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Tomorrow's PS4 Update To Add Game Streaming for PC and Mac, Privacy Features (polygon.com)

An anonymous reader cites a report on Polygon: The PlayStation 4's newest software update will be out tomorrow, April 6, adding PC remote play capabilities, a new live streaming channel, and several improvements to its social networking features, among others. With the update, the PS4 will support remote play on PCs running Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 or later and Mac OS X 10.10 and 10.11.You can read more about it on PlayStation's official blog post.

64 comments

  1. Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Fuck Sony and their mandatory updates; bloated piles of shit that tie up the PlayStation for 30 minutes when you want to watch a movie or play a game.

    Fuck Sony and their mandatory updates that remove functionality that you paid for.

    Fuck Sony and all the other consoles. They all suck!

    1. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Funny

      Obviously you have experienced their product so they are the ones fucking you instead.

    2. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fuck Sony and their mandatory updates; bloated piles of shit that tie up the PlayStation for 30 minutes when you want to watch a movie or play a game.

      You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie. You might have to update if you want to play your game online, but if that's no concern for you, then you can sit there, disconnected, and play whatever game you want with whatever software revision you have.

      If you do want to play something online, then you have to have a PS+ subscription (which is required for online play), which allows you to set your PS4 to download and install updates automatically.

      Fuck Sony and their mandatory updates that remove functionality that you paid for.

      Yeah, removing the 'Other OS' option was kind of a dick move, but what have they updated on one of their consoles since then that removed functionality? For that matter, what have they updated previously that removed functionality from their consoles?

      Fuck Sony and all the other consoles. They all suck!

      Yeah, all consoles suck. So do all computers and all operating systems and practically everything else on the planet. (Except for you, you're awesome, apparently). The trick is to find something that sucks the least for what you want to do, and then go with that. Or you could impotently spew invective. Your call.

    3. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by phishybongwaters · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      hmm, how about fuck your shitty internet. Ps4 offers rest mode, and it's the fucking SHIT, updates and all that bullshit download at night, while it's charging your remote. I have had to wait for updates approximately ZERO times with ps4. So, fuck you, because you clearly aren't even a sony customer, complaining about shit that doesn't exist or affect you. Removed functionality? oh. yes, i forgot, the 1 revision of ps3 that was able to install linux. Yup, they sure as hell removed that feature. No wait, that's not accurate at all, only an asshat would say that. YOU REMOVED THAT FUNCTION, you had the choice, install another OS (yellowdog linux) OR keep your ps3 updated to play games. You can't do both, and you never used that feature, only the US army did. No one else did because it was fucking POINTLESS to run linux on a ps3 without full memory or GPU access. But you and I know why you would mention that, because you thought it was a backdoor to pirate ps3 games. It wasn't. So yeah, other than that, I agree, consoles mostly suck. But not for your invented reasons.

    4. Re: Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wahhhhhhhhhhh

    5. Re: Don't Care - Fuck Sony by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      Now look what you've done, someone called a whaaambulance

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    6. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously you have experienced their product so they are the ones fucking you instead.

      I thought that it was a friends with benefits relationship. It lasted a couple of years. But, it's totally over! They were just using me.

    7. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Calydor · · Score: 1

      Please tell us how you really feel and how you will finance fiber connections for everyone that buys a console ever.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    8. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      Did you ever see the movie Chappie? (it was crap) but the scene that made me go oh bull !@#$ was when they were using a cluster of ps4's like sony would ever allow their consoles to do something useful again.

      As if they ever do decide to allow people to use their ps4's for computation it will be long after its no longer cost effective to do so.

      At this point I think the ps3 was just a mistake and it accidentally did something useful.

      And as you pointed out other os did not let you play pirated games so they didn't even have that as an excuse for removing it yet since its been removed there appears to be several methods now that allows you to play copied games. So there's that.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    9. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by sexconker · · Score: 1

      You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie.

      Unless your movie is on Netflix or some other online service, or your movie is a BluRay that requires you to update your firmware.

