Ben-DutkaNovember is almost upon us and it's chock full of goodies…
Firmware update 2.00 enables the "virtual couch"
As cool as this new Share Play feature is, I couldn't help feeling a little saddened when I read the "virtual couch" description. There was a time when more than one person would sit on a real couch and play games together.
PlayStation 4 firmware update 2.00 will deliver a bunch of new options , and one of them is Share Play, which basically lets you turn control of a game over to a remote player. You can check out the brief tutorial if you're confused. It really is a great feature, and one I might actually use from time to time. However, I can also view it as just another way to keep everyone at arm's length in an increasingly digitally-oriented planet. One can argue that it brings people together, especially when they're far apart, but that's not the correct interpretation from a psychological standpoint. We simply have more options to avoid normal, healthy interaction.
It's still a nifty little feature, though, and the PS4 will definitely benefit from update 2.00 this week.
The biggest improvement next-gen hardware can provide? Maybe atmosphere
Ubisoft says it would've been "impossible" to put Assassin's Creed Unity on the older consoles. And why? Well, they specifically mentioned the crowd , in that it has become an actual gameplay element, as opposed to a background prop.
Honestly, this is where I think next-gen machines will shine: They're still not powerful enough for us to talk about photorealism and in truth, I don't think this generation was that big of a leap compared to the last one. However, the improvements the better hardware will offer will center on ambiance and atmosphere. Everything will be that much more believable and authentic; the details will be that much more refined. Even if it's only a small step, it's still significant. I think this will be very noticeable in a game like Unity , which is said to offer an "unparalleled scope."
Personal gaming update
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is still mucho fun, but Jet Car Stunts is not . They really need to stop pretending that mobile games can compete in the same space as real games. They just do.
I'm just psyched for Unity , Grand Theft Auto V on PS4, and Dragon Age: Inquisition . I'm less stoked for the shooters – Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Far Cry 4 – but I have high hopes for both. Until these arrive, I'll still be playing Diablo III , with my maxed Lv. 70 Crusader and 30 Paragon levels. I'm going through some Nephalem Rifts on Expert now and doing a bunch of bounties. It lets me progress much faster; just doing the campaign was getting boring, and it wasn't yielding much in the way of new equipment.
Ben, why don't you upload to your YouTube channel? It has been over 2 years. Come on man.
Maybe it weren't successful, Ben's super busy too.
Sorry about that. We were mostly doing it for the theater thing in PlayStation Home. Once that went by the wayside, it wasn't worth it for us to do anymore.
Maybe World can continue the youtube channel 😀
2.0 is going to so much fun. Share Play will get used for sure. It's about the options with Sony.
I just finished ACIV and I am so pumped for AC Unity! The scale and detail looks phenomenal 900p/30FPS be damned.
Finishing up FarCry 3 and really looking forward to Far Cry 4. Also highly anticipating Lords of the Fallen's reviews.
why does $ony keep bringing us features 10% of ps4 owners will use, rather than features 100% of ps4 owners would use, and might i add something the competition has had SINCE LAUNCH!
virtual couch is nice and all, shame everyone using it has to be a plus sub to pass the controller though, and the 1 hour limit is just stupid!
but come on i think the pause and resume feature is just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitle more important and useful!
be able to turn your console off and resume exactly where you left off the next day saving waiting 5 minutes through all the bloody splash screens, not to mention redoing 10 minutes of the level you did last night but lost your progress because the autosave points are far too spread out!
just a tinsy bit more useful and important than being able to pass someone else the controller, i mean come on $ony for f*cks sake is the ps4 made by $ony or f*cking nintendo!?
im really starting to wonder!!!!!!
amazing how much things can change with a new generation!
sales have massively switched going from ninty being the king then M$ getting the off cuts, and $ony getting the crumbs the dogs left behind.
to the complete opposite!
not to mention nintys turned into M$ buying all the third party exclusives, M$ has turned into $ony bringing out all the new IPs and tons of exclusives, and $onys turned into nintendo releasing nothing but HD remakes and f*cking facebook features!
and thats exactly why this gens so disappointing.
not only because of the lack of fresh new ideas, but more so because were not seeing close the jump weve seen previously.
hell look the evolution PCs seen over the past decade with 1080P, then 2560×1440, and now 4K.
and only now are we getting consoles which can run most games in 1080P, something PCs were doing eons ago!
oh and not to mention some games like unity which still are not 1080P!
i mean come on releasing a game for "next gen" consoles and it cant even reach 1080P is like releasing a car next year which instead of having bluetooth media streaming it instead uses freaking tapes!
im surprised the ps4 comes with a freaking blueray drive instead of the old style cartridges!
im really really trying to get into the evil within and shadows of moordor.
both just feel to convoluted and clumsy like they were made by uni students for their weekly assignment.
especially the evil within, i mean what the *&^% is with the aspect ratio? way to completely destroy a game!
controls, graphics, everything just screams made in 1996 by a group of 5 college students!
certainly not what you would expect by one of the biggest names in the industry!
as for moordoor, what really destroys that is it just feels so convoluted and messy.
especially the start of the game the story is a mess ive got no f*cking clue what the hells going on, the games open world but it really does not explain much to you at all.
its like you want to join a club but your not sure what its about so they give you the club manual but instead of it being 5 pages explaining what it is and what they do its 500000 pages!
ok im interested in it, i want to learn more about it, but i have to go through all this sh*t to do so?
f*ck that!
just feels like you have to find a needle in the sahara just to learn 1% about it, to get anything out of it.
