Five Stars - Sony Playstation 4 Bundle Pack Review

What a awesome bundle... loving my new PS4 wow NHL has come a long way! Lets go Caps!!!

Great Improvement, Worth Experiencing Again - Grand Theft Auto V PlayStation 4 Review

To start, I am a Rockstar games fan, especially the Grand Theft Auto franchise. I own GTA V for PS3 and I’ve played my moneys worth and more. In the past 6 months, GTA online has started to go downhill, less people, less DLC, the fading promise of heists online. Even I, as an avid GTA player, has gotten bored with it. When the Next gen announcements came, I wasn't to excited, I figured a few more shiny objects to please the masses. Then I looked deeper. I purchased the game for PS4, and i purchased a PS4 to play this game. There are so many improvements and changes, it is worth $60 more.

The Aesthetics, Rockstar is known for detail. The previous gen was very detailed, but the new gen blows it out of the water! The way the grass moves and The rain falls. The graphics are not quite as great as the trailers, but impressive to say the least. The way vehicles respond to impacts is more realistic. The draw distance Is amazing, You can pick A car's headlight in the distance, zoom in with your rifle and see it the car. There are more people, more traffic, a variety of weather, all making for a more immersive experience.

New modes and Items, I couldn't possibly cover everything, so I will just cover my favorites. The first person mode Is awesome! Fully functional gauges in a cockpit view is something i've always liked in games, GTA V does it great. Flying is my absolute favorite activity in GTA, I am an aircraft mechanic and though the gauges aren't perfect, I really enjoy this new mode. If you've already beaten the single player, I suggest playing it again in first person mode, it's well worth the time. Now I did own the previous gen, so I recieved a few extra things for upgrading, the rail gun and the modified Duke. All insignificant extras, but it was nice to have some extras thrown in for the players that upgrade.

The online: I was concerned that upgrading and transferring from my ps3 to ps4 would have issues. The transfer was smooth and easy. All vehicles, weapons and items transferred just fine for me. The limit is still two properties, there was a rumor a player could own 3. Unfortunately not. The collectors edition items such as the carbon RS, Hot Knife, and Bullpup shotgun are now unlocked for everyone. That's somthing I've been waiting a long time for. Unfortunately, I was hoping for animals in gta online, but that isn't a feature, maybe in future updates. Rockstar has also promised heists to be the first update, but that promise comes with allot of warented skepticism.

My verdict: If you couldn't already tell, I liked it. Its not just the common re-release, It improves and adds to the already great experience. Its well worth another $60 if you've owned it before, and if you haven't played it yet, You're missing out!

Decent bundle, but better are out there - PlayStation 4 500GB Hardware Bundle The Last of Us Remastered Edition Review

Let's just start with this: it is completely your opinion whether Xbox one or PS4 are better. There are ups and downs for both, but the main reason you buy one or another is what your friends get. This is why I don't get on xbox ones people's case, and I hope they don't get on mine.
After saying that, I'll talk about the bundle. There isn't really anything special about the bundle. You save like 10$, but even that is not true. You can buy a ps4 for 400 and the game new for 42, so it's cheaper to go that way. That said, if you are a person who likes bundles, there is a Black Friday bundle which includes: A BLACK 500GB PS4, GTA V, and THE LAST OF US. You can get this for only 400$. My recommendation is to go for that, and if you don't like gta v you can just sell it.

Best controller I have ever used - DualShock 4 Wireless Controller for PlayStation 4 Jet Black Review

As a long time Microsoft supporter and someone who has never really liked the PS3, I felt it necessary to post this.

I picked up the new DS4 controller last night for the upcoming PS4, and I have to say I am blown away at how much better they made this controller.

Everything about this controller feels better than the old DS3 and prior units. The joysticks are farther apart and actually have resistance for more precise movements.

The grips are elongated and this makes the controller fit much better in my bigger hands.

It is not heavy in the hand, so while using it I forget I am holding it. The movements feel more like second nature rather than thinking about which button to press.

I knew awhile back I was not getting the Xbox One and I had hitched my wagon to the PS4 train. This just makes that decision all the more grand.

This DS4 is the best controller I have used on any system to date. Will it beat the new Xbox One? Not sure, but I would have to say maybe. Even if it didn't I would say it won't matter, Microsoft lost my money this time around.

