Around this time last year, Sony launched their long awaited gaming console, the PS4, in India. It was a seven year wait for gamers and they were eagerly waiting to know how Sony was going to revolutionize the world of gaming. It wasn’t unexpected, but the Sony PS4 went on to prove itself as the most powerful gaming console ever. In the past year, it has positioned itself as the next-generation device for gamers, equipped with the latest hardware and software. So after a year, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to evaluate what the PS4 has to offer. It’s not difficult to see that Sony is strongly working on portraying the image of the PS4, as a gaming console, rather than something that is also like a media box. There are other improvements. With the new camera and the touchpad controller, Sony is also working on new gameplay styles. Currently, the PS4 is priced around Rs. 40,000* and for that, you get the console, a DualShock 4 controller, a headset, an HDMI cable and the power adaptor. Let’s now take a deeper dive and find out where the PS4 stands when compared to its competitors.
Design & Build
The moment you unbox the PS4, you know you’re looking at a next-gen gaming console. The PS4 features a sleek and sharp design that looks like it belongs in the future. The console has a sharp slanting rectangular design that lies flat on its belly. Surprisingly, even with all the high-end hardware, Sony has managed to make the PS4 smaller than the PS3. The console is split by an LED-lit strip, which runs across the top of the console. It turns blue when you switch the console on. Beside the lights, you’ll also see two USB 3.0 ports that are used to charge the DualShock 4 controller, at the front.
The rest of the ports are all placed at the back. There is an HDMI out, an Ethernet port, an optical out and another USB 3.0 port for the Sony Eye camera, placed right next to each other. The power port is placed below separately. Even with all these ports though, it doesn’t look cluttered making set up process really easy.
The DualShock controller has also undergone several iterations, all of which are prominent. It looks really different than its predecessors, but still feels like a PlayStation controller when you hold it. Not just that, we can easily say that it is one of the best looking PlayStation controllers we've seen till date. Sony seems to have done a really good job with the layout. Though the controller is about the same size as the DualShock 3, it manages to fit more elements without creating a mess. For instance, the two joysticks have been placed further apart. They have a flat top, so they are easier to grip. The R and L buttons look slimmer and have a more prominent click. The Start and the Select button have been ditched. They are replaced by the Option and Share button, features of which we'll be discussing later in the review.
The biggest change in the DualShock both in terms of looks and functionality is the touchpad in the centre. We'll also be talking more about its use and possibilities a bit later. There's also an LED at the front that changes colour according to the mood of the game. For example if your character in game is in some kind of danger, then the colour changes to red notifying the difficulty. The charging port has been switched to a microUSB, which is good, as you can charge them with any charging cable. A charging cable is bundled in the package though.
Features and Setup
Like the PS3, the PS4 is also easy to configure. All you have to do is simply connect the power cable and the HDMI cable from the TV to the console and you’re good to go. Once the cable is connected and the PS4 is switched on, the PS4 will ask you to connect it to the internet. Although you can skip this step, you may want to create a PSN ID to make the most of the PS4, including playing online multiplayer games.
The PS4 doesn’t feature the XrossMediaBar interface like we saw on the PS3, but it looks deeply influenced by it. This gives you, a similar vibe when you navigate through it. Compared to the PS3, we found the PS4’s interface a little simpler and faster to work around. All the recently used apps and games find their place at the front, so you don’t have to scroll a lot to get to your favourite game again.
There's also a ‘What's New’ page on the homescreen, which displays all the latest activities on the PS4, which could either be a game you were playing or a site you recently visited. It also gives you news feeds from friends and their gaming activity. Above that, you also have quick access to all your notifications. The stock interface looks pretty decent, but if you want something that suits your style then you can install some of other themes available online. Some of them are free and they make the interface much more interesting to look at even when it’s kept idle.
If you want to enjoy perks of online gaming then you need to create a free PSN ID. With one, you can get access the PlayStation Store to purchase and download games. Now, we know that PS4 games are big and can take a while to download depending on your connection. What’s great about PSN is that it lets you play certain games even before they’ve downloaded completely. Besides that, you can also try out demos before purchasing games so you would know if the game is worth the money. The PlayStation Store also has apps that you can install. With the PS4, Sony is focusing on social media, so now you can even link your PSN account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. This gives you instant access to news feeds from your friends and family. Besides getting feeds, sharing content is quite easy too. PSN allows you to upload screenshots instantly to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Not just that, you can also upload interesting game videos and replays of games you just played on YouTube in seconds. PSN also allows you to broadcast your live game on the network with the help of online video streaming services such as Ustream and Twitch. Friends and other users in the community can watch you play as you take on various challenges in the game. However you do require a fast internet connection to broadcast.
