Lots of PS4 info dropped today.  I haven't even had time to look over everything.  But I just want to get something out of the way first.

This is the new controller.  Love it, hate it.  But acknowledge that the DualShock has finally undergone some serious changes.  Sure, the layout of the sticks and face buttons are the same, but the contours of the pad have been ... fattened.  Too early to tell, but I'm willing to bet it will be a little more comfortable.  The obvious change, however, is the center of the controller.  This is a touchpad.  Repeat: TouchPAD.  Not a touch screen, like the Wii U's tablet, so don't be so quick to jump up and down in screaming fits going, "SONY COPIED NINTENDO AGAIN!"  The only similiarity that I see is to the old Wii remote with the built in speaker.  Not sure why they felt they had to put one there, as I thought it was an annoying and unnecessary feature in the Wii remote.  

So apparently, this new controller is going to be the keystone for the PS4's new social focus.  The Share button will allow  you to stream your gameplay in real time to another friend, and even grant him the ability to take over for you and play a particularly hard part for you.  You know, I've already heard a couple people complain about this?  "I don't want my friend taking over my game for me!"  Then don't pass the game over to him!  SHEESH!  You can even upload gameplay video to Facebook and ... blah blah blah.  I wonder what will happen to the gaming world if Facebook disappears... A lot of functions will end up going unused, but that's another blog.  

As for the system itself, it seems to be doing a lot of interesting tricks, but at the same time fails to convince me that they're absolutely necessary.  First is the PS3 backwards compatibility via streaming.  This is a wrong way to handle backwards compatibility.  The main problem with any kind of streaming and cloud gaming service is that high speed internet still isn't in every household, and there are some people who have data caps.  Streaming and cloud gaming will not be viable for them.  And then there's the whole part of Sony most likely going to charge you to play PS3 games you already own on your PS4 digitally.  Backwards compatiblity is still very important to a lot of gamers, and Sony just doesn't seem to care much about it anymore.  

I'm not much of a specs person, so I won't really comment on what's in the PS4's guts.  I will move on to the Vita connectivity, which considering it already does with the PS3 is no surprise that it will be supported with the PS4.  Again, I've been hearing, "OH MY GOD, SONY COPIED NINTENDO AGAIN!"  Actually, the Vita's been doing this with the PS3 before the Wii U was out.  And yeah, yeah, Nintendo's been doing this with the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, but yeah yeah, computers have been remoting with each other long before Nintendo made the GameCube.  Anyway, I'm very intrigued about this aspect, because I really would like to see if Sony can pull it off.  I have a 3G Vita and tried to use my PS3 remotely, and the video feedback was grainy.  If they can improve on this technology, they got themselves a winner for those who own a Vita.  Plus, there will be less of a need to include Vita versions with PS4 games when the Vita can simply stream them.

From my understanding, the price of the system is still up in the air, but it's estimated to be 419 for the base model and 519 for the more feature packed model.  In reality, it would be 399 and 499 because those previous price points are just too obscure.  399 and 499 seem reasonable to me, because they're 100 less than their respective PS3 launches.  It will still be high for many, but comparably, the cheaper SKU is the same price as MS's more expensive SKU 8 years ago.  If Sony really wants to stick it to Nintendo, they'll release a third SKU, cheaper still at 299.  This is something I would really like to see, because the first two PlayStations launched at 299.  Nowadays, consoles are made to do so many things, the launch price has to rise as a result.  I personally would like to see things go back to basics.  

As for the launch line up, we'll just have to wait for E3, but right now, there's not much sparking my interest.  I just heard Watch Dogs will make it to the Wii U, and I'm actually more excited about having it on that than on the PS4.  I'm just hoping they can make some creative  use of the tablet controller.  I'm also concerned about Sony's investment in the social aspect.  Do they really think that we all want our real names attached to our gamer profiles?  I'm sure there will be options to uphold our privacy; it would be stupid of them not to.  But, well, Sony tends to do stupid things.  I'm just kinda worried that the system is trying to do so many things at once, it's going to choke on itself and all these boasted features will become bug-ridden disasters.  

Of course, the one real concern that's on everyone's minds is whether or not the PS4 will block used games.  There's a rumor out that says it will in a sense by restricting what the purchaser of a used game will have access to.  In order to unlock the rest of the content, that used game buyer would need to pay to activate his copy.  This way, the game can still be sold used, and the publisher could get a little money back from the sale.  It sounds like a better alternative to flatout blocking used games, but still is not a desirable one.  I guess we're just going to have to continue to wait.

EDIT:  Thanks to @packtop for providing us with a link to an interview where Yoshida says the PS3 will not block used games.  However, it doesn't look like a clear cut and dry answer to me.  I'm still somewhat suspicious. 

So, will I be getting a PS4?  It was already in the cards.  It's been a tradition for me to get new systems at launch, because I love the experience.  I also love covering my bases, so if there's one exclusive that comes out, I don't have to worry.  Same with whatever system gets the best version of a console multiplat.  I also have a sneaky suspicion that we're going to finally see The Last Guardian release this year, or maybe next, and the whole reason for the continuous delays was because it was being migrated to the PS4.  I can only hope...