A whole host of new details on Sony’s PlayStation 4 console were revealed moments ago at the 2013 Game Developer’s Conference.
The info, covered by numerous outlets (including IGN’s Greg Miller and Polygon.com), covers all kinds of specifics on the new PlayStation Camera, how Remote Play will function between PS4 and PS Vita, ease of development, and more. Check out the features outlined below (courtesy of the aforementioned sources) and check out our PS4 reveal hub, where we covered news, images, trailers, and more for Sony’s next-generation console.
If video of Sony’s PS4 panel at GDC 2013 becomes available, you will find it here on PSU.com.
*Remote Play streaming is handled by hardware, so developers don’t need to do any extra work to enable it.
*The PlayStation App on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets will allow you to purchase and initiate game downloads from anywhere. When you get home, you can immediately started playing, even if the game hasn’t finished installing.
*The PlayStation Camera could be used for everything from walkthrough videos and killcam taunts to login and speech recognition.
*The DualShock 4’s light bar can be detected by the PS Camera for a variety of purposes. One possibility is that when friends swap positions on a couch, the splitscreen windows will also swap positions.
*The PSN friends list maximum cap will be raised (from 100 to an unknown number).
*PlayStation Camera will have a dedicated port that’s proprietary Sony technology. Therefore, it won’t occupy on of your precious USB ports, but also can’t be plugged into a PC.
*PS4 controllers can be charged while the system is shut down or in sleep mode.
*DualShock 4 light bar colors revealed: Player 1 is blue (like the X button), Player 2 is red (Circle button), Player 3 is green (Triangle), and Player 4 is pink (Square).
*DualShock 4’s analog touchpad has a resolution of 1920 x 900.
*Face buttons on DualShock 4 will be digital, not analog, taking away the pressure-sensitivity of DualShock 3. Sony attests that very few developers ever used this feature.
*Hard drive size isn’t revealed yet, but Sony says every console will have a "very large hard drive".
*The PS4 development environment is Windows 7, with tools fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012. Therefore, PS4 code can be debugged exactly like PC code.
*Players’ real names will appear in games where it makes sense (multiplayer matches, high scores and record lap times, etc.), and will be voluntary. If you link your PSN account with your Facebook account, your real name will be displayed on PSN automatically, but this can be later disabled.