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PlayStation 4 Console Thread

mushashi

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Dandy_Sephy

Dandy_Sephy

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Ars Technica have the most indepth report of the talk yet. Unsurprisingly being Ars they focus on specifications and numbers rather than headline features so as well I've bolded the newer info and technical parts most blogs will skim over or simply not report.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/sony-dives-deep-into-the-ps4s-hardware-power-controller-features-at-gdc/

At a presentation at the Game Developers Conference today, Sony Senior Staff Engineer Chris Norden went into greater technical detail on some of the PlayStation 4's underlying hardware, including the PS4 Eye depth sensing camera. While all of this information is not finalized and subject to change, the presentation gave us our deepest look yet at Sony's next generation of console hardware.

Norden started by focusing on the chips, including the 64-bit x86 CPU that he stressed provided low power consumption and heat. The eight cores are capable of running eight hardware threads, with each core using a 32KiB L1 I-cache and D-cache, and each four-core group sharing 2MiB of L2 Cache. The processor will be able to handle things like atomics, threads, fibers, and ULTs, with out-of-order execution and advanced ISA.

Sony is building its CPU on what it's calling an extended DirectX 11.1+ feature set, including extra debugging support that is not available on PC platforms. This system will also give developers more direct access to the shader pipeline than they had on the PS3 or through DirectX itself. "This is access you're not used to getting on the PC, and as a result you can do a lot more cool things and have a lot more access to the power of the system," Norden said. A low-level API will also let coders talk directly with the hardware in a way that's "much lower-level than DirectX and OpenGL," but still not quite at the driver level.

The system is also set up to run graphics and computational code synchronously, without suspending one to run the other. Norden says that Sony has worked to carefully balance the two processors to provide maximum graphics power of 1.843 teraFLOPS at an 800Mhz clock speed while still leaving enough room for computational tasks. The GPU will also be able to run arbitrary code, allowing developers to run hundreds or thousands of parallelized tasks with full access to the system's 8GB of unified memory.

Speaking of memory, Norden hyped up the 8GB of GDDR5 RAM in the system as the type of memory that's currently usually found only on high-end graphics cards. Calling the RAM "expensive" and "exotic," Norden stressed that you "can't buy this [RAM] for 50 bucks... that's why high-end graphics cards cost as much as they do." The 176 gigabytes of total bandwidth provided by that GDDR5 RAM are much more efficient than the 40 gigabytes a second provided by the standard DDR3 RAM used in most current computer systems. The unified address space should also cause fewer headaches for developers than the mixed architecture of the PS3, Norden said.

The development environment coders will use is based on Windows 7 and fully integrated with Visual Studio 2010 and 2012, allowing developers to debug PS4 code just like PC code. Tools will include C and C++ front ends that are largely compatible with most standard compilers, and various binary utilities, including CPU and GPU analyzers that can run in real time alongside games. Development houses will also be able to distribute tool and version updates to multiple dev kits more easily through a tool integrated into Windows Explorer.

As for the physical hardware itself, the PS4 will have a Blu-ray drive that's "up to three times faster" than the PS3's drive and will include a "very large" hard drive in every system.

DualShock 4

The DualShock 4 controller that's standard on the PS4 eliminates one feature that was seldom used on the PS3—the analog face buttons and d-pad. While games like Gran Turismo 4 made use of this feature, most developers ignored it. Using digital face buttons on the DualShock 4 will allow Sony to "cut latency way down" for the new controller, Norden said.

For force feedback technology, the DualShock 4 has one small motor and one large motor, much like the DualShock 3. The new controller will let developers vary the analog strength of each motor, though, unlike the digital motors on the PS3, allowing for "more precise, cool effects."

The L2 and R2 buttons on the Dual Shock 4 have been redesigned to be more comfortable and to ignore accidental pressure when players place the controller down on a coffee table, for instance. The analog sticks have also been tightened, Norden said, for a reduced dead zone and better feeling tension that grips your thumbs. The touchpad on the controller will allow for two points of recognition at a 1920×900 resolution, which is pretty large considering the small size of the pad.