    10. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hmm, how about fuck your shitty internet. Ps4 offers rest mode, and it's the fucking SHIT, updates and all that bullshit download at night, while it's charging your remote.

      I have had to wait for updates approximately ZERO times with ps4.

      It's nice that you don't mind wasting $10 in electricity per year so that the device can sit there 99% of the time doing absolutely nothing useful. Yeah, it's only $10...multiplied by the number of devices that want to do this shit.

    11. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie."

      Really? I most certainly have had to update in order to be able to play a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME. This was on the PS3, Metal Gear Solid IV. You weren't playing it without an update. You're telling me Sony backtracked on that bullshit with the PS4? I seriously doubt it.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    12. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie.

      Unless your movie is on Netflix or some other online service, or your movie is a BluRay that requires you to update your firmware.

      Right, activities that require access to the Internet, require access to the Internet. But the thing provides lots of ways to 'watch a movie' (which was the original assertion) that don't require Internet access. You can 'watch a movie': via Plex, via a DLNA server, via USB drive, or via DVD, for example.

    13. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by tepples · · Score: 1

      Right, activities that require access to the Internet, require access to the Internet.

      The problems are that 1. streaming a movie requires a comprehensive system update rather than an update to a single movie streaming app, and 2. Blu-ray movies require a comprehensive system update.

    14. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're taking my original reply to mean that you can't watch a movie without ever having connected to the Internet, then, yeah, you're right. My whole reply was based on you taking the console, getting it set up to the point where you can do those things, and then not connecting to the Internet to continue doing them. That was to counter the original poster who said that updates were needed every time that they wanted to watch a movie, which is patently false.

    15. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie."

      Really? I most certainly have had to update in order to be able to play a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME. This was on the PS3, Metal Gear Solid IV. You weren't playing it without an update. You're telling me Sony backtracked on that bullshit with the PS4? I seriously doubt it.

      Every game I've ever played on the PS3 and PS4 that had an update available (even a day 1 patch) would let me back out of the download/patching dialog and let me play the version that was on the disc or the most recent version I had installed (but it would also sign you out of the PS Network, so you can't use your old version online, natch).

    16. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's nice that you don't mind wasting $10 in electricity per year so that the device can sit there 99% of the time doing absolutely nothing useful. Yeah, it's only $10...multiplied by the number of devices that want to do this shit.

      $10 per year. PER YEAR. That is a little over $0.83 per month. Or $0.19 per week. Or just under $.03 per day. Oh noes!1!!!1!1!! Oh, I have 3 PS4s in my house, how could I ever afford $30 per year.

    17. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie."

      Really? I most certainly have had to update in order to be able to play a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME. This was on the PS3, Metal Gear Solid IV. You weren't playing it without an update. You're telling me Sony backtracked on that bullshit with the PS4? I seriously doubt it.

      Press circle while the progress bar for the update is on the screen, it cancels the update in progress, you can resume the update later, if you want. (if you're on a J or K region PS3, press cross instead of circle)

      It really is as simple as reading the words on the screen in front of you.

    18. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by avandesande · · Score: 1

      You are right.... it is very nice!

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    19. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      bloated piles of shit that tie up the PlayStation for 30 minutes when you want to watch a movie or play a game.

      If you see updates often, it means you're not using the "Automatic update" feature, or you're not using the PS3 that often.

      http://manuals.playstation.net...

      And if it takes 30 minutes either:

      1. your network connection is slow, what are you using 768k DSL or something?

      2. your PS3's hard drive is either getting full or is getting old.

      and their mandatory updates that remove functionality that you paid for.

      You can choose to keep OtherOS, however you'll lose access to PSN if you keep the older firmware because your PS3 won't be "trusted". It's your choice. Any PS3 update that will remove OtherOS requires to be confirmed TWICE and warns the user in no uncertain terms what it will do before it does so.

