Mark Cerny’s talk about the “Road to PS4”, which took place at the Gamelab conference in Barcelona yesterday is now available to view on YouTube. In the talk, which was streamed live yesterday, Cerny talks about how the PlayStation platform has evolved over the years, and how the PS4 compares to the previous PlayStation consoles.
A recent leaked image of the content of the PS4 box reveals that Sony was planning to include the PlayStation Camera and Knack with the console, but was presumably removed prior to E3 to reduce the price of the console. The image reveals that the Blu-ray copy of Knack, the PS Camera and a vertical stand for the PS4 would have been included with the console, but would have likely cost an extra $100 to include – bringing the console in-line with the price of the Xbox One.
At this year’s Gamescom convention, running between 21st to 25th August, in Cologne, Germany, Sony will focus on the PS4 and it’s games line-up. The company is planning to show off brand new games for the upcoming console, adding to the games already announced at the PlayStation Meeting 2013 and E3 2013.
A screenshot taken from the PS3 development kit reveals that the console runs on a modified version of UNIX based operating system FreeBSD. The OS has been heavily modified by Sony and re-branded with the name Orbis OS – which also happens to be the PS4’s rumoured codename when it was first in development.
Sony has released more details on PlayStation Plus for the PlayStation 4, detailing new features for subscribers, as well as what will be available to all PS4 owners. As mentioned at E3 2013, owners will need to have a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online multiplayer games, but the social features of the PS4 and auto-updates will sit outside of PlayStation Plus.
Speaking to the Official PlayStation Magazing, SCE UK chief Fergal Gara has said that charging for online multiplayer on PS4 has helped reduce the price of the console. It’s the first time Sony will be charging gamers to play online, requiring a PlayStation Plus subscription to access the online component of games, although it was something Sony had to “agonise over for a very long time.”
When Sony first revealed details of the PS4 in New York back in February, there were only 126 developers working on games for the console. Sony has revealed that the number has now grown to over 500 developers via a press release. “Since February 2013, the number of developers joining has increased from 126 to 505,” says the press release.
Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed that the PlayStation 4, like the Xbox One, can use the power of cloud computing as and when it’s needed. Although the feature wasn’t mentioned in Sony’s E3 Press Conference, Yoshida says that developers are free to take advantage of the ability to do tough computational tasks in vast server farms.
Sony has tonight revealed the official box for the PlayStation 4. It’s unclear if the this is the final box art, but it looks very close to it. The box includes the size of the hard drive and color on the box, suggesting that these may change in the future. As with the PS3, Sony has offered different hard drive sizes and colours, so it’s safe to assume the same with the PS4.
