Playstation 4: What you need to know

Playstation 4 will be in US stores as early as Christmas 2013, with it expecting movement in the first quarter of 2014. But will the PS4 offer the features required to top the Xbox?

In terms of Hardware the PS4 will run on a single-chip custom processor and use eight X86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU stores. Sony have also committed to using a next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine. All in all the PS4 will be powerful, but questions will remain over how innovative this system will look a couple of years after release. Here’s to hoping the ability of the console to devote more processing power to the gaming-side of things will see Sony get plenty out of this system. It is worth noting that the 18 processing clusters, each with 64 cores should pack a greater punch than what Microsoft have currently indicated they will put in the rival Xbox console.

Looking past the boring technical stuff the PS4 will have 8 GB of memory, Blu-ray and DVD compatibility and HDMI output, making it a good all round device. The console will also offer Ultra HD video quality as a playback function, but the in game quality will come just shy of this. Some more exciting features will be on offer as well, including the PS4 eye. Ultimately a built-in camera device, the PS4 eye will differentiate between images of a player from the back and foreground as well as allowing users to log in via facial or voice recognition. Alongside the Play Station Move in game body interactions will add an interesting aspect to the PS4’s attractive repertoire.

The controllers will don the classic Play Station skin but the Dual Shock 4 will have majorly upgraded vibration and enhanced motion sensors, as well as a touchpad on the front much like the Vita. Disappointingly for some the PS4 will not be compatible with PS3 titles, but gamers will be able to purchase classic titles on the Sony Entertainment network. At around £299 RRP and with Bungie and Ubisoft both committing titles on release the PS4 promises to be an exciting bit of kit.