So by now everyone knows that the six Generation of Pokemon has begun with Pokemon X/Y and the WiiU's Pokemon Scramble. Now this is not going to be about if Pokemon is overmilked or if it keeps doing the same thing over and over again or why there's never been a proper console game. All those dead horses have been beaten repeatedly.

I was talking with someone on a forum about how I never really got into Pokemon which they seemed shocked. Though I am not alone both the Game Overthinker and Andre the Black Nerd aren't much of Pokemon fans either.

Black Nerd: http://www.screwattack.com/shows/black-nerd-rants/black-nerd-hates-pokemon

Game Overthinker: http://www.screwattack.com/shows/partners/game-overthinker/tgo-special-memories

Now Bob, Andre and I are all in our early 30s where most of you reading this probably skew about 5 to 10 years younger...most of you. And we are sort of First Generation Nintendo fans, weaned on the NES, who grew up with Mario, Zelda and Metroid and we stood by Nintendo through Sega and Sonic and even when we were being mocked for liking Nintendo and their "baby" console. And then Pokemon came out and it was everywhere. On TV, entire aisles in stores devoted to Pokemon toys. Nintendo made a new IP and it was massive hit....aaaaannnd us long time fans were not happy about that. We didn't like the idea of these little pocket monsters eclipsing Mario and Link. It's hard to imagine this and remember at the time the internet was in its infancy so you didn't have a ton of websites complaining about how this new IP that was getting youngsters all excited and helping keep Nintendo afloat while getting beat up by the PS1.

Hmmm. A new IP at the time.

Being super popular.

Bringing in a new audience of youngsters.

Making older gamers upset.

What does that sound like?

And thus brings us to the title. Nintendo fans are a funny bunch. We sit and scream and cry about not having new IPs but every now and then a new IP does come along that is suddenly REALLY popular and we get all mad about it. Because while we want new IPs, they can't be more popular than Mario or Zelda. Imagine if the WiiU introduce some new title that was an action FPS that was more amazing than any other FPS out there and this skyrocketed WiiU sales and became a massive hit. How many of you Nintendo die hards would get mad and feel like "Nintendo sold out?" and jumped on the grim and gritty bandwagon despite that this new game brought in new audiences? See what I'm getting at. And don't give me that "Pokemon's a real game! It's totally different" crap. That means you're totally missing the point.

This brings me back to Pokemon. I do recall some animosity of older Nintendo fans towards Pokemon at least at the beginning because it was annoying to see stores full of Pokemon toys and the anime running on TV all the time yet nowhere could you find Mario cartoons or toys (at least now we have the old shows on DVD and there's no shortage of Mario swag for sale). Pokemon for a while was like on the cover of every other Nintendo Power (RIP) issue. It was odd that despite it's massive populairity Nintendo has yet to make a proper console game version and maybe if there had been a Pokemon 64 maybe some of the older Nintendo crowd might have tried it. Really Pokemon didn't get fully accepted by Nintendo fans until Smash Bros. when Pikachu and Jigglypuff were on the roster.

I am not going to say I hate Pokemon. I have no reason to hate it. I never played a Pokemon game other than Pokemon Snap. Maybe I'd actually like it. I even asked my buddy Cloud that if I decided to give it a try which one I should cut my teeth on and he was quite helpful in suggesting titles. Maybe I'll give it a try. Either pick up an older one I can play on my 3DS or wait for X/Y.

In the end, the Earth didn't open up. Pokemon is still around but so are Mario and Link and Kirby and the rest of the Nintendo crew so when the whole "casual Wii game" thing started and people started crying that it was going to destroy gaming, I just rolled my eyes, had a good laugh because I lived through the last "end of gaming."

