PlayStation 4 User Impressions

[damon8r351]

The controller's got like this grainy texture to it, I don't know. It's not smooth like the DS3, that's for sure. It'll accumulate dirt from my hands nicely.

[Lady Lilith]

I like how lightning fast the store is.  Yes, I had a hard time getting/staying on when I first unboxed mine, but when I was playing Contrast, it seemed smooth as butter.  It just blew my mind that the PS3 store takes a while to load, so I thought the PS4 store would too...nope! It's pretty much instant.

[ElaborateEnd]

Ahh, I'm starting to get a little jealous! It sounds absolutely amazing!

I won't have my hands on one for a while yet

 

I am in the same situation i won't have one for awhile. 

 

I appreciate your thoughts on the new system Parker and nice set of pictures i like the Helghast Helmet in the background.

[rallysportev]

Post Part One-

1st let me say Parker did a really great review I do agree with quite a bit that he reported.

Here is my take but keep in mind that as a guy that works 60 hour work weeks & has acute bronchitis, these last two days have been pretty hard to get started with using the PS4.

The Purchase:

Pre-ordered mine thru Best Buy. The purchase process was 80% perfect. I picked up the PS4, an extra controller, and the 2 year service plan. I wanted Final Fantasy or Lego Marvel games but neither were at my store. I was in at 11:40 pm & out by 12:05 am, home by 12:15. Score: A-

 

Set up: I won't go into detail here why but I wanted to set up PS4 in living room to 47 inch TV but still be able to run a separate HDMI cable from my stereo system in my man-cave to the PS4 so I can also play it on my 55 inch TV in there. It took 15 min from box to current setup. Score: B+

 

First time operation:

Make internet wireless connection, check! Let's download a patch...let's wait for the patch to download & then fail...then fail again for 10 min. Finally the patch downloads so now we can install. The system did say it would restart the system but it wasn't until I manually shut system down that it started installation. Done by 1:45 am & I must be up at 6 am so off to bed I go. Score: F

Edited November 16, 2013 by rallysportev

[rallysportev]

Post Part Two

Up in the morning by 6 am but even though I’m already 1 hour behind I can’t resist turning on PS4 & showing off the new XMB to g.f. I don’t particularly like the XMB having a top layer and bottom layer of icons but I am really impressed by how once some things have been logged onto that they load quickly.

The controller is cool but haven’t really used it much because…wasn’t till close to midnight Friday night that I added my ten dollar coupon from spending 50 last month & my ten dollar coupon from PS4 purchase. Piece of cake but now I’m downloading Warframe (not done) COD Ghosts 9.99 digital special (NOT done), and Resogun which is done but I really don’t want that game to have the distinction of giving me my 1^st PS4 trophy.  So after a full 24 hour period with a 13 hour worked in for good measure I still haven’t actually played a game on the PS4 yet.

Overall score C+

[rallysportev]

Post Part Three (an update)

So about 1:45 am I finally get COD Ghosts full digital download. I start the game & am very impressed w/ the visuals as it seems in most case much better than PS3 counterpart. I'm tooling along during the prologue and earn my first trophy for Spatial Awareness at 2:16. Now I'm beginning to notice that although I don't mind the right stick, my left stick which is used for making the character walk/run is now starting to feel a little uncomfortable to the touch. I get thru however to the end of the prologue still impressed by the visuals in here the Ghosts title posts up on screen.

Screen goes black, then a box comes up.

Notice

Installing content. Please wait.

00:32:58 remaining

Main Menu

As of this writing it has worked itself down to 18 minutes...

Really?!

I do believe this will be the last download game I will pay for.

Good grief!

Score: C-

 

2nd update

So I chose Main Menu which exited to a saving screen, then I chose first Multiplayer, then Extinction, each serving me a notice that I would be waiting over 4 hours before participating in either one.

Edited November 16, 2013 by rallysportev

[LiteraryRecluse]

So, here's a basic comparison between the PS3 and PS4.

 

Plays games:

PS3: Yes

PS4: Yes

 

Trophies:

PS3: Yes

PS4: Online only

 

Music:

PS3: Yes

PS4: No/Online only

 

Movies:

PS3: Yes

PS4: No

 

Customizable background/avatar

PS3: Yes

PS4: No/Online only

 

Online gaming:

PS3: Free

PS4: PS Plus only

 

Digital/PSN games

PS3: Yes

PS4: "always-on" connection required (Can't download at a friend's house then go home to play if you have slow internet)

 

Intriguing aspects of the PS4:

-The system has the ability to track trophies but disables itself after you've connected to PSN.

