Sony’s PlayStation 4 is an icon in the world of video game consoles. It takes video gaming to the next level. We take a look at its features and games.

Sony’s PS4 And The Battle Of Console Heroes

Whatever your feelings about Sony’s PS4, one thing is for certain: it has revolutionised the way we enjoy console gaming. Many rumours, mostly false, preceded its release in February 2013. Speculation included everything from Sony’s apparent plans to ditch the DualShock controller concept to the console having to be online 24 hours a day in order to function.

The PS4 controller was arguably the main topic of rumour and speculation, as Sony’s PlayStation controllers have always been the highlight of all new releases. Sure enough, the DualShock 4 did not disappoint. It turned out to be the most radical re-design of the DualShock concept to date. New and improved features included capacitive touch input, improved motion sensing based on the SixAxis concept and a trendy “light bar” speaker mounted on the controller.

Full Integration Package

The PS4 did for integrated application systems what the PS2 did for DVD-compatibility. Applications available or download and supported by the PS4 include Amazon Instant Video, Netflix and Epix. Not to mention NBA Game Time and NHL GameCenter Live.

Ustream and Twitch.tv are available from the share options button on the controller. With Twitch.tv being the main streamer of all things eSports, one can only imagine where a digital partnership of this magnitude and nature may take us in the future.

Other PS4 features include 3D Technology and 4K Resolution, Backwards Compatibility (with previous PlayStation versions), Social sharing and Connectivity, the PlayStation Store and various Video and Social Services.

Relevant Updates

New updates are released regularly to make provision for the ever-changing needs of PS4 users. One of the latest, and most useful updates of all, is the recently released Play Time Management feature. Sony has listened to the concerns of parents worried that younger players were spending too much time playing video games, as well as the type of content that these younger players were accessing. While in some cases players may identify with characters, or even admire them, there are some games in which this is not necessarily age-appropriate.

Play Time Management allows the powers that be in the home to set different time limits for different users, as well as implement content management for those users. What’s more, Play Time Management alerts the user when he or she is nearing the end of a pre-specified timed session so as to enable the user to save the current game.

Best-Selling Games

When all is said and done, and all the special features put to the side, it all comes down to one thing: gaming. Last year, the game to have out-sold all other games for PS4 was, you guessed it, Call of Duty: WWII.

The game is an absolute masterpiece at blueprinting the responsiveness of first-person shooters. Very much in tune with the culture of the PS4 player community, in single-player mode, it’s all about a true test of camaraderie. It doesn’t weigh you down with the heavy burden of historical World War II context either, focusing rather on the mission at hand at any given time. Your character is one Daniels, United States soldier and esteemed member of the 1^st Infantry Division. Starting at Normandy, the aim is to then make your way through the Western Front, obviously not without resistance, liberate Paris and cross the infamous Rhine, making your way all the way into the ultimate stand-off: the Battle of the Bulge.

With all of this said, it is the PS4 exclusive games that gamers love the lost, such as upcoming The Last of Us: Part 2, Detroit: Become Humans and Spiderman.

At no point during the mission is there ever a feeling of being immortal or an untouchable super-soldier. The game is focused on keeping it real, with the player having to rely on the support of the squad instead of on unrealistic health packs. Its reality meets the absurd, but in a very practical and realistic setting.

Then, from the same publisher, Activision, another chart-topper in the world of PS4: Destiny 2. Destiny 2 is very much a direct extension of the original Destiny. And the community certainly prefers it this way. It is, in many ways, a significant and even momentous improvement over the original content. And best of all, the improvement is noticeable by all players and not just on a highly technical level by more die-hard Destiny players.

Destiny 2 appeals to players who, simply put, want to do a lot of different things. The introduction video introduces the player to the four exploreable areas in the Red War story. Each destination presents the player with myriad of optional extra activities to choose from. Adventure missions, Lost Sectors that ultimately lead to hidden areas on the map, and public events and controls, reminding strongly of Destiny 1, are all part of the intriguing package.

What sets the Destiny range of games apart from conventional multi-level mission centred games, is that its more about seeing everything that there is to see than what it is about plot. But really, word from the gaming world is that players are tired of saving the world one mission at a time. Which is, more likely than not, why Destiny 2 is on the list of the Top 5 titles for PS4 in 2017.