By Tim Cho
Staff Writer
In the modern world of entertainment, video games are a cornerstone to their customers. Competition for the best console has led to a campaign of companies to improve and enhance what they already have.
As the Electronic Entertainment Expo nears, the annual computer and video games trade fair, at the Los Angeles Convention Center draws near on June 11, many fans are wondering what gaming companies will unveil to continue their success. Microsoft’s Xbox 720 has many fans excited, while Nintendo has their fans eager for new 3D material and HD remakes. Alongside them, Sony has released information about their new Playstation 4.
The Xbox 720, while no information has been given away by Microsoft, has been under much speculations for its rumors of upgrades, better graphics, smoother speeds, better downloads, and “twin GPUs to display 3D outputs – where each chip is rendering a different angle of a scene to generate the 3D effect,” according to James Rivington of TechRadar.
Nintendo is planning to have many new releases, such as “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD”, “Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem”, “Mario Kart Wii U”,a new 3D Mario, and a new Super Smash Brothers that is simultaneously being made for the Wii U and 3DS, according to an Examiner article written by Will Holden.
However, the PS4 has its own bragging rights. The PS4 will feature many new features such as social media access and a much more powerful console.
There is the 8GB of memory, “highly enhanced” PC Graphics Processing Unit, eight 86×64 cores and a state of the art graphics processor, while the PS4 controller, the “DualShock 4” will have enhanced rumble, reduced latency, a touch pad, headphone jack, and a new Share button that will allow the player to record videos of their gaming achievement and upload it to their social media site.
Another feature is the “cloud”, a new system in Sony that will allow players to download and play games on their smartphones or tablets with the PlayStation app. With this cloud system, players can download a game while on a road trip, and come home with the game ready to play. Yet another feature is being able to play previous titles on the PS4, meaning PS One games can be played on it as well.
“It will make cross-platform utilities much more efficient, but will be plagued by crippling bugs and will not be widely used until software patches that address the most glaring problems are released in the following weeks/months,” Freshman John Angeline said.
Freshman Michael Keiper said, “The Playstation 3’s biggest problem was its lack of social features, as it was for the 360 and Wii. Sony has an advantage since there is no other external devices that can be used in conjunction with the Wii U. Time will tell whether or not the same can be said for the Xbox 720.”
Freshman Riley Grimes said, “I think it will be good for the gamers because all the consoles will be trying to be better than the competition, and cheaper.” With the race to being the strongest and most popular gaming console, the fans will benefit from the fight to improve and enhance the consoles.
Dave Perry, founder of cloud gaming platform Gaikai said, “What we’re creating is the fastest, most powerful gaming network in the world” according to a ComputerandVideoGames.com article written by Tom Ivan. Grimes stated what he was most excited for, “The large decrease of lag,” while Keiper stated, “The Playstation 3’s online was a barely living joke, but new features such as sharing gameplay and spectating friend’s games make the system launch a lot more exciting.”
Angeline added, “I am looking forward to all the games now possible with the Playstation’s upgraded hardware, along with possibly smoother online multiplayer.”
As of now, it is safe to assume that the PS4 appears to be improved, upgraded, and enhanced to a high degree. It sounds appealing so far, but with E3 coming in June, who knows exactly what can unfold in the world of gaming?
The war for quality gaming still continues, but it is the gamers that will benefit from it.
