlogs and yet they have far and away THE WORST online out of all the current gen consoles. What happens when the PS4 or Xbox 720 come out and change the rules even further then they already are in regards to online? Nintendo needs to stop being so terrified of the Internet and embrace it like everyone else has. The next gen is ONLINE! They need to realize this and make changes to address it. They need a unified account structure for all 3DS, Wii and Wii U under one account, not linked to the actual consoles.
Lastly, as much as it pains me to say this, they need a price drop. Not even because i think the Wii U is overpriced, but they need people talking about it again. I think so many people can smell it in the air that they are not buying because even though Nintendo says they won’t do one, they feel that they are going to soon, some people just need that little nudge. If they price dropped and get some good content out/on the way, i know they would start selling again.
I think Nintendo isn’t that far off track, but if they don’t start implementing some of these, they are going to veer off a course that will be very hard to recover from.
By Dayne “Anjel” Cody
In case you missed the live stream last night here is the whole PlayStation 4 Announcement in glorious HD.
PlayStation 4 Announcement Live Stream (Replay) – YouTube.
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today introduced PlayStation®4 (PS4™), its next generation computer entertainment system that redefines rich and immersive gameplay with powerful graphics and speed, intelligent personalization, deeply integrated social capabilities, and innovative second-screen features. Combined with PlayStation®Network with cloud technology, PS4 offers an expansive gaming ecosystem that is centered on gamers, enabling them to play when, where and how they want. PS4 will be available this holiday season.
Gamer Focused, Developer Inspired
PS4 was designed from the ground up to ensure that the very best games and the most immersive experiences reach PlayStation gamers. PS4 accomplishes this by enabling the greatest game developers in the world to unlock their creativity and push the boundaries of play through a system that is tuned specifically to their needs.
PS4 also fluidly connects players to the larger world of experiences offered by PlayStation, across the console and mobile spaces, and PlayStation® Network (PSN).
The PS4 system architecture is distinguished by its high performance and ease of development. PS4 is centered around a powerful custom chip that contains eight x86-64 cores and a state of the art graphics processor.
The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has been enhanced in a number of ways, principally to allow for easier use of the GPU for general purpose computing (GPGPU) such as physics simulation. The GPU contains a unified array of 18 compute units, which collectively generate 1.84 Teraflops of processing power that can freely be applied to graphics, simulation tasks, or some mixture of the two.
PS4 is equipped with 8 GB of unified system memory, easing game creation and increasing the richness of content achievable on the platform. GDDR5 is used for this memory, giving the system 176 GB/second of bandwidth and providing a further boost to graphics performance.
The end result for gamers is new games with rich, high-fidelity graphics and deeply immersive experiences that shatter expectations.
Shared Game Experiences
Social interaction is central to PS4 experiences, so new features were built into the actual foundation of the system’s hardware architecture. PS4 provides dedicated, “always on” video compression and decompression systems that enables seamless uploading of gameplay. For the first time ever, gamers can share their epic triumphs with the press of a button. Gamers simply hit the “SHARE button” on the controller, scan through the last few minutes of gameplay, tag it and return to the game-the video uploads as the gamer plays. Gamers can share their images and videos to their friends on social networking services such as Facebook.
PS4 also enhances social spectating by enabling gamers to broadcast their gameplay in real-time to friends using live internet streaming services such as Ustream. During live broadcasts, friends can make comments on the streamed gameplay and, if a gamer gets stuck on a challenging level, friends can also join the game in completely new ways. For example, friends can offer health potions or special weapons when a player needs them most during actual gameplay.
Furthermore, users can connect their Facebook account with Sony Entertainment Network account. Through PS4, users are able to deepen their connections through co-op play or “cross-game chat”.
PS4 Second Screens
PS4 integrates second screens, including PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita), smartphones and tablets, to wrap gamers in their favorite content wherever they are. A key feature enabled by second screens is “Remote Play” and PS4 fully unlocks its potential by making PS Vita the ultimate companion device. With PS Vita, gamers will be able to seamlessly pull PS4 titles from their living room TVs and play them on PS Vita’s beautiful 5-inch display and intuitive dual analog sticks over Wi-Fi networks*1. It is SCEI’s long-term vision is to make most PS4 titles playable on PS Vita*2.
A new application from SCE called “PlayStation®App” will enable iPhone, iPad, and AndroidTM based smartphones and tablets*3 to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.
Immediate Gameplay
PS4 radically reduces the lag time between players and their content. PS4 features “suspend mode” which keeps the system in a low power state while preserving the game session. The time it takes today to boot a console and load a saved game will be a thing of the past. With PS4, gamers just hit the power button again and are promptly back playing the game at the exact point where they left off. Additionally, users can boot a variety of applications including a web browser when playing a game on PS4.
