Five things you didn’t know about PlayStation 4

If you’re a gamer, you probably know quite a bit about Sony’s new PlayStation 4 ($399), which sold more than a million units its first 24 hours – and that’s just in the U.S. and Canada. PlayStation 4 (PS4) launched in 40 countries on Nov 29: 20 in Europe and 20 in Latin America.
You likely know PS4 has a Share button on the controller, which lets you share a video clip or screenshot with friends over social media. Other features include: the ability to start playing games as you download them to the 500GB hard drive instead of waiting for them to finish; wirelessly streaming PS4 games to a nearby PlayStation Vita handheld gaming system; and the ability to listen to more than 22 high-quality music tracks while you play games via the Music Unlimited service.
But there’s a lot more to the PS4, and so Yahoo Digital Crave caught up with Al de Leon, PlayStation spokesperson, to spill the beans on some lesser-known facts, features and other assorted tidbits.
Screws, drives
One of the screws to hold the PS4 hard drive has the DUALSHOCK 4 controller symbols. Did you find it? “We thought this would add a nice touch to PS4, and a little treat for our PlayStation fans,” says Al de Leon.
“Also, PS4 allows users to swap their hard drive easily with standard hard drives such as those used on laptops,” adds de Leon. “It’s the only console that allows you to do this without voiding warranty.”
Full HD
Every PS4 launch game, with one exception (Battlefield 4) displays at a native 1080p resolution, aka "Full HD."
“By displaying at a native 1080p resolution, PS4 utilizes your HDTV’s maximum full HD image quality and clarity, giving you the most beautiful images possible,” maintains de Leon. “Each of the HDTV’s 2,073,600 (1920 across by 1080 tall) pixels are being made full use of -- this is instantly noticeable when playing popular games like Call of Duty: Ghosts on the big screen.”
Cerny’s history
Mark Cerny, the lead system architect on PS4 and creative director on Knack, created Marble Madness at the age of 17.
“During a career spanning over thirty years, Mark has worked as game designer, programmer and producer for arcade and console games in the U.S. and Japan,” says de Leon. “In the ‘80s, he designed and programmed Marble Madness for Atari. He also oversaw the creation of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 while at Sega. Other iconic games he worked on include Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank, God of War and Uncharted.

PS4: The Beginning
PlayStation 4 planning began in 2008, two years after PlayStation 3 launched.
“During the planning phase, Mark Cerny spoke to dozens of game developers to get their thoughts on what they’d like to see in a gaming console, without telling them he was collecting feedback for development of PlayStation 4,” reveal de Leon. “Feedback from the development community served as inspiration for many of the PS4 features you see today.”
Co-op for Knack
The launch game Knack has a “Two Player Local Co-Op” feature, which is an easy drop in and drop out second player functionality.
“This allows the second player to play alongside as ‘Robo Knack’ (a robot version of Knack) who helps aid Knack by aiding in enemy attacks and donating life,” says de Leon.
“This is great for experienced gamers such as a parent or older sibling to help out someone