      However, any OtherOS user can tell you that the feature was used by only a minuscule minority of PS3 owners. Not only that but the partition schemes are NOT optimal. Either you have 10GB to OtherOS and the rest to what Sony calls GameOS, which cripples Linux. (You'll have to custom parition that 10GB or else some compiles will fail. You'll also have to seriously watch your compiles and installs (forget about doing a full LaTeX install) and what you download to home Or you have 10GB to GameOS and the rest to OtherOS which seriously cripples gaming. In that situation a single game can take up most of that space with HD cache, and you can forget about large digital downloads.

      .

    20. Re: Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PS3 shipped firmware with games forcing updates even with no internet to play single player.

      (Not the guy above)

    21. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're talking about a toy that brings happiness to people of all ages. Right? I've dealt with children under 10 with more temperment than you. Sad.

    22. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Comprehensive system updates don't happen THAT often or take THAT long. The OP is just being a bit of a whiner who either has slow internet or hasn't set up automatic updates.

    23. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      I most certainly have had to update in order to be able to play a SINGLE-PLAYER GAME. This was on the PS3, Metal Gear Solid IV. You weren't playing it without an update.

      System update or game update, two different things. If it was a system update, it was a coincidence that an update was required. Did you not have automatic updates turned on?

      If it was a game update, you can, as was said, back out and update later.

    24. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The games are usually developed against a certain version. In MGS 4's case it was a pretty late game as far as the console generation goes, so it would require a fairly recent version of the PS3's OS to run.

    25. Re:Don't Care - Fuck Sony by Audguy · · Score: 1

      You can't do both, and you never used that feature, only the US army did. No one else did because it was fucking POINTLESS to run linux on a ps3 without full memory or GPU access.

      Fuck off. I used my PS3 for both games and whenever I wanted to mess around with some cell code.

  2. I still rock a PS3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That makes me largely immune to this. The games are still pretty good and cheap if you get them second hand. It will never have a virtual reality upgrade but if I really want that I'll buy a PS4 after everyone else has ironed all the kinks out of it.

    1. Re: I still rock a PS3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This just in: Area man tells everyone he's vegan when no one asked.

  3. New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would never trust a Sony device on my home network.

    1. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's.. not how root kits work.

    2. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

      --Thomas Hesse, President of Sony BMG, Global Digital Business, back in 2005 when they included rootkits with their CDs.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by sims+2 · · Score: 2

      Well Its been over 10 years later and I'm still avoiding Sony branded products.

      So maybe I don't qualify as most people.....

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    4. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except Thomas Hesse hasn't been employed at Sony for over 4 years now, and in fact most of the company leaders have changed in the past 11 years.

      No one currently running Sony BMG was involved with the rootkit fiasco

      More importantly, we are talking about Sony Entertainment not Sony BMG, two divisions that have nothing to do with each other so far as any and all decision makers go.

      Hell, Sony BMG actually CHARGES their other divisions for use of their music in other Sony products.

      You should at least wait for the correct company to be the topic of discussion before ranting about the actions of people that no longer work there.

    5. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      It's probably more secure than your Windows box. run zenmap against a PS3 or PS4 sometime. The PS4 in particular is identified as FreeBSD.

    6. Re: New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sure seem to be too well informed about sony for an AC. Or did you just do a quick google search and provided all this background history?
      More like the former.

    7. Re: New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rootkits don't care if the OS is shown as FreeBSD on nmap. They never have.

    8. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry to hear that you're incapable of securing a network. You might want to seek help from a professional.

    9. Re:New Rootkits, Too? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Fool me once and all that shit.

      When a corporation
      a) does something like that and
      b) when caught red handed has its president issue a statement along the lines of "why are the idiots complaining, they don't even know why" AND
      c) said president doesn't get fired out of a cannon from the top of their corporate HQ for making such a condescending statement about their paying customers.

      I can only assume that the corporation at best condones, more likely supports and at worst requires such behaviour.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. It looks like XBox One Streaming is Win 10 Only. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's nice that Sony allows Win 8.1 and Mac users to stream as well. Streaming has become a big deal for me as I reallocate PC resources for VR. I can play Steam games in my home theater, while my powerful PC sits in my VR room.

