Ben-DutkaSony has released that planned "Ultimate FAQ" for the PlayStation 4, and we get a few important updates.
You can check out the full FAQ over at the PlayStation Blog . There are two points that struck a chord with us, though:
The first update involves the Remote Play feature. This essentially allows PlayStation Vita owners to access their PS4 and play games via WiFi; it was confirmed earlier in the year that all PS4 titles should support this feature. Well, all titles that don't require a special accessory such as the PlayStation Camera. It's not a bad incentive to own Sony's portable, but now we learn that you really shouldn't leave home when utilizing Remote Play:
"We strongly recommend that Remote Play be used within the same WiFi network where PS4 is connected."
It's not that you can't use another Internet connection, but basically, Remote Play works better if it's using the same network as the PS4. Sony further recommends that the PS4 be connected with an Ethernet cable, a suitable gaming router be used, and that the Vita be "within close proximity to the WiFi access point so that the connection is free of interference." This is cutting into the "remote" part of the feature, isn't it…?
Well, again, it should still work okay when using an outside network; it's just that you could run into some issues. It was also confirmed that the PS4 will not support external storage, so get that idea out of your head. However, remember that the default 500GB hard drive can be swapped out for a bigger one if you so desire. It just can't be thicker than 9.55 mm and has to be at least 160GB.
Anything else you want to know, click through the link above.
So basically, there's this great feature that nobody is going to be able to use without incredible cost and concession.
As far as external HDD goes? Ain't nobody got room for that.
I think there reasoning for most of the music playback stuff is their stake in the music business. If they let people play there own and/or MP3 music it's most likely illegally downloaded. And thus they make no money AND this would leave a door open for almost any greedy recording label/artist to sue Sony because "Your machine allowed illegal playback of things we own rights to. Why did you let that happen?"
Not that I agree with this position but in today's "ill sue the s#%t out of you" tech world, i can understand them covering their rears.
I think that's due to the limitations of wireless network technology, though, rather than the PS4 per se. If you can get a low-ping, high-bandwidth, low-interference external connection I'm sure it'll work fine – it might just be tricky to arrange.
Guess they didn't want the games to scale down the resolutions on slower internet connections.
I stream all my media so I never have an issue with storage space. I suggest everyone do the same.
Never works for some reason, used to with my fatty.
PS4 will not support media streaming via DLNA.
Shuhei's on it
https://twitter.com/yosp/status/395661158205501440
https://twitter.com/yosp/status/395844205215363072
I'm bummed there's no MP3 playing and no CD playing/ripping. I DO NOT want to use Sony's music service, thanks.
Oh, and I think they just killed remote play. Why not just say it works even better if you connect your Vita to your PS4 via a special proprietary cable! Sheesh. A real bummer.
Last edited by Norrin Radd on 10/30/2013 11:29:24 PM
Are you telling me that I won't be able to connect my hard drive & watch all of the digital content I have stored on it??? Well, I had already delayed my PS4 purchase about 6 months. Guess that just changed to a solid year.
That is correct! PS4 now half-sucks. May cancel my pre-order and wait to see if that changes later next year.
That really does suck, why would Sony exclude such a feature that is already available on the PS3??
I am not sure but I think it states that you cannot use an external drive for game storage BUT that you could use one for say .. to play avi/mpeg/mkv? Anyone know?
Keep playing!
That would make a ton more sense. I don't see any reason why they would not allow people to connect media drives to the system to play…
If anything being "next-gen" it should support more digital formats so you can play all your old content directly on the PS4
wait, no external HDD!?
so i have to delete the game files after i install 10 games, or constantly keep buying new HDDs?
wow, im getting more and more glad i canceled my ps4 preorder by the minute!
cant believe $ony wont be offering a feature both the xbox one and wiiu offer!
christ, and i thought ninty was bad about not supporting *standard* tech!
not supporting WPA-PSK2 is one thing, but not supporting a external HDD?
get outta here!!!!!!
o, even better you cant even copy accross save files onto a USB drive.
WTF!?
so not only does the ps4 not offer features every other device does, it does not even offer features the ps3 did.
wow, now im really glad i canceled my preorder!
I was excited for the PS4. It looked like THE gaming system and media center to have in one reasonable priced box.
Coming to the next gen I was exceptical between the PS4 and Steam. I was leaning towards the PS4 because I like console gaming eventhough todays consoles behave more and more like PC gaming.
I liked PS4 Price/performance ratio and I was looking forward for a better music player than the one found in the PS3 (It really sux at managing a large music library).
