Sony’s Massive PS4 FAQ Has Lots of Details

This. I was 17 when I got my PS3 and didn't lie about my age so I've been stuck with a sub-account. I was hoping that they would change that because I actually really like my user name know and want to keep it. Additionally, I've had PS+ since like March, so I'll lose the entire instant game collection when I have to make a new account. And I'll be paying for two PS+ accounts at the same time if I get my PS4 before March. That was literally the one thing I wanted them to fix and they let me down.

Pretty interesting FAQ. Removes a lot of guessing. Bummed about the media server, I use my PS3 with the PlayOn media server all the time.

Apparently it's better to promise things and not deliver than to be upfront about changes. Good to know.

The only thing in this list that bothers me even slightly is the lack of external HDD support. Who knows, maybe they'll firmware update it in later. I plan to do a lot of digital purchasing though, so at 50+GB a game, I'm going to have to invest in a bigger HDD.

I was chatting with a PSN Knowledge Center person just to clarify some stuff for myself, she said the following in regards to whether upgrading sub accounts is a feature that could possibly be coming:

At this time we really don't know. If you would like to you can post your suggestions on the PS Blog. Those are monitored and if enough people ask for it, it just may happen.

So the same we have always heard. But if you are a little frustrated by it like me, hey go post on the PS Blog, it may not make a difference but it could. I also asked whether or not the streaming services (twitch) will be accessible from a sub account and she said the following:

We really don't know that yet. Have you checked the blog website for any updated information on this?

At which point I quoted the FAQ which states: "Finally, sub account users cannot link their account with Social Network Services or use their real name or profile picture." Which she responded with:

It will probably be considered a Social Networking site and sub accounts will have limited access.

Just thought I would share some of the information I got. Seems like they are still figuring some stuff out. Might be a rocky launch for both systems at the end of the day. But, what else is new? They always seem to say "Unfortunately, not at this time" if it is so unfortunate, why not change the policy already? Ah well, just one of those things I guess. We'll see how this generation shapes and changes. No use getting to hot-headed over it.

@underscore_underscore: That's due to a licensing issue. They discussed it on the Bombcast.

Don't know if this was posted. I guess now that they acknowledged this stuff they have to do it or people will be constantly asking why it isn't in yet. DLNA isn't confirmed for Xbox also, not sure about mp3..

The majority of this stuff will just get added in guys.

Bit surprising. Guess the PS3 will continue to be the media server. No MP3s is just outright stupid.

@mrcraggle: Nope, that was the 360...I got one with my black Elite way back when. I'm sure they have stopped that since then, though.

Also for my standard PSA on HDMI cables, please, whatever you do people, don't spend more than five bucks on an HDMI cable. I buy them five at a time from monoprice just so I always have a couple extras around.

@fisk0 said:

If you're familiar with the software, I'd use Ghost to make a disk to disk image.

I think the wording implies that it doesn't support playing games off an external drive, so you can't download games to an external drive but you should be able to still connect it and transfer other content.

Why am I even getting a ps4....oh thats right because I hate using mice and keyboards! VALVE please make the steambox the next big thing because I cant take this crap anymore.

No DLNA is a big deal for me anyway.

Let's see what the Xbox One offers.

Much respect for them still letting us install updates over USB though. PSN under heavy traffic or DDOS? No problem EVER.

No Media Server? Doh...

Headsets that are currently commercially available are incompatible........... The fuck

Let the Sony backlash commence!

This is pretty fucked all around.

Wii U did it first.

But wait, if it doesn't support external hard drives, how are you going to backup all the stuff on the hard drive before you replace it?

No DLNA is seriously fucked. What the hell.

No CDs!?!?! Better subscribe to Qriocity!

No visualizer

NO PEACE LET'S RIOT

@dezztroy said:

Well I've got news for you, friend! It ain't.

Will I be able to watch Blu-ray movies on PS4?

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.

This makes a bit more sense now just like the xbox DVD"kit" the licence for dvd play back was in the cost of the kit so M$ could cut the costs on the xbox(1) seems that sony is kinda doing the same thing and will only have to pay the licence fees for dvd and bluray for users that do activate it.

Personally never used my ps3 for dvd or bluray so thats a wasted fee right there

As an added benefit for PlayStation Plus members, PS4 can automatically download game patches when in standby mode as well.

This is still something i have to pay for?!

Probably cheaper now that USB 2.0 has been phased out.

Try buying brand new DDR1 RAM now. It's much more expensive than the newest model.

Or it could be that they just dropped support last minute in fear of people finding a way to access the kernel and make a CFW(like they did with the PS3)

@quarters: It's a problem if you have a wife/significant other or kids that aren't into games, and the console is hooked up to a common TV. At this point, my Xbox is used more as a Media Center Extender (yup, I'm the one guy who actually uses that stuff) or Plex than for games.

It's not region locked?

