Games By James Plafke Nov. 18, 2013 11:56 am
The PS4 may be a critical darling in both the eyes of gamers and the press, and the cheaper price tag and (more or less) more powerful hardware certainly gives it a boost in terms of positive public mindshare. Like any video game console launch, though, it doesn’t go over smoothly, and the features are missing and the library of games is lacking. Despite the critical praise of the PS4, it was not able to escape these launch hiccups.
[h=3]Media support[/h]The two biggest disappointments regarding the PS4 are its step back as a media hub. When Sony introduced the PS3 seven years ago, the company touted its ability to play both native and external image, video, and audio files. Simply plug in a USB stick with a few video files or a photo album, and you could watch them on your PS3. If transferring files from your computer to a USB stick was too much of a hassle, the PS3 could be set up as a media server so you could load files from your computer.
Sony has backtracked on that, and the PS4 will neither allow external storage devices, nor play external media. Sure, this is likely to curb piracy — you can no longer download a TV episode from your torrent community of choice and toss it on your PS4 for later — but it’s more likely a play *to move us all to the media services that are available on the PS4. Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and even Crunchyroll are available. However, if you’re used to procuring episodes of your favorite shows via nefarious methods and getting them onto your TV via the PS3′s hassle-free USB stick method, your PS4 isn’t going to help.
Along with dropping support for external media, the PS4 also removes MP3 and DLNA support too; you’ll need to use another device to play your CDs. However, Sony has stated that it was shocked to see the public outcry for MP3 and DLNA support, and those features may make their way to the PS4 in a future update.
[h=3]Controllers[/h]The DualShock 4 is a well-designed controller. Fans of the DualShock design will likely find this controller to be Sony’s best yet, as it fits perfectly in the hand, the touchpad and the PS Move functionality are responsive, and the DualShock 3′s much-maligned triggers are now comfortable. However, the light bar on the back of the controller is a huge sticking point — you can easily see it reflected in the TV when playing a game. If you angle the light away from the TV, you’re usually holding it toward your face, and it gives off enough light to obnoxiously glare in your eyes. At the moment, gamers can’t turn the light bar off themselves, but developers can do so. Not much help to gamers who find the reflective light annoying, though.
You will also find that the PS3′s Blu-ray remote does not work with the PS4, nor does the console have IR support for universal remotes. A small issue, but will certainly irritate gamers who own the remotes.
Next page: Wireless support, launch titles and broken consoles
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[h=3]Media support[/h]The two biggest disappointments regarding the PS4 are its step back as a media hub. When Sony introduced the PS3 seven years ago, the company touted its ability to play both native and external image, video, and audio files. Simply plug in a USB stick with a few video files or a photo album, and you could watch them on your PS3. If transferring files from your computer to a USB stick was too much of a hassle, the PS3 could be set up as a media server so you could load files from your computer.
Sony has backtracked on that, and the PS4 will neither allow external storage devices, nor play external media. Sure, this is likely to curb piracy — you can no longer download a TV episode from your torrent community of choice and toss it on your PS4 for later — but it’s more likely a play *to move us all to the media services that are available on the PS4. Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and even Crunchyroll are available. However, if you’re used to procuring episodes of your favorite shows via nefarious methods and getting them onto your TV via the PS3′s hassle-free USB stick method, your PS4 isn’t going to help.
Along with dropping support for external media, the PS4 also removes MP3 and DLNA support too; you’ll need to use another device to play your CDs. However, Sony has stated that it was shocked to see the public outcry for MP3 and DLNA support, and those features may make their way to the PS4 in a future update.
[h=3]Controllers[/h]The DualShock 4 is a well-designed controller. Fans of the DualShock design will likely find this controller to be Sony’s best yet, as it fits perfectly in the hand, the touchpad and the PS Move functionality are responsive, and the DualShock 3′s much-maligned triggers are now comfortable. However, the light bar on the back of the controller is a huge sticking point — you can easily see it reflected in the TV when playing a game. If you angle the light away from the TV, you’re usually holding it toward your face, and it gives off enough light to obnoxiously glare in your eyes. At the moment, gamers can’t turn the light bar off themselves, but developers can do so. Not much help to gamers who find the reflective light annoying, though.
You will also find that the PS3′s Blu-ray remote does not work with the PS4, nor does the console have IR support for universal remotes. A small issue, but will certainly irritate gamers who own the remotes.
Next page: Wireless support, launch titles and broken consoles
More...