I'm shocked to find out that the PS4 won't support Cd's but also no mp3 playback, or media streaming, and no external HDD support either, so no digital movies either.
Yeah, I know we wanted a gaming focused system but c'on this is nonsense.
With this mov, instead of luring me to their Music and Video streaming subscriptions, they are making me consider PC gaming more seriously, more so now that I have to Shell out 50 bucks per year to play online on Playstation.
On steam the games are way cheaper with their crazy sales, there is no mandatory fee to play online, the PC does more things than a console and the media capabilities will be unmatched now. Not to mention the PC is tax deductable were as the game console is not.
I hope Sony pulls a Microsoft and gives a 180 turn to the PS4's media capabilities. What's the point of using USB3 is it is going to be largely unused? Do I can live without cd playback (I have a dedicated player for that)I don't undertand why they cut us off the digital media playback features or streaming.
Yeah it really makes no sense at all… You don't remove core features from your current-gen console in your next-gen version…
Here is a nice summary of the FAQ in question: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/10/17-things-we-learned-from-sonys-massive-ps4-faq/?comments=1
Chill out dudes, all missed features will be avalible through new updates. Right now Sony was focused on manufacutring the nex-gen GAMING SYSTEM not media center( if you want media-center then pay 499 and if you living in USA, then you may consider it 😉 ). External drives are not availble, I think becasue of some security issues. I believe both next gen titles are hackable and XBone will be hacked first, because it is running on Win8.
If that's the case, they should SAY those features will definitely be added later and just won't be there at launch. Right now, they're just saying NO.
Neither of these features has a massive impact on me, but there are a few others that p*ss me off.
1. "Yes, all PS4 Blu-ray Disc games must be cached to the hard drive to ensure a smooth gaming experience."
So, we're going from 2-8GB mandatory installs up to figures in the 40-50 GB ballpark. I'm sorry, but that is complete and utter cr*p. I get all the arguments for it, i.e. more advanced games require it, it allows for faster loading, etc., etc., but this is progress? Yeah, right.
2. "Yes, you will need to download and install PS4’s day-one system software update 1.50, and then activate your Blu-ray Disc video capability with a one-time activation through the internet in order to play Blu-ray Disc films and DVD video content."
The first part I completely understand, but what the hell is this about needing to activate the ability to play movies via the internet? Man, that's f*cked too. I get that it's designed to be an online system, but seriously? Oh, but if you don't want to hook it up to the internet, Sony will mail you a disc that will allow you to do it. Convenient…
3. PS4 won't support audio CDs or MP3 music files.
The former is slightly annoying, but the latter is damn near a deal breaker. There are times when I just want to chill out and listen to some music, but what I want to listen to isn't on CD and my computer doesn't have the best speakers, so I put on the PS3 and play music through that… And now I can't do that anymore. That's really disappointing.
Oh, the PS4 is an impressive piece of kit, and all of this is ancillary to the core experience of playing games but these three things are bad policy, IMO.
I really don't see how they will require full game installation of every game to the HDD, that would mean literally hours of waiting for installation to complete before you can even start the game…
I sincerely hope that I'm interpreting that incorrectly, but apparently the boxes for Knack, KZ and COD: Ghosts indicate that they require something like 37, 39 and 40 Gigabytes each, so…
On the other hand, the faster read speed of the Blu-Ray drive and the ability to download/install data in the background should mitigate the issues somewhat. Still utter BS though; I had enough trouble juggling my installed game data on my 60GB hard drive for my PS3 and now the same issue is going to rear its head, only the install sizes are going to be bigger. *le sigh*
Still rather the PS4 than the X1, though.
P.S. I like how all of the comments attacking these decisions are getting upvotes… Interesting.
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 10/31/2013 5:50:01 AM
The music restriction is disappointing, so are we expected to get all our music demand from their 'music unlimited' service? I think not. The PS3 was a beast for converting CD's you could rip them to any format you like. I can't tell you the amount of time I have transferred photos/music/videos via USB stick on my PS3.
As for the 1.50 update… I'm tempted to actually take up their offer on a physical copy, just in case something happens at a late date.. I don't like the sound of "with a one-time activation through the internet in order to play Blu-ray Disc films and DVD video content."
The activation for video probably has to do with antipiracy stuff as well, but having to have 40 gigs free to play any game is going to suck balls. I wonder if I can put my anime vidz on it like I do with PS3.
