PlayStation 4

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The PlayStation 4 (abbreviated as the PS4) is a line of home video game consoles developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment and is the successor to the PlayStation 3. It is a competitor against Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U and Nintendo Switch as part of the eight generation of video game consoles.

History

While much of its development on the new console was talked about as early as of the late 2000s, Sony was trying to avoid the same mistakes that they made with their PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 4 was unveiled on 20 January 2013 though most things such as the hardware, controllers, and others were explained. The design was not unveiled until the E3 on June 2013. The PlayStation 4 did have some major reputation, much of which had called an improvement since its PlayStation 3 days, including the lack of digital-rights management restrictions (much of which was implemented by Microsoft on its Xbox One though removed after the E3), the allowance of self-published titles, and among others. The PlayStation 4 was released on 15 November 2013 in North America, eventually breaking the record as the fastest selling console in history with one million units sold in under a day (though the Xbox One did the same a week later on its 22 November launch at thirteen countries). The PS4 was later sold in Latin America and in Europe on 29 November and later sold to other countries within the holiday season of 2013 on towards Japan's launch on 22 February 2014. Currently the PS4 has one of the most units sold as an eighth generation console at 50 million units as of December 2016.

On September 2016, Sony unveiled two new revisions of the PS4 consoles. The first, model number CUH-2000 (unofficially referred to as the PS4 Slim) is a revision of the original PS4 hardware with a smaller form factor; it has a rounded body with a matte finish on the top of the console rather than a two-tone finish, and is 40% smaller in size than the original model. The two USB ports on the front have a larger gap between them, and the optical audio port was removed console and was released later during the same month. The second is the PS4 Pro (codenamed Neo), model number CUH-7000, is an upgraded version of the console designed to support 4K rendering, including an upgraded GPU with 4.2 teraflops of processing power, and a higher CPU clock. Games can be optimized for higher graphics quality and 4K support when running on PS4 Pro. The PS4 Pro was released on November 2016.

Controllers

DualShock 4

File:Dualshock4.png

The DualShock 4 controller

The DualShock 4 is the primary controller for the PS4 and is the successor to the DualShock 3. The controller's new features include a Touchpad and a light bar that can illuminate light in various colors. It has motion-detection support through its 3-axs gyroscope and accelerometer. A mono speaker and a 3.5mm headset jack supports regular headphones to allow a user to hear and speak audio. It is powered by a non-removable rechargeable battery that can be charged via a micro-USB cable or using a dedicated charging station.

The DualShock 4 features the following buttons: PS button, SHARE button, OPTIONS button, directional buttons, action buttons (File:PSTriangleButton.png, Circle, Cross, Square), shoulder buttons (L1/R1), triggers (L2/R2), analog stick click buttons (L3/R3) and a touch pad click button. These mark several changes from the DualShock 3 and other previous PlayStation controllers. The START and SELECT buttons have been merged into a single OPTIONS button. A dedicated SHARE button allows players to upload record and save videos and screenshots from their gameplay experiences.

It is also the first PlayStation console controller to be supported by Microsoft Windows and can also be used as a PC game controller. The DualShock 4 can be used on the PlayStation 3 console and be connected via a micro-USB cable or Bluetooth although there are no rumble or motion features for the controller. Due to the lack of the START and SELECT buttons, the OPTIONS and SHARE buttons respectively replace them.

When playing games on PlayStation Now, the left and right halves of the touchpad are assigned to SELECT and START buttons respectively instead.

PlayStation Now

Although Sony ruled out that emulation is not up yet for the PS4, it does, however, offer a new PlayStation service to play selected past PlayStation games called PlayStation Now. PlayStation Now (or PS Now) is a cloud gaming service announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2014 during Sony's Keynote Speech. The service will offer players to rent PS3, PS2, and PS1 games to the PS4, PC, PS3, along with the PS Vita, PlayStation (Vita) TV, Sony BRAVIA TVs, Smartphones and Tablets. The Streaming service will not be able to use any DLC found in any of its games. It started its closed beta on the PS4 on 20 May 2014 and the Open Beta was later opened on 31 July 2014 in the continental U.S. and Canada and it will expect to be released soon to other regions including Europe (starting with the UK) by 2015. Up to a hundred games, including the PSN game on PS3, Sonic CD was released on the Open Beta Launch. More Sonic the Hedgehog games were added to the service later. In 20 May 2022, Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), have been delisted from the service.

