With a little over a year under its belt, the PlayStation 4 has shown the gaming community how to successfully manage a new generation console launch as well as improve upon its initial impressive feature set. It seems that Sony has learned many things from its missteps with the PS3 by listening to developers and, more importantly the gamers.
Knowing that developers truly realize a console’s potential a few years into its life cycle, we realize that PS4’s greatest years are ahead of it.
With that being said, here are five moments within the PS4’s first year that truly stand out and keep us greatly optimistic for the future to come.
5) Sharing is caring
One of PS4’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring people together. With PS4, gamers can enjoy broadcasting their gameplay, uploading gaming pictures and videos through various social media sites with just a click of a button. Its Share Play function allows gamers to play online with a friend even if one of them does not own a copy of the game. Through Share Play, a player can hand over control to the other player if he or she gets stuck in a certain area and needs assistance in order to progress in the game. Can’t beat a baddie in the Evil Within? No worries, Sony’s got you covered. Stuck in Shadow of Mordor? No problem, Share Play can help with that too. It seems that one of Sony’s main objectives is to make the gaming community just that, a community.
4) Power in your hands
Fans of the DualShock 3 were pleasantly surprised when they first began playing with the DualShock 4. Sony improved upon the original great design and then some. With the addition of a touchpad, light bar, share button, built in speaker and headphone jack, the DualShock 4 is easily Sony’s best-made controller to date.
3) The quicker the better
Navigating through PS4’s menus is a breeze. Long gone are the days of pressing the PS button on your controller to quit a game in order to access something else on your dashboard. Now, a simple press of the PS button on the Dualshock 4 instantly brings you to the dashboard with ease. You also have the ability to go right back to your game instantly and continue where you left off. Have you tried accessing the PlayStation Store from your PS3 lately? Do yourself a favor and try comparing how quick the Store loads up on the PS4 compared to the PS3. Everything on the PS4 generally has a faster and smoother feel to it and for us gamer’s, quicker access to everything is definitely a plus.
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2) Sweet services
PlayStation Plus was introduced in the last generation with the PS3. It has been giving players who joined up to this service for a fee early access to betas, game trials, discounts and even free games. Since the release of PS4, Sony has improved upon this service, with over $1,300 worth of free games in 2014 alone. For a once a year fee of under $50, that’s a hell of a deal.
PlayStation Now allows gamers to stream previous generation titles onto their PS4. Depending on how long you want to play a certain game for, gamers can choose the increment of time for a low price. It’s a good way to experience great titles you may have overlooked in the past and it will be interesting to see how Sony expands this service in the future.
1) All those pretty graphics
This newest generation of gaming has not had such a substantial leap in graphics compared to the last. PS2 gamers saw the dawn of high definition gaming with the PS3 as a God send. Graphics were crisper and everything looked far better than the prior generation’s standard definition displays.
The thing that the PS4 really has improved upon is the amount of detail within games. This includes better draw distances, better lighting and shader effects and more importantly, better framerates. With many titles now running natively at 1080p 60fps, gameplay feels smoother. It is especially noticed in first person shooters where precision is key. The amount of enemies on screen has escalated dramatically as well AI seems to be smarter and more adaptable to how players play certain games.
There is no doubt that the PS4’s architecture make it the most powerful home console on the market today but in reality the true power of the console essentially relies on the developers who create games for the system. In the years to come, we can bet that we will see developers truly utilizing PS4 to its full potential. Games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is already showcasing a step forward from previous Uncharted titles.
The PS4 is a young console and has much room for growth. It is exciting to know that the PS4 today could be a different PS4 tomorrow with something as simple as a firmware update. You can bet Sony will continue to add to its already robust feature set. Games will continue to surprise us and push the limits as to what we expect from a gaming system. In Sony’s own words regarding PS4, the best is yet to come. It is truly a great time to be a gamer.