Sony’s Massive PS4 FAQ Has Lots of Details

Maaan, they won't change that still? Fuck that. I would happily create a new PSN profile, if I also wouldn't have the trouble of having PS+ and bunch of money tied to my current account...

Interesting indeed...

Also, MUH CEEDEES!!!

I thought Playstation players wanted a game system ONLY..?

So this means no music while I play online shooters why the fuck

@markjw: Pretty much nailed that...

Sony sure do know how to mess their fan base about. Seems they are just giving you a games console with less features than the current generation of console. They could do a u-turn on those features but i guess there will have to be a few major updates.

Why do you have to download the dvd/blu-ray play back feature on day one, should this not be as standard straight out of the box?

Spotify/phone support pls.

The PS4 system does not support client functionality* for media servers.

*We appreciate your feedback and are exploring possibilities.

Well, hopefully they add it in the future. It seems like the ps3 didn't launch with such support until a later patch too. I'll have my ps3 remain hooked up for now, seems simple enough. Gives me a reason to play my back catalogue of ps3 games too.

so basically each week there's a new update on the PS4 until it's playing what the promised, this ought to make video game blogging amusing

That's DLNA stuff - they haven't said anything officially but I would be surprised if the One doesn't support it in much the same way the 360 does. (Though I'm pretty amazed the PS4 doesn't when the PS3 does so who knows what could happen)

I heard they were missing pause and resume feature too.. that seems kinda crazy considering it is a pretty deep feature in the OS.

Oh by the way, I am not sure about Win7 but Win8 has a "playto device" feature that allows video streaming to 360, I wonder if that will just hook up with the Xbox One?

I canceled mine due to the watchdog bundle issue, complained mildly and got $100 credit from amazon. Still Disappointed but after this list (particularly steaming capabilities) I am feeling more like just waiting on buying anything to see if they are any major hardware problems (rrod, etc)

That sucks. My PS3 is basically my streaming machine, since it streams movies from my PC in HD. Bummer that PS4 won't work :(

I'm waiting for Kaz Hirai to tell me there's no CD/MP3/DLNA support because those are all last gen technology.

Fair enough.

Too be honest, I'm kind of a fan of the 360 battery pop. Makes me feel like a hackster.

It's like the softcore version of "turning off your system while this symbol is on screen".

@professoress:

Because it's a pet peeve of mine for this generation.

Simple.

Just curious: Why?

Bonus question: How are you removing your batteries from your PS3 controller?

This September, for the first time, I loaded my PS3 with MP3s so I wouldn't have to listen to the crap rock included with NHL 14. The music just plays between gameplay and on menus, and I was really happy with it. No longer.

@nekusakuraba said:

Region-locking on the Ps4 works no differently than it does on the Ps3.

What? PS4 users can voice chat with other PS4 users and Vita users, but not with PS3 users. Considering this is fairly late in PS3s life cycle I imagine it won't be a huge deal.

Will I be able to turn off the wireless controller without a system prompt or without removing the batteries?

Dear god no, as a person who sees a lot of trouble putting custom music to NHL games this is bad news. I can't imagine bearing to listen to same 13 songs in OST for too long.

The one big difference that was between the PS3 and the 360, but no one mentions it.

Can PS3 and PS4 users voice chat, or video chat together?

PS3 and PS4 users will be able to communicate with each other use text messages, but not video or voice chat.

This one also seems like it could be a big deal. While the Xbone may be locked to 720p for a lot of games, the online party-chat element is what brought so many people to the platform in the first place.

How can Sony just ignore that?

Why would you have an optical drive in your PC? Is it from 97? Last 3 PCs I've bought have been without, and it's fucking GREAT.

Shame about DLNA on the PS4, wonder if it'll be able to play stuff off of smb shares at all. And I guess that music unlimited service might see some use, I've had it for like 6 months and listened to maybe an hour of music on it. In hindsight getting it on top of spotify might've been a mistake.

Well all of this bothers me, particularly the inability to play all those beautiful mix cds.

No, really... My PS3 is currently my media center. It's not great, but it gets the job done, so that's good. Also, too bad sony, but most of my music is currently in iTunes, I will not pay for yet another service to justify your investment on it.. no cookies for you!

But beyond that, I have one doubt, that may be a very silly one: Hypothetically, I have a 500 GB hard drive full of all those wonderfully heavy digital download games, all 5 of them. So I decide to replace it for some cheap 2tb hard drive. Am I supposed to download it all again? What about the game data or saves? can I only store it in the allmighty 5 dollar a month cloud or lose it?

Bad move, for a second there Sony almost had me believing they actually cared about respecting their customers... at least they managed to slip that one in without causing too much of a PR catastrophe.

OK enough dumbness for today ( but tbh, I hope our hero Yoshida comes to the rescue)

I think both MS and Sony are doing WAY too much scrambling for me to trust either piece of hardware without extensive hands-on time.

I know it seems weird, but given the rush to get this thing to market along side a direct competitor, I'm sure that Sony has plenty of data that guided their decisions here. It was probably a matter of choosing to focus resources on things that had the best cost/benefit ratio for the end user. That doesn't mean this doesn't suck for the people who do use those features, but at least keep in mind that feedback they get now could lead to future implementation as it did with PS3

I used to stream stuff to my PS3 from my PC all the time, then I realized the PS3's media server blows.