Sonic games

Image	Game	Release date
File:SonicMania PS4.jpg	Sonic Mania	15 August 2017 (digital) 5 November 2019 (physical)
File:SF PS4 US.jpg	Sonic Forces	7 November 2017
File:SFBonusCover.png	Sonic Forces: Bonus Edition
File:SonicManiaPlusPS4US.jpg	Sonic Mania Plus	17 July 2018
File:GenesisCollectionPS4BoxArt.jpg	Sega Genesis Classics	29 May 2018
File:SF SMP DoublePack PS4 AU.jpg	Sonic Forces & Sonic Mania Plus Double Pack	16 November 2018
File:TSR PS4 PackShot 1534833890.jpg	Team Sonic Racing	21 May 2019
File:SCU PS4.jpg	Sonic Colors: Ultimate	7 September 2021
File:TSR30thEdition.jpg	Team Sonic Racing: 30th Anniversary Edition	21 October 2021
File:Sonic-Origins-Cover.png	Sonic Origins	23 June 2022
File:Frontiers PS4 NA Cover.jpg	Sonic Frontiers	8 November 2022
File:Sonic Origins Plus PS4.jpg	Sonic Origins Plus	23 June 2023
File:SonicSuperstarsPlaystation4.png	Sonic Superstars	17 October 2023
File:SxSgps4.jpeg	Sonic X Shadow Generations	25 October 2024 ( physical retail version exclusive to pal regions and Japan )

PlayStation Now

Image	Game	Release date
File:PSN SCD Icon.jpg	Sonic CD	31 July 2014
File:S4E1 PSN Icon.jpg	Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
File:S4E2 PSN US Icon.jpg	Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
File:PS3 SG Icon.jpg	Sonic Generations
File:SA PS3 US.jpg	Sonic Adventure	7 March 2017
File:SA2 (2012) PSN.jpg	Sonic Adventure 2
File:PSN STF Icon.jpg	Sonic the Fighters
File:PS3 Unleashed Icon.jpg	Sonic Unleashed
File:S06PSNow.jpg	Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (JP)
File:PSN Sonic1 JP Icon.png	Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) (JP)

Characters introduced

• Avatar
• Dodon Pa
• Infinite
• Hard Boiled Heavies
  • Heavy Gunner
  • Heavy King
  • Heavy Magician
  • Heavy Rider
  • Heavy Shinobi
• Classic Knuckles
• Classic Mighty
• Classic Ray
• Amy Doll
• Jade Wisp
• Sage
• The End
• Titans
  • Giganto
  • Wyvern
  • Knight
  • Supreme
• Koco
  • Elder Koco
  • Hermit Koco
  • Master Koco
• Ancients
  • Dragon
  • Crane
  • Snake
  • Elder
  • Tiger
  • Master King
  • Super Sonic 2
    • Super Sonic Cyber
• Trip the Sungazer
• Black Dragon
• Metal Fighter
  • Metal Tails
  • Metal Amy
  • Metal Trip
  • Metal NiGHTS
  • Classic Metal Knuckles
  • Classic Mecha Sonic
• Classic Tails Doll

Trivia

• The DualShock 4's controls are somewhat similar to the Wii U GamePad as they share some components like touch controls, headphones jacks, and motion controls.
• The PlayStation 4 has sold up to one million units in its first day at launch in North America in November 15, 2013 making it the fastest selling console at launch. The Xbox One also did the same thing at its launch in November 22, 2013.
• The PS4 is very well known for its "social" aspects on the PS4 including with the "SHARE" Button on the DualShock 4, allowing the use of livestreams and others.
• Currently, Sonic Mania is the only Sonic game to support the PS4 Pro's enhanced features which allow the game to be output at 4K resolution.
  • Although the PlayStation 4 version of Sonic Forces is promoted to support the PS4 Pro's enhanced features, the game is still rendered in 1080p when played on the PS4 Pro console and does not offer other notable improvements compared to the other PS4 models.
• The PlayStation 4 does not allow for having both a physical and digital installation of the same game from the same region on the same console; if a North American user has installed Team Sonic Racing via a disc and later purchases the digital version, they will be unable to install the digital version until the disc-installed version is deleted, and vice versa. If the same user purchases the digital version from Japan (or vice versa; physical JP release, digital NA release), both versions can co-exist on the same console, likely due to having different game IDs.
  • The PS4 also locks each game installation to a specific storage device, internal or external; if the user has Team Sonic Racing installed on one storage device and wants to install the game on another device, they must either move the game over to the desired device, or delete the game off the drive first, then install the game on the desired device, regardless of whether it is the physical or digital release. For games installed on external devices, the PS4 will show a warning sign on a game if the device it's on is not connected.

External links

• Official website
• PlayStation 4 at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• PlayStation 4 at PlayStation Wiki

Video game platforms

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