Page 36 2013 Home for the Holidays Special edition of LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com
What’s hot in electronic gaming?
T
he holiday season will soon
be upon us in full. The
advent of Christmas brings
with it the age-old question: What
gifts will I find for my loved ones?
What do I think they will want this
year?
Christmas for children has certainly
changed from what it once was,
especially so in the last two dec-
ades. Children today move more
and more into a realm of electronic
entertainment. And it is more than
the children who create such a wish
list; there is still a great population
of younger adults who feel them-
selves drawn into a world of games
and other such entertainment.
But that does not mean those doing
the shopping are destined to confu-
sion at the wish lists of their rela-
tives. Hopefully, a look at what is
hitting the shelves this season will
help clear the air that is filled with
beeping and clicking. Let’s start
with a look at the new generation
of gaming consoles shipping to the
stores this November.
Hardware
On Nov. 15, Sony released the next
product in the PlayStation lineup:
the PlayStation 4, or PS4. The
system features an optical drive
capable of reading Blu-ray Discs at
triple the speed of its predecessor.
The console is capable of rendering
games in a resolution of 1080p and
comes with a 500 gigabyte internal
hard drive, with space for addition-
al storage if necessary.
The PS4 hardware includes Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth connectivity and two
USB ports. A mono headset, which
can be plugged into the controller,
is bundled with the system. Video
output options include HDMI capa-
bility.
The PlayStation Camera, a motion
detection digital camera device, is
also shipping as a separate acces-
sory for the machine. The device
is technically two cameras that
operate as one for a greater sense
of depth perception; one camera is
used to generate the image and the
other is used for motion tracking.
The PS4 features a “suspend
mode” option, which places the
console in a low-power state and
allows users to immediately resume
play in the same manner as a com-
puter in standby mode. The console
will also be able to download game
and system updates while it is in
this mode.
The standard controller sold with
the console is the DualShock 4 con-
troller. It is a wireless device with
an internal rechargeable battery. It
features a touchpad, a headphone
jack and a light bar with three LEDs
that illuminate in different colors to
identify other players or to create
greater immersion for the player by
changing patterns or colors based
on events in a game. The light bar,
in conjunction with the PlayStation
Camera, can even judge the posi-
tions and movements of multiple
players.
