https://twitter.com/ScottLowe/status/372457280249528321
Top to bottom, chronologically. (Edited out the most disreputable games journalist.)
Scott Lowe is executive editor at IGN.com
First it read to me that he was saying that Sony was using generic PC hardware (and based on what we know about the PS4, it isn't PC hardware at all, except for the CPU architecture being x86_64.)
It seems he later clarified he was talking about PS4 devkits.
Edit #1:
The difference between a Devkit and a PC:
Edit #2:
Edit #3: DemonNite works for SCE.
Edit #4:
War Thunder:
Knack:
I think now it's a pretty ballsy claim. All Sony booth. All three images would ostensibly contradict what Scott Lowe is saying.
Would love a follow-up where he calls Sony out on their alleged masquerade.
Edit #5: This was a reply to the War Thunder picture above:
Top to bottom, chronologically. (Edited out the most disreputable games journalist.)
Scott Lowe is executive editor at IGN.com
First it read to me that he was saying that Sony was using generic PC hardware (and based on what we know about the PS4, it isn't PC hardware at all, except for the CPU architecture being x86_64.)
It seems he later clarified he was talking about PS4 devkits.
Edit #1:
The difference between a Devkit and a PC:
As countless others have said, there's quite a difference between a PC that is specced to match a PS4, and a devkit.
For example, while waiting to play NFS Rivals with a PS4 controller, the game crashed to a Windows 7 desktop with Origin and a command-line window running a script.
On the other hand, while waiting for the round to start in Battlefield 4, I pressed the PS button and got the PS4 OS menu, so unlike NFSR, it was a PS4 devkit.
One small correction, you don't need a devkit to play unfinished games; you can run them on a debug unit, which is what journalist do to preview upcoming games.
Edit #2:
Ok here's a quick crash course on how game developpement actually works.
We're seeing two different things right now...
That NFS picture is not what he's talking about in the OP's tweet. They are clearly running the PC version of the game with a PS4 controller.
What the OP is talking about is PS4 games running on a devkit instead of a "retail" console.
First of all this is complete bullshit. They are both running games on devkits. The XB1 devkits happens to look exactly like the retail console so the PR guys can say that it's a retail console but it's actually a devkit. The PS4 devkits look different so it's easier to spot. Three months before the console is released is WAYYY too early to run anything on a retail kit.
Second, you guys need to understand what a devkit actually is. The devkits that are in use right now (I'm not talking about the very early devkits but what's in use right now) are pretty much using the same final hardware that will be in the retail kits but with extra memory allocated to debug tools and the ability to run unsigned code.
There's nothing wrong or devious from running games on a devkit. That's how it always been. What did you think the 360/PS3 games were running on at E3 for the last 6 years? They were not retail consoles either, they were devkits since nobody has signed code that can run on a retail console until the game goes through submission...which happens 2-3 weeks before the game is released.
All those tweets and articles are just click bait to create controversy. It's a non story and people really need to move on.
Edit #3: DemonNite works for SCE.
So they allegedly exist. "In" "the" "office".just so that you know, test kits (not DevKits) are in the PS4 shell... and they've been in the office for a while
Edit #4:
War Thunder:
Knack:
I think now it's a pretty ballsy claim. All Sony booth. All three images would ostensibly contradict what Scott Lowe is saying.
Would love a follow-up where he calls Sony out on their alleged masquerade.
Edit #5: This was a reply to the War Thunder picture above:
This info is second-hand from colleagues of mine who were working certain multiplatform booths at Gamescom.
These boxes were shell condiuts for powering the USB attached controller and to power the LEDs on the front. The back is hidden because all that was there was a power cord going down to the actual devkits running the games which were inside the counters the boxes sat on.
Can't identify where this particular setup photo was taken but same sort of tactic was used for Xbox One stations as well.
That is not to say this was the case everywhere at Gamescom, there were actual functional consoles that looked like their future retail counterparts present as well.