Sony

Five unanswered questions about PlayStation 4

Update, Feb. 21, 2013: We've added several bonus questions, as the more we learn about the PS4, the more we realize we don't know.

NEW YORK--Now that Sony has officially unveiled its next-generation living room game console, it's time to start speculating about all the important details that were left out of the press conference.

We know, for example, that the name of the system is PlayStation 4, and that it will feature a mix of disc-based and cloud-based games, and also that the new controller -- a modified version of the classic Sony game pad -- is adding a small touch panel.

We also know that Sony plans to push a wide-ranging list of games at launch (whenever that is), including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Watch Dogs, and The Witness. That's a deep software bench, and shows a clear emphasis on games and content, but many important questions about the PlayStation 4 hardware and user experience have been left unanswered. … Read more

Sony, Blizzard ink partnership: Diablo 3 headed to PS3, PS4

Sony has inked a deal with Blizzard Entertainment -- maker of World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo -- to bring the last of those titles onto the PlayStation platform.

The two companies today announced a strategic partnership that will bring dungeon crawler Diablo 3 to both Sony's PlayStation 3 and the upcoming PlayStation 4.

On-stage in New York during the PS4's unveiling today, Chris Metzen, Blizzard's senior vice president of story and franchise development said the company already had Diablo 3 running on the PS3 and that it was "amazing," though he did not give … Read more

Sony demos new Killzone, Driveclub, InFAMOUS for PS4

To show off the graphical capabilities of its upcoming PlayStation 4 console, Sony went with two mainstays of gaming: guns and cars.

That started out with a demo from Guerrilla Games to debut its upcoming title Killzone: Shadow Fall, the latest in the popular Killzone series.

The demo, shown off during the unveiling of Sony's PlayStation 4 today, started out with a landing on top of a city high-rise that quickly becomes ground zero for an attack, and lengthy shootout with the game's baddies, the Helghast.

Of note, the demo -- which included a dramatic escape from the … Read more

Sony pushes streaming and sharing with PS4

Sony's new PlayStation 4 will focus on streaming games across a network of devices and tapping into social gaming, executives said today.

This means faster downloading times, video clip share buttons, and the ability to take over a friend's controller when they are in need of assistance, the company highlighted at its event in New York today.

Mark Cerny, the lead system architect for PS4, said the console system's OnLive network will have a seamless upload experience. This means players can start playing the first part of a game before it is done downloading.

Additionally, PS4 boasts … Read more

Sony gets touchy-feely with new DualShock 4 controller for PS4

Turns out the leaks were right.

Alongside the unveiling of the PlayStation 4 today, Sony showed off the new controller that goes with it called the DualShock 4.

Key among the new features is a built-in touchpad that goes in the very center of the controller, adding an extra level of control and interaction with games and on-screen menus. There's also a built-in microphone jack, and a share button nestled next to the trigger buttons that lets gamers stream their gameplay live to friends in real-time.

During its press conference, Sony promised that the new design improves the built-in … Read more

Sony reveals the PlayStation 4

NEW YORK--Sony has unveiled the PlayStation 4. But, we still didn't get to see what it looked like.

The PlayStation 4 was formally announced at an event in New York City. At least we know the name is definite. As for its features, the details came out eventually. Here's what you need to know.

Hardware The PlayStation 4, as you'd expect for a seven-years-later follow-up, has impressively bumped specs:

An eight-core X86 AMD Jaguar CPU 1.84-teraflop AMD Radeon graphics engine (with "18 compute units") 8GB of GDDR5 memory Hard-drive storage (not SSD) Blu-ray drive … Read more

The 404 1,211: Where we're down with GDC (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- A what, where, and why primer on the Game Developer's Conference from guests Meggan Scavio and Simon Carless.

- The 15th annual Independent Games Festival opens its Audience Award voting window, now through March 1.

- Nominations open for 2013 Game Developers Choice Awards.

- Unity Engine coming to BlackBerry 10 smartphones, BlackBerry PlayBook.… Read more

Sony to launch PlayStation 4 in November at $429, $529 -- report

Sony's PlayStation 4 event is today, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from continuing to churn out details.

The console, which hasn't been officially named but is expected to be called the PlayStation 4, will be made available in November in the United States, gaming blog Kotaku is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company's plans. Those same sources told Kotaku that the console will ship in two different versions and cost $429 and $529, respectively.

Sony is holding a special PlayStation event in New York City today. So far, the … Read more

Sony PlayStation event: Join us Wednesday (live blog)

Sony is widely expected to reveal the first details of its next game console later today.

The "PlayStation Meeting 2013" event will take place in New York at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. CNET will offer both a live blog, with live analysis from myself, Roger Cheng, Scott Stein, and Jeff Bakalar, as well as a live video stream, featuring commentary from Brian Tong and Donald Bell both before and after the event.

While the actual details of the PlayStation 4 (and even its name) are still under wraps, some widely reported possible features include … Read more

PlayStation 4 should go all-in on cloud-streaming games

Based on the steady stream of rumors about Sony's upcoming next-gen living-room console, it's widely expected that gamers will be spending at least part of their time playing games streamed directly over the Internet.

According to the Wall Street Journal and others, Sony's acquisition of streaming-game provider Gaikai in 2012 set the stage for streaming-game content, and the new Sony console, whatever it's called, will offer both streamed games and games played via traditional optical disc, purportedly older catalog titles for the former, and newer games via the latter.

Join CNET's live coverage of Sony's event on Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET

A move to streaming games is a far-thinking idea, and one that would reduce the need for large amounts of local storage for fully downloaded games, as well as the need to manufacture, transport, and store physical game discs -- with games joining music and movies as media types moving away from being distributed through retail stores on disc. … Read more