Bought a 24 foot HDMI cable, hid it behind a couch and I have seamless PC > TV support.

BLAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Cocaine settings... fuck at least there's something on this thread that made me smile :)

And the Xbone is kinda junk...and not just because of the hardware being somewhat inferior...but more so because that inferiority is going to gate the level of quality that developers will be able to put into titles based solely on the costs in order to maintain both systems. That's sad :( BF4 has already suffered for it... having to upres is really depressing.

If you haven't read about it or viewed the comparisons, check this out:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-battlefield-4-next-gen-vs-pc-face-off-preview

So yeah it sucks and people are freaking out and everything is horrible... I think companies should go back to making us wait until things are together, rather than just throwing things out the door that they have to fix before it hits our hands. It would stop all this moaning and pain filled retorts... Either way I'm excited as shit to get a new console. It's been WAY too long and the initial titles I've seen so far make me smile with the leap in graphical content. It might not be the greatest ever, but it certainly has a nice look to it.

I use the ps3 as my primary media streaming device, and it works wonderfully. Out of all of the devices that we have capable of media streaming, it's the go-to device for my wife (she basically refuses to use anything else, because it's too 'hard').

I'm sad that it's not included on the PS4, but I also recall that it wasn't included in the PS3 at launch. I'm hoping that they add it sooner rather than later (or never).

Its kind of odd of sony to remove so many media functions considering the PS3 had all the media functions anyone would want. And that was from a time before these boxes were more than just game systems.

I actually used my PS3 as a music player; including copying songs from my media server and ripping CDs. I could channel it through my home theater and rattle all the windows :P

But now I have a 2.1 soundbar mounted to the wall behind my PC monitor...PC...

Anyone planning on changing their PS4 hard drive for 7200 rpms HD? Not sure how much of a difference it will make on a console compared to a PC other than maybe a quicker start up.

I'm happy for you that your PC still has technology from the 1990's.

At least my main gripes here are all software based for the most part. They could still pull a Microsoft and back down from these things if they are as weak-willed as Microsoft has been this year.

I'm excited for new consoles, but neither is either selling me on it or making it worth anyone's time to stop playing their PCs

That is exactly how it worked with the PS3:

"All PlayStation 3 games except for one are region free. Even though publishers could choose to region-lock specific games based on a mechanism that allows for the game to query the model of the PS3, none did so during the first six years after the launch of PS3. The first game to be region-locked on PS3 is Persona 4 Arena"

Source

Big publishers could have done it last time 'round but didn't, Sony's policy on region-locking hasn't changed.

The worst part about this for me is that I can't change my PSN name. I picked it out like 7 years ago and I HATE IT but I have too many purchases tied to it. Xbox has had this fixed for years, COME ON SONY.

You know what plays CDs? MY PC. Just another thing the PC is better at. :P Although it does suck that DLNA won't be supported (at launch?) or just in general.

Look at that last sentence. It's entirely up to the publisher wether they want to region-lock their game or not. Many large publishers probably will.

Wait, so PS4 games will be region locked? That fucking sucks, I loved the region free aspect on the PS3.

yup, that's what the ps3 is for and the exclusives. Why they would take out the most used feature is beyond me, fucking crazy. Can't even play cd's? Have to patch in blu-ray support?? This is why I don't pre-order, seems like both ps4 and xbone will be pieces of shit in their own ways.

@foxmulder Not cd's but i streamed music on my xbox from my pc, also made custom tracks for nba2k that streamed over. Streamed movies a lot on my ps3

I really dislike this notion that no one wants physical media anymore. I like having CD's. Also, plenty of people have large DVD collections that aren't all available on Blu-Ray or (legally) on the internet yet. I wouldn't bet on the PS5 not having a way to play DVD's.

Setting that aside, though, why doesn't the PS3 play MP3's?

See this is what I love right now about Sony. They are already reacting:

Yoshida you are just great^^

@butano It is to avoid Spoilers. If you capture it like you currently do with PS3 games on twitch etc it will not cut out.

The better question is why does Sony, a company largely responsible for the first CD player, engineer out the capability to play music in their optical disc drives?

oh man.. hahahaha :D

Don't worry I would do the same thing. (only no WWE games for PC)

It makes sense from a spoiler perspective. Makes it a lot harder to just stream out the ending of a game within the first couple of days. Guess we'll see how developers choose to use that power.

No downloadable demos at launch? REALLY?

Also, extent of the sharing stuff is decided by the publisher. Like with screenshot function of the PS3. How many games used that?

This is a pretty nice FAQ, answers most questions people would probably have about the console. A bit disappointed that my Elite headset won't be supported out of the gate (those things are awesome) but good to see support is coming eventually. Likely by the time the console comes out next year, that will be patched in.

The other stuff it lacks bothers me about as much as when they removed Linux support from PS3, that is to say not at all. Considering I still have a 60 GB PS3, I am super stoked for a HD that is nearly 10x that, so I don't even care about putting in an external HD. How much space do people really need.