  5. Streaming requires connecting by tepples · · Score: 1

    I own no PlayStation consoles more recent than PS2 and PSP, so I'm a bit out of the loop:

    You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie. You might have to update if you want to play your game online, but if that's no concern for you, then you can sit there, disconnected, and play whatever game you want with whatever software revision you have.

    I thought streaming a movie required connecting to the Internet, which in turn required updating. By "watch a movie", are you referring specifically to DVD/BD?

    For that matter, what have they updated previously that removed functionality from their consoles?

    In the PlayStation 2 era, it was common for Sony to pull the plug on online matchmaking servers for individual games, even while the games were still being sold in brick-and-mortar stores. I could buy a game new at Meijer, unwrap the shrinkwrap, put the disc in my PS2, attempt to connect, and get DNAS error -103 "This software title is not in service."

    The trick is to find something that sucks the least

    And nowadays, it's more likely for "something that sucks the least" to be a PC than a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4. The biggest advantage of consoles is in the handheld sector, where I have no evidence that clip-on gamepads for phones are outselling even the PlayStation Vita. Without gamepads, phone games tend to be point-and-click nickel-and-dime-fests.

    1. Re:Streaming requires connecting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I own no PlayStation consoles more recent than PS2 and PSP, so I'm a bit out of the loop:

      You don't have to update to play a game or watch a movie. You might have to update if you want to play your game online, but if that's no concern for you, then you can sit there, disconnected, and play whatever game you want with whatever software revision you have.

      I thought streaming a movie required connecting to the Internet, which in turn required updating. By "watch a movie", are you referring specifically to DVD/BD?

      For that matter, what have they updated previously that removed functionality from their consoles?

      In the PlayStation 2 era, it was common for Sony to pull the plug on online matchmaking servers for individual games, even while the games were still being sold in brick-and-mortar stores. I could buy a game new at Meijer, unwrap the shrinkwrap, put the disc in my PS2, attempt to connect, and get DNAS error -103 "This software title is not in service."

      The trick is to find something that sucks the least

      And nowadays, it's more likely for "something that sucks the least" to be a PC than a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4. The biggest advantage of consoles is in the handheld sector, where I have no evidence that clip-on gamepads for phones are outselling even the PlayStation Vita. Without gamepads, phone games tend to be point-and-click nickel-and-dime-fests.

      Watching a movie from a streaming service kind of requires an Internet connection, sure, but you can watch DVDs, BluRays, or digital media from your own DLNA server, or probably something else that I'm forgetting, without an Internet connection (assuming you connected to the Internet at some point to get the license to actually activate your blu-ray player, or download the media player app, of course).

      A game that has had its servers turned off isn't exactly the same as releasing an update that removes functionality from a console. The console still functions the same, the game just no longer has anything to connect to.

      Agreed on the mobile gaming front. The New Nintendo 3DS is a decent little platform, and I love my Vita, but I've just about given up on phone gaming. Just about all of the games are all awful, are full of microtransactions, and are incredibly boring. Touchscreen controls only are a lousy input method, and carrying around an external gamepad to use with a phone is a non-starter for me, and probably a lot of people. I only have so many pockets, and an external controller doesn't fit comfortably in any of them.

    2. Re:Streaming requires connecting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is/was a hack to use unofficial game servers for games removed from PSN. It involved using a PC to route the IP to a different server. It worked, but that was so long ago I don't remember the exact setup or even if it's still possible.

    3. Re:Streaming requires connecting by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      I own no PlayStation consoles more recent than PS2 and PSP, so I'm a bit out of the loop:

      Then perhaps you should have stayed out of this conversation?

      In the PlayStation 2 era, it was common for Sony to pull the plug on online matchmaking servers for individual games, even while the games were still being sold in brick-and-mortar stores. I could buy a game new at Meijer, unwrap the shrinkwrap, put the disc in my PS2, attempt to connect, and get DNAS error -103 "This software title is not in service."