Norden also highlighted the light bar on the back of each DualShock 4 controller. The full-range RGB LEDs in each controller will light up blue, red, pink, and green to correspond to players 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The lights will also blink when the controllers are charging (which is now possible even when they are plugged into a PS4 system in standby mode) and turn off when the charging is complete.

Finally, the PS4 will include a mono headset and microphone in every box that plugs directly into the DualShock 4. The system is capable of streaming 32Khz sound to the controllers' speakers for up to 2 players, but that reduces to 16Khz when 3 or more players are hooked up.

PlayStation 4 Eye camera

The PS4 Eye seems like a significant upgrade from the normal PlayStation Eye that was used on the PS3. The two cameras inside the unit are each capable of 1280×800 resolution and 60Hz at a color depth of 12 bits per pixel. That resolution can actually be turned down to increase the response rate, so a resolution of 640×400 would get you an extremely fast 120Hz measurement. The camera's 85 degree field of view means that there will be fewer out-of-range problems with PlayStation Eye games, Norden said, while a four-mic camera array can provide directional listening capabilities.

Norden highlighted the PS4 Eye's ability to change things like exposure, white balance, and gain per camera or per frame, unlike the "one image" original PlayStation Eye. This can allow a developer to, for example, use one camera at low exposure to track the bright PlayStation Move balls, and the other at higher exposure to show a player that would otherwise look dark in a dimly lit living room.

The camera itself actually sports its own three-axis accelerometer, which Norden noted can be used to remind the player to change the orientation if it's not pointed correctly. In addition, the camera can be synced with the "game loop" clock so that images of players line up with the in-game action without lag.

In a quick filmed demo, Norden showed users flicking the touchpad on the DualShock 4 to create an augmented reality menu that moved along with the controller in the player's hands, and a modified pong game where the position of the players' controllers caused the playfield to move, morph, and bend. The cutest demo, though, featured a number of tiny robots trapped inside a virtual DualShock 4 controller, getting flicked out into an extremely sharp and responsive augmented reality environment as the player flicked the touchpad.

User Interface

Finally, Norden went in to a little more detail on the PS4's user interface. The system will be focused on providing users up-to-date information on all their games from a central menu, telling them about things like new DLC, social recommendations, and videos without having to boot up a game. The default home screen will provide a digest view of everything happening on a player's PS4 social network, displayed by default at boot up. The friends system has also been improved from the PS3, allowing for a higher maximum number of friends and improved multi-user support when a few PSN users are playing on one system.

Norden highlighted that the PS4 will use a dual identification system that uses both a "True Name" and picture alongside a PSN name and avatar. Your True Name will only be visible to friends that you add through Facebook or through True Name search, Norden said. Otherwise, both users have to mutually agree to share their True Names to see them. "It's kind of up to you how you want people to access your True Name" he said.

Sony also hopes that developers will integrate social features directly into traditionally single-player games. Norden gave an example of a Heavy Rain scene, where a decision between discussing something with your son or getting a snack was accompanied by a pop-up display showing how many of your friends chose each option.

To wrap up, Norden discussed the extra PS4 chip that allows for a constant storage of the last few minutes of video of your gameplay, without taking away power from the core CPU or GPU. This allows for easy sharing of awesome moments without advance planning, Norden said. It also allows for live streaming and spectating of every PS4 game without extra developer support, and for Remote Play on the PlayStation Vita, with a mirrored display that makes use of the system's full 960×554 resolution. That Remote Play will be possible over either a home network or the Internet, but the latter will obviously be highly dependent on bandwidth and latency, Norden said.

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Sng

Sng

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"The L2 and R2 buttons on the Dual Shock 4 have been redesigned to be more comfortable and to ignore accidental pressure when players place the controller down on a coffee table, for instance. "

Yeaaaah :D

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pinholestar

pinholestar

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Every element of it announced so far sounds brilliant. There's gotta be some fuck-up somewhere, surely? This is Sony we're talking about after all.....