Although the announcement and arrival of the Wii U mark the point where a new gaming generation started, the unveiling of the Playstation 4, or at least the reveal of what it can do, feels like yet another beginning, because it gives us the first glimpse at the real graphical capabilities of this coming era. As an organic function of this competitive highly advanced age, it is only natural to expect that systems will be constantly taking steps forward in relation to the technology they carry to power both visuals and sound, and the early displays of Playstation 4 games confirm that, in spite of the ever rising costs of production, the industry keeps fearlessly betting on pushing hardware forward.

Bean counters will excitedly lean over the numbers and try to figure out the economical effects of that move, and while that does interest us and our wallets, there is an even more intriguing consequence to all of this, which is how games are getting progressively more realistic. Once upon a time, games were more about crafting brightly colored and wacky worlds than simulating the real world; whether that was a physiological reaction to the constraints of the early machines or just a wish to create games based on fantasy, the fact is that about ten years ago gaming store shelves were much more colorful and vivid than they are now, and the industry grew up supported by the outlandish and the ridiculous.

With the landing of technology that gives life to developers' aspirations to build a very real world, most games - or, at least, most titles by companies that can afford the luxury - will move towards scenarios that are closer to reality. It is pretty obvious that gaming will not lose its magic even if it continues to march towards that direction, after all even if they do manage to, one day, perfectly emulate and represent the lights, dull colors and physics that our eyes perceive, the art of gaming design will still allow its artists to decorate that boring realism with items, behaviors and powers that are either non-existent or are hard to be achieved by a regular human being. We will still be able to pretend that we are secret agents, superheroes or other fascinating subjects. With the advent of unbelievable reality, games will become ever more reliable on developers' ability to create interesting mechanics or dazzling scripts.

For those who can't resist the charm of games that blend technology with the quirkiness and insanity of cartoons - such as Mario, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Ratchet and Clank, Banjo, among others - the future could indeed hold some bad news. An industry that initially relied on the charm of platformers, which were a product of an era where processing power was very limited, has gone on to transform into an industry where shooters rule. Some say it might be a sign of lack of creativity or laziness; others might point towards the strong sales of those titles, indicating that the market demand is what is moving the industry onto that path; but it is probably a combination of both of those factors that is pushing companies to that single-minded approach. Not only do simulators require less artistic prowess, something rarer to come by than technical proficiency, but they also tend to sell better, and that can be easily evidenced by the number of "fantasy" franchises that have come to life in recent years compared to the number of new series that go for simulation and realism.

Ironically, the answer to that somehow worrisome trail might lie in another surging force of modern gaming: digital distribution and the power it places on the hands of small developers. Creating big blockbuster titles demands a whole lot of cash, because it invariably involves pushing the hardware as far as it can go and developing new complex engines, and, as a natural response to that obstacle, developers with unlimited talent and imagination, but with limited resources, have to go for the uncanny and unrealistic to call attention, since any attempt at realism would throw their titles on the shadow of the industry's giants. In recent years, that dependence on being different and creative bore some incredible fruits like Bastion, Braid, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, Journey, Minecraft, and many others.

While the mainstream "fantasy" franchises seem to be mostly limited to those who appeared back in the 80s and early 90s, showing a clear lack of renovation, the amount of great indie titles with a ton of commercial potential keeps growing. It is from garage studios hidden in some small unknown cities that the humble defiance to the dictatorship of reality might come from.

Are you excited about the next generation? Hopefully you are, because then we'll get to have another one after that. In the next few months it's going to get crazy in the gaming industry. Tech specs will be leaked, claims will be refuted and hundreds of developers will be hard at work figuring out how to make a guy hide behind cover in Unreal Engine 4.

Now though? It's a dead zone, and even though this current generation of consoles has a few games left in it yet I think now is the time to look back and think about what the last 7 year's worth of gaming experiences have done for us. I'm not a huge fan of lists so the numbering in this list is vague at best and of course this is all highly subjective so don't burst a blood vessel when you favourite first-person shooter doesn't get a look in.

This is my way of internalising which of the experiences I had in this developing medium were the most meaningful/important/enjoyable or a combination of all three.

