PS4 revealed (sort of)

Sony has unveiled the PS4! And by 'unveiled' I mean 'not actually shown anyone what it looks like'. [I know this news is a week old, but unexpected productivity has meant blogging's been a bit light]. They have unveiled the new controller, which looks similar to the old one with the major exception of a touch-screen strip running roughly the distance between the analogue sticks at the top of the controller.

A more serious look at what was, and wasn't, revealed, can be found here. 

Being able to watch live gameplay of other people isn't the sort of thing that gets me going, to be honest.

A low power state for downloads is a worthy change, but, again, it's not exactly going to make one's trousers burst into flames with excitement.

Apparently PS Vita connectivity and remote play will be enhanced. Some may like this, but it doesn't push my buttons.

Being able to play games as they download sounds good. It won't affect me, but for those it does it should cut down on lengthy waits.

The console should come out (both in a visual and selling sense) around Christmas this year.

As has become traditional, I will not be buying this at launch. I'll wait a few years for the price to drop (assuming the console is worth buying) and for more titles to come out.

Perhaps the biggest change is that it's been deliberately designed to be easier for developers, which will hopefully increase the number of games for it compared to what might have been.

There have been rumours about the next generation of consoles effectively declaring second hand games verboten by having one-time use codes shipped with new games that are required for activation (so you can sell a disc, but the code is already used up so it can't be activated and played). Hopefully that gets quashed by Xbox when they do their reveal (it won't be the case for the PS4). I don't buy many used games now, but when I was younger and played more I did often visit shops to browse the second hand games.

So, there's no big bang world-changing development like holograms or spectacles that offer 3D gaming without a TV. It sounds like a significantly beefed up PS3 with a fancier controller.

Both the PS4 and the new yet-to-be-revealed Xbox are expected to be for sale this Christmas.

Thaddeus