Apologies for the brevity of my initial post - I was at work so couldn't stay long, probably should have thought that through but never mind
Oculus Rift:
Ok, I do think this is cool, and definitely worth keeping a check on. The problem is, the current prototype has
woeful resolution - as in, it was literally like having an old SDTV about 2" from your eyes. The pixels were massive, and you could even plainly see the black framework around each individual one.
This was immediately disappointing, especially as the video feed above (that everyone was watching as we queued) was at 1080p and looked great. The game we played (there were a few Rifts (Oculii?!) dotted around with different titles, but this had the shortest queue) was Strike Suit Zero, which seemed pretty cool.
That said, the demo dudes commented that it would be running at 1080p by release, so that shouldn't be any issue much longer. As for how it worked, it was cool - the game had us flying a space craft, and being able to free-look around the cockpit was undoubtedly great. Looking up through the top of the canopy to locate a target, before swinging the craft up to bring it to aim was very cool and felt quite natural after only a couple of minutes. I could see in certain games that this would work really well.
Personally, I don't really like having stuff on my face like that (although weight distribution seemed very good, it's still pressed against your face). Also, I instinctively looked down to see the unfamiliar controller (flightstick) and of course just ended up staring at my finely rendered spacedude crotch. Anything needing additional input, getting set up, using the keyboard, grabbing a drink/snack etc...you've no choice but to come in and out of the thing - maybe it would even be cool if it had a camera feed so you could switch to that and quickly get things done without having to fuck around as much...?
Small niggles, but I don't have an issue being immersed in front of a big screen and surround sound, and this just seemed like a bit too much of a pisser to see it as much outside of a gimmicky add-on.
I don't want to be too down on it - it worked very smoothly and it
is cool - I would still consider purchasing one, or something like it, once the resolution is sorted out - it's just that all the hype suggested mindblowing and game changing, and I was just left with...yeah, it's neat, under certain conditions, ok...not essential. Perhaps my expectations were just off.
PS4:
I have a special kinda hatred for the DualShock pads, up to and including the PS3s. The DS4 is immediately so much better - and improves on all of the issues I have with the older ones.
Namely, it's bigger, in particular the 'prongs' - it sits far more comfortably in the hand and all the buttons are well placed, it's also weightier in a good way and feels solid and well constructed all round. The sticks are slightly further apart (cause the pad is wider than before) which should mean less 'thumbs meeting in the middle' which always pissed me off before. They're also much tighter and more responsive - easily as good as the 360s, I'd need more time with the pad to say for sure if it was better or not. The triggers also are much improved, with a nice range of movement and lovely springy action. Again, everything was super responsive.
Potential downsides? I didn't get to use the touchpad, so can't say much about that - although it was spongier than I was expecting (which isn't necessarily a criticism). It does have a satisfying 'click' to it after that, though, and you can press down either side or in the middle - whether this means it has multiple 'buttons' to assign, or just one click from anywhere, I don't know. My buddy had a go on Warframe (which actually looked a lot of fun) and got to use swiping motions to activate powers, he said it worked really well (and given the touch responsiveness of the Vita's various surfaces, I don't doubt that).
Other than that, the share and option buttons seemed very flush to the surface, so could be a little tricksy to locate in a pinch, but I guess once you're used to their placement that won't matter. Also, the gap between the casing and the triggers at full-pull looked like a bit of a finger-trap, but I guess you'd have to actively be trying to actually catch anything in there, as it's pretty out of the way during use and didn't cause me any trouble. Incidently, the bumpers are pretty flush too, but this was great as the transition between triggers and bumpers was excellent, simple and smooth.
Face buttons were fine, d-pad seemed great, all pretty standard. Oh, and the light bar didn't reflect off the screen at all (some people on gfaqs have been crying about that) although it wasn't a pitch black room or whatever, but I still don't see that being a problem unless you were right up against the screen.
The pad must have rumbled, but to be honest I didn't notice (probably because I'm so used to having a rumbling pad from the 360, which I use almost daily).
Also, the console is
slick - it's been seen that it's pretty small, but what really surprised me was the height of it - I'd say it's about as tall as a Wii, maybe a smidge more.
