The PlayStation 4 specifications have been released after the initial February 20 announcement from Sony. Still no backwards compatibility…for any PlayStation 3 game, but services will be available to stream PS1, PS2 and PS3 games. One of my biggest questions was answered – the disc drive. Game format will be downloadable and optical disc. The “cloud”-like downloading trend made me wonder if the PS4 would even have a disc drive.
Another big one – No DualShock 3 controller support. The new DualShock 4 controller will have a special lightbar so the new PlayStation 4 camera can track the controller’s 3D location. The Share button on the DualShock 4 controller will provide direct social media posting options and the PlayStation Move will be used with the PS4.
PlayStation Vita owners can rejoice. The handheld PlayStation Vita console will act as second device (similar to the current Wii U GamePad) where players can download games and even play them when away from the main PS4 console plus mobile/tablet device owners can complete similar action through the PlayStation App. Connected play with Internet connection has advantages, but Sony promises they have considered offline gameplay as well for the PS4.
Here are the PS4 specifications:
Game format
- Optical disc, downloadable
Accessories
- Motion controls – camera / six-axis, optical
- Headset / microphone
- PlayStation Move capability
Audio / video
- Video outputs HDMI
- Audio outputs 3.5mm stereo
Camera
- Dual lens (approximately 183 grams)
- Four channel microphone
- 85 degree field of view
Controller
- Wired and wireless controller type (approximately 210 grams)
- Proprietary charging cable
- Direction control D-pad and two thumb sticks
- Built-in rumble support
- Built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Hardware
- CPU – low power x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, eight cores
- GPU – 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon graphics core next engine
- System RAM 8192 MB
- USB 3.0
Media
- Audio playback
- Video playback
- Photo viewer
Networking / online service
- Internet connectivity
- WiFi 802.11 b, g, n
- Ethernet 10/100/1000 [Gigabit]
- Online features Multiplayer, Voice chat, Video chat, Store, Browser
- Downloadable content Games, Game updates, TV shows, Movies
- Game achievements
- Friends list
- Service fee
Storage
- Hard drive system storage