      What, buy some PS2 game in the budget game section in 2008 or something? Heck there are still a couple of PS2 games in Wal-Marts budget game section, that doesn't mean you should expect any online functionality of PS2 games to work. Remember, the PS2 doesn't actually have a "single online service", meaning it's up to the publishers to maintain such things.

      Buying some cheap PS2 game in 2008 (or later) and expecting it to work is just being...whiny. Now for the PS3, and PS4, that's a different story. Heck even the PSP has options the PS2 doesn't have thanks to Ad-hoc party.

      And nowadays, it's more likely for "something that sucks the least" to be a PC than a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4.

      Really? I just read an article in PC gamer (print version) from one of their reviewers trying to play HitMan Go, and running into a bunch of Windows 10 issues. PC's, especially Windows ones, have their own negatives.

  6. Casual PC gamers will be happy by cloud.pt · · Score: 1

    Don't know about you, but my Windows machine is still on 7. I play games, I value performance, compatibility, stability, and my damn privacy. Supposedly it still is supported as I use it on an Ivy Bridge CPU (as it now depends on CPU architecture... yeah). Unfortunately, I'm sure Sony will argue it's all about Miracast not existing per say in 7, to which I say: "F*CK YOU", I have a Widi or whatever you call it now-compatible GPU, which is exactly the same fkin thing as Miracast. I'm gonna go ahead and call bull on both MS and Sony wanting to drive the consumer base to worse products, which have "THAT hardware degradation upgrade" or "THAT version-restricted upgrade which costs us 1 line of code to retro-support but it's your problem" written all over. And I'm not one for such conspiracy theories - I like innovation, and I now it takes a toll on hardware, but it sure as FCK isn't by using 10 over 8, 8.1 or 7, and to a lesser degree it also isn't going from Ivy Bridge to Skylake, as we all know Moore's Law is breaking harshly. Even Intel is admitting it in a way, and they make business from forcing people to upgrade. Current CPU benefits over 4 year-ago machines is close to none in most consumer-centric scopes, especially when compared to secondary memory advancements (read: SSD reliability & performance). And the only things I don't see working on 7 are things Microsoft has 0 technological basis not to launch them on 7. Or even 8.x for that matter. To me its pretty clear: this feature is just bells and whistles for the casual guy who was on the fence for a PS4 because he mostly spent time on the PC while the missus was watching E on the big screen. Or the husband, let's not be sexist.

    1. Re:Casual PC gamers will be happy by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      You can't live in the past.

      Windows 7 is going to drop off the map in less than 4 years.

      Why should Sony spend who knows how much R&D to get it working on a system that is already on the obsolescence track?

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:Casual PC gamers will be happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea. Why can't I run every application on my Windows 95 box! It's so unfair!

    3. Re: Casual PC gamers will be happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pfffft, I used 98 until 2007. I'm sure I'll have no problem using 7 until 2025. I don't even update, it is not necessary. See you'd have to get on my LAN to even try to get at my computer and then, you are within punching distance and I don't hold back.
      And for the guy below talking about 98, it's called extensionX or something like that. You can pretty much run anything on 98. And 98 is freakin awesome with a Ghz CPU.

    4. Re:Casual PC gamers will be happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      rofl M$ will drop off the map in less than 4 years...

    5. Re:Casual PC gamers will be happy by cloud.pt · · Score: 1

      Because a new console generation will already be out in 1.5 years, and Sony will probably have its iteration ready in 2-3 years. As Microsoft is evolving, I believe in 4 years Win 7 will still have at least 30% user-base on Windows platforms, and I know pretty much for sure I will still be on it. I'm not living in the past, I do everything I want and I can pretty much do most of what people on 10 do with 7, except remote play on PS4 apparently. Sony should spend R&D on 7 because every product is on obsolescence track but Win7 will still be here strong in 4 years. It is not going to drop off the map, it's just gonna be painted out of it a bit more than it should because of business decisions.

  7. File not found." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Went to the PS4 link from their blog to download the remote play program, and all that is there is "File not found".

    1. Re:File not found." by damnbunni · · Score: 1

      That's because it's not out yet.

