10 Things You Didn't Know About the PlayStation 4
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VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
The PlayStation 4 is now ten years old, so it's time to celebrate its legacy. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we're taking a look at some fun facts about the PS4 you may not have known about! Our list of things you didn't know about the PlayStation 4 includes Bungie's Input for the DualShock 4, how "Dark Souls" inspired its messaging system, how the Xbox One's negative reception altered Sony's plans, and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at some fun facts about the PS4 you may not have known about!
Compared to the rest of Sony’s consoles, the PlayStation 4 might look as if it has been arbitrarily designed. The previous consoles were all just boxes with some slight style to them. Why a rhombus? Well, it wasn’t just for flair, but efficiency and functionality purposes. On the front, the USB ports and Power and Eject buttons were all shoved to one side so that users could easily find them. As for the reasoning behind the back getting slanted over, this was done to better hide your cables, giving your entertainment center a much cleaner look.
Though we know the PS4 as a truly great console with its assortment of exclusives, the launch was arguably a bit rough. Yes, we did get some truly great games at the time: “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag”, “Lego Marvel Super Heroes”, and “Injustice: Gods Among Us” were spectacular titles, but they launched on platforms you most likely already had. As for first-party, well…no one was jumping to be among the first to play “Knack”. At least we had “Killzone: Shadow Fall”...which was also so-so.
This is perhaps one of the coolest factoids about the PS4 when looking at its various features. In case you were one of the many people who did not like the way you had to type messages on the PS3, the PS4 took inspiration from one game many might be familiar with - “Dark Souls!” Yes, FromSoftware gave Sony an idea on how to make messaging easier for the PS4. Shuhei Yoshida, who served as Sony Worldwide Studios’ President in 2013, revealed to the public that the messaging format in “Dark Souls” helped in creating the design of the PS4’s messaging system. So, praise the sun for all those times you made use of the quick select words.
The poor Vita was such a cool handheld, yet no one bought it. Oh, well. That only means a few got to experience its useful features that worked with the PS4. Okay, the ONE useful feature. If you could not afford another DualShock 4 but had a PS4 and a Vita, you could connect the Vita to your PS4 to use as a controller while Player 2 got the DualShock 4. Imagine if Sony had tried turning the two into their own Wii U.
Now, as with most forms of evolution, there are some obsolete functions that get tossed into the aether, never to be seen again. The PS4 was able to read all kinds of formats - USB drives, DVDs, Blu-Rays… But what could it not read? Well, despite reading two other disc formats, it could not read CD, or “Compact Disc”. This was because the PS4 was not built with the same laser used to read CDs. Hopefully you didn’t think your favorite album was busted before throwing it out.
Prior to their acquisition, Bungie did have a hand in making the PS4 as great as it could be. Well, moreso the controller than the console. While Sony was working on the next iteration of the DualShock, they enlisted Bungie’s help in how the controller could be the necessary improvement compared to the DualShock 3, especially for shooter games. The studio even assisted in incorporating the Share button. This would eventually lead to “Destiny” putting out a lot of PS4-exclusive content and, of course, their acquisition in 2022.
Man, the PS4 was worth the money, but still, four hundred dollars was a hefty price to pay. Many folks probably waited for that inevitable price cut of three hundred bucks while one young man in France outplayed everyone. In January of 2019, a 19-year-old man managed to walk out of a supermarket having only paid nine Euros for his PS4. How did he do it? He weighed the console on a scale for fruits and veggies and used the self-checkout kiosk. Law enforcement caught him on his second attempt, and the man was sentenced to four months behind bars.
Remember PlayStation Vue and PlayStation TV? No? Well, neither did the rest of the MojoPlays team. (But I remembered. I always remember.) PlayStation Vue and PlayStation TV were two products Sony developed in an effort to break into the video-on-demand and television streaming markets respectively. If their obscurity wasn’t evident already, neither lasted long enough to catch wind. Sony would close down PlayStation Vue in 2020, five years after its launch, citing the slow growth in the market. As for PlayStation TV, the service died as quickly as it launched, only surviving a couple of years before its plug was pulled in 2015.
In all honesty, this one is mostly based on rumors and talk from circles inside games media and the gaming industry, but it’s still worth discussing. You remember how Sony absolutely humiliated Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal with a lower price tag and that “How to Share Used Games” video? Well, that was all last-minute moves on PR. Over the years, industry insiders have talked about how this was not on the table. Rumor has it that Sony was about to enforce similar policies that Microsoft had for the Xbox One. Then, they got raked over the coals. Sony clearly saw this as free goodwill and publicity, and it helped them pull the rug out from Microsoft’s feet.
If you followed Sony closely throughout the PS4’s life cycle, you probably got to see a plethora of different SKUs with designs inspired by various games. But did you know there was one made to celebrate a historical milestone? December 3, 2014 marked the twentieth anniversary of PlayStation. To commemorate the occasion, Sony released a limited edition of the PS4 where the big rhombus and the DualShock 4 were modeled after the original PlayStation console. Only twelve thousand three hundred of these were made, which was the same number of PS1’s that were made for launch way back in 1994.