Let the games begin - PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 Bundle Review

We've had our PS4 since launch day (Knack, Killzone and Assassin's ordered separately, a bunch of downloads added as they appeared on the Plus) and we are very happy so far. As soon as we got it out of the box (pretty), we connected to our Wi-Fi, did a rather thorough tour of the system and took note of its capabilities (good stuff but some disappointments), checked out the new menu system (impressive), ran the mandatory update and did a quick round of Knack (fun). Many more rounds of Knack followed, especially by our 10 yr. old with occasional co-op help from me or one of her older brothers - yes, you can easily drop into a game and help out if you feel like it.

Given the DualShock 4's rather short life on a charge, getting a bundle with a second controller makes a lot of sense. Or just order one separately because, even if you are a lone player you will almost certainly miss a standby, charge controller if you don't have one.

So, without regurgitating published specs... let's talk about what we're getting.

THE AWESOME AND THE GOOD

Here they are, first briefly, then discussed below. Still under 'first impressions' so I may add or remove some as we keep playing, learning and exploring.

- Awesome, flawless graphics. Day one games are just that, probably not taking full advantage of the system but Knack hints at what's possible.
- Near-revolutionary new DualShock 4 controller.
- 10x the processing power of a PS3 and it shows.
- 32x more RAM
- Games on physical disks can be borrowed, traded
- Digital content made available at whatever PS4 you log into
- HDD still upgradeable without voiding warranty - our 1TB 7200 RPM upgrade should arrive later today.
- No power brick
- Game and chat audio can be sent to a headset through DS4's 3.5mm port
- All or most media apps (Netflix, Amazon, etc.) currently on PS3 are available on PS4 as well.
- Online access is 100% optional. Yes, you can do it all, including system patches without ever connecting your PS4 to the Internet.
- PS Plus subscription only required for (most) multiplayer games, not for media services
- Remote play (tested it on a Vita with Killzone and it works)
- Plenty of sharing, social features
- DualShock 3 chargers can be used with DualShock 4 controllers
- Move is supported with the new camera

I will rate the system's graphics capabilities as approaching the level of 'awesome. They are good enough to make me a little concerned that some of my current favorite PS3 games may lose some of their appeal. The graphics improvement is not as radical as in PS2 vs. PS3 but, believe me, it's significant and you just can't miss it and if you got used to frame rate drops and 720p or less resolution well... be prepared to get yourself unused to them because they're not going to happen much on the PS4.

The DualShock 4 controller, while looking familiar from a distance, is a major redesign and everything that changed or was added was for the better. The touchpad (clickable, multi-touch, etc.) is the most visible addition or... actually the light bar is more visible and games may or may not take advantage of these two but they are not the only changes. The better designed (concave tops) analog joysticks, the trigger-like R1/L1s, the in-controller little speaker, the audio jack, the more precise Sixaxis motion detection, the new hand-filling form factor make of a significantly better controller. Sony calls the DS4 'evolutionary' and clearly it's not a full redesign but it improves over the DS3 in a big way.

Sony claims that the PS4 has 10 times as much processing power than its predecessor. I don't know how this is measured but the PS4 is clearly and without a doubt much more powerful than the PS3. Everything appears to be smoother, more responsive and after one hour or so with Knack's sometimes super-busy environments, it seems that frame rate drops and low-res games are going to be very much things of the past, even when hundreds/thousands of little particles are moving independently on the screen as things break, explode or in the case of Knack re-form.

Then there is the memory. It's not something that we 'see' but, when compared to the PS3, there is 32 times as much system RAM (8GB of GDDR5) and, without going into technical details, it's a lot faster and a lot easier for a game to use than PS3's memory. I tend to play 'huge worlds' RPGs and I expect to see some awesome ones for the PS4 in the near future and the extra memory should help a lot.

As Sony's PR guys keep reminding us every time they get a chance, physical discs are not tied to individual accounts so you can still sell them, swap them with a friend's game or give them away. It should be great for as long as the publishers don't do 'online passes' and they won't if enough of us refuse to buy the titles that have them. Speaking for myself, that encouraged me to order three 'big' games at launch time knowing that I may be able to swap or sell one or all if I didn't feel like keeping them after trying them out.