Number 10: Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2

When Geometry Wars RE2 came out in 2008 they may as well have canned the twin-stick shooter as a genre once and for all. The phrase "infinite skill ceiling" is one you'll hear bandied about in relation to something like Starcraft or Dota but I can't think of a more skill-based game than GW2. It honed and refined the already superb formula of the first game while setting the standard for leaderboard implementation for the rest of the generation. GW2 made scores-chasing matter again and it did so while at the same time being the most mechanically faultless game on this list. If I was stuck on a desert island with only one game to play for the rest of my life, it would be this one.

Number 9: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Hideo Kojima you magnificent nutter, keep doing what you're doing because Metal Gear Solid 4 is probably the best example I can give for why authorship is important for videogames. Remember how hard the world said it would be to wrap up five years of the Mass Effect universe? Well Kojima tied up 20 years of gaming lore in MGS4 in the most ridiculous and extravagant way imaginable. This is what you get when you give a blank cheque to a gifted madman and tell him to make his kind of game. Even today, few games can match the insanity and audacity of MGS4. From the hours of cutscenes to the stylishness of the presentation to the best damned use of button-mashing in a videogame, MGS4 set the bar for what we consider to be "epic" in games. So far, that bar has yet to be reached by any other game this generation.

Number 8: Braid

The story, gameplay and presentation of Braid are immensely interesting in their own right, but not as interesting as the character of Jonathon Blow and his game's effect on the industry. These days tiny indie platformers made by one guy in his attic are a dime a dozen, just check out Steam some time, but at the time the idea that one man had essentially built this thought-provoking and ingenius puzzle-platformer by himself thrust the very idea of "indie" into our collective consciousness. It helps that Braid is also one of the best puzzle games around, blending a powerful story with puzzle mechanics that kept changing and evolving. Braid made me feel smart, sad and intrigued. Sometimes all at once.

Number 7: Burnout Paradise

"Hey guys it's DJ Atomika comin' at ya live this morning from Paraaadddiiiiseeee Citttyyyy." Yes, I went there.

Damn it Criterion make another Burnout game, or maybe just make Burnout Paradise look a bit better and re-release because for my money it's the best racing game of this generation. It's also, surprisingly, one of the best open world games of this generation too. I never do the whole "let's go out and explore" thing that the Skyrims and the GTAs of this world encourage, because there just aren't enough yellow gates and awesome jumps. Paradise City was and is the perfect defintion of a playground, a sandbox, a place where you and your friends can practice ramming each other off cliffs to your heart's content at 60 frames per second with the most incredible crash tech you have ever seen. The multiplayer alone is the reason Burnout makes this list as no game before or since has realised the full potential of an open-world driving game to the same extent. If only there had been a "Restart" option in on day one.

Number 6: Mass Effect 2

Dark middle chapters are always the best. If I had my way all games would be the dark middle chapters, the sequels to games that never came out because the best bits of a trilogy are the middle bits where everything seems awfully dicey. Although I do love Mass Effect 1 despite its clunkiness, Mass Effect 2 is where it's at. Its broad array of interesting, relatable characters was the reason you cared going into Mass Effect 3 and consequently why I at least was disappointed when some of them didn't get the attention they deserved. Sure the combat isn't what it should have been and the main storyline is little more than a sideshow but Mass Effect 2 is the peak of BioWare's writing talents compressed into a playable product. Hang the depth and complexity of RPG mechanics if it means I can get to the next dialogue sequence faster say I and BioWare did just that. The Mass Effect universe was at its richest, its darkest, its most stylish and most self-assured in Mass Effect 2 and as a result I'll always think of it as the defining RPG of this generation.

