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| A prototype PS4, yesterday. Ever wanted to play Final Fant- asy VIII without having to change discs? |
On the eve of the Playstation 4's Stateside debut, and with Sony's review embargo finally lifted, opinions on the system and its launch titles have begun to spring up all over the internet. It would be fair to say that the response to both has so far has been lukewarm.
The main bone of contention seems to be the quality, or lack of therein, of the first wave of exclusives. Launch window poster boy Killzone: Shadow Fall is apparently all mouth and no trousers - looking stunning but with gameplay mechanics that amount to little more than recycled FPS cliches. Killzone's first party stablemate, Knack, has fared even worse under similar scrutiny, with many critics claiming it's little more than a soulless patience testing exercise. The latter's poor reception is especially embarrassing for Sony, as its creative director was none other than chief PS4 system architect Mark Cerny.
The only exclusive to receive unanimous praise is stylish downloadable shooter Resogun, which is apparently as pretty as it is addictive, in a 'one more go', high score smashing kind of way. Some of the multiplatform offerings are strong, such as Assassin's Creed Black Flag, but given they're available on a glut of other formats, hardly offer compelling reasons for early adoption of Sony's latest.
The hardware itself has mostly gone down well, with particular praise lavished on the Dual Shock 4 controller. Some pundits have expressed concerns about heat distribution, however, fearing a repeat of Microsoft's well documented issues with first generation Xbox 360s, and reports of faulty units and day one software updates that undermine performance under certain conditions are also doing the rounds. It's important to remember that no gaming hardware launches are without these kinds of hiccups; suddenly placing infinitely complex hardware and software boxes into the hands of hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously is always going to throw up some unforeseen problems. Let's hope Sony's quality control is up to scratch here, as en mass overheating-related system failures eighteen months down the line could be costly for Sony from a financial standpoint and damaging for the Playstation brand.
The bottom line appears to be that to acquire a PS4 at launch is to pay £350 for its future potential, as nothing released with it is worth the entry price, and the visible horizon is packed mainly with titles that'll be coming to both current and next generation consoles. Indeed, it's telling that the most critically acclaimed exclusive title for the PS4 is a $14.99 (presumably £9.99 when it reaches these shores) downloadable time waster. I'm currently in the process of deciding whether to cancel my preorder and opt for a PS3 instead, which is half the price and has years of dirt cheap games that I never experienced to play through while I wait for the PS4 to become a more attractive gaming proposition. We'll see what happens.
Updated, click below:
An increasing number of PS4 owners are now reporting a problem dubbed the 'blue light of death', whereby the console gives no audio or video output and the power button, which would normally be solid white if the console were on and working correctly, turns blue and blinks constantly. Sony have issued guidelines on what to do if you're unfortunate enough to receive a unit with this problem, but their suggestions are really only in line with most computer equipment manufacturer's go-to fixes, such as restarting in safe mode, performing a factory reset and double checking cable connections, offering no real insight into the root cause of the issue.
Should these steps fail, and I'd imagine that in most cases they will, it's a case of contacting Sony themselves to arrange a repair, replacement or refund. Some customers affected have said they've been dealt with quicker by going in person to a Sony store, but Sony stores are far fewer and further between over here than they are in the US, so should you encounter problems yourself come next Friday, that nugget of info may not be of much use. Your only other options would be contacting them by phone, braving queue lengths of an hour or more, or to use their online chat facility. Sony recommends the latter due to the volume of calls they're experiencing at the moment.
One interesting rumor that's surfaced today is that some workers at Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer responsible for the console's assembly, have sabotaged them in retaliation to the company's notoriously poor treatment of their staff, and that this is the reason for at least some of the reports of faulty units. The only evidence to support this is a screen grab of a forum post by somebody claiming to work for Foxconn, however, which is hardly conclusive in of itself.
I've decided to stay the course and collect my PS4 next Friday as originally planned despite the above, as it represents a sounder long term investment than a PS3. Famous last words, right?
Updated, click below:
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| W-uh oh..... |
An increasing number of PS4 owners are now reporting a problem dubbed the 'blue light of death', whereby the console gives no audio or video output and the power button, which would normally be solid white if the console were on and working correctly, turns blue and blinks constantly. Sony have issued guidelines on what to do if you're unfortunate enough to receive a unit with this problem, but their suggestions are really only in line with most computer equipment manufacturer's go-to fixes, such as restarting in safe mode, performing a factory reset and double checking cable connections, offering no real insight into the root cause of the issue.
Should these steps fail, and I'd imagine that in most cases they will, it's a case of contacting Sony themselves to arrange a repair, replacement or refund. Some customers affected have said they've been dealt with quicker by going in person to a Sony store, but Sony stores are far fewer and further between over here than they are in the US, so should you encounter problems yourself come next Friday, that nugget of info may not be of much use. Your only other options would be contacting them by phone, braving queue lengths of an hour or more, or to use their online chat facility. Sony recommends the latter due to the volume of calls they're experiencing at the moment.
One interesting rumor that's surfaced today is that some workers at Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer responsible for the console's assembly, have sabotaged them in retaliation to the company's notoriously poor treatment of their staff, and that this is the reason for at least some of the reports of faulty units. The only evidence to support this is a screen grab of a forum post by somebody claiming to work for Foxconn, however, which is hardly conclusive in of itself.
I've decided to stay the course and collect my PS4 next Friday as originally planned despite the above, as it represents a sounder long term investment than a PS3. Famous last words, right?
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