The PS4 should allow us to access our digital content on someone else's PS4. It's something that I may try over the weekend because we are going to be at a friends' house that got their PS4 at about the same time we received ours. I will update my review if it doesn't work.

A few PS3 digital downloads are already available for the PS4 and are 'free' if already purchased for the PS3. We should ask that the list is greatly expanded.

The HDD is still upgradeable. Yes, it's something that we had on the PS3 and I am happy to see that Sony kept this option alive. My original 60GB PS3 was upgraded twice to the point where it became a 500GB PS3 and everything would have become very very frustrating if upgrading it wasn't an option.

Online is completely optional if you are willing to jump through hoops. Patches can be downloaded on a PC and ran off a USB drive if you really, really want to avoid ever going online.

We already have a PS Plus subscription and we are happy with what get out of it but not everyone wants quick access to indie games or online multiplayer. Yes, it's not as good a deal as PS3's always free online but it's still 'good' when compared with other platforms.

And, of course, there's a bunch of things I didn't try yet such as sharing stuff with everybody and some things that were promised but not implemented yet such as the ability to drop into someone else's game and help them out. I will update my review once I experience them.

THE UGLY AND THE BAD

And... yeah, not everything is awesome and here it is what needs to be fixed or get better so that we all become a happy gaming family. This may seem to be a long list but I am confident that quite a few of the items below are going to be addressed sooner rather than later and nearly all of them before the end of 2014.

- No MP3 support (how dumb is that?)
- No Media Server/DLNA support (see above)
- No support for audio CDs (no big deal to most but still dumb)
- No support for Bluetooth headsets (I bet they'll fix this soon)
- No support for mice of any kind (Bluetooth or USB)
- No support for an external, USB-connected HDD (it's probably coming with a future update)
- DS4's lightbar can't be turned off, camera or no camera
- Doesn't play PS3 games (inevitable but worth noting it because it's a fact)
- Not too many games at launch (see above, but it's getting better already)

I can't believe that Sony decided not to support MP3 and DLNA and they MUST fix this ASAP. These were good features on the PS3 and taking them away to force us into Sony's paid Music Unlimited service is not going to work and it's not going to win Sony any friends. And while at it, where's Pandora? Most of the shortcomings above are fixable and, if Sony wants us to be a bunch of happy gamers they better address them all as soon as possible.

[NOTE: I just read a couple of news stories stating that Sony will in fact add MP3, audio CD and DLNA support very, very soon. They better. They also claim that the PS4 lacking them at launch has had nothing to do with Sony promoting their Music Unlimited service.]

WHY GET ONE TODAY?

Unlike the original PS3, this one won't play most previous generation games except for those you can get at the PS store. There's a couple dozen launch titles and big promises for some really big games to be released soon, some of them big exclusives but I predict that my PS3 and the PS4 are going to sit next to each other for at least a couple more years in my living room unless Sony makes playing PS3 games possible on the PS4 and they just might do that soon through some 'off the cloud' service.

These being said, now that I have one, I am happy that I placed my preorder back in June. Anyone buying their first console should probably go with the PS4. Yes, there are great PS3 games out there but Sony will stop developing anything major after Gran Turismo 6 and lots of great games are coming to the new generation. As for those like me who already have a PS3, I know that we'll all end up with a PS4 or Xbox One or maybe both at some time in the future. Speaking for myself, PS4 or not, I'm still going to get my Dark Souls 2 on the PS3 and play it all throughout 2014 and beyond unless they announce a PS4 version but I'm looking forward to play at least half a dozen announced and soon to be released PS4 titles.

WHY FIVE STARS

The big MP3/DLNA/CD disappointment notwithstanding - and this WILL be fixed - the PS4 has the potential of becoming a great gaming platform. Seven (in the case of Xbox actually eight) years between consoles generations is a lot of time and gaming changed a lot over all these years. The technology improved and there was a lot of innovation, some of which is going to play a lot better on the new gen platforms.

I love the PS4 for all the technical improvements over the last gen and for being a new and improved gateway to great and greater games, for the greatly improved but still familiar DS4 controller to the not so familiar but easy to navigate new menus and for all of its raw power. I also appreciate it being a lot more affordable at launch then the PS3 was 7 years ago and for keeping tradeable disc-based games and offline playing still viable. Not everybody has access to the Internet all the time and some of us want to be able to play offline every now and then, Internet access or not. It's possible that my rating will change after another day or another week or month of using the PS4 and it will definitely change if most of the issues I noted above don't get fixed but, as of right now, it's a five star rating for the great experience so far and for the promise of it actually getting better in time.