Number 5: Saints Row the Third

I love videogames. I love them so much I ADORE those that understand that they're a videogame. If there's one thing we've learned from the past 40 years of gaming it's that games are an amazing form of catharsis. Saints Row the Third takes that knowledge to its logical extreme. It's like every time a designer at Volition came up with a crazy idea for a level or a character, the director shouted down any and all naysayers and stated "Yes we can have a text adventure! Because videogames!" There are so many noteworthy moments in Saints Row 3 that could have gone wrong yet came out so so right that you should just stop reading this and play it.  So find a tiger, conquer your fear and embrace the fact that Saints Row the Third is the videogame to end all videogames.

Number 4: Bioshock

Bioshock is so ingrained the pysche of popular videogame culture you might as well replace the Spike VGA's with the Andrew Ryan Awards. It was the first hint at the fact that during this generation, games would become more thematically complex and intellectually stimulating than we could ever have expected. Playing Bioshock is nothing to write home about. Ice hands + wrench = victory. But inhabiting the world of Rapture and seeing how the story played in that setting was its own reward. Bioshock made me think about videogames and how they're constructed, it took philosophical concepts and crammed them into a medium that today is still more about headshots and explosions than it is about exploring ideas. Games are art you guys, it started here.

Number 3: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Naughty Dog are awesome because they made Uncharted 2. Wait what about Crash Bandicoot and the Jak and Daxter series they we really awes-SHUT UP UNCHARTED 2 UNCHARTED 2. Call of Duty 4 changed how we thought about online multiplayer, Uncharted 2 changed how we thought about the presentation of action in videogames. Before, an action game was branded as such because there were guns and red barrels and if you introduced the two excitement could occur. Uncharted 2 showed us that action could be about leaping from truck to truck while fighting bad guys on a snowy moutaintop, or jumping out of a collapsing building just before it hits the ground. It's a game that takes the best elements of Hollywood: the set-pieces, the snappy writing and the setup, while slyly eating Steven Spielberg's lunch by amping all those elements up as only videogames can. It was so incredibly good that Naughty Dog failed to top it with its follow-up and has now resorted to making smaller games about zombies and homeless people in the hope that nobody will ask them to make something as fantastic as Uncharted 2 again.

Number 2: Portal

Again, you know about Portal. Everyone knows about Portal. For a while I felt super smug about having a wallpaper with "The cake is a lie" on it and soon after I realised that I was officially prat. Nevertheless Portal inspired that kind of enthusiasm because it was so different and unexpected. In a stellar collection such as the Orange Box, who would have thought that a 2 hour puzzle game would rise above the games it was packaged in with to simultaneously become the benchmark for humour and puzzle design in the medium? Portal 2 is undeniably a more polished, more thrilling and more overtly amusing than Portal but it wasn't surprising in the same way. I'm probably never going to play Portal again, I probably don't want to either. For those 2 hours it made me feel like a genius and then took the hardest left-turn a clean, dryly humourous puzzle game could possibly take. If you never had that experience then I feel sorry for you.

Number 1: Bastion

It's no secret that one of my favourite games of all time is Max Payne 2. Max Payne 2 is a game that understands that story and storytelling are not things that need to be separated by a six-foot wall from gameplay, with only a small peephole through which such things as cutscenes can be used to connect the two. Bastion also understands this. It respects your ability as a player to take in the world and fiction of a game while also engaging in combative gameplay. In the space of around 7 hours Bastion introduces its world and develops it to the point where everything seems grounded and believable, something that countless 30 hour RPGs fail to do. Its combat system is deep, customisable and crucially, perfectly responsive to you as the player and yet it's also one of the handful of games that have managed to get me all choked up. It's a seamless, polished package of story, presentation and gameplay that isn't afraid to make you listen to one man's voice from beginning to end. Basically, Bastion is the real deal.

Well thankyou ladies, gents and other lifeforms for getting this far. Do feel free to insult my taste in games at every turn and say "but what about Dark Souls", it won't change my feelings in the slightest. Here's hoping that by the time the new consoles roll out this list will be as obsolete as John Carmack is clever.