But yeah, I'm completely sold already & MS are gonna have to pull something pretty spectacular out of the bag to convince me. This is coming from a 360-only owner too.

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SMD

SMD

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I think £400 will be the minimum, unless Sony and MS wage a price war. I can't tell if Sony haven't given an indication of price because they're finalising the hardware right up to the last minute, they're hedging before Microsoft announce or they know it's going to be up there with £425 and want to hold off as long as possible.

I'm amazed Microsoft still haven't announced yet.

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NecroMorrius

NecroMorrius

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I still think MS will go the subs route. People will spend twice as much on a console if you make it initially cheaper, and throw in some perceived value for their monthly payment via 'free' content and services. Let's say the 360 was £150 and then £19.99 for two years, making it £730 over two years. If you throw in XBL Gold, Xbox music, free rentals from Xbox video, 3 free Xbox back catalogue games a month in the style of PS+, extra cloud storage, exclusive offers etc, people might go for it.

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SMD

SMD

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That's only £630? The problem is that you've already sunk in all that R&D cash and you're deferring income from the most expensive part of the console lifecycle. I know MS make a shit ton from Xbox Live Gold subs but is that enough to cover the cost of a machine that they're already selling at a loss at launch?

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routeburn

routeburn

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From a cursory read over that Ars information, it would appear that Sony is trying to "out Microsoft" Microsoft with the development tools and environment. i.e. make it more streamlined and easier to develop in a Microsoft environment to try to encourage primary use of Sony tools and a cross-build for Microsoft's console. Or am I reading it wrong...

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Ferine

Ferine

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I think forcing the use of real names would be a major improvement actually. It'd probably reduce the hostility a fair bit.

Facebook and Twitter would suggest anonymity isn't the issue. Short of installing lethal injection systems into every controller, I don't think there's an easy fix for witless bravado.

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Alex W.

Alex W.

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According to Ars your "true name" is only shared with friends added through Facebook (obviously given that your Facebook name is involved and it's supposed to be genuine) and PSN users you've specifically said it can be shared with. So I think expecting it to out XBL lunatics is a bit of a stretch.

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MansizeRooster

MansizeRooster

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Just wait a god-damn minute.

Ars Technica have the most indepth report of the talk yet. Unsurprisingly being Ars they focus on specifications and numbers rather than headline features so as well I've bolded the newer info and technical parts most blogs will skim over or simply not report.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/sony-dives-deep-into-the-ps4s-hardware-power-controller-features-at-gdc/

Just wait one god-damn minute.

Sony, and PS4, are using Direct X??? That's a hell of a turn-up for the books. Are they going to support OpenGL too?

So long as they allow devs to circumvent those API's when they want to get down to the metal, more choice is good I suppose :-)

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Super Craig

Super Craig

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Just wait a god-damn minute.Just wait one god-damn minute.

Sony, and PS4, are using Direct X??? That's a hell of a turn-up for the books. Are they going to support OpenGL too?

So long as they allow devs to circumvent those API's when they want to get down to the metal, more choice is good I suppose :-)

They won't be using DirectX. It's a Microsoft API.

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DocG

DocG

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Sony, and PS4, are using Direct X??

I think they are using "DX11.1" as a short-hand for "DX11.1-level GPU features", not "DX11.1 API". The latter makes no sense, as Craig said. That's confusingly worded though.

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Kelthink

Kelthink

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Someone put up a large list of features all handily collated into one post on Neogaf:

So, New PS4 infos so i figured a comprehensive thread should be created. The guys at Gaming Everything have compiled a crap ton of infos from GDC from IGN's Gregg.

