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Here’s How You Take Advantage Of PS4’s “Virtual Couch”

Share Play is one of the new features that will be delivered this week with PlayStation 4 firmware update 2.00.

To assist you, Sony has released a brief tutorial video that takes you through the relatively simple Share Play process.

The option is accessed through the PS4's party menu and if you're the host, you'll see a fresh listing for Share Play. Then you select "Give Controller to Visitor," and this will hand control of the game to that visitor for up to an hour. Now, the host has to be a PlayStation Plus member but the guest does not; the guest doesn't have to own the game in question, either. Sony has dubbed this the "virtual couch" experience.

Update 2.00 also includes Themes support, a USB music player that enables custom soundtracks, YouTube sharing, and more.

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newchef
newchef
10 years ago

ok so that is actually really cool

Anonymous
Anonymous
10 years ago

Very very awesome.

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
10 years ago

Awesome! I hope devs take advantage of this feature to allow people to join you in your story modes.

Imagine in an rpg if you can let your friends join you and control one of the characters?

duomaxwell007
duomaxwell007
10 years ago

it only applies to games that already have local multiplayer… so no youre not gonna get a person to control one of your party members in a game thats completely single player… unless the game already has multiplayer in it (i.e how you can assign characters in tales of graces to use the second control… that WILL work with shareplay.. but games like final fantasy 7 or 8 for example hat have no option to use the second controller will not have share play functionality

Breadlover
Breadlover
10 years ago

@duomaxwell007 I'm not sure about that.. there is the option to "Give Controller to Visitor". So, regardless if the game has local multiplayer or not, we might be able to "let them play on our behalf". That includes single player RPGs.

edit – eh, scratch this. I totally missed the point. @Scarecrow, duomaxwell007 is right. What you're saying is a setup that works only for games that have local multiplayer.


Last edited by Breadlover on 10/26/2014 10:47:52 PM

wiiplay
wiiplay
10 years ago

Honestly, the hour long restriction is really making me lose interest in this feature.
While it may be good for short gaming periods, an hour is truly not a long enough time to properly 'share' your game with friends.

At the very least, they should extend this limit to something more reasonable, such as three hours. Three hours is still a tad restrictive, but it is at least a more reasonable limit then a single hour session.

I understand that Sony wants to avoid having players abuse this service, hence why they enforce a time limit. Still, a single hour? Some competitive online matches last longer than that.

duomaxwell007
duomaxwell007
10 years ago

umm you can invite them back istantly.. soo after an hour you spend 30 secs tops getting them back in? not the end of the world

wiiplay
wiiplay
10 years ago

Sure, but that still ruins the immersion. Now, if you're using the share controller option, I can see the time limit not being that major of a deal.
However, for the two player thing, where they used FIFA 15 as an example, a mere hour gaming session will not be enough. In fact, a full game of soccer lasts well over an hour, which would essentially force you to reconnect in the middle of a game. Not only does this give the second player a massive disadvantage, as you lose valuable time due to the disconnect, it also ruins the immersion of what could have otherwise been a very fun social experience.

Unless the second option isn't restricted by a time limit?

duomaxwell007
duomaxwell007
10 years ago

well if the disconnect didnt happen then game devs would lose money.. i mean why would I go out and buy xxx new game when my friend has it and all I have to do is remote play his to my hearts content? So maybe the disconnect is a way of saying "if you dont want this to happen…. go buy the game yourself"

Banky A
Banky A
10 years ago

Dude this is damn generous. We don't get prohibited from the same game after the limits are up.

Millions of people aren't going to buy a game they would play 2+ hours regularly with their friends????

Cloud X Blue
Cloud X Blue
10 years ago

On default for fifa a full game takes 12 minutes without any penalties so that's more them enough games friend and I play Co op season and have played over 90 games in a short period of time

wiiplay
wiiplay
10 years ago

@duomaxwell007: I think you're missing my point.

I'm not against Sony limiting your usage, as it makes sense on a business front. However, they're advertising this as a 'virtual couch', which should allow you to share your game, or play with a second player, for more than a single hour.

A three hour limit (to me) seems like a fair limit. It's long enough for most gaming sessions, yet still short enough to avoid having gamers abuse the system.

The actual 'pass controller' feature, where another person takes full control of your game, could still be limited to one hour. Honestly, that's reasonable, as you're essentially sharing your entire game.

But the two player mode? No, it just doesn't make sense to have a one hour limit.

gorezilla
gorezilla
10 years ago

Not really. Duomaxwell007 is spot on. It's the money factor. If not, you could simply leave your ps4 running for others to play without ever buying the game. This doesn't mean they ruined the virtual couch experience. You can have unlimited sessions. Each session simply can't exceed 1 hour. I can't wait to finally play towerfall Ascension with 4 people.

wiiplay
wiiplay
10 years ago

@gorezilla, please read my above response. An hour limit simply isn't enough.

I'm not saying Sony should remove the limit entirely, just make it less restrictive. I proposed a limit of three hours, while the share play function should still be limited by an hour.

Think about it. The last time you had an offline gaming session with a couple of friends, how long did your session last?
What Sony is doing with the time limit is the equivalent to having the console turn off your controller each and every hour. Sure, you can just have player 1 turn it back on for you, but it forces a pause in play.

Back when I played Gordeneye on the N64, I played for over two hours straight. The only time I'd stop playing during those two hours, is to take a sip of coke, or shove a bunch of chips into my mouth. I'd even occasionally shove my friend off the couch to hopefully give myself an advantage… even though that never worked.

The point is, one hour just isn't enough for this type of experience. That's why I proposed a three hour limit, as at least that's slightly more reasonable. Heck, two hours would likely be enough as well, but I figured three was more of a safe number.


Last edited by wiiplay on 10/27/2014 9:22:04 AM

Axe99
Axe99
10 years ago

@ Wiiplay – if you're playing a full 90-minute game of soccer, then do a quick 'end session'/'start session' at full time. It's a small price to play for your mate not having to even buy the game. Say you're a mad keen soccer/NFL/hockey/cricket/you-name-it fan, and you've got a mate who isn't really into those games, you could now play a game in coop (and as many games as you want), and your mate (who'd only play with you, as they wouldn't be interested enough in the game to play SP) doesn't now need to buy the game at all.

Rachet_JC_FTW
Rachet_JC_FTW
10 years ago

now the vertual second controller thing sounds pritty awsome i will admit so me and any of my friends could play an any of each others ps4 now that is cool

happy gaming

Banky A
Banky A
10 years ago

The best thing since sliced bread.

Now I can actually get help on game challenges from my hardcore US buddies and NZrs alike.
Game changer.

PSDreaM
PSDreaM
10 years ago

Please add this feature on PS3 and Vita as well.

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