Do you know any fun facts about the PS4? Share with us down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more PlayStation videos!
Rhombus With a Purpose
Compared to the rest of Sony’s consoles, the PlayStation 4 might look as if it has been arbitrarily designed. The previous consoles were all just boxes with some slight style to them. Why a rhombus? Well, it wasn’t just for flair, but efficiency and functionality purposes. On the front, the USB ports and Power and Eject buttons were all shoved to one side so that users could easily find them. As for the reasoning behind the back getting slanted over, this was done to better hide your cables, giving your entertainment center a much cleaner look.
Launching to Greatness
Though we know the PS4 as a truly great console with its assortment of exclusives, the launch was arguably a bit rough. Yes, we did get some truly great games at the time: “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag”, “Lego Marvel Super Heroes”, and “Injustice: Gods Among Us” were spectacular titles, but they launched on platforms you most likely already had. As for first-party, well…no one was jumping to be among the first to play “Knack”. At least we had “Killzone: Shadow Fall”...which was also so-so.
Messages From Another World
This is perhaps one of the coolest factoids about the PS4 when looking at its various features. In case you were one of the many people who did not like the way you had to type messages on the PS3, the PS4 took inspiration from one game many might be familiar with - “Dark Souls!” Yes, FromSoftware gave Sony an idea on how to make messaging easier for the PS4. Shuhei Yoshida, who served as Sony Worldwide Studios’ President in 2013, revealed to the public that the messaging format in “Dark Souls” helped in creating the design of the PS4’s messaging system. So, praise the sun for all those times you made use of the quick select words.
Vita Forever
The poor Vita was such a cool handheld, yet no one bought it. Oh, well. That only means a few got to experience its useful features that worked with the PS4. Okay, the ONE useful feature. If you could not afford another DualShock 4 but had a PS4 and a Vita, you could connect the Vita to your PS4 to use as a controller while Player 2 got the DualShock 4. Imagine if Sony had tried turning the two into their own Wii U.
Disc Read Error
Now, as with most forms of evolution, there are some obsolete functions that get tossed into the aether, never to be seen again. The PS4 was able to read all kinds of formats - USB drives, DVDs, Blu-Rays… But what could it not read? Well, despite reading two other disc formats, it could not read CD, or “Compact Disc”. This was because the PS4 was not built with the same laser used to read CDs. Hopefully you didn’t think your favorite album was busted before throwing it out.
Bungie & the DualShock 4
Prior to their acquisition, Bungie did have a hand in making the PS4 as great as it could be. Well, moreso the controller than the console. While Sony was working on the next iteration of the DualShock, they enlisted Bungie’s help in how the controller could be the necessary improvement compared to the DualShock 3, especially for shooter games. The studio even assisted in incorporating the Share button. This would eventually lead to “Destiny” putting out a lot of PS4-exclusive content and, of course, their acquisition in 2022.
PS4: Fruit Edition
Man, the PS4 was worth the money, but still, four hundred dollars was a hefty price to pay. Many folks probably waited for that inevitable price cut of three hundred bucks while one young man in France outplayed everyone. In January of 2019, a 19-year-old man managed to walk out of a supermarket having only paid nine Euros for his PS4. How did he do it? He weighed the console on a scale for fruits and veggies and used the self-checkout kiosk. Law enforcement caught him on his second attempt, and the man was sentenced to four months behind bars.
Room With a Vue
Remember PlayStation Vue and PlayStation TV? No? Well, neither did the rest of the MojoPlays team. (But I remembered. I always remember.) PlayStation Vue and PlayStation TV were two products Sony developed in an effort to break into the video-on-demand and television streaming markets respectively. If their obscurity wasn’t evident already, neither lasted long enough to catch wind. Sony would close down PlayStation Vue in 2020, five years after its launch, citing the slow growth in the market. As for PlayStation TV, the service died as quickly as it launched, only surviving a couple of years before its plug was pulled in 2015.
Change of Plans
In all honesty, this one is mostly based on rumors and talk from circles inside games media and the gaming industry, but it’s still worth discussing. You remember how Sony absolutely humiliated Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal with a lower price tag and that “How to Share Used Games” video? Well, that was all last-minute moves on PR. Over the years, industry insiders have talked about how this was not on the table. Rumor has it that Sony was about to enforce similar policies that Microsoft had for the Xbox One. Then, they got raked over the coals. Sony clearly saw this as free goodwill and publicity, and it helped them pull the rug out from Microsoft’s feet.
Flux Capacitor Not Included
If you followed Sony closely throughout the PS4’s life cycle, you probably got to see a plethora of different SKUs with designs inspired by various games. But did you know there was one made to celebrate a historical milestone? December 3, 2014 marked the twentieth anniversary of PlayStation. To commemorate the occasion, Sony released a limited edition of the PS4 where the big rhombus and the DualShock 4 were modeled after the original PlayStation console. Only twelve thousand three hundred of these were made, which was the same number of PS1’s that were made for launch way back in 1994.
Do you know any fun facts about the PS4? Share with us down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more PlayStation videos!