Do PS4 games have regional locks?

In general, neither digital nor disc-based games will be region locked, but PlayStation recommends that all users purchase games at the region of their residence to guarantee the best overall experience and customer service. In certain instances, a software publisher may choose to region lock a game title for specific reasons, but Sony Computer Entertainment expects these instances to be uncommon.

I ripped a lot of CDs to my PS3 so I could pump it out through my nice speakers without having to put the disc in. So this actually does bum me out as well.

@nekroskop: Well I don't really see the point in having usb 3.0 If i can't utilize the speed to install games when your hdd goes full because thats a guarantee now a days

What comes in the PS4 box at launch?

You’ll get a PS4 system with a 500GB hard drive, a DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller, a micro-USB cable for charging the DUALSHOCK 4 controller, a Mono-headset for voice chat, a power cable (1.5m), and an HDMI cable (2.0m).

Finally!

Region locking is enough to make me not want to buy a PS4. I thought we were done with that shit.

While DLNA support (lack thereof) comes as a shocker when first reading that sentence... 10 seconds later the thought of "I use my WDTV" or "I use my Roku" or "I use device X" for that anyways and would likely never use the PS4 for it anymore comes to mind.

This was huge 5-8 years ago... these days though... its much more power efficient and usually less hassle to use a device designed for it (5w on my WDTV versus 220w draw on 360). Better remote (use iPhone app) etc...

so bottom line... no big deal.

The things that are bothering me are the lack of upgrading a sub account to a Master Account and not being able to change the name. I still want one, but these things definitely take away from some of my excitement. The mp3/CD compatibility is all stuff I imagine being patched in over time.

I'm thinking the same thing, makes me wonder why I even have it preordered

I just read through the whole FAQ.

The big things I noticed were

The day 1 digital one really bothers me, I would be playing Beyond: Two Souls right now but it is not available digitally

I don't really see a problem with no external drives. Never used them on my PS3. I'll just slap a 1TB in there when I get it next year.(or the year after that. 1TB extra per year)

No media servers blows chunks though. That's just dumb.

HOW CAN I PLAY MY KORN CDS NOW, SONY!?

Never used my PS3 to play music so that doesn't hit me too hard but no external hard drive support rubs me the wrong way.

Not that I would have ever played a CD in that thing, but the omission is kind of odd. If you have a disc reader, why not make it read CD's? Can't all BD players play audio CD's?

I...didn't really use my PS3 for any of this, so I'm unaffected. Guess it sucks for those that it does, but it does feel kind of like a first world problem.

Why are you keeping a PS3 hooked up when the PS4 should do it, I am not going to hookup a cd player and a mp3 player to my receiver either. I am sold my PS3 because I am not a collector and it supports buying a PS4. Also, there is a list of features not active at launch but in the pipe and DLNA support is NOT on it. They shouldn't have to 'work' on these features very long either because they already exist.

I play all my games on Cocaine settings.

DLNA is a feature I use at least once a week so that's a bit of a bummer. Of course it could be slightly alleviated if they have better codec support for playing videos back natively.

People need to cool their jets.

Judging from this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software) it took 6 months for the PS3 to get DLNA support (and another 2 months to get wallpapers for the XMB). They can add features later, and as hot as these things are coming in they've got to triage for the features they feel are more important. Their marketing pitch with the E3 presentation was that they were focused on making a gaming device, so it's hardly a surprise that they haven't worked out their media playback features. It's doubly confusing to see people who already have a PS3 complain about these things...it's not like plugging in a PS4 causes your PS3 to disintegrate (at least that's not in the FAQ anyway). I understand the disappointment to an extent, but let this be a valuable lesson in expectation management.

No media streaming and no MP3 support is pretty lame. I use my PS3 for both of those things, a lot.

If it has a web browser built-in you can probably run a local webserver and browse your media collection through some sort of web application. Then you could watch videos using flash or html5.

That fact that there is no media streaming will only be a problem for the first year of the console. People will find some work around for it.

On my PS3, I ripped 2 CDs when it first came out just to prove that it could do it, and to try out the different formats it ripped to. It was cool, but I really don't care about sticking CDs in there, and that was the last time I ever did.

I did put mp3s on my PS3, but I never used them. I did it because I could.

I do use DLNA from time to time, but the PS3 doesn't handle higher bitrate stuff over the air so well all that often. Sometimes it's smooth sailing, and sometimes it's stop and go. I mostly just use the web browser on the PS3 to download HD bomb videos straight to the hard drive. The browser handles this website pretty well.

Of course, it's always better to keep or add features rather than remove them, but when they're negligible it's something that doesn't bother me as much as removing a core gaming functionality would.

It probably would have been good to mention that if you own 2 PS4s, you only need to buy games once because you can play any game you own on up to 2 PS4s simultaneously. You could do this with the PS3, but it looks like they made it just as easy, if not easier this time.