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UPDATE:

Just upgraded the HDD to a HGST Travelstar 2.5-Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 32MB Cache HDD (awesome). It was all done in minutes and we now have some 820 GB free space vs about 320 GB before the upgrade. And game loads appear to be faster too. As for the original 500 GB HDD, it's not going to waste. It's now inside an inexpensive Sabrent Ultra Slim 2.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 External Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure and attached to our Wi-Fi router as shared storage for our media files that, hopefully, the PS4 will soon be able to access.

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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law! <<

Oldies Made Goldies - PlayStation 4 Black Friday Bundle Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us Remastered Review

I suspect that most shopping for a PS4 bundle don't have a PS4 yet so, let me talk a little about the console:

We've had ours since launch day because... we preordered one the day preorders were possible. Our expectations were high for the console build and features and realistic for the launch date games and both expectations were generally met. In other words, we are happy so far and we are happy to see that every firmware update gets us a slightly more capable gaming console and every month there are new good, sometimes great and every once in a while awesome games released, some multi-platform, some exclusive.

So, without regurgitating published specs... let's talk about what you get out of a PS4

THE AWESOME AND THE GOOD

Here they are, first briefly, then discussed below.

- Awesome, flawless graphics. No, I am not comparing the PS4 to gaming PCs that cost 2-3-4 times as much. For what we pay, and comparing the PS4 to the previous generation of consoles, the graphics a quite impressive. And it's not just resolution but the console's ability to keep track of a lot more independently moving objects without slowing down or dropping frames.
- Near-revolutionary new DualShock 4 controller. Battery life is not that great (get a second if you can spare the extra cash) but I do appreciate the added in-controller speakers, the clickable touchpad and the way the slightly beefier controller feels.
- When compared to the PS3, 10x the processing power, 32x more RAM and it shows.
- Digital content is available at whatever PS4 you log into
- HDD still upgradeable without voiding warranty - popped in a 1TB 7200 RPM upgrade and it was easy.
- No power brick
- Game and chat audio can be sent to a headset through PS4's 3.5mm port.
- Many media apps: Netflix, Amazon, etc. and the list is constantly growing.
- Online access is 100% optional. Yes, you can do it all, including system patches without ever connecting your PS4 to the Internet.
- PS Plus subscription only required for (most) multiplayer games, not for media services.
- PS Plus offers a couple of good 'free' games, some older AAAs, some new indies every month and you can play them for as long as you are subscribing.
- Plenty of sharing, social features

THE UGLY AND THE BAD

And... yeah, not everything is awesome and here it is what needs to be fixed or get better so that we all become a happy gaming family. This may seem to be a long list but I am confident that quite a few of the items below are going to be addressed sooner rather than later and nearly all of them before the end of 2014.

- No Media Server/DLNA support and this is one of the few reasons our old PS3 is used almost as much as the PS4
- No support for audio CDs (no big deal to most but still dumb)
- No support for Bluetooth headsets (I bet they'll fix this soon)
- No support for mice of any kind (Bluetooth or USB)
- DS4's lightbar can't be turned off completely even though it can be dimmed a little
- Doesn't play PS3 games except for the few available as streaming rentals and the price for that service is not 'right'.

THE REST OF THE BUNDLE

GTA5 is available on both 'new gen' and the older generation platforms and, surprise, surprise, is roughly the same game but added features make it sometimes feel like a new game or anyways, like a much better 'old' game, probably worth buying again.

First of all, it's the much better graphics. The most notable change is the graphical upgrade. It's not just the old graphics upscaled. The PS4 version is significantly more polished and realistic, almost cinematic in quality, taking advantage of PS4's ability to track many more particles - think of dust particles blown by the wind or raindrops splashing on a window pane.

Then, of course, there's the first person mode which is very different gaming experience. Not everyone is going to like this and I will probably stick to the 3d person mode myself but it's still something that I will try every now and then. It's very easy to switch from one mode to another so I can see myself doing it.

I would definitely get the GTA5 on the PS4 if I didn't have one for the PS3 or Xbox already. I would also get one if the GTA games were among my top 5 favorites. Maybe not if I preferred a different genre.

