Sony has just wrapped up its PS4-centric presentation at GDC in San Francisco during which it shared new information on the high-end console.

First up, multiplayer gamers will be pleased to know that Sony will include a mono microphone/headset with every PS4, reports CVG's Andy Robinson, who was in attendance, via Twitter.

The firm also said that a split/screen multiplayer game could use the PS4 Eye to identify where players are sat and move the windows around to be suit each player's location in front of the TV.

The DualShock 4's lightbar - the illuminated panel across the top of the controller - will assist player recognition by shining a different colour on each controller in use. The lightbar, Sony said, can also be used for in-game effects such as gun muzzle flash health bars.

Sony showed off cute augmented reality demo featuring little robots living inside the controller. The could player shake the pad and press buttons to interact with the robots.

Sony also confirmed during the presentation that it will raise the PSN friend limit on PS4, according to IGN. It didn't specify what the new limit will be, but currently the PS3 enforces a 100-friend limit.

It also promised that every PS4 will come with a "very large hard drive", but again held off confirming capacities.

IGN also reports that the DualShock 4 controller will come with an extension port on it - likely to provide the possibility for add-ons in future. It will also revert back to regular digital buttons, doing away with the pressure-sensitive buttons on the PS2 and PS3 controllers due to the fact that no one used them on PS3.

THe PS4 will also charge the DualShock 4 (via a USB cable) even when on standby, unlike the PS3, which has to be fully switched on to provide power to drained controllers.

Sony has pencilled in a "holiday 2013" PS4 release date for the machine.

source http://www.computerandvideogames.com/398287/new-ps4-details-raises-friend-limit-headset-included-very-large-hdd/

Link

Info:

• Targeted to be the “central device in the living room”
• “Core gamers are our primary audience
• PS4 build around them, salable to the outsiders
• 5 core PS4 principles: Simple, Immediate, Social, Integrated, Personalized
• PS4 CPU: 64-bit x86 arch, low power consumption, low heat, 8 cores, 8 HW threads, 2MiB L2 cache per 4 core group, 32kib l1 I/D-cache
• PlayStation Shader Language, very similar to HLSL, allows featured BEYOND Direct X 11 and OpenGL 4.0
• “GPU – Tessellation – adding geometric detail to smooth edges or create more organic shapes”
• PS4 RAM – 8GB 256 bit GDDR5 (GDDR5 is very high end graphics memory only found on PC graphics cards)
• Will come with “very large hard drive in every console”
• PS4 Dev Environment – Windows 7-bit, tools are fully integrated into Visual Studio 2010 and 2012
• “Debug your PS4 code as you would your PC code”
• PS4 Controller: Start/Select buttons are now “Options.” New System button is “Share.”
• Speaker, headset hack and “extension port” on the PS4 controller
• PS4 controller buttons are going back to digital over analog because no one used it on PS3
• PS4 controller L2/R2 – Curved design to get rid of the accidental netflix fast forwarding
• PS4 controller: 1920×900 resolution on the analog touchpad
• PS4 controller colors are the Player Numbers: 1-Blue, 2-Red, 3-Green, 4-Pink (Like the buttons)
• PS4 will charge controllers when it’s off. Unlike the PS3.
• PS4 controller light bar can be used for muzzle flashes, health bars, etc
• “The #PS4 Eye will enhance the PS4 user experience.” High sensitivity dual color cameras
• 1280×800, 12 bits/pixel, 60Hz
• Dedicated port for the #PS4 camera, exclusive SCE Connector. Means it won’t use a USB port on the console, but won’t plug into your PC.
• Cam suggested uses: walkthrough vids, taunting in killcam, login, speech recognition, etc; possible PS4 Camera Magic – Sees the controller, you guys move, splitscreen moves to be on the right side
• The above is what devs could do (not mandatory)
• Video example shown of PS4 combining the camera and the controller. “AR Menu”
• Zoom into the controller, tilt to shake little dudes inside, push into our world like EyePet
• 2004: XMB, 2011: LiveArea, 2013: New #PS4 one based on the five principles from earlier
• UI is meant to give you at a glance info without loading the game. See what new DLC is out and whatnot. What friends are saying.
• Have to enable people seeing your real name on the #PS4. Auto-enabled if you import from another social network. (Can be turned off)
• PSN friend limit raised
• PS4 Mock-up: Heavy Rain choice with the number of your friends that chose each option.
• All the PS4 streaming and sharing: that’s on the hardware. Devs don’t have to do anything special to their game.
• PS4 Remote Play: Screens are mirrored on PS4/Vita (Both on at same time). Hardware does it/not on devs. Start at any time; no special mode.
• Talking about the PlayStation App. Login, buy game, PS4 starts downloading at home, you get home and start playing the part that’s DWLD.

There are a few bits not on there you can get from here
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-frien...c-249821.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-contr...c-249816.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-user-...x-249813.phtml

http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-overv...s-249814.phtml

No pressure sensitive buttons? Awww. I thought it was a pretty good feature.

great. It will be my second next-gen console. WiiU and PS4 :)

New controller pics and more detailed information from GDC:









http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-friends-system-sharing-and-ui-detailed-at-gdc-249821.phtml#yOJIrKiquMW0bD1Z.99
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-controller-and-cameras-fully-detailed-at-gdc-249816.phtml#W9r0h3VhYVoIFQIb.99
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-user-experience-is-called-connected-ux-249813.phtml#hMZDA48eCpo5YbC8.99
http://www.destructoid.com/ps4-overview-at-gdc-covers-tech-hardware-specs-249814.phtml#pi4UtalzLaEeJpMF.99

very awesome stuff. loved the one about split screens switching places.

though i didnt get this one "PS4 Mock-up: Heavy Rain choice with the number of your friends that chose each option." could someone explain it to me?

*clap*

I cannot wait already have my preorder on it. Also the story of it having a large HD means there's gonna be a 1TB version. 

Well done Sony well done

Basically, For games that have choices (like Heavy Rain), it’s possible to see what choices your friends made while playing the game, when you're playing. it's part of the share features that developers can implement.

simliar to persona 4 golden, if you've played it.