PlayStation 4



The PlayStation 4 (abbreviated as the PS4) is a video game console 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



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 Jaunary 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 DRM restrictions (much of which was implemented by Microsoft on it's 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 47.4 million units as of September 2016.

On September 2016, Sony unveiled two new revisions of the PS4 consoles. The first (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) 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.

Sonic Games
Due to the Nintendo Partnership that started back at 2013 with Sonic Lost World (though it'll end with Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, and Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice), the PlayStation 4 had no Sonic Games announced for the system as of July 2014. However, at least four Sonic games that are released on the PlayStation 3 are playable on PlayStation Now but under it's open beta in the U.S. and Canada with Europe to get PlayStation Now by around 2015, starting with the United Kingdom. There is no details if more PS3 Sonic games will be planned to be released on PlayStation Now later. However, during the 22 July 2016 the San Diego Comic-Con, it has been announced that two Sonic games will hit the store of the console in 2017.

Upcoming games

 * Sonic Mania
 * Project Sonic 2017

PlayStation Now
PlayStation Now is currently on Open Beta in the Continental U.S. and Canada and is unavailable in other countries until 2015. The UK will launch the open beta by 2015. The open beta of PlayStation Now is also available on the PS3 and will be available on the PS TV and the PS Vita on 14 October 2014.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog CD
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II
 * Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
 * Sonic Generations

DualShock 4


The DualShock 4 is the primary controller for the PS4. Although similar to the DualShock 3, it offers a Touchpad, Motion-detection support through it's 3-axs gyroscope and accelerometer, vibration and also many others. It also offers a mono speaker, a 3.5mm headset jack, and it can be charged with a microUSB, using a dedicated charging station or the console (even when the PS4 is off). Although it is used for the PS4, the DualShock 4 can be used on the PlayStation 3 but it must be connected using a MicroUSB Cable and some PS3 game may not work with the DualShock 4 and it can also be used on the PlayStation TV (or PlayStation Vita TV in Japan). When Playing games on PlayStation Now, the touchpad is used as a Start and Select Button (Right side for Start and Left side for select if available)

Backward compatibility
Unlike the Wii U and Xbox One, the PlayStation 4 is incompatible with all previous PlayStation console video games. Although Sony ruled out that emulation is not up yet for the PS4, it does, however, offer a new PlayStation service to play selected PS3 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, 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, incuding the PSN game on PS3, Sonic CD was released on the Open Beta Launch.

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 a 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 know for its "social" aspects on the PS4 including with the "SHARE" Button on the DualShock 4, allowing the use of livestreams and others.