Sony Entertainment launched its PlayStation 4 in New York yesterday but the gaming console itself was not on display.
Instead, PS4 units were hidden backstage and their output projected on screens out front during the two-hour event.
Sony showed an updated controller that adds a touchpad and a "share" button. The controller also features a light bar, which means a new PlayStation camera can more easily track the device for motion control.
"I don't know that the box is going to be something that's going to have a dramatic impact on people's feelings about the game. It will be a colour and a size fairly comparable to previous consoles," said Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment of America.
Sony did, however, present its idea of connected gaming with the PS4.
With one button, users can broadcast video of game play to friends online, and the company wants people to play video games on the internet using not only the PS4, but smartphones, tablets and PS Vita handheld devices.
The PS4 comes with an unusual marketing tool: it can work out what content a user likes and automatically download it without being asked.
Sony revealed that the insides of the PS4 will essentially be a "supercharged PC". It will have an Advanced Micro Devices "Jaguar" X86 8-core central processor, 8Gb of memory, a hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, USB 3.0 and HDMI.
A regular computer processor makes it easier for developers to write and adapt games but means the new console won't play games created for any of the three previous PlayStations. Instead, Sony said gamers can stream older games to the PS4 through the internet.