-Of the 9 icons on the home screen, 5 are inaccessible without an internet connection.  Of the 4 useful offline icons, 1 is a power button and one is an internet sign in screen.  Of the 2 remaining icons, 1 disables itself after you've connected.  So essentially, 1 out of 9 icons are useful offline...the settings icon.

-Sony used Microsoft's "always-on" policy to hype its own machine, but uses the same policy with digital games and trophies, both of which function fine offline on the PS3.

 

Needless to say, as a person stuck with a slow unreliable internet connection, I'm feeling pretty bummed right now.  Hopefully they fix the trophy and digital game issues.  I desperately want to play Minecraft (offline) and I'm going to be ridiculously disappointed if the PS4 continues to require me to be online to access it.  That's not an option for me!  Also, because of this, Sony will never make a dime from me through the PS Store if none of it will work offline, so this policy is bad for them too.

[Tomato]

I seen this application not sure if someone can name it but its basically sort of a radio station which lets you choose a genre and it just plays songs from it? And you can add the songs and create your own playlist? If anyone knows what I am on about its this service free or do you have to pay for it? Also I heard there no themes and you can't set your own background (for now), does psn store have any ps4 themes or do you just have to stick to that horrid deep blue? Ehr can't wait to come back home in march....so far ;-; 

[unstablefears]

 

-Sony used Microsoft's "always-on" policy to hype its own machine, but uses the same policy with digital games and trophies, both of which function fine offline on the PS3.

 

 

 

Not having offline trophies like the PS3 kinda sucks, but not sure what you mean by the digital games. I was able to play Contrast no problem while offline. 

[LiteraryRecluse]

I seen this application not sure if someone can name it but its basically sort of a radio station which lets you choose a genre and it just plays songs from it? And you can add the songs and create your own playlist? If anyone knows what I am on about its this service free or do you have to pay for it? Also I heard there no themes and you can't set your own background (for now), does psn store have any ps4 themes or do you just have to stick to that horrid deep blue? Ehr can't wait to come back home in march....so far ;-; 

 

No, there is no way to change your background/theme, and users can't have individual avatars for their user profiles unless they've connected online, in which case it displays the PSN avatar you have set.

 

 

 

Not having offline trophies like the PS3 kinda sucks, but not sure what you mean by the digital games. I was able to play Contrast no problem while offline. 

 

Really?  Where did you access it from?  I can't click the game library, it just tells me to connect to the internet. 

 

Not that it matters, I'm leaving my PS4 offline until they fix the offline trophy issue, so I still won't be able to buy anything from the Store until then, but I'm glad to know it is technically possible.  Small relief, I suppose.

[unstablefears]

Really?  Where did you access it from?  I can't click the game library, it just tells me to connect to the internet. 

 

Not that it matters, I'm leaving my PS4 offline until they fix the offline trophy issue, so I still won't be able to buy anything from the Store until then, but I'm glad to know it is technically possible.  Small relief, I suppose.

 

I had just selected it from the main menu.  I've not actually used the Game Library icon yet 

[Ryumoau]

Now that the psn network has stablized, i was able to explore more of the social features Sony implemented. Its nice to see your friends recent activities and obtained trophies. I also love how fast multitasking between games, psn store, and the web browser is. The game visuals are also amazing on the few games i've played so far (Ghosts, Resogun, and Contrast).

 

There are also a few things i don't care much for on this new console either. It seems in Sony's quest to make this console all about gaming, they have actually went out of their way to take the ps4 backwards as far as features are concerned. One of my favorite things to do on ps3 was to watch MP4/AVI videos i transferred from pc on my hdtv. I also liked customizing the background of the xmb to change the current mood i was in. On ps4 there is no media playback available and we are stuck with the same boring blue UI background.

 

There also doesn't seem to be a way to organize games in a folder or anything. They just 'exist' in a line in order, starting with the one recently played. This isn't a big issue at launch since there isn't many games, but this could be awful if it isn't addressed by next year when people buy more titles.

 

Also curiously missing is any flash support on the web browser. This is very obnoxious, since it would have been the only way to view Youtube since theres no launch day app. Not too mention many other video sites are rendered useless on it. I suppose i could just boot up my small laptop each time i wanted to watch videos, but that doesn't take away the amount of unneccesary removals the ps4 made from the ps3.

 

I'm hoping most of this stuff finds its way back through software updates, but not too sure. I don't regret buying this console but i'm alittle annoyed at the fact that it could have done a better job at being a true upgrade/succesor to the ps3 instead of an enhanced console that exists beside it.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Ryumoau

[MatCauthon]

 

Really?  Where did you access it from?  I can't click the game library, it just tells me to connect to the internet. 

