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Although I've tended to favor Sony's products over their competitors' in the past, it can hardly be argued that a major selling point of the PlayStation 3 was simply the fact that its online gaming service, a feature whose popularity and expansive nature were strongly enforced in the previous generation of video game consoles (unfortunately to the degree where it was uncomfortably forced into many games), was absolutely free to use. Although it is often argued that issues encountered by PlayStation Network automatically justified Microsoft's enforcing of the 50$ annual fee, I personally found the service to work quite efficiently for my purposes (I play online multi-player games about 40% of the time). Either way, given that Sony will now be enforcing required payments to use their online gaming services, the PlayStation 4 will have to show off a bit more impressive, intriguing and innovative qualities than it otherwise would have. But none of this was to say that the predecessors of this upcoming console were driven solely by monetary appeal; I have no doubt that the selection of exclusives that will be published on this system alone will be more than effective in capturing my attention and desire. As with the Xbox One, the streaming features seem quite attractive as well, and if everything works as I think/ hope it will, this could be extremely awesome and beneficial to our cause as a gaming blog/ Youtube hobbyists (particularly in regard to the remote access, controller switching thing that I heard they'll be implementing).
Positive Impressions/ Hopes:
-Innovative, impressive or in any way intriguing exclusives always seem to find their way onto Sony's consoles, so hopefully we can expect to see more of the same on the Ps4; at the very least, I hope to see at least one or two enticing exclusive titles, and a few, thoroughly developed and nurtured sequels to popular and (far more importantly) entertaining games/ series from previous consoles
-Given that PlayStation Move wasn't the most popular or favored method of control/ play on the Ps3, it's probably safe to assume that developers will focus more on quality of gameplay and presentation as a whole, rather than the accommodation of innovation and unusual control styles. Not to say that the thought of focusing on different control styles should be detested or shunned, but if such things are sought simply for the act of establishing something different or something to serve as a cheap gimmick against competitors, and not because developers intend to include said innovative control style in a thoughtful, artistic and thoroughly drafted fashion, it would best if this particular area was left alone, for the most part, after initial controller designs are established.
-Streaming as a whole: for additional details, refer to my Xbox One impressions post
-Remote access: while this obviously ties in with streaming to a degree, and while I'm not absolutely certain that this is an actual feature (I'm pretty sure it is though), this feature would be one of the most significant innovations a home gaming console could possibly posses for our cause as YouTube hobbyists and hosts of a gaming blog; with this implemented, not only would we obviously be able to stream gameplay directly from the console, thus making recording immensely more convenient, but during gameplay and "Let's Play" segments, we could actually "pass the controller" from person to person, even when every involved commentator is not present in the same room that the game is being played. In context, when we find games that Porpoisemonkey is simply terrible at playing, he no longer has the option to excuse himself with "this is too difficult". I'm not saying that something this has actually happened yet, but I have a feeling that that would be his primary excuse for ending a gameplay and commentary session before a satisfactory conclusion has been achieved. With the power of the PlayStation 4, he could just remotely give me access to the game, and the whole process could continue unscathed. Also, it would be much easier to form systems such as those that we established when playing "Shadow of the Colossus" and "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Reqiem". As a whole, the inclusion of this feature would allow us to be much more active on YouTube as a group
Negative Impressions/ Fears:
-The triggers; those freaking triggers! The diabolical entities of the Ps3 controller that could very well be considered one of top five most malevolent features ever to be implemented into a gaming controller, may very well make another unwelcome appearance on the PlayStation 4 controller. Hopefully Sony was a bit more intelligent about the way they approached their designs this time, but there are certainly no guarantees that they actually listened to the vast array of complaints from people who accidentally activated their explosive devices, tossed their treasured melee weapons off cliffs, or even unintentionally fired their primary projectile weapon (seriously though developers, this isn't Xbox; if you're going to make an FPS, let us use the standard control system that everyone is capable of functioning with; as far as I'm concerned, forcing us to shoot with the triggers is a form of bullying). From the looks of things, Sony still decided to implement triggers that stick down below the controller, so all we can really hope for now is that either Sony did something to prevent the triggers from functioning or being activated unintentionally when the controller is placed on a reasonably solid surface, or that a third party company (or maybe even Sony) will design a much more efficient and enjoyable controller. I'd like to think that the little touch screen monitor thing and the "share" button didn't distract the hardware designers from more significant, functional properties
-PlayStation Plus is now required to play games online; I don't know why Sony would take one of the largest supporting argumentative factors as to why one should invest in their console over their competitors', and completely demolish it! Although having a "Plus" account allowed for a vast array of discounts and unlimited free access to games (as long as you continue your subscription to the service), none of these things appealed to me enough to convince me to pay 50$ for advanced online services. Apparently I'm not the only one who viewed the situation as such, because Sony recognized that this perspective was fairly popular, and decided to throw in another major incentive for subscribing to PlayStation Plus. Of course, this required that they stab all their loyal network players in the back, but I'm sure they worked out an overwhelming list of justifications as to why they made this decision. Personally, I would probably disagree with most of those excuses, for I believe that Sony simply recognized that Microsoft's new policies were receiving a lot of negative attention, and decided that they would be able to get away with more without turning consumers to their competitors. Definitely not an appealing decision, Sony.