I now read the FAQ myself, and while it never states you will need to install the ENTIRE game, only "needs to cache data" or something like that, but if leaked game boxes imply you actually need to install 40GB of data for every game… wow, that's crazy…
Even if the PS4 will be able to install data as you play, there's still the insane space issue, at 40gb/game, we're talking about 12 full games installed on the included HD, assuming you have nothing else on the HDD like other game data, or videos, trailers, movies etc…
Also typically when you copy large amounts of data while playing it introduces lag… I wonder if that's going to be an issue in that case…
"The music restriction is disappointing, so are we expected to get all our music demand from their 'music unlimited' service? I think not. "
Indeed, I hope that's not their reason for this BS…
I also really don't get the "one-time activation" of the blu-ray drive, why would activating the drive online help piracy problems?! You never have to do that with any standalone player, and you don't have to do it with the PS3, so what's the point??
It just seems like one of those consumer unfriendly things they do just "because we can"…
Read the entire faq and I feel like at release the ps4 is going to be a step backwards from the ps3. I think this is the first device with a disc drive that doesn't play cd's that I've ever heard of. It also doesn't support mp3's. So basically we either pay for a subscription to their music service or we can't have music, that's jacked.
You can't stream media, I don't usually do that, but why are they removing so many options from the ps4.
This really makes me glad I'm waiting, if anything this launch just seems a bit sad.
No external HD?
So no backing up my system then?
That's what I'm wondering too. Do they count backups/restores as "external storage" or are they only talking about not having live data on external devices? If there's no backup/restore option, that would be VERY ridiculous.
Ben I sent you an email detailing the PS4s HDD form factor, its 12.5mm not 9.5mm. Although for some reason the larger 2.5in drives are either 9.5mm or 15mm.
I believe the external hard drive can be used to for media such as videos and photos, it just cant be used as an expansion of the internal HDD, as in you can't install any games on it, or have any system files saved to it.
It should still playback video and photos fine (excluding mp3s which is completely ridiculous), if I'm reading that correctly
I believe you are correct. Even if not true, the PS4 has to at least let you connect an external drive for backups.
It does… less things than before! Yay… for being more like past consoles?
I'm rather disappointed. They removed some features I really liked on the PS3, like streaming video with PS3 Media Server, playing MP3 files and the compatibility with nearly all 3rd party devices and the one game I was looking forward to at launch (DriveClub) has been delayed.
I'm really considering cancelling my pre-order and put the money in a gaming PC.
Well it never hurts to have a good gaming PC regardless, for all those cheap humble bundles, steam sales, PC exclusives and those "so-called" xbox exclusives, like Titanfall…
It seems to me that a lot of these missing features are all due to Sony trying to get out of having to play royalty and licencing fees:
"Activation of Blu-ray and DVD playback".
I suppose Sony's rationale is that some people will already have a blu-ray player in their home entertainment system that already covers all these features so why pay for the licencing rights, though really how much could blu-ray and dvd and their codec fees really add up to?
Lack of DLNA home server streaming, another licence fee I suppose, and possible redundancy with many other blu-ray and other connected media devices (including smart tv's).
The whole USB issue with respect to external HDD. Could that be another licencing issue? Or are they concerned about piracy and people copying/backing up their game downloads (from PSN or disc) onto an external HDD and using a PC to crack the copy protection on games? Or could it just be something similar to the USB launch issue with wireless headsets?
If it's all licencing fees how much could they really be saving on each console? Seems petty to me. And is it really necessary given the bad publicity? Anything's possible, I suppose, they gave up backwards compatibility on subsequent PS3's and navigated that backlash.
I was worried about this, that Sony would hold back some info until closer to release. That things looked a tad too bright.
The only tiny little salvation in all this is that it's more or less the exact same on the Xbone, if I understand correctly.
But it really begs the question, "WHY". Is this just to force feed us Sonys own streaming services? I mean… mp3 support? Audio CDs? This is not advanced, high-end features we talk about here!
Bring back cartridges!
Neo Geo cartridges! 😉
To be fair this is set back for certain. But it didn't say that it won't jump off of different wifi sources. Just not very well. I wonder if it's a res or frame rate issue. I hope it's not shenanigan disconnection issue.
If I can access my PS4 from outside my house at all it will be an improvement over the PS3.
well i for one if i am lucky enough to get my vita this christmas will want to use remote play if i have to use the big tv for the ps4
but i don't think this will be gud idk about the hard drive yet probably not.
happy gaming =)