PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 is the fourth generation of PlayStation console from Sony, officially announced on 20 February 2013 and was released on 15 November 2013 in North America, 29 November 2013 in Europe, and 22 February 2014 in Japan. The PlayStation 4 is the successor of the PlayStation 3, and has been designed based on the wishes of game developers.
Unlike the PS3, which used the proprietary Cell architecture, the PS4 is based on the x86-64 architecture, similar to mainstream PCs. The PS4 comes with a new controller, the DualShock 4, which features a touch pad, a mono speaker, a light bar, and a headphone jack. The controller can be charged by plugging into the console, even when the console is turned off. Unlike past PlayStation controllers, the "Start" and "Select" buttons have been replaced with a singular "Options" button.
Unlike its predecessor, online play for the PlayStation 4 requires a paid PlayStation Plus subscription for most games; however, free-to-play titles do not require a paid subscription.
Grand Theft Auto V, released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, as well as its online counterpart, Grand Theft Auto Online, will be released on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC in the fall of 2014. This could potentially mitigate issues for Rockstar Games, including preventing loss of sales of DLC due to people having sold their old systems.