PS4 also enables games to be downloaded or updated in the background, or even in stand-by mode. The system takes it one step further by making digital titles playable as they are being downloaded. When a player purchases a game, PS4 downloads just a fraction of the data so gamers can start playing immediately, and the rest is downloaded in the background during actual gameplay.
Personalized, Curated Content
On the newly designed PS4 menu screen, players can look over game-related information shared by friends, view friends’ gameplay with ease, or obtain information of recommended content, including games, TV shows and movies. The long-term goal of PS4 is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero: if the system knows enough about a player to predict the next game they will purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before they even click the “buy” button. PS4 will further enrich users’ entertainment experiences, by meeting their potential needs.
Gaming in the Cloud
Launched in November 2006, PlayStation Network, a network service for PlayStation users, now operates in 67 countries and regions*4 around the world with the total number of downloaded content of more than 2.8 billion*5. In addition to a variety of games available in PlayStation®Store, PS4 users will be able to enjoy a variety of services offered by PSN, such as Sony Corporation’s Music Unlimited, a cloud-based music subscription service and Video Unlimited, a premium video service, as well as various content distribution services.
By combining PlayStation Network with Gaikai Inc’s cloud technology, it is SCE’s goal to make free exploration possible for various games. In the future, when a gamer sees a title of interest in PlayStation Store, they can immediately start playing a portion of the actual game – not a stripped down version of the game. With Gaikai and PlayStation Store, gamers will be able to experience appealing games and only pay for the games they actually love. PlayStation Network and the cloud will offer additional value to PlayStation gamers. SCE is exploring unique opportunities enabled by cloud technology with the long-term vision of making PlayStation libraries including an incredible catalog of more than 3000 PS3 titles*6 that is unmatched in the industry, mostly ubiquitous on PS4.
SCE will announce new details of PS4 and its robust lineup of games from 3rd party developers and publishers, the independent gaming community and SCE Worldwide Studios, as well as further enhancements to the entire PlayStation ecosystem between now and the holiday 2013 launch.
Main Processor
Single-chip custom processor
CPU : x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, 8 cores
GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon™ based graphics engine
Memory
GDDR5 8GB
Hard Disk Drive
Built-in
Optical Drive
(read only)
BD 6xCAV
DVD 8xCAV
I/O
Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0) 、AUX
Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)
AV output
HDMI
Analog-AV out
Digital Output (optical)
*Specifications are subject to change without notice.
*1 Depending on network environment or titles, users may not be able to play games outside comfortably.
*2 Exept games that require peripherals such as PlayStation®4 Eye ).
*3 Depending on the version of OS or other conditions, users cannot use the application.
*4 Number as of December 31st , 2012
*5 Number as of February 19st , 2013
*6 Number as of December 31st , 2012, including free trials.
via PlayStation 4 Press Release
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
A collector in Italy has decided to part with his massive video game collection, words can do no justice to the size of this collection and Museum of Gaming would be a much better fit. Check out the auction for hundreds of pictures including rare systems, games and collectables. Check out some of the items included below but definitely have a look at the auction for a trip down memory lane. Oh one more thing, the bidding starts at a reasonable $550,000.
-The games count over 6850 pcs. with about 6780 boxed and 70 loose, and are in various format NTSC Japan or Usa and also PAL. -The consoles are over330, with 307 system boxed and 24 loose, and even in this case we have all the different standards. -The controllers are about 220 with 167 boxed and 52 loose. I included all the kind of controller, from the simple joypad to the special controller like all the konami bemani to the densha de go train controller, and the arcade joystick as well. -The accessories are about 185, and in this category I put the ac adapters, the various av cables, the rumble packs, the memory cards, battery packs, the converters for the region locked games, and various other items like screens, printers etc.via Over 30 Years of Videogames Collection The History of Videogames | eBay.
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
Don’t forget to turn on your Wii U and snag the new Nintendo TVii app. Nintendo promises that their TVii app will be a game changer for how we watch our TV content. If you aren’t sure what Nintendo TVii is watch the video below.
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
Available Dec. 7th exclusively in Canada, the Wii Mini will be available for $99 which includes the system, red Wii-mote and nunchuk. The price is right but unfortunately it comes at a cost, the Wii Mini has no internet capabilities and can’t play Gamecube games. Wii Mini is designed exclusively to play Wii games and that’s about it. I’m sure most gamers won’t miss these features but with the Wii U now available I just don’t see the sense in releasing this downgraded Wii console.
By Ricardo “Rico” Ferreira
@RicF
GEEKOHOLICS 
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