Obviously, this is about the recently announced factoid that the PS4 will not be backwards compatible with PS3 game discs.  A lot of people are crying foul, but they don't really understand why.  The reason is purely technological.  The PS3 contained a powerful computer chip called The Cell.  

No, not that Cell.  It's a computer chip, not a movie.  Stay with me, thanks.  So, the new powerhouse of the PS4 is the QWX64KP12.-742WTFKTHXBAI.  Extremely powerful chip with a completely different architecture than Jeniffer Lopez... I mean, the Cell.  So, unfortunately, the PS4 simply isn't wired to play PS3 games, even though it's far more powerful.  This would explain why Sony is trying to stream them to the PS4 instead.  If PS3 games are being processed on Sony's servers, then all they need to do is stream them to you, and the PS4 can handle the rest.  It's a clever alternative, but not really a desirable one.  Not everyone has high speed internet, and some people have data caps.  For those unfortunate SOUUUUUUUUUUUUUULS... *ahem* ... they're going to be hit hard when they try to stream PS3 games. 

Now, let's address a common statement that I've been seeing in these discussions.  

"LIKE ZOMG JUST KEEP J00 PS3 PWOBLM SOLVED N00B!"

Except, there are still problems.  Let's try to understand first why some people are disapointed that there's no BC.  Sony was the first company that made a backwards compatible gaming machine (technically, it was Nintendo since you could play regular Game Boy games on a Game Boy Color, but I can't really count that as the GBC wasn't entirely a new machine).  The PS2 was able to play PS1 games, and it continued to play PS1 games throughout its life cycle.  This set an expectation and other companies followed suit.  Nintendo's Game Boy Advance was fully backwards compatible with GB and GBC games, the DS could play GBA games and the 3DS could play DS games.  When the Nintendo Wii came out, it could play GameCube games, and the Wii U could play Wii games.  The 360 even played old Xbox games, but that was a hot mess as they had to do it through software emulation and ceased support on that less than a year after its release.  Surprise, surprise.  You now started seeing Xbox games available for download... 

Sony upheld the tradition of backwards compatiblity with their first generation of PS3s, not only allowing you to play PS2 games, but most PS1 titles as well.  In essence, the PS3 launched with the largest library of games in console history as it supported not one but two other systems' entire libraries.  That is great for a gamer's first foray with a company's system.  Unfortunately, Sony was hemorraging money from the PS3 just being too bloody (I c wut I did thar) expensive, so they started scaling things down with the following generations of PS3s.  Sadly, the Emotion Engine (PS2 graphics chip) had to go, but at least Sony tried to keep PS2 BC with emulation support.  That didn't last long, and eventually the new PS3s were relegated to nothing more than machines that only played PS3 games.  Sony started BC, and have now swiftly ended it.  

Sony has limited the size of their PlayStation library now.  Yes, Sony states that they will include PS1 and PS2 titles along with the PS3 titles for their cloud gaming service, but this comes at the expense of manhours, resources and money to get those title available, not to mention the service will most assuredly not be free.   Want that rare niche PS1 title that no one's heard of?  I doubt Sony will make that available digitally.  You'll have to go to eBay or wherabouts to acquire it.  Prepare to buy a PS1 or PS2 to go with it, or pull out your old console and dust it off.  

"That means I got to hook up another console to my TV!"  

Yeah, I know.  It sounds lazy, but having another console out means having to make space.  It means snaking more cords through entertainment centers.  It means pulling out controllers with cords, and means more tripping hazards.  The convenience afforded to us thanks to Sony and BC meant that we could retire our systems and save space.  It meant that our old systems that served us well could finally be put to rest, no longer counting the days when the CD/DVD motor or lense would finally crap out.  PS4 being BC with PS3 also would have meant a lot to owners of 20 and 60 gig PS3s, again because they could retire their original PS3s before the inevitable Yellow Light of Death (I got mine last year in September.  R.I.P.) and if they've been playing them hard, they've put more than six years of wear and tear on them.  Also, if the PS4 was BC, it would mean a lot of PS3 owners could trade in their machines towards the PS4, making it more affordable for them, thus selling more PS4s.  

