Your Games and Your Network

The Network - or internet has brought to gaming, something revolutionary. The game is no longer just defined by the players in the room, we can be playing with or against a player across the other side of the world. We can buy games digitally over the network and download new games content.

However, the network also created a problematic side effect, game patches. While I welcome the fact that game breaking bugs can be rectified, I cannot accept half-baked games rushed to meet release dates or holiday sales. One such example is Battlefield 4. The game could have benefited from an additional month of QA and testing, not released into the wild and patched several times. These patches are not small but the crown jewel of all patches have to be Dead Rising 3 on Xbox One, a whopping 13Gb. 

Next, as we step into the new generation where graphical assets such as textures are of higher quality, digital game sizes are on the uptrend. For example, on PS4, NBA2K14 is over 40Gb in size. This is one of the major roadblock for consumer adoption of digital gaming. 

I have a 5Mbps that costs me RM150 (~US$45) a month, and a 10Gb download will probably take me about 6 hours. Although my current ISP does not impose bandwidth caps, it won't take long if I continue to make large game downloads. Or maybe my ISP can look into working with Sony to launch a new streaming game service.

Playstation Now, is one of the key announcements from Sony from 2014's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The idea is simple, to enable the consumption of Sony Playstation's family of gaming content across multiple technological platforms, both Sony (like PS4, PSVita, Bravia TV) and even non-Sony device like tablets and smartphones. It is US only and will be in closed BETA in February with a launch planned in July.

It was demoed to the CES visitors and worked wonderfully, showcasing games like The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension. The technology uses custom hardware stored in data centres and streams the gameplay to your device. It is a novel idea, however even the most optimistic person will be concerned about how this will perform over the internet, raising latency and bandwidth concerns.

If local ISPs and Sony can work together to deliver this gaming service, things could be interesting. Playstation NOW could entice new audiences to the world of Playstation and Playstation 4.

TV upgrade for a budget-conscious PS4 owner

Sony have always made good TVs...picture quality have always been top notched although their price have always been on the higher side compared to Samsung or Panasonic.

After getting a PS4, I found myself revisiting my need for a new TV to succeed my reliable servant, a 40-in Samsung Series 5 LCD bought for RM2,650 in 2009. It has served me well but PS4's arrival expedited my upgrade. 

First of all, to be able to appreciate the clarity and nuanced details of a full 1080p picture, a 42-in TV is the starting point. Undoubtedly, larger screens of 46 or even 55 offer even better cinematic experience, as a videogamer, there are several points to consider.

1. Viewing Distance

My gameroom's view distance of 5ft is not suitable for any screen larger than 42-in

2. Picture Processing

For videogame consoles, TV's built-in picture processing is not required, therefore features such as Game Mode is something to lookout for. Although many vendors advertise this, your mileage may vary, so if possible you need to look out for factor number 3, input lag.

3. Input Lag

This terminology simply describes how much delay a signal encounters from the time it enters the TV's input to the time it gets displayed. Benchmark testers uses high-speed photography to see the time differential between a custom clock connected to the TV via HDMI. The lower input lag the better it is for gamers. This is especially true for fighting games where the timing of specific button presses are key to pulling off that superhit combo. Unfortunately,  input lag is not something you normally find on your TV specsheet.

So, how did I shop for my new TV? I found it through a tech forum recommendation. 

It is a Sony W-series 42W674, which normally retails for RM1, 999 but can be had for RM1, 700 during promotion. If budget was not a constraint, I might have gone for 46-in W904 but getting a TV for more than RM5, 000 is really too expensive.

W674 is very good for my needs, the input lag is 14.5ms (every processing turned off). A recommended setting offered by a forumer to handle both P3 and PS4 yields an input lag of 19ms.

So, there you go, my recommended TV for gaming in 2013/2014 that is under RM2, 000, my new gaming partner, Sony 42W674.

Below are the settings provided by Lowyat forumer, SSJBen
Game Mode
Backlight: 6 or 7 (6 if I turn off all the lights)
Contrast: 93
Brightness: 49
Color temp: Warm 1
Sharpness: 50
Gamma: -1

White Balance
All default except blue gain at -2, this is to account for setting Clear White at Low

Post process settings
All disabled except - Clear White (Low) and Smooth Gradation (Medium)

Using these settings, I've managed to get delta errors to less than 3 which is the optimal limit for a mid-range LCD LED TV.