  8. Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Winblows and Smac only?

    1. Re: Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You Linsux users are so witty!

  9. Re:It looks like XBox One Streaming is Win 10 Only by halivar · · Score: 1

    I would love to get a Steam box for streaming to my TV, but the controller is total crap. I can't wait for Windows-to-XBox streaming.

  10. Always Available: The New Norm by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    One of the big reasons mobile gaming is taking over is because it's always available. Practically everyone has their own mobile device, so there's never a need to negotiate for TV or computer time. And one of the things I've figured out in the last nine months of being married is that being married means you have to share the TV (those of you with kids are probably thinking that I don't know the half of it yet).

    Entertainment is oftentimes a matter of convenience. If I have to work at my entertainment--whether because I'm limited in the means by which I can enjoy it or because it can't be enjoyed in the amount of time I have available--it's both less entertaining and less likely to be enjoyed due to the difficulty in slotting it into my (now our) schedule. Netflix has remained relevant for me through multiple major changes in my life, thanks to the fact that it runs on practically every device from the past decade and can be enjoyed in whatever time increment I can afford at any given time.

    As purchasing decisions roll around, I've already begun considering whether and to what degree my devices have remained relevant to me. Features like in-home streaming help protect against thinking, "The PS4 seemed like a good idea, but I just never played it as much as I wanted to." Instead, I'll be thinking about how I was able to play something like The Last of Us while my wife enjoyed her DVDs of Gilmore Girls for the umpteenth time. The Wii U's relevancy to us increased immensely the first time my wife was able to enjoy Yoshi's Wooly World from another room while I watched through some TV series that she had no interest in, so I'd expect the same would be true for the PS4.

    Keeping your product in front of your customers has always been a goal of big companies, but more and more that means doing it literally by making your product available all the time, everywhere. Anything less, and you're opening avenues for competing products to gain traction by being the thing that your customers turn to when they're away from your product.

    As I suggested earlier, Netflix isn't going anywhere for us, and the Wii U has been earning its keep, but I was honestly starting to question whether the PS4 would remain relevant for me as time went on. This feature keeps it relevant for me.

    1. Re:Always Available: The New Norm by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      One of the big reasons mobile gaming is taking over is because it's always available. Practically everyone has their own mobile device, so there's never a need to negotiate for TV or computer time.

      What is this negotiate for TV time or "share the TV" you speak of? You don't have multiple TV's?

      Just so you know, I'm joking with you, I understand how it is, and how remote play on more devices might make it easier for some to get more use out of their PS4. I have a desktop-like setup with a 22" 1080p screen for my PS4 ( and PC, and the PS3 and PS2 before it). It works well for MMO's (on the PS2, PS3 and PS4) and certain other games, like War Thunder and when I had Linux on the PS2 and PS3. My setup allows me to play whenever even when the Big TV in the living room is occupied. But I also have a PS TV hooked up to that big TV as well. Don't use it that often, but it's nice to have.for when I do.

      while my wife enjoyed her DVDs of Gilmore Girls for the umpteenth time.

      What, you don't like watching adorable actresses with large foreheads playing fast talking, caffeine addicted Gilmores? Does she know about the upcoming new Gilmore mini-series coming to Netflix? Why yes....I might be a Gilmore Girls fan.

    2. Re:Always Available: The New Norm by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      What is this negotiate for TV time or "share the TV" you speak of? You don't have multiple TV's?

      Working on it. We have the TV in a "media room" right now, which is actually just an otherwise-unused bedroom. Whenever we get around to having a kid, she wants to reclaim it as a bedroom and move the 55" out into the living room, but I'm not a huge fan of that, since I feel like it makes the central space for entertaining guests all about the TV, when I'd much rather it be about social interaction away from the TV. I've been trying to convince her we should move the 55" into the bedroom at that point and then just get a small TV for the living room. ;)

      What, you don't like watching adorable actresses with large foreheads playing fast talking, caffeine addicted Gilmores? Does she know about the upcoming new Gilmore mini-series coming to Netflix? Why yes....I might be a Gilmore Girls fan.

