PS4: Questions Unanswered

Sony had plenty to tell us about their new console at their press event earlier this week. Just trawl through the site and you'll see industry reactions, gameplay trailers, and discussion centered around the new tech.

But whilst we know much more than we did last week, there's still plenty of questions that remain unanswered as we edge ever closer to the next generation. Here's some of the questions that we'd like answered.

What does the bloody thing look like? Come on Sony, don't leave us hanging... How will it look sitting under my HD-TV? Will it be a big fat thing like the first generation PS3 - or are we talking a more streamlined effort like later iterations of the current console? Even some kind of conceptual drawing or mock-up would've been appreciated.

One or more models? Sony did not show their console, and they did not give any specifics on whether their may be more than one configuration. They did stress the need for a harddrive though. The very muted mentioning of Blu-Ray (in the system specs), makes us think that Sony could be considering a digital only disc-less version, either at launch or later down the road.

Sony, will you promise, hand on heart, that we'll be able to play second-hand games on the new console? Or are they about to become a thing of the past?

While there's plenty that'll be happy that it looks like second-hand games will work on PS4 - there's even more who are (rightly) grumpy that our old PSN and PS3 games won't work, as the new machine won't be backward compatible out of the box. Will we have to re-purchase non-digital PS3 games you own in order to play them on PS4? And what reason can there possibly be to buy anything on PSN from now on - seeing as they'll effectively be redundant when the PS4 launches. Even if potential backwards compatibility has been hinted at through streaming, when's that likely to happen?

Speaking of launches: according to Sony PS4 will launch in Holiday 2013. Is that a North American/Japan launch date, or a worldwide one? Will us Europeans have to wait longer to get our collective mitts on the new console? A little clarification please.

And when it does launch, how much are we going to have to shell out in order to acquire one. Do we have to start saving up now? Or is the Playstation going to be the more affordable this time around?

What's the subscription model going to be for PSN? Whilst we're loving the promise of greater collaboration with indie devs, and a wider range of different gaming experiences, how's the service going to work? Will the majority of features be available for free - or will they shift to more closely resemble Microsoft's model?

Where the hell was EA? Did they fall down the back of the Green Room sofa or something? Their absence was probably one of the biggest surprises of the evening, especially given the two companies pushed Battlefield 3 so hard on Playstation 3. Many of us thought a similar push for EA's franchise would be announced, and it wasn't, instead replaced by a deafening silence from the world's biggest publisher.

Why no details on the touchpad? What are we going to be able to do with the damned thing? And whilst we're on the subject, we're not going to be able to use our rather expensive Dualshock 3's with the PS4 - what's that all about?

What was saved for E3? Last Guardian? Naughty Dog? GT? There were some seriously big IPs not even mentioned at the event. Whilst we appreciate you can't announce everything all at once, a little word on these major franchises would've gone down a treat; instead we're left with an empty feeling in the pitt of our stomaches.

Will Move and the new PS Eye work side-by-side? Do you need both? What's the strategy here? We've already been told that it is going to be powerful enough to manage facial recognition, so how is this going to be applied in games?

And last but not least - what the hell did you promise Bungie to make them kick Microsoft so firmly in the knackers?