Measured gamma point is at 2.38 which is just 0.2 point away from the standard set by ITU and THX as a reference level.

Input lag with these settings is at 19ms, (+4ms from an everything disabled 14.5ms W6).
By rule of thumb, anything under 30ms is optimal for games, under 20ms is exceptional in today's standards.

FAQ: PS4 vs PS3, What's New and Improved?

As a recognized gamer among friends and family, I often get pulled aside and asked this question.
"I heard that PS4 was launched recently, is it good, how does it compared with PS3?"

<<The Hardware>>
Supercharged PC-based Architecture
PS4 hardware is based on a supercharged PC-based architecture, making it easier to program. While PS3 Cell-processor architecture was powerful and ahead of its time, it was also very difficult to program for 3rd party developers. PS4 was built from the lessons learned from PS3's painful evolution and developer feedback. The result, is a PC-based architecture that is well understood, 10x more powerful than a PS3 and supported with matured toolsets to help developers shorten their ramp-up time to develop for PS4.

Console Performance Parity
With PS3's complex architecture, many of PS3's multiplatform titles tend to suffer in graphical fidelity or game performance. With PS4, Sony and Microsoft are on a level playing field in terms of hardware with a slight edge on PS4 vs Xbox One, demonstrated by some of the launch titles such as Call of Duty Ghosts which runs natively at 1080p on PS4, but only at 720p on Xbox One which uprezed it to 1080p to your TV.

<<The Software>>
PS4, with a more powerful hardware, can deliver greater graphics and better sound in your games.

Graphically, PS3's graphics references DirectX9/OpenGL2.0 features that circa 2003/2004 compared to PS4's that is up to the recent 2012 DirectX11.2/OpenGL4.4 specifications. PS4 benefitted from this 8-year technology jump that makes games on PS4 looking closer to modern PC standards.

With a more powerful console, developers now can further enrich the sound fidelity in their games. One example is Call of Duty Ghosts -- contextual acoustics are implemented so that each gun fired sound different based on the environment that you are in, each bullet shell dropping onto wood, dirt or steel giving off different sound.

With PS4 being closer to a PC, we expect to see more titles getting the console 'treatment'. We can expect to see more indie titles and free-to-play games to further enrich the console gamer's portfolio.

<<The User Experience>>
To put things into perspective, when PS3 was launched in November 2006, iphone has not even been released. Facebook was just two years old. As we moved further into the PS3's lifecycle, the social network really took off. Online multiplayer becomes a phenomenon and games with large open world exploration World of Warcraft and Skyrim captures the imagination of many.

PS4's hardware allows for transition from PS3's Networked Experience (online multiplayer, digital downloads) to the Social Experience of PS4. You can either immediately share your special gameplay moments on Facebook/Twitter or choose to broadcast your gameplay to a worldwide audience via twitch.tv or ustream.tv

PS4 also have added a few key improvements over PS3 that enhanced the overall user experience.
They are:
- ability to run in a low-powered state - that charges the controllers and download any updates/patches
- suspend and resume a game (available in a future firmware update)
- improved controller design that is more comfortable and precise compared to Dualshock3
- able to play a game (while a portion of the game is still downloading or installing)
- better user-interface layout and response time

So there you have it. My answer to you, what is PS4, what has improved and how it compares with PS3.

I leave you with a quick look at one the games releasing this month, Tomb Raider The Definitive Edition, with the producer describing what they have done for the game on PS4.

2014 is gonna be the year for PS4

PS3 - The Best Console To Get Now

I can't believe the only post I had written for this blog was about waiting to buy a PS3.

Eight years later, I bought a launch model PS3 (aka Phat) and subsequently, bought another two to replace my R.I.P. YLOD (yellow light of death) consoles, death from overheating, the issue that plagued the XBOX360s and to a lesser degree the PS3.  I also bought a XBOX360 to play some of the platform exclusives such as Gears of War and HALO. I enjoyed both platforms and had many hours of online and offline gaming experiences. I have also plonked down some serious money to get a PS4 and a low input-lag TV in December 2013. I will write a few posts to fill in the blanks...2005 to 2013.

But the target audience for this article is for those who never had the living room couch gaming experience on the TV, typically they are PC gamers and smartphone casual gamers. As the title suggests, my predicament for you is that Sony Playstation 3 is the best console gaming experience that you should seriously consider.

Why PS3 not PS4?