if a games not fun, if your having to put in 100000% just to get 1% out, then forget it no ones going to be interested!
the combats pretty crap too.
it takes heavy influence from the arkham series, but what it forgets is what makes that series work so well.
batmans got such a beautiful grace and flow with his attacks, you feel like your in a orchestra each hit is a different note from a different instrument.
shadows though it feels like your doing one attack 10000000 times on each enemy theres no flow to it.
not to mention theres FAR too many enemies and you really dont have many resources early on for crowd control.
batman can unleash special attacks to take down 5 or so enemies at once, but shadow only way to kill your enemies is to do the ground takedown which takes FAR too long.
so you end up spending 20 minutes thrusting your sword through each enemies flesh 100000 times before even one of them dies!
yea, totally fun!!!!!
and all in all if they hit you twice your dead, even though the only way to kill them is to hit them 100000 times and then do a ground take down.
WTF!?
the counters a little cheap too, if i had a nickel for every time ive hit y and still go hit by a attack id be the richest man alive!
or even the last chance QTE, you drag the symbol into the circle than hit the button it indicates to gain back a bit of health.
so you drag the symbol back into the circle and hit the button it indicates and boom your dead.
WTF!?
gotta love it how games tell you to do things, then kill you for doing them!
yup, totally fun!!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by ___________ on 10/26/2014 2:54:49 AM
Share play will be super fun. Can't wait to share games people are not sure if they would like.
My game update is that I finally bought the ps4 and MGSV is right there with Dark Souls II as the best games I've played this year.
What an amazing "intro" to MGSV. Forget the price, the game was amazing and I can't wait for the full game next year.
Infamous Second Son is ridiculously good. And Driveclub is a solid racer. Gotta have a racing game when you buy a console (it's a Playstation tradition).
Last edited by Scarecrow on 10/26/2014 2:59:51 AM
Well, 2.0 update is so-so, nothing to be excited about for me at least. I don't think I will use any function of it…
While waiting for AC:Unity, GTA5 and FC4 I'm trying to nail some remaining single player trophies in Dead Nation, Tomb Raider and TloU that I finished some time ago. Not going for online trophies.
November will be "crowded" with games so I don't want to but anything new right now. These 3 titles alone will last me for MONTHS I'm sure – having a full time job, family and other responsibilities makes time for playing really short.
Man the only game im pumped for and i mean really pumped for is batman arkham knight… that game will blow anything else coming in 2015. It also helps that ima huge batman fan
Share play doesn't interest me. Focus on the things that everyone wants and work you're way down from there e.g. more media-centric features, personalisation (though I guess a lot of people may want this feature at the same time)
The key word there is you, it does not interest you. The share play feature interest
Many people just cuz you dont want it does not mean no one else does just saying!
Share play will help if I can ever get my bff to get a PS4 and a game we both enjoy. Sometimes you have to show stuff you can't explain without the 30 mile drive.
Other than that, not much time to game these days. I'm LOVING The Evil Within, it's exactly what they said it'd be and more. Survival Horror wins.
Tales of Xilla 2 is also good, nice to be back in that world but that debt is a terrible thing.
Who else is getting pumped for Dragon Age 3?
Don't forget your mate doesn't need to have the game, you just need the host to have a copy – one of the best features of share play imo :). And Dragon Age Inquisition looks tops :).
Iam so glad world that you are enjoying evil within its a really good game to bad some on here wont be able to experience it based on the imo broken review on here! Its not perfect but really what game is and it has its flaws but like you said its everything they said it would be and more.
@Big_Boss
Really man, if you are buying games based on one review – you're doing it all wrong. Don't think others are the same. If I'm hyped for a game, no review will change my mind.
I.e I never wanted to play Evil Within because it just… doesn't fit my schedule and it's not my thing. Not because this review.
I reckon Share Play is great – I've got a mate who lives around the corner, and we couch co-op regularly, but my bro lives 650km away, and my cousins 12,000, and couch co-op is far less practical. Further, my bro isn't much of a gamer – now with Share Play, all he needs to have is a PS4, he doesn't even need a copy of Worms/Pro Evo/whatever the game of the moment is, and we can game it up together – I'm a fan :).
If he's not a gamer, he won't buy PS4..
Looking forward to the update.
The only game I've had a chance to play lately was the new Civ Beyond Earth before leaving town and just getting back now.
It seems decent so far, but it will likely be more well-rounded when the inevitable expansions come.
Also looking forward to Dragon Age. I should really get around to pre-ordering it. I've just been hesitant to get the deluxe copy. I'm curious to see the bog unicorn and halla mounts, but is that really worth an extra ten bucks?
The soundtrack will probably be decent within the game itself, but I doubt it has anything that I'll listen to out of game.
Too bad I can't get a soundtrack like the original Infamous, and on an actual audio cd rather than just mp3 versions.
You can burn them on CD as audio tracks.
Yes I could technically put mp3's on a cd, but I want any soundtracks to be on a cd to begin with.
Why should we be limited to a lossy format?
If they're going to include a soundtrack as a bonus, it should be the same audio quality as what is on the game itself.
I've read you can rip music directly from PS1 and 2 games, but 3 and 4 games being on blurays makes it a very complicated process.
My gaming time is divided between Diablo 3 and Evil Within. Evil Within has its own flaws but it is really an enjoyable game. I think it should have been rated at least an 8.0 on this site because the enjoyment and the gameplay of the game easily surpasses its technical flaws. ^_^
Hey Ben and co,
Valkyria Chronicles is coming to PC.
I will support it again :')
Too bad it felt nice as PS3 only.