Sony released a new video yesterday showcasing its next-gen PlayStation 4, but save for a few specs, it's not exactly heavy on the console's inner workings, and there's still a lot we don't know. Thankfully, an employee of a former developer has come forward to shed a bit more light on that.
Kenny Linder, a staffer of the former Bigbig Studios, recently popped in over on a thread at NeoGAF discussing a video of the console's user interface. Since he had a bit of familiarity developing for the platform, he shared a few details.
First off, Linder dismissed the subject material of the video in question as "old firmware," saying that the new firmware features a Library option that had just been added. Unfortunately, he couldn't speak as to its purpose: "Interestingly, I am not sure if that is for your games, or your images and video recordings. The videos we have recorded at work do not appear in there, but that is a dev kit thing (they appear elsewhere). I am guessing games will be kept in Library, as the left to right list will get rather unusable after a while."
Furthermore, Linder also revealed that while the firmware is light, or simple, it's also also "very fast to use, leaving and re-entering the current game very fluidly (and instantly)," similar to what the Vita is capable of, as well as the Xbox One with its own "Snap" feature.
Linder continued to describe the UI, claiming it's divided into three distinct levels:
"TOP: Looks like PS3 XMB letting you go into Friends, Profile, Settings etc
MIDDLE: The icons with all the different games on, and What's New, Library, Store
BOTTOM: When you select a game to view info etc
You can easily jump between them via button presses. It is light, but it's quick, lag free in-between game and menu and runs at 60fps. It also has relaxing music."
As we get closer to launch, expect something a bit more "official" from Sony about the console's UI.
Lastly, funny thing about shedding "light." See that blue sort of racing stripe that goes around the PlayStation 4? It was recently revealed via Twitter by Sony's President of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, that the strip is actually a light, and will change color.
Under the hood, the PlayStation 4 boasts Supercharged PC architecture, X86 CPU, Enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB Unified Memory according to the official specs.
It will support the same PlayStation Plus service as the Vita and PlayStation 3. However, a Plus subscription will be required for online multiplayer games, but not for additional media services like Netflix. Sony has also updated the Dual Shock controllers with a touch screen and improved shoulder triggers, and bundles the console with a headset.
Demo kiosks have already started making their way to various retailers, with more and more rolling out the closer we get to the console's launch date.
The PlayStation 4 is set to release on November 15 in North America and on November 29 in Europe. Day one games available for the system include Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Killzone Shadow Fall,Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, Need for Speed: Rivals, and more. It will retail for $399.
The company has some last minute games to announce, but won't be doing so until the console gets a bit of its own "midnight madness." The night before it launches, at 11pm EST, GameTrailers TV is hosing a PS4 All Access event, with Sony set to take center stage with some world premieres for titles that have not yet been formally announced in a blaze of last minute hype for the console finally releases. So it's got that going for it, which is nice.
Be sure to keep checking back with Gamenguide for more of the latest updates.
