????每當(dāng)被問(wèn)到索尼電腦娛樂(lè)公司（Sony Computer Entertainment）的最新產(chǎn)品PS4時(shí)，總裁安德魯?豪斯都會(huì)簡(jiǎn)潔地回答：“我們從PS3遭遇的挑戰(zhàn)中學(xué)到了很多東西?！盤(pán)S3比它主要的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手——微軟（Microsoft）Xbox 360——的價(jià)格更高。而它采用的尖端技術(shù)，正如豪斯所言：“給大多數(shù)開(kāi)發(fā)商造成了不小的困難。”

????索尼把這些教訓(xùn)謹(jǐn)記于心。本周五即將上架的PS4將以399美元出售——比全新的Xbox One低了100美元。而索尼也不再花重金投入豪斯所謂的“定制（技術(shù)）架構(gòu)”，而是采用了和PC機(jī)相類(lèi)似的內(nèi)部組件。對(duì)開(kāi)發(fā)商而言，它意味著制作PS4平臺(tái)的游戲會(huì)簡(jiǎn)單不少，同時(shí)也讓他們相信會(huì)有更多大作，讓PS4成為玩家不可或缺的產(chǎn)品。

????本周早些時(shí)候，索尼借給了我一臺(tái)PS4。我只用了不到兩天，所以我的觀點(diǎn)雖是親身體會(huì)，卻并不全面。到目前為止，這臺(tái)主機(jī)給我留下了深刻的印象。

????硬件。豪斯表示，PS4的設(shè)計(jì)真正采用了平行四邊形元素。確實(shí)如此，這個(gè)靈感體現(xiàn)得十分明顯。這臺(tái)黑色塑料主機(jī)的邊角很尖，沒(méi)什么流線(xiàn)感，還有著傾斜的角度。它比上一代主機(jī)小了很多，所以我要對(duì)此表示感謝。因?yàn)樯弦淮鳈C(jī)是一臺(tái)鋼琴黑的龐然大物，在我的電視旁占據(jù)了許多空間。光盤(pán)上的游戲會(huì)自動(dòng)轉(zhuǎn)存到PS4的500GB硬盤(pán)上，這個(gè)過(guò)程很快，只需要幾分鐘。不過(guò)考慮到許多游戲都有超過(guò)30GB的大小，因此硬盤(pán)肯定很快就會(huì)裝滿(mǎn)。

????控制器與上一代非常相似，不過(guò)也有許多舒適感上的調(diào)整。比如，觸發(fā)按鈕和控制鍵現(xiàn)在是凹面的，而不是凸的，這與手的形狀更加吻合。跟任天堂（Nintendo）巨大的Wii U平板控制器相比，這一點(diǎn)體現(xiàn)得更加明顯。后者讓我感覺(jué)自己像是拿著一本硬皮書(shū)。（實(shí)際上，PS4的控制器很快就成為了迄今為止我最喜歡的游戲控制器。）控制器上還有個(gè)小型揚(yáng)聲器，用來(lái)播放音頻，告訴玩家屏幕上發(fā)生了什么。此外，控制器中間還有一塊光滑靈敏的觸控板。不過(guò)坦白地說(shuō)，我?guī)缀鯖](méi)有在游戲中用到它。非要說(shuō)缺點(diǎn)的話(huà)，控制器的電池一次充電只能用4個(gè)小時(shí)。這樣也不錯(cuò)了，不過(guò)，我還是更希望在插入電源充電前，它能讓我用上更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。

????Ask Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House about the company's newest device, the PlayStation 4, and he'll put it quite simply: "We learned a lot from challenges with PlayStation 3." The PlayStation 3 was priced higher than its primary competitor, Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360, and its cutting-edge technology posed, as House puts it, "considerable challenges to a large swath of developers."

????Sony (SNE) has taken those lessons to heart. When the PlayStation 4 arrives in U.S. stores this Friday, the console will be priced at $399 — $100 less than the all-new Xbox One. And, instead of investing heavily in what House calls "bespoke [tech] architecture," Sony went with internal components that more closely resemble those found in personal computers. For developers, that means making games for the PlayStation 4 should be a smoother process, with the hopes that there will be more hit games that make the PlayStation 4 a must-have item.

????Sony loaned me a PlayStation 4 earlier this week, and since I've spent less than two days with it, consider this more of a hands-on than an all-out review. But my time with the console so far has left me with strong impressions:

????The hardware. House calls the PlayStation 4 a veritable ode to the parallelogram, and indeed, the inspiration is obvious, with sharp corners, few curves, and slanted angles dominating the plastic black console's overall design. It's a lot smaller than its predecessor -- a gorgeous, piano-black behemoth that hogged up too much space next to my TV -- and for that, I'm grateful. Games on disc are automatically downloaded to the PS4's 500-gigabyte hard drive, a quick process that only takes a few minutes. But given how many games take up 30-plus gigabytes of space, that hard drive is bound to fill up quickly.

????The controller bears a strong resemblance to last generation's, but it's been tweaked a lot for comfort: The trigger buttons and controller nubs are concave instead of convex, for instance, and overall, it's more contoured to the hand, much more so than the giant tablet controller on Nintendo's Wii U device, which still feels like I'm holding something vaguely resembling a hardcover book. (In fact, the PS4 controller is quickly becoming my favorite game controller to date.) There's also a tiny speaker on it that pipes out audio to complement whatever's happening onscreen, and a smooth, responsive touchpad in the middle, which frankly, I barely need to use for the games I played. The controller's weakness, if anything, would be the four hours of battery life in-between charges. That's fine, but I'd prefer more time before having to plug back in.