 

 

My system is always online, and I can't access any games or apps (like netflix) from the library. When i try, it shows a quick image of the store screen for that title and takes me to the main menu. I'm not sure if you're supposed to be able to launch from the library or not. But all games launch fine offline if you click the icon in the lower app bar (not in the library section). 

[LooneyVas]

Hey guys i have a question... updates for games aren't free anymore in ps4? you have to be a plus member to get them for free?

[Parker]

Hey guys i have a question... updates for games aren't free anymore in ps4? you have to be a plus member to get them for free?

 

Patches? You don't need to be a PS+ member to be able to download patches for your games. Have you been having troubles?

 

 

Parker

[LooneyVas]

Patches? You don't need to be a PS+ member to be able to download patches for your games. Have you been having troubles?

 

 

Parker

I haven't a ps4 yet i was just wondering if you needed a plus+ for that also, except for playing multiplayer... thanks for the reply

[weeztha]

I love just about everything about the PS4 and still figuring things out on the system. I just picked it up last night and only used it for maybe an hour now.

One thing im not liking so far is the way games are grouped on the XMB. I used to have all my downloaded games in a folder on my PS3 XMB but I cant seem to do that now on PS4. I dont like the fact I cannot delete The Playroom from the XMB just like Welcome park on Vita cant be deleted. Well thats my only complaint so far lol

[damon8r351]

I know the system is just starting out and developers haven't quite fully tapped the abilities of it just yet, but I think I expected a bit more graphically from the PS4. I'm not really seeing much of a difference between Assassins Creed IV on the PS3 and on the PS4, for instance. There's some small detail here and there that's improved. But you know, growing pains and all. Can't wait to see what games look like a couple years from now.

 

I don't know about you guys, but it seems to me that the responsibility for designing the PS4's desktop got outsourced to Fisher Price. Compared to the PS3's, which I thought looked somewhat elegant, the PS4's looks flat and simplistic. Maybe it's the font choice.

 

I can't believe they don't have a download list on the PS4 version of the Store, when the PS3 and the Vita have it. I hope that gets added in an update, and it's not a sign that the download list is getting removed from the Vita and PS3 later.

 

I also hope that we get to modify the desktop theme of the PS4 like you can with the PS3 and Vita, because I'm definitely not feeling the blue theme.

 

I do like the overall functionality between the Vita and the PS4. I'm probably going to make some use out of the Second Screen function, and also using the Vita as a chat device while playing on the PS4.

[LiteraryRecluse]

I agree with you on the graphics, they are definitely way better but they aren't mind-blowing like previous generations.  What I do notice is that there is more detail further away from the charcter.  Whereas before it seemed like things close to you looked amazing but they quickly de-textured, the textures on the PS4 are looking great from far away.

 

I think it's going to be one of those slow, gradual improvements, and we aren't going to notice it much, and then one day we'll fire up our PS3s and be like "Holy crap, this looks bad!"  That happened with the PS3 for me, I got to the point where I was one of those obnoxious guys saying that "this ps3 game looks like a ps2 game, it's so bad!"  Then one day I turned on my old PS2 and realized how crushingly wrong I was.

 

To be honest, I'm not sure how long this generation of consoles is going to last.  People are going to start clamouring for consoles that can render in 4K I bet, so I don't see this generation going 7-8+ years like the last one.

[Diddle666]

Nice review Parker!  I can't wait for the 29th and get my hands on my own ps4.

[WitchyRein]

This made me really hyped, i wish i could afford it! 

[Dragon-Archon]

There is no awesome start up sound.

Which sound are you referring to? The high pitched sound when the PS3 powers up (the one that can't be muted) or the sound right before the XMB appears? I've always hated that high pitched sound.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Dragon-Archon

[Parker]

Which sound are you referring to? The high pitched sound when the PS3 powers up (the one that can't be muted) or the sound right before the XMB appears? I've always hated that high pitched sound.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ivdML1Xes

 

or

 

 

 

I never was a huge fan of the PS3 startup. 

 

 

Parker

[unstablefears]

Only thing that I'm not too fond of is the battery life of the DS4.  

[Masamune]

Pros

 

The controller's awsome, it has a headphone jack, better analog sticks, L2,R2 have more resistance

Games take seconds to install

The PS store loads much quicker

Trophy's sync quicker

Can charge controllers/ex. while on standby mode

Graphics (obviously)

 

 

Cons

 

Can't change XMB background

Games take a lot of space

Have to be online to view trophy's

PS store download list gone

While in horizontal position the left side is wobbly

I do like the XMB better on the PS3

 

A few of those will probably be patched, and the wobble issue I just made some new legs with some rubber/gel stuff, overall it's still a great system but it can get better.