Douglas Heaven, reporter
Sony's Andrew House introduces the PlayStation 4 at a news conference yesterday (Image: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)
It's typically only spoilt children and brilliant eccentrics that get away with not turning up to their own party. Sony's long-awaited announcement last night of the PlayStation 4 games console - its successor to the seven-year-old and 70-million-selling PS3 - put an end to speculation, but was most notable for the no-show of the console itself. Was this meant to prolong the hype until the "Holiday 2013" launch, as Sony claims, or because the company hasn't yet solved cooling problems, as cynics have suggested?
What we do have is an official spec sheet which reads more like one for a supercharged PC. The PS4 specs certainly carry enough punch to support spectacular graphics by today's standards, and a large part of last night's show was devoted to showing this off. But will it still feel fresh in seven years when PC architecture has moved on?
The key new technology in this console generation is likely to be the live streaming of games. After acquiring Gakai - one of the pioneers of game-streaming technology - Sony is leading the way and making live streaming a big part of the player experience.
This has let Sony build game spectating into the hardware: the console will continuously encode a video stream of your game footage while you play. A "share" button on the new controller will then let you immediately start streaming video of your in-game play to friends.
Friends may even be able to jump in remotely and lend a hand if you get stuck, either by taking temporary control for that infuriating boss fight or by acting as a game director who drops helpful items into your game.
Streaming tech will also let you jump in and play demos of games in the online PlayStation Store, something that's only possible now by waiting out a lengthy download. Personalisation is also getting a big push: The PlayStation Store will learn what type of games you like, and possibly even take the liberty of pre-empting a purchase by downloading games it thinks you might want to buy to your console's hard disc.
Backwards compatibility with PS3 games isn't clear. Older games - including titles from the original PlayStation and PS2 - will be available via streaming, but Sony hasn't yet said whether this will require repurchasing an entire games collection. However, physical copies of second-hand games may well be supported, according to Eurogamer, which apparently puts Sony at odds with Microsoft.
Finally, Sony says it wants all PS4 games to be playable on mobile devices - the PlayStation Vita and possibly certain phones and tablets - again by streaming directly from the PS4 via Wi-Fi. This could be handy if you want to play while someone else hogs the widescreen TV.
The take-home message is that Sony's new console wants to be the centre of a new kind of gaming experience - one that's more social, more flexible, more mobile. Pity it's still stage-shy.
Sharing and streaming at heart of new PlayStation 4
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Sharing and streaming at heart of new PlayStation 4
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Sharing and streaming at heart of new PlayStation 4
