Winners and Losers: Playstation 4 Edition

Hi. 

It is the dawn of a new console generation (sort of). The first of this generation’s new consoles (other than the Wii U) has hit store shelves, and in a matter of days, we will see its opposition (not counting the Wii U) come to market and show off what it has to offer.

This is a special week in gaming, one that heralds what will come next, so this week’s Winners and Losers is all about the Playstation 4 launch. Next week’s will center around the Xbox One, and eventually the Wii U will get one out of sympathy.

Microsoft

On Friday, the official Xbox twitter sent this brief tweet to the official Playstation twitter, with this picture attached:

After an embittered year between the two companies, this simple message was a great olive branch which I sincerely hope Sony reciprocates come November 22nd. We’re all in this because we love this industry, and would be nice to see the big boys get along for once.  

Sony

Regardless of where one stands in the “console war,” every hardware manufacturer deserves a round of applause for getting the thing on store shelves. Mark Cerny has constructed a sleek, powerful device aimed directly for gamers, and even among those who aren’t getting one, that it’s on the market and (generally) functional deserves recognition.

The launch party

For the longest time, I questioned why Sony would hold a few reveals until the very hour before the Playstation 4’s release. It was far too late for anyone to preorder, so it wouldn’t affect launch sales, and many had their minds made up already. The biggest announcements came from Naughty Dog in teasers for the next Uncharted and the Last of Us DLC story, with Hideo Kojima’s demonstration of a PS4-exclusive “Deja Vu” mission in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes serving as an odd but mildly funny side dish, but overall it was a fine showing as Sony attempted to go out with a bang and throw down the gauntlet for Microsoft’s launch. In a few days, we’ll see if Microsoft’s big finale is similar.

The Dual Shock 4

Holy moly is this one great controller. The grips feel great, the weight is a perfect balance, there’s the right amount of give on the sticks, and the triggers are actually triggers now. I wasn’t one of the many players who took issue with the Dual Shock 3, but this blows it away. If you have a PS4, you know already that this thing just feels great to use; if you don’t, go to a friend’s house or a preview event and give it a spin. I’ll certainly be heading over to a Microsoft store to try out the Xbox One’s controller for comparison, but I’d be amazed if it stacked up.

Also, the light bar on it isn’t a revolution but is pretty cool. Not having to squint at the lights on the Dual Shock 3 to determine which player is which was a great idea, and the way it’s used in certain games is kind of neat. For example, its pulsing colors are a more exact health meter in Killzone: Shadow Fall than any of the screen-blurring and color-draining of standard regenerating health indicators.

The design

There’s really no other way to put it: this is a beautiful console. Minimalistic yet friendly in its appearance, the Playstation 4 doesn’t look imposing on the shelf and makes you want to play just when you look at it. The colored line on its side is a nice touch, too.

The launch lineup

Right now, I have access to Killzone: Shadow Fall, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Resogun, Contrast, and Blacklight: Retribution. Considering I began last generation with Perfect Dark Zero and the 360 “port” of Gun, this is a pretty great start, and it’s symbolic of what is a surprisingly sturdy launch lineup. The Xbox One’s lineup is nothing to sniff at either, so this is going to be quite the cage match.

The power

I’m not going to claim to be an expert on the technological innards of consoles, but I can speak to what I see and experience, and what I’ve played has put what this generation could be in an interesting perspective. The last generation’s leap was all about the macro: massive, streaming worlds from Skyrim to Grand Theft Auto V were the major showcases of technological innovation and the push for bigger and better set pieces defined the triple-A releases. Here, what impresses me is the micro: the pores on a character’s face, rainwater dripping from a character’s photorealistic armor, detail in every nook and cranny. It does build immersion, it does make the worlds feel more alive, and this is only the beginning.

The sales

Arguably the most important part of a console launch from an objective standpoint, we waited with bated breath to see how the market would respond to the Playstation 4's release. Apparently, the market is very, very happy with the Playstation 4. One million units in 24 hours happy.

Hardware failures

This is the launch of a new piece of technology. We knew there would be failures, we always know there will be failures, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth mentioning, particularly when the console has been out for less than a weekend and reports are all over the place. Issues have ranged from misshapen HDMI ports to overheating (causing a “red line of death” to appear on the console) to bricked consoles from issues updating to the day one 1.50 patch. I myself had a spot of trouble getting my console updated, with what appeared to be a crash initially, but I was lucky enough to have it all work out in the end.

Never before has social media been so integrated into our daily lives, so calling this “the worst console launch ever” because reports are prevalent isn’t that trustworthy, and only weeks from now when hard statistics begin to come out will we understand the scope of these issues, but if these are beyond the usual failure projections, this is a real mess.

Backwards compatibility

I understand why the backwards compatibility situation is what it is, but as a result of that, the Playstation 4’s PSN is going to appear pretty bare for a little while. Not having the most basic of PSN games compatible is very disappointing, however expected it may be. I wanted to play the decade-and-half old PS1 version of Final Fantasy VI on my hyper-powered PS4!

Nintendo

Poor guys. The Playstation 4 is not the start of this generation, but the Wii U is still getting shoved aside in the industry discourse. 

No, wait. You know what? 

Everyone saying the Playstation 4 is the start of the new generation

So the Wii U has been struggling. So its library isn’t amazing. But it exists, it’s not a bad console, it has a few great games, and 2014 is looking solid. Treating the thing like its release was a footnote only serves to marginalize a console which has every chance of pulling a 3DS and coming into its own after a weak year. This attitude will only push gamers and developers away as the console is made to appear like a second-rate knockoff of what a next-gen console “should be” just because its hardware doesn’t stack up with the bleeding edge of its competitors, when it should at bare minimum be hailed as the one new console great for gamers with friends and family who still appreciate local multiplayer.