True, the PS4 is technically incapable of playing older games.  True, we could just keep our old systems lying around.  True, we buy new machines to play new games.  It seems silly that some would be upset over an incovenience of having to buy an older machine or hooking up another machine to a TV to play older games, yet it was Sony who introduced us to that convenience for us in the first place.  That's why seeing people bothered by no BC.  They'll buy those PS4s for PS4 games, but they have every right to be disappointed.  It's hard not seeing such a terrific feature that's been with the PlayStation for two generations suddenly disappear.  I guess we're all just going to have to settle paying for a streaming service with a limited selection, provided our internet is fast enough and we haven't hit our data caps yet... 

Alright now that the PS4 has flooded the internet with it's announcement 3 days ago, I decided to share what I think the next Xbox will offer. First thing is a sensor that will warn you when someone whether family or friend will come to where you are playing and calculate how much time they will take away from your gaming before they enter the room. I think this will prevent more game over screens from happening due to being distracted. Next would be a holographic interfeace with the next Kinect being made. In Minority Report, they have the interface right in front of them and they can search alot easier which makes me hope the next Kinect has this to offer. I know the Xbox has a music player and I think it would be awesome to edit and pick your music and such this way.

The name is what has me worried as a gamer and a consumer since they already did the Xbox Elite. Not to mention an article from a Microsoft employee stating it won't be called the 720 I mean really. The only name I can think of is Xbox 2 or Xbox Pro, no no that won't work. Well whatever name they pick, I'm sure they took the time to do so. The size of the machiine is another thing, I mean can they make it smaller than it is now? I bet they will make look more like an X like the first Xbox did ecept they had the X imprint on the top of the console. An Xbox shaped like an x, sounds unique, but it probably won't be able to hold all that technology and it would make the price go up.

Pricing is the next thing since It's been a year for me having the slim Xbox and to be honest, I really don't feel like buying a new console since I haven't even decided on getting the Wii U. No doubt it will be in the 300-400 dollar range, but maybe they will have it at a lower price for once, who knows. What would be beneficial is a video game disc buffering machine to come along with the Xbox. Be honest, who hasn;t had to buy a used copy of a game and to find it has scrateches!! That really irks me as a gamer that other gamers don't take care of their games. Imagine being able to make a scuffed up game work like brand new when you plug in the machine and your Xbox tells you if it can be saved or not. It would save tme and money from buying the machine at Best Buy when it comes already with the console.

Alright this is what I would want with the next Xbox so it's from a consumer view and what I think what should be in it. Also I wonder how big will the hardrive be for this console? I knnow 350 is the biggest for the Xbox and it makes me wonder if they'll make a 450 gb hardrive. That would be helpful and it will make people buy more Xboxes, but hey I could be wrong. If you're going to leave a negative comment, then don't for I will keep blogging and those who leave negative comments are jerks!!

******** ATTENTION ********

The following comments are my own opinions, they may, or may not match yours.

**************************

So there I was last night, so excited for the Sony announcement. We all knew it was going to be about the PS4, but even knowing that, the gamer within MADE me stream the "meeting". Stream might be the wrong word, unsless the word "stream" means "watch a stop motion video where the audio just could never catch up", but that's a different story....

I will keep this short and to the point. Yes, I will be getting the PS4 when it comes out, not because I am a "fanboy", but because that's what I do, I buy new shiny fun things to play with, and that's where this story goes south.

In todays world where leaks about new products are common place, or maybe even part of a greater marketing tool, we already had loads of information about the PS4. If you looked hard enough, you could find info about streaming games, social sharing and even "letting your friends play your game". So last nights "meeting" (for me) was not so much about what this new toy could do, but what was it going to look like, how much is it going to be, and maybe most important, when will it be available.

