PS4 - hands on first impressions.

fastest fingerfastest finger Posts: 12,862
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When visiting the Eurogamer Expo yesterday I managed to get some hands on experience of the PS4 with a play of DriveClub and The Playroom, so here are my thoughts.

Sadly, the console itself was kept safely behind glass, but it very much a good looking device in my opinion. Very sleek and slimline with a small footprint. I very much prefer it lying down though - those angles just don't work for me when it's upright.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Dualshock 4. It felt great in my hands. The stick placement felt a little odd at first as they didn't seem to sit naturally under my thumbs, possibly due to the pad feeling slightly wider, but I soon adapted my grip and had no further problems. L2 and R are a massive improvement over the Dualshock 3. They are nice and wide with a groove for your fingers to settle into. They have retained some of the "spongy" feeling which doesn't bother me but divided opinion amongst my friends. The rumble was effective and the touchpad was extremely responsive with a satisfying click when pushed. The motion control when used in conjunction with the camera was very fast and accurate. The built-in speaker had surprisingly good sound quality.

Now the games. Firstly, The Playroom. I had a play with the Bots that live inside the joypad and a 2 player game of AR Hockey. It's not the kind of thing that will keep anyone captivated for long, but as a showcase for the potential of the camera-controller combo it certainly served its purpose. Everything works very well and the experience was slick and seamless. Very impressive. The camera itself also looked good. Nice, small, discrete and easily adjusted to get the right view.

Onto DriveClub. I played 2 laps of the Canada course in a RUF and I enjoyed it a lot. Just my kind of racing game, with the right balance of simulation and arcade handling. The pad suited it brilliantly. It was only alpha code but it was visually very rich and smooth with excellent car models and environments albeit a little soft in places. All those YouTube videos really don't do it justice.

I managed to see quite a few titles being played and overall I was impressed with what I saw. I left convinced that PS4 will be a vibrant and exciting platform for many years to come. :)

Comments

  • NedubizNedubiz Posts: 2,190
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    cheers for posting this. It is good to get impressions from some of the regulars on here. Driveclub sounds really promising, right up my street. The pad sounds like an improvement over the ds3. Slightly nervous about the size of the grips but I am sure I will get used to it.

    Quick question on the games. Did you see Planetside 2 there?? It is meant to be a launch game but I havent seen many details yet.
  • stefmeisterstefmeister Posts: 8,390
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    Thanks for these, Nice to see some average gamer impressions on the new systems.


    Quick question, How well do the triggers work with Driveclub?

    One of my biggest dislikes with DS3 was that the triggers never really felt right on driving games, Especially when compared to the triggers on the 360 pad which felt really good on driving games.
  • fastest fingerfastest finger Posts: 12,862
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    Nedubiz wrote: »
    cheers for posting this. It is good to get impressions from some of the regulars on here. Driveclub sounds really promising, right up my street. The pad sounds like an improvement over the ds3. Slightly nervous about the size of the grips but I am sure I will get used to it.

    Quick question on the games. Did you see Planetside 2 there?? It is meant to be a launch game but I havent seen many details yet.

    I didn't see Planetside 2 I'm afraid.
  • fastest fingerfastest finger Posts: 12,862
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    Thanks for these, Nice to see some average gamer impressions on the new systems.


    Quick question, How well do the triggers work with Driveclub?

    One of my biggest dislikes with DS3 was that the triggers never really felt right on driving games, Especially when compared to the triggers on the 360 pad which felt really good on driving games.

    They felt really good. They retain much of the width of the DS3 triggers, so they're really comfortable, but they are shaped more like an actual trigger than before with a nice range of movement.
  • ConroyConroy Posts: 3,031
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    They felt really good. They retain much of the width of the DS3 triggers, so they're really comfortable, but they are shaped more like an actual trigger than before with a nice range of movement.
    I hope games still give us the option of using L1/R1 for ADS/fire on the PS4 instead of L2/R2.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 759
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    Out of interest dies anyone know if a Mk1 official sony wireless mic work on ps4? I know it " should" as its Bluetooth but you never know.
  • jokerzjokerz Posts: 1,353
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    Did anyone see Battlefield 4 on the PS4? Can't find anything online other than some grainy youtube videos!
  • paulj48paulj48 Posts: 1,122
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    Onto DriveClub. I played 2 laps of the Canada course in a RUF and I enjoyed it a lot. Just my kind of racing game, with the right balance of simulation and arcade handling. The pad suited it brilliantly. It was only alpha code but it was visually very rich and smooth with excellent car models and environments albeit a little soft in places. All those YouTube videos really don't do it justice.

    I managed to see quite a few titles being played and overall I was impressed with what I saw. I left convinced that PS4 will be a vibrant and exciting platform for many years to come. :)

    I thought all the next gen games shown at Eurogamer where actually running on PC's with the Xbone or PS4 controller attached?
  • fastest fingerfastest finger Posts: 12,862
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    paulj48 wrote: »
    I thought all the next gen games shown at Eurogamer where actually running on PC's with the Xbone or PS4 controller attached?

    In most of the third party stands the hardware was hidden safely away, so one can assume it was running on dev kits. However, several PS4 and Xbox One stations had the games running on what looked to be finished hardware.
  • HotbirdHotbird Posts: 10,009
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    Conroy wrote: »
    I hope games still give us the option of using L1/R1 for ADS/fire on the PS4 instead of L2/R2.

    I second that.
  • mikey86ukmikey86uk Posts: 5,657
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    Odd question, but as i much prefer the 360 and its controller.

    How does the PS4 controller compare in the hand when compared to the 360 controller?

    As for me Microsoft make the best controllers so anywhere close to that would be almost perfect.
  • fastest fingerfastest finger Posts: 12,862
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    mikey86uk wrote: »
    Odd question, but as i much prefer the 360 and its controller.

    How does the PS4 controller compare in the hand when compared to the 360 controller?

    As for me Microsoft make the best controllers so anywhere close to that would be almost perfect.

    It's a bit tricky for me to answer that, as I'm equally comfortable with a PS3 or Xbox 360 pad.

    A couple of the guys I went to the show with were eager to get their hands on a PS4 controller as they are considering moving from Xbox 360 to PS4 but had reservations about the controller as they aren't fans of the Dualshock 3.

    When they tried the Dualshock 4 they said they still preferred the Xbox pads, but conceded the PS4 ones were a massive improvement on before.

    I hope that goes some way to answering your question.
  • mikey86ukmikey86uk Posts: 5,657
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    Yh, i think i will still prefer the offset analog sticks on the Xbox controllers, but it does seem from various sources that the Playstation controller is a big improvement.
  • AsmoAsmo Posts: 15,327
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    Check out this NeoGaf thread, with images of user-replacement of the PS4 HD -

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=698974

    The glossy panel is removable (note the Foxconn stamp) - and ooh la la, get a load of the last image in the OP, playstation themed screw heads!!
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