Confirming widespread suspicions, Sony’s much-anticipated PlayStation event last Wednesday brought about the first announcement and glimpse of next generation hardware. The PlayStation 4 is real, and it has a lot to offer.

The conference, which lasted an unusual length of around 2 hours, revealed much information about the PlayStation 4, or PS4, and even more so about its games. PlayStation exclusive franchises dominated the bunch, with titles like a new Infamous, Resistance and Killzone garnering booming applause from the crowd. The show was very developer-centric; speakers from different companies had more stage time than PlayStation execs did, which led to most of the show consisting of future content rather than the console itself. Media like CNET and IGN believe that this was done to simultaneously hype up fans for E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2013 while still giving them little doses of info to chew on. Consequently, the actual console itself was not shown to the crowd, which falls in line with rumors that Sony has not actually finalized the design.

What we do know, however, is that the finished console, along with a multitude of launch titles, will be available in holiday of this year. No more specific details were given, but it looks like the console will release in time to make many gamers’ Christmases extra-special.

Along with a new console announcement comes the inevitable new controller as well. PS4 was no exception, and as Lead System Architect Mark Cerny came on stage, one of two things were seemingly close: either the console reveal itself, or the Dualshock 4 controller. The latter proved to be true as Cerny took hold of an actual Dualshock 4 controller, listing all of the features that make it “next-gen.”

Cerny said that during the design for the Dualshock 4, the goal was to make a controller that felt universally tighter, more precise and faster. Confirmed was the presence of a touch pad, a share button and a light bar on the controller. The light bar enables the controller to communicate with a system sensor sporting cameras that looks similar to Microsoft’s Kinect. The sensor bar uses the controller to tell where players are at in the room, and the light bar on the controller itself is said to be a “simpler, more friendly way to identify players.”

The aforementioned touchpad was integrated into the controller’s design to provide a whole new level of input, according to Cerny. He then demoed an Unreal Engine 4 “game” that showed the PS4’s graphical and processing acceleration abilities in addition to being able to look around using the touchpad.

Speaking of the system’s capabilities, it will contain a supercharged PC architecture, an X86 CPU, an enhanced PC GPU, and 8GB of GDDR5 memory, or RAM. This puts the system on par or better than most high-end gaming PCs of today, and Sony said that the system is wildly easy to work with (the current PS3 is infamous for providing a difficult time for game developers due to its component architecture). Cerny said that the new system “is like a PC in many ways, but supercharged to bring out its full potential as a gaming platform.”

The advanced capabilities of this hardware and software allows for features that have been until now unheard of in console gaming. The share button on the controller lets the player edit and publish any clip of a game, providing a whole new way to brag about that awesome kill they just got. The system even allows, with player consent, a friend to take over the console from their own in order to help one another through a tough spot in a game. Cloud streaming is also a massive part of the PS4, thanks to Sony’s acquisition last year of cloud gaming giant Gaikai. Using the service, Sony intends for demos to stream instantly to the console and said that a player can enjoy a game well before it is even finished downloading.

Backwards compatibility is for the most part a lost cause for the console. Sony confirmed that the PS4 will not play PS3 discs or downloaded PS3 games, but they hinted at the slight possibility of a workaround in the future using Gaikai or emulation.

IGN’s Greg Miller said that the PlayStation 4 “will support 4K output, but only for photos and video, not for games.” Miller went on to celebrate the fact that 3D is not a focus for Sony’s new console, presumably due to the lack of interest the feature garnered in the current generation.

The PS Vita is supposed to stream, and support, all PlayStation 4 games, which could mean big things for portable gaming around the house. Apps for the iOS and Android mobile operating systems will also give the PS4 access to more of the player’s devices on the go.

Microsoft is expected to announce an event for the next Xbox soon, especially since its lead console competitor came out of the gates so proudly. PlayStation followers can expect more news, most likely including the console’s physical reveal, at E3 2013 in June.