Price

500GB Super Slim PS3 can be had for not more than RM1,199 (Update: May, 2014 - 500GB PS3 retails for RM899) whereas 500GB PS4 retails at RM1,799. The difference of RM600 will help towards funding for PS3 games or a PS4 when you make your purchase late 2014 or early 2015 (if you are able to hold off that long, *smirks*)

Future Hardware Revisions

Buying a PS4 later may also help you in other ways, for example, the 500GB manufacturer-supplied hard disk with the PS4 is unlikely going to be enough as every game will pre-load a large portion of the disc-based games and digital versions of PS4 games are typically more than 30GB in size. If you are buying a PS4 now, you may have to think about upgrading to a 1TB hard disk at the very least, whereas if you are buying a PS4 in the future, you may have benefited from a hardware version refresh (i.e. even lower power usage/heat, bigger hard drive, etc.)

Availability

With the PS4 launch being fairly recent and some regions like Japan, awaiting launch, stock availability of PS4 are likely to be low in numbers. The negative effect of this is some unscrupulous retailers jacking up their prices. PS3s are generally available in the market and if you are lucky you may even snag a used PS3 from the gadget-chasers for a good price.

Games

While PS4 launch line-up are solid, it does not hold the candle when compared to PS3's eight year-old line-up games. Ranging from  from big budgeted AAA games to the whimsical indie titles. Since currently you cannot play PS3 games on your PS4 (pending Sony future announcement of Gaikai-powered cloud-based gaming), you definitely want to get a PS3 to play some of the best games the platform has to offer. In no particular order, here are some of my best remembered games on PS3 and since a lot these are older games you can get them cheaper new or used. Some of the digital titles on PS3 (Flower, Escape Plan, Soundshapes) are also Cross-Buy; meaning buying the PS3 version will entitle you to get the PS4 version for free.

The Last of Us, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Pixeljunk Monsters, Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solild 4, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Journey, Might and Magic Clash of Heroes, Uncharted Trilogy.

Playstation Plus

PS+ as it as affectionately known is a monthly paid subscription based service offered by Sony. It is priced at RM129 per year on PS Malaysian store, and US$49.99 on the US-based store.

Since online multiplayer on PS3 has always been subscription free (unlike Microsoft's Xbox360), Sony has differentiated its PS+ offering with cloud-based saves, PS+ special discounts, monthly free games and instant game collection. It is a single subscription that is valid across all Sony-based consoles(PS3/PS4/PS VITA TV) and portables(PSVITA).

Upon joining, new members get to download a selection of titles for you to have an instant game collection. These games are free for you to play for the duration of your subscription. Every month, PS+ also offers up new free games of the month as the current game of the month makes it way out. Another point to note though, PS+ game offerings differ across different PS store regions.

Currently, the UK/Europe trumps in terms of content while the US store offers the best value/content mix. The Malaysian/Asian store is now catching up after a slower start last year.

For example, in December 2014, the PS+ offer on the US store's are shown below, offering hit games such as Uncharted 3, XCOM Enemy Unknown, Borderlands 2, ICO, Shadow of the Collossus and Gravity Rush.

In January 2014, new games of the month offering will be Don't Starve on PS4 while PS3 gets Bioshock Infinite, Devil May Cry and Brothers, whereas PSVITA gets Smart As and Worms. This month's content alone already paid for the subscription fees.

Source: http://us.playstation.com/psn/plus-latest/

PS+ Pro-tip:
Every month, you can add the PS4 game(s) of the month to your download queue so that when you get your PS4, you have a library of free PS4 games waiting for you.

Go Get it Now

If you are still reading by now, it means you are quite interested, so how do you go about getting one? Where to get it? What else do you need? Here are my recommendations:
Pre-requisites:
- Get a high-speed wired broadband service (Unifi/Maxis), preferably 10Mbps
- Get a nice Full HD 1080p TV of at least 40" in size
- Get some good used games at great prices

Buying and enjoying your PS3
- Visit a local Sony Store* (not Sony Centre as those are Sony-branded stores operated by resellers)
- Be a Sony Card member (buy something RM250 and above and be a member for free)
- Get a Sony-branded Credit Card
- Buy a PS3 with and additional Dualshock 3 controller, pay by zero-interest installments
- Connect up your PS3 and go online
- Create your Sony Store account (SEN account) and sign-up PS+
- Download all applicable free games
- Enjoy

* I am not affiliated with Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment or any of its partners