14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt, the biggest piece of news this year has been the announcement of the PlayStation 4 earlier this week.
Even if Sony didn't exactly show the console, it revealed a variety of games for it, ranging from shooters like Killzone: Shadow Fall, to racing titles, like Driveclub, to more outlandish experiences, like Knack or The Witness.
The company also cooperated with other third-party developers, like Epic, to show off the Unreal Engine 4 technology, and with its own Gaikai team, which demoed the unique cloud gaming and streaming systems built into the next-generation console.
While the announcement was pretty impressive, it's worth pointing out just how much Sony is trying to fix the mistakes it made with the PlayStation 3.
First and foremost, Sony is showing off way more games that cover a bigger range of genres. Who would have thought that a lighthearted platformer like Knack would be revealed ahead of a hardcore shooter like Killzone?
The company also opted to focus on the social features of its device, including the special Share button on the all-new DualShock 4 controller.
Speaking of the new controller, Sony is finally evolving its DualShock design, albeit slightly. While the core controller we saw for the PlayStation 1 more than 15 years ago is still there, there are crucial changes, especially when it comes to the thumbsticks.
Sony is also practically guaranteeing backwards compatibility with all sorts of older PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles via its Gaikai cloud streaming service.
There was much debate about the PS3's backwards compatibility, which was quickly dropped by Sony, so it seems that the company is trying to offer a solution that should please those who want the new console to play older titles.
What's more, Sony is also making amends regarding developers, as instead of incorporating a complicated chip like the Cell one from the PS3, it's using a slightly enhanced version of an AMD CPU, which should make creating games for the PlayStation 4 much, much easier.
The company is also to bundle each console with a PlayStation 4 Eye camera, which should allow developers to build in support for new types of experiences.
Overall, Sony's PlayStation 4 is looking like a capable console, even if there are still a lot of things that need to be revealed about it, including the design, price, or actual release date.