Three things I really wanted to know, am I the only one that is disappointed waking up today knowing those questions went unanswered? Ya, ya, "Holiday Season 2013" thanks again for the breaking news...

The best way I can describe my feelings are "I went to a car show, expecting to see the new models, when I entered the showroom I was presented with a steering wheel and information about what type of mechanics it will take to work on the cars", No tires to kick. It can't be good when the day after Sony is already apologizing for not having something more to show.

I tured off my stuttering stream last night with one feeling, "there go 2 hrs of my life I will never get back" 

Back to the rumor mills for me.

/semi rant

Lots of PS4 info dropped today.  I haven't even had time to look over everything.  But I just want to get something out of the way first.

This is the new controller.  Love it, hate it.  But acknowledge that the DualShock has finally undergone some serious changes.  Sure, the layout of the sticks and face buttons are the same, but the contours of the pad have been ... fattened.  Too early to tell, but I'm willing to bet it will be a little more comfortable.  The obvious change, however, is the center of the controller.  This is a touchpad.  Repeat: TouchPAD.  Not a touch screen, like the Wii U's tablet, so don't be so quick to jump up and down in screaming fits going, "SONY COPIED NINTENDO AGAIN!"  The only similiarity that I see is to the old Wii remote with the built in speaker.  Not sure why they felt they had to put one there, as I thought it was an annoying and unnecessary feature in the Wii remote.  

So apparently, this new controller is going to be the keystone for the PS4's new social focus.  The Share button will allow  you to stream your gameplay in real time to another friend, and even grant him the ability to take over for you and play a particularly hard part for you.  You know, I've already heard a couple people complain about this?  "I don't want my friend taking over my game for me!"  Then don't pass the game over to him!  SHEESH!  You can even upload gameplay video to Facebook and ... blah blah blah.  I wonder what will happen to the gaming world if Facebook disappears... A lot of functions will end up going unused, but that's another blog.  

As for the system itself, it seems to be doing a lot of interesting tricks, but at the same time fails to convince me that they're absolutely necessary.  First is the PS3 backwards compatibility via streaming.  This is a wrong way to handle backwards compatibility.  The main problem with any kind of streaming and cloud gaming service is that high speed internet still isn't in every household, and there are some people who have data caps.  Streaming and cloud gaming will not be viable for them.  And then there's the whole part of Sony most likely going to charge you to play PS3 games you already own on your PS4 digitally.  Backwards compatiblity is still very important to a lot of gamers, and Sony just doesn't seem to care much about it anymore.  

I'm not much of a specs person, so I won't really comment on what's in the PS4's guts.  I will move on to the Vita connectivity, which considering it already does with the PS3 is no surprise that it will be supported with the PS4.  Again, I've been hearing, "OH MY GOD, SONY COPIED NINTENDO AGAIN!"  Actually, the Vita's been doing this with the PS3 before the Wii U was out.  And yeah, yeah, Nintendo's been doing this with the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, but yeah yeah, computers have been remoting with each other long before Nintendo made the GameCube.  Anyway, I'm very intrigued about this aspect, because I really would like to see if Sony can pull it off.  I have a 3G Vita and tried to use my PS3 remotely, and the video feedback was grainy.  If they can improve on this technology, they got themselves a winner for those who own a Vita.  Plus, there will be less of a need to include Vita versions with PS4 games when the Vita can simply stream them.

From my understanding, the price of the system is still up in the air, but it's estimated to be 419 for the base model and 519 for the more feature packed model.  In reality, it would be 399 and 499 because those previous price points are just too obscure.  399 and 499 seem reasonable to me, because they're 100 less than their respective PS3 launches.  It will still be high for many, but comparably, the cheaper SKU is the same price as MS's more expensive SKU 8 years ago.  If Sony really wants to stick it to Nintendo, they'll release a third SKU, cheaper still at 299.  This is something I would really like to see, because the first two PlayStations launched at 299.  Nowadays, consoles are made to do so many things, the launch price has to rise as a result.  I personally would like to see things go back to basics.  