      Eh, the show's okay. I don't dislike it, and the speed of the banter definitely sets it apart from other shows that might otherwise be comparable, but I definitely don't sit down to watch it with her either. I saw the first few seasons when it originally aired and had no issues with it. I give her a hard time about it, and it's not my cup of tea, but I don't have any issues with the show. And yeah, she's aware of it. The Internet exploded so much when it was merely rumored that even I heard about it on my own.

  11. "Practically everyone" doesn't have a Vita by tepples · · Score: 1

    One of the big reasons mobile gaming is taking over is because it's always available. Practically everyone has their own mobile device

    By "mobile device" you can't mean a PlayStation Vita, because that's not something that "[p]ractically everyone has". This means you probably mean a touch-controlled device running iOS or Android. One problem with these platforms is that game developers can't rely on the player owning a clip-on gamepad, in turn because the makers of said gamepads appear not to publish sales figures. So games that aren't already point-and-click have to be dumbed down to use touch control, which turns platformers into endless runners. And in part because Android devices reached some countries before Google payment processing did, the mobile audience has developed an expectation of "free to play". But the need to derive revenue from a "free" game has resulted in a proliferation of whale-driven nickel-and-dime game design that makes even basic actions take days and makes a game literally take decades to complete for a free player.

    And one of the things I've figured out in the last nine months of being married is that being married means you have to share the TV

    Historically, PlayStation consoles' advantage over PC gaming has been ability for multiple players to share a system and monitor by plugging in (or wirelessly pairing) two to four gamepads. The obstacle to couch multiplayer on the PC used to be the requirement of proximity between a TV and the expensive PC usually kept in another room, but Steam Link and falling prices for gaming-capable HTPCs have eroded that.

    1. Re:"Practically everyone" doesn't have a Vita by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      By "mobile device" you can't mean a PlayStation Vita

      I would include them, yes, but I was primarily thinking of tablets and smartphones and the trend in recent years towards mobile devices accounting for a bigger and bigger piece of the gaming pie. By some estimates I've heard, mobile games now account for the majority of both the market and the profit in the industry. As you enumerated, mobile devices come with a whole host of issues, but for better or for worse, they have managed to gain a significant amount of traction, which I would argue it is largely on account of their convenience and availability.

      I'm not making a value judgment about whether mobile gaming is good for the industry or whether mobile devices are good as gaming platforms. I'm merely pointing out that if traditional consoles want to remain relevant in a world where "good enough" gaming is available anywhere, they need to be available beyond the room where they live.

  12. Having to update again by tepples · · Score: 1

    My whole reply was based on you taking the console, getting it set up to the point where you can do those things, and then not connecting to the Internet to continue doing them.

    If you update the system software to the point where you can watch Netflix, but an additional update becomes available later, you'll have to update again in order to continue to watch Netflix. Or if you update the system software to the point where you can watch Blu-ray movies, but an additional update becomes available later, you'll have to update again in order to watch Blu-ray movies released after the update. The complaint as I understand it is the requirement to update the whole system software, not just the Netflix or Blu-ray app, and the time that such a comprehensive update takes to install.

  13. They can do this but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But why not folders? Are they that hard? Is there some legal reason they are avoiding folders or do they just hate their consumers that much?

    1. Re:They can do this but... by djnforce9 · · Score: 1

      I know what you mean. Things get very messy when you have several downloaded games from the PSN store.

    2. Re:They can do this but... by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      My guess is they're probably trying to keep their interface "flat" to appeal to those who are converts from other systems aka former Xboxers who aren't used to Sony's XMB on the PS3...which DOES have optional folder style organization.

      Also some people said they hated the XMB interfaces of the PS3 and PSP and chose other systems because of that.

  14. How about Steam to PS4? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd really like to see Sony let us play our Steam game library on the PS4. I had to run a 50' cable from the gaming PC in and up the wall, across the attic, down and out the wall, to the big screen TV. This was years before the Steam hardware came out though, which would have made it much easier.