Link

Info:
  • Targeted to be the “central device in the living room”
  • “Core gamers are our primary audience
  • PS4 build around them, salable to the outsiders
  • 5 core PS4 principles: Simple, Immediate, Social, Integrated, Personalized
  • PS4 CPU: 64-bit x86 arch, low power consumption, low heat, 8 cores, 8 HW threads, 2MiB L2 cache per 4 core group, 32kib l1 I/D-cache
  • PlayStation Shader Language, very similar to HLSL, allows featured BEYOND Direct X 11 and OpenGL 4.0
  • “GPU – Tessellation – adding geometric detail to smooth edges or create more organic shapes”
  • PS4 RAM – 8GB 256 bit GDDR5 (GDDR5 is very high end graphics memory only found on PC graphics cards)
  • Will come with “very large hard drive in every console”
  • PS4 Dev Environment – Windows 7 64-bit, tools are fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012
  • “Debug your PS4 code as you would your PC code”
  • PS4 Controller: Start/Select buttons are now “Options.” New System button is “Share.”
  • Speaker, headset jack and “extension port” on the PS4 controller
  • PS4 controller buttons are going back to digital over analog because no one used it on PS3
  • PS4 controller L2/R2 – Curved design to get rid of the accidental netflix fast forwarding
  • PS4 controller: 1920×900 resolution on the analog touchpad
  • PS4 controller colors are the Player Numbers: 1-Blue, 2-Red, 3-Green, 4-Pink (Like the buttons)
  • PS4 will charge controllers when it’s off. Unlike the PS3.
  • PS4 controller light bar can be used for muzzle flashes, health bars, etc
  • “The #PS4 Eye will enhance the PS4 user experience.” High sensitivity dual color cameras
  • 1280×800, 12 bits/pixel, 60Hz
  • Dedicated port for the #PS4 camera, exclusive SCE Connector. Means it won’t use a USB port on the console, but won’t plug into your PC.
  • Cam suggested uses: walkthrough vids, taunting in killcam, login, speech recognition, etc; possible PS4 Camera Magic – Sees the controller, you guys move, splitscreen moves to be on the right side
  • The above is what devs could do (not mandatory)
  • Video example shown of PS4 combining the camera and the controller. “AR Menu”
  • Zoom into the controller, tilt to shake little dudes inside, push into our world like EyePet
  • 2004: XMB, 2011: LiveArea, 2013: New #PS4 one based on the five principles from earlier
  • UI is meant to give you at a glance info without loading the game. See what new DLC is out and whatnot. What friends are saying.
  • Have to enable people seeing your real name on the #PS4. Auto-enabled if you import from another social network. (Can be turned off)
  • PSN friend limit raised
  • PS4 Mock-up: Heavy Rain choice with the number of your friends that chose each option.
  • All the PS4 streaming and sharing: that’s on the hardware. Devs don’t have to do anything special to their game.
  • PS4 Remote Play: Screens are mirrored on PS4/Vita (Both on at same time). Hardware does it/not on devs. Start at any time; no special mode.
  • Talking about the PlayStation App. Login, buy game, PS4 starts downloading at home, you get home and start playing the part that’s DWLD.
EDIT:

There are a few bits not on there you can get from here
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-frien...c-249821.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-contr...c-249816.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-user-...x-249813.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-overv...s-249814.phtml

EDIT 2:
More info about the controller right hurrr:

Quote:
  • Force feedback has two (1 small, 1 big) analog motors, as opposed to the digital ones in PS3. Allows for "more precise, cool effects."
  • Removing "analog" face buttons and going with digital will "cut latency way down" for the new controller.
  • The system will stream 32Khz sound up to 2 controllers, and 16Khz for 3 or more players.

I know it's just concept rather than reality, but

  • PS4 Mock-up: Heavy Rain choice with the number of your friends that chose each option.

sounds absolutely hilarious if you played the game with friends in the same room and everyone furiously mashes the buttons to 'win' the preferred QTE. David Cage's Mario Party.

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Chadruharazzeb

Chadruharazzeb

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Someone put up a large list of features all handily collated into one post on Neogaf:

So, New PS4 infos so i figured a comprehensive thread should be created. The guys at Gaming Everything have compiled a crap ton of infos from GDC from IGN's Gregg.

  • PS4 Dev Environment – Windows 7 64-bit, tools are fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012

Microsoft: helping Sony in any way it can.

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