One of the biggest additions made to the DualShock in terms of functionality, is the two-point capacitive touch pad at the front. The best use we found for it is to scroll through the interface or the game menu. There are some games such as Killzone and Warframe that have made good use of the touchpad, but it’s still not used to its maximum potential. However, we can expect that to change in the future as more titles come out. The DualShock 4 also detects motion, using its in-built three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer. The light at the front helps detects the motion on the joystick, much like the Move motion controller used in PS3.
The controller also has a 3.5mm jack that allows you to connect gaming headsets to it. This gives you the freedom to sit anywhere in your room while still being able to use headphones. The headphones can also be used to give voice commands to the console. The newly added Share button allows you to upload screenshots, game videos and even broadcast live games to your friends instantly. Having this button shows how Sony is serious about online gaming and the social media aspect of it.
The only place where the DualShock 4 is beaten by the DualShock 3 is the battery life. This means you need to constantly charge the DualShock 4 if you want to continue your gaming marathons. This shouldn’t be a problem mostly because it can be charged even when the PS4 is on standby. Alternatively, you can also use a laptop, PC or any other USB enabled device to charge it.
One accessory you would want to get for the PS4 is the PlayStation Eye. It’s certainly a major step forward in terms of motion gaming. The camera connects to the PS4 using an auxiliary port. It’s equipped with two separate cameras out of which, one captures video while the other tracks motion. The PlayStation Eye comes has a ton of features. It detects motion of the DualShock 4 as well as player’s body movements. Voice control is also done through the camera if you’re not using a headset, but right now, it doesn’t, with very few commands to work with. Besides that, there aren’t many games that support the PlayStation Camera. The Console comes with an AR Bot game that works very well with the camera. However, it’s more of a demo for the PS4 than a game. The most popular game that supports the camera that we could find was Just Dance 2014. We’re hoping the number of titles will increase as time goes by.
Gaming performance
To make the best of the PS4, we connected it with a 60-inch full HD TV. We were quite excited to see the Flow interface on the screen. It looks quite good. After going through the interface a little bit, we started with a quick game of FIFA 15 on it. We were just mesmerised by the graphics of the game. It ran smoothly and there was absolutely no lag or stutter. The console didn’t heat-up either or make any persistent noise, even when we had it running constantly for three hours. The joystick is really comfortable to use. Games such as UFC that make use of every single button are fun to play. Every combat move in the game was executed correctly without having to apply a lot of pressure on the analog sticks, which was good. The vibration is pretty subtle, it doesn’t really bother you much to take your focus of the game. The one thing we didn’t work well was the in-game voice commands given with the help of the headset connected to the controller. They failed to work most of the time.
One of the best and most interesting features about the PS4 is Remote Play. It lets you play PS4 games on a PS Vita, using it as a remote screen for it. This means that you can still enjoy your daily dose of gaming even when somebody else is watching TV, but the PS4 is turned on. We tried this feature by connecting the PS4 directly to the Vita. It wasn’t very difficult and it didn’t take long to have the PS4’s screen running on the 5-inch screen of the Vita. You can also use the PS Vita as a second controller for the PS4 if you don’t want to invest on another DualShock controller yet.
While trying the remote play, we were quite impressed by the performance. Assuming you sit pretty close to the PS4, you’ll find the performance to be just fine, with nearly no stuttering. We constantly lost the connection even when we walked a little further away from the console. If not, then there definitely was a substantial rise in the lag, which made the game almost unplayable. In conclusion, remote play is quite interesting feature to have. However we think it would’ve been a lot better if we could use it seamlessly at a wider distance without running into any problems. We doubt if this will increase the popularity of PS Vita any soon, but it’s still a great feature for those who already own one.
Verdict
After a long and fun week of gaming, we can say that the PS4 is one of the best gaming platfoms out there. It takes the cake in terms of hardware and software. We also like the fact that it’s more focused on sharing, bringing online multiplayer gaming to the picture. PSN certainly adds to its advantage here. The DualShock 4 is a delight. The motion control and the touchpad bring in a whole new perspective to the gameplay and we would certainly like to see more of that in the future titles. We would also like to see more motion gaming titles that can help you make use the PlayStation Eye. Last year, we saw a few games come out for the PS4 mostly because it had just launched in the market. 2015 though is going to be different; there are plenty of popular games that we’re expecting to hit the shelves. Some of these will be exclusive titles for the PS4. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get yourself a brand new PlayStation 4. You’re free to go there and check out the PS4 and its features at any of our Reliance Digital stores. Fine the closest one to you with the help of the Store Locator on our site.