As for the launch line up, we'll just have to wait for E3, but right now, there's not much sparking my interest.  I just heard Watch Dogs will make it to the Wii U, and I'm actually more excited about having it on that than on the PS4.  I'm just hoping they can make some creative  use of the tablet controller.  I'm also concerned about Sony's investment in the social aspect.  Do they really think that we all want our real names attached to our gamer profiles?  I'm sure there will be options to uphold our privacy; it would be stupid of them not to.  But, well, Sony tends to do stupid things.  I'm just kinda worried that the system is trying to do so many things at once, it's going to choke on itself and all these boasted features will become bug-ridden disasters.  

Of course, the one real concern that's on everyone's minds is whether or not the PS4 will block used games.  There's a rumor out that says it will in a sense by restricting what the purchaser of a used game will have access to.  In order to unlock the rest of the content, that used game buyer would need to pay to activate his copy.  This way, the game can still be sold used, and the publisher could get a little money back from the sale.  It sounds like a better alternative to flatout blocking used games, but still is not a desirable one.  I guess we're just going to have to continue to wait.

EDIT:  Thanks to @packtop for providing us with a link to an interview where Yoshida says the PS3 will not block used games.  However, it doesn't look like a clear cut and dry answer to me.  I'm still somewhat suspicious. 

So, will I be getting a PS4?  It was already in the cards.  It's been a tradition for me to get new systems at launch, because I love the experience.  I also love covering my bases, so if there's one exclusive that comes out, I don't have to worry.  Same with whatever system gets the best version of a console multiplat.  I also have a sneaky suspicion that we're going to finally see The Last Guardian release this year, or maybe next, and the whole reason for the continuous delays was because it was being migrated to the PS4.  I can only hope...

 It's no secret that part of what draws us to games are the fact that a lot of them, at least the big-budget titles, can look pretty damn pretty. Sure, like with real life relationships, it's not all about the looks, but Sony's meeting (outside of the streaming hiccups and me almost flinging my laptop in sudden frustration) was very impressive. This thing is going to obviously be way above and beyond what we've console gamers have been playing on for the last eon, and rightfully so.

The thing that kept me impressed was how familiar Sony seemed to be with their target audience. They knew us gamers would be watching this meeting, and potentially crashing their stream. They knew that we wanted to see long dormant franchises return. Sure, there were some flashy things like creative use of light and smart use of multiple screens, but what it came down to, and what they cut to the chase of, was their main event. That was, indeed, the PS4.

As expected, the graphical differences are leaps and bounds above what we have access to with the PS3 and X Box 360. What impressed me was not only the social aspects, but how creative the system lets you be, even if you're not very tech savvy (I'm more into creating than code writing myself). The social aspects are impressive, including watching what other friends are playing and having an option to lend a hand if needed. There are impressive feats that were featured, but they do kind of feed into the paranoia of required internet connections to play anything on the system.

Sure, at this point I'm biased. I had my X Box 360 for years, but didn't feel completely comfortable gaming until I got my Playstation 3. I'm excited to see what Microsoft has to show off as well, but as of now, my money's staying with Sony.

So Sony's big PS4 announcement. Yadda yadda yadda. Has a controller that reminds me of the Dreamcast controller with its little screen. Fancy specs, Cloud crap and all this social intergration I don't care about. Scanning through announcements...

And then I....

http://www.gamespot.com/news/knack-announced-for-the-playstation-4-6404208

Do my eyes deceive me?

A 3D platformer?

Cute cartoony visuals?

A new IP and not an indie thing like a full AAA game?

It's like a dream. The last thing I expected to see out of any next gen console was a cute, colorful new IP. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this game was a big hit and cartoony platformers dominated gaming once more killing all the grim and gritty shooters.

Ahh I can dream.