Top 5 WORST Things About The Playstation 4


The announcement of the next generation of consoles is always a very exciting time for anyone with a passing interest in the industry. The fanboy flame wars are enough to keep anyone warm through the dark winter nights.

All of this has been sparked off by the huge Playstation 4 announcement earlier this week. During the presentation and the week since, news has been rolling in. For an alternate, cheerier take on the event head over to our list of the Top 5 Best Things about the PS4 here but for now check out our run down of the most worrying:

Worst News No 5. – Social Focus and the Share Button

This point is perhaps one of the most divisive to come out of the announcement. While the good points have been pointed out previously, there are a few negatives that are worth discussing. For this, it’s good to look at the statements that came out of Xbox co-founder Nat Brown earlier in the month.

He criticized Microsoft for forgetting that the Xbox was a games console first and foremost. It had made ‘lazy design decisions’ and attempted to turn it into the entertainment hub of your living room in a meandering and unfocused manner, in doing so failing to really capitalize on innovations like Kinect.

There is concern that in putting the focus on social connection that Sony have likewise forgotten the roots of gaming. Back in the day we didn’t need to have hourly updates on what N64 games our friends were playing, what temple they were in Ocarina of Time. If we wanted to know, we asked.

This might be a backwards approach, there have obviously been undeniable and valuable developments in the way we play games but nostalgia is a powerful force and people will always resent their private, lengthy and engaging single player experiences being invaded, perhaps with good reason. At the end of the day, our DVD/Blu-Ray players don’t need a constant connection to tell our friends what scene of what film we’re watch (thank god!) so why should our Video Game systems?

Worst News No 4 – Playstation Eyetoy

We almost hoped that Sony would understand fan reactions to motion controls and sell their product as the machine for the hardcore. The community of gamers is surely large enough to be able to support a system without having to pander or compromise to a wider audience. Now this is just me playing Devil’s Advocate. I have no problem with them trying to appeal to as wide a market as possible, it is a business after all.

I remember the first time I used to Playstation Eyetoy way back on PS2. It was a mess. Now of course technology has made quite a few leaps since the days of me flailing wildly to hit monkeys (in the game… I’m kind to simians in real life, promise) but it’s still something I instinctively want to avoid. Maybe it’s because I’ve not seen any game use it in a more exciting way since that first bad experience, but I can’t say I’m thrilled by the news.

Finally it makes Sony look like they’re playing catch up with Xbox when they really don’t need to. Kinect hasn’t made big enough waves to be seen as a necessity so there is no reason for Sony to look like copy cats.

Worst News no. 3 – Backwards Compatibility

President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed that Playstation 4 will not play either retail or digital PS3 games natively. That means not only all of the PS3 discs you have will be redundant on the new consoles, but sadly none of the downloadable games will be compatible. That means all of the classic games like Journey and Unfinished Swan wont be downloadable on the new console.

He did mention that they could work through emulation software that could eventually be added to the system and also through Gaikai’s streaming services, but nothing out of the gate. In some good news, he was also able to confirm that any PS4 games would work on any other PS4 meaning there would be no restrictions against used games!

Is the Playstation Cloud our only hope for PS3 games on PS4?

Worst News No. 2 – Recycling Content and the Lukewarm Reception

Square Enix’s Shinji Hashimoto walks on stage and the audience prepares for a megaton. He drops the bomb. They would announce a Final Fantasy game for Ps4 at this years E3. The bomb leaves a crater the size of a dust particle, a tumbleweed rolls by, crickets sound. What the hell kind of announcement is that?! Hey guys! This is the announcement of this huge next generation console, we flew all the way here to announce that we will be making an announcement at that thing you all go to in 4 months anyway! Oh, that’s not enough for you? Well check out this sweet tech demo for the engine we’re using. What do you mean you saw this last year? That was essentially how the Square Enix segment of the presentation went.

Sadly that is a perfect analogy for how in touch with the Western audience Square Enix really is. It left a downer on the announcement that had otherwise been filled with some pretty sweet games. Square Enix have had a rich history with the Playstation brand and to see their partnership materialize in this way was just sad. This wasn’t the only piece of news the mainstream media and public had a look warm reception to however…

Here’s what I have to announce about Final Fantasy… Nothing!!!

Worst News No. 1 – What does it freakin’ look like?!


Sony had to be conscious that between this event and the console’s launch there’s a little thing called E3 that they have to deliver at. As such they withheld the actual model of the new machine. When you get down to it, what it looks like is of minimal importance to a user. Games consoles are plonked under a TV or desk and are very rarely even looked at except when changing disc. On the other hand, this was an announcement event and without the device being present, or at least a picture, the mass media had very little to show from it. It’s hard to show a picture of a trailer or a Powerpoint slide to get the buzz up. Without that image they have nothing to attach on to as a symbol.

This seems like a major misstep in terms of recognition and impact. The morning after the event (I’m in the UK so it was a late one!) I walked into the kitchen to find my roommate, and told him about the event. He is a good at games, he plays them fairly often but doesn’t follow the industry at all. He asked how it was and when I replied it was exciting, he was surprised. He had heard it was a bit of a flop. Now as a gamer myself I was concerned. Everything Sony had showed spoke directly to me and it was what I wanted to hear. Looking at the articles that surfaced afterwards, it looks like the general reception is that the screwed up slightly.

People’s main qualms were ‘What does it look like?’, ‘When’s it coming out?’ and ‘How much does it cost?’. These are all important pieces of info and it’s definitely reflected badly on Sony that they didn’t talk about it. I thought it made little sense to announce a price before Microsoft’s event, providing Microsoft a perfect chance to undercut them or get a layout of the battlefield. I thought they would wait for E3, but I’m the minority, the clued in fan. In the end, it’s public perception that is gunna get the hype going, not just the fanboys. Sony need to make amends at their next presentation if they want to come anywhere close to the furor the release of the PS2 made.

The image speaks for itself – Thanks VentureBeat!

There is our critical outlook on Sony’s event and all of the news to come out this week. If there was a little too much doom, with an unwelcome side of gloom, for you delicate palate head on over to our far more optimistic Top 5 Best things about PS4 here! Let us know which list you agree with more in the comments section below.