PlayStation 4 rumors continue to swirl all around the web, but with less than 24 hours until Sony’s “Future of PlayStation” event these new rumors do seem pretty realistic. According to Kotaku, anonymous sources say that the PlayStation 4 will launch in North America in November. There will be two PlayStation 4 models. One priced at 429 dollars and another at 529 dollars, but apparently, the pricing won’t be announced at the event.
Every PlayStation 4 will come with a PlayStation Eye. You will also be able to control your PlayStation 4 from your tablet or smartphone. And what that means is that you’ll be able to buy games and from there they’ll be automatically be downloaded to your PlayStation 4. But, that isn’t all though, from your tablet or smartphone you’ll also be able to chat with your friends on the PS4.
The PS4 will support local network play via the PlayStation Vita, and the PS4 will have a new feature. Personally, I’m calling it cross-watch, the source doesn’t say it’s “cross-watch”, but that’s sort of what it sounds like. Anyway, what it is, is this new “spectating feature” allows you to watch your friends play games from your PlayStation 4 dashboard. Instead of “cross-chat” you get to “cross-watch”. Sony missed the boat on cross-chat, so they might be taking it a step further with this cross-watch type feature.
Last, but definitely not least, is the big one in this rumor: There will be no more PlayStation Plus. Instead, that will be replaced and called PlayStation World. Along with this the PS4 won’t be free anymore and most of the online features will require a premium subscription to use.
So, that’s all the rumors, and now we’ll get to my take in all of this. What has me concerned about this is because this does sound true and this is a typical “Sony move”. Mainly, the “requiring a premium service feature.” Sony has a knack for shooting themselves in the foot at inopportune times. Sony does many things right, but just this little things, these little features like this, they shoot themselves in the foot and it costs them badly.
Sony has a good thing going with the online service being free, but there’s a PlayStation Plus, for users that want to upgrade and get many, many, many goodies for that service. Requiring people to buy it is a big no-no. When you factor in requiring you to pay for online, plus a 500-600 dollar PlayStation 4 when you factor in tax, a controller, and a game. That’s a lot of money to fork over right off the bat.
What I’d like to see is a continuation of the PlayStation 3 online model. It’s free for everybody, but you can upgrade to PlayStation Plus for 49.99 a year (which would be called PlayStation World, according to the rumor). Going over to next gen, though, I say make it a 100 dollars, a complete package with the ability to stream games via Gaikai, Music Unlimited, etc. everything you can get from Sony. Just one complete package for 100 bucks. That’s a heck of a deal, a lot of bang for your buck.
So, that’s that, and then we got the price. Two PlayStation’s priced at $429, and $529. That’s a bit steep I think. Personally, I’m hoping for a $399 price tag, which I think is realistic. The price, probably won’t be announced, which the rumor does say, so that’s not a surprise. The rest of the other stuff, I’m indifferent about. The “cross-watch”, which is what I’m calling it, until proven otherwise, seems pretty cool. It sounds, basically, like watching a walk through on YouTube. Controlling the PS4 from your smartphone/tablet is nice, but really not major, for me anyway. Same with the Camera Eye.
Most of it, just really isn’t major, so, hopefully, this isn’t everything Sony will talk about. I want to hear more on how the Cloud Service, Gaikai, is used. Will we be able to stream games from the original PlayStation? The PlayStation 2? Will Trophies be inserted in these old school games? Will we know what Sony’s first party studios are doing? What is Naughty Dog working on? (Remember, after Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog split into two teams.) What is Sucker Punch working on? Hopefully, Sony will talk about games, even just a little bit, just a glimpse of what’s to come in the future.
Overall, keep in mind, all of this is just rumors. Some of this may not be true, heck, all of it might not be true. We’ll just have to wait and see, and it won’t be for long. It’s less than 24 hours before we’ll see what exactly the “Future of PlayStation” is, and hopefully, all our questions will be answered.