THE LAST OF US... same as GTA5 on graphics improvements. Add to that the included DLC content. Definitely worth getting it if you missed it on the PS3, maybe worth it if you are a fan.

FIVE STARS IF THIS SUITS YOU

There are different bundles available so it's good to be able to pick the one that fits you best.

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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law! <<

First impressions of my new PS4 - PlayStation 4 White Console Destiny Bundle Review

If Amazon allowed reviewers to post half stars, I'd give my new PS4 4&� stars.

Some of my "peeves" have to do with "Destiny" (see below), but as I bought the Destiny Bundle, I think it's still fair to include it in my overall score.

I own every Playstation from the original on up, so I knew it would be a great console, and it is:

Small, sleek footprint - no power "brick" (I am no Xbox One basher, but it is pretty funny to watch those YouTube comparisons). The build quality seems good, it runs fairly quiet, and Glacier White is a nice change of pace.

In my opinion, all of the improvements to the Dualshock 4 controller are welcome, including the slightly bigger and rounder handgrips and improved trigger (shoulder) buttons. The new touch pad is also a big "button" itself, and has some interesting possibilities.

The operating system is (for the most part) cleaned up and pretty easy to navigate (much improved over PS3).

System utilities are improved - you can charge the controller without the console needing to be fully powered up, you can download updates in the background, etc. You can change the brightness of the lightbar on the controller, and you can adjust the controller speaker's volume. One weird thing is that to turn off your controller (which I did a lot while playing Blu Ray movies on my PS3), you have to drill down a couple menu steps - on the PS3, this operation is a lot quicker.

Most important of all of course, currently available PS4 games look good and play very smoothly and are great fun - really looking forward as the PS4 exclusive titles pick up momentum in the next few months!

I did some research before buying, so I knew some things this system would be missing, but in case you don't know:

The PS4 will not play PS3 games, and let's face it, there's still a lot of play left in PS3 titles.

Unlike its predecessors, the PS4 doesn't have a dedicated RCA audio output - if you are just using your TV's onboard speakers, then sure, HDMI is a one connector solution, but if you want to route the PS4 audio to a separate sound system, that system needs to have an HDMI or optical input. I've got an Onkyo amp that isn't ancient and has hosted my PS3 for several years - but all it has are RCA ins, so I can't use it with my PS4. Sure, RCA is old technology, but Sony STILL puts cassette players in most of their boom boxes, for cripes sake! How much would it have cost them to include RCA outs like they've always done?

The hard drive is only 500Gb - that might seem big, it's really not, considering that some games now require a minimum of 50Gb, and it'll probably go up. Yes, you can buy a DIY drive upgrade, but not everybody wants to dive into their PS4's guts. I wish Sony would have tiered the product - i.e., made it also available with a 1Tb drive - I think a lot of people would have paid the extra cost if it were an option.

I knew about the non backward compatibility, the lack of RCA outs and the smallish hard drive -what I didn't know was that for "Destiny," a "sufficiently robust WI-FI connection may be required". Yep, even if you just play the campaign, you have to be online because apparently even the campaign has multiplayer elements. I can appreciate that they have a grand plans for this game, but I hope this isn't the start of a trend for other titles. I have a decent WI-FI setup, but not the best. Every PS4 title I had purchased loaded without incident, but I struggled with the online requirements of "Destiny," and that was frustrating. When I finally got the update downloaded, I was able to play for about 45 minutes without a glitch, and yes, it is no doubt an awesome game. I just don't like the idea that every time I fire up "Destiny" I'll also have to power up my network and hope that it's "sufficiently robust" that day. :)

Worth mentioning:

Several people have been having trouble with the coating on the thumbsticks (joysticks...whatever) on their PS4 controllers disintegrating with regular use, and others have had no such issues. I don't think it's mishandling, it might be an interaction with the oils & sweat from some people's hands and that particular formulation of material. I have a not too old Logitech mouse with a rubberized coating that's doing the same "shedding" thing. Anyway, if you have a new PS4 controller, it might be worthwhile to buy one of the many brands of protective "caps" out there - this is what I bought: Grip-iT Analog Stick Covers and they work fine.

I don't regret my purchase at all - just wanted to document my opinion of some pluses and minuses...