What the PS4 Can and Can't Do

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jl0329

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No media server?... How much does it cost to add that feature? Not that I care since I have Roku3, but I just don't understand why they removed that feature. Isn't their Slogan - "It only does everything"?
 

ianj14

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"...The PlayStation is totally optional..."

Really? Does that mean I don't even have to buy one to play games? Cool!

;)
 

wysir

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Well, it looks like Sony is keeping the door wide open for SteamOS to come on in, lets see what headway Microsoft will give them..
 

goodguy713

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I was reading a twitter post from one of the devs and they said that its not out of the question to have media streaming but it would be added later on. as it stands now they are probably waiting for feed back .. hell even my sony internet ready tv can do media streaming from my in house network its not like its a deal breaker how ever it is nice to have all those movies in my library available but I generally use apple tv for that. much cleaner interface in my opinion
 

sirskeetsalot2013

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Ouch. I knew something bad would surface.
Can’t play audio cds, can’t play MP3, can’t stream video from a media server. So much for the PS4 being the venter of your home theater. I might cancel my pre-order.
The fact you can’t share to YouTube REALLY sucks, and it’s incredibly disappointing. One of my most anticipated features (share button) will barely get any use from me as you can only share to Facebook.
9.5mm for the hard drive??? SERIOUSLY?? Wont be doing much digital downloading with that since 1.5t is the largeat in that size. Very dissapointed in this.
I love all this information about the PS4 But I am disappointed to hear that all games will need an Install to the HDD. That means roughly after 8 Retail games and all of the Plus offerings your 500 GB HDD will be filled.
 

RedJaron

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Ditching the Sony A/V adapter is fine at this point, though I thank Sony for keeping it the same on the last three gens.

As for external hard drives, are they saying they're not supported at all, or you just can't use them to store gaming? If the latter, that's not big deal since we didn't have then before. If the former, that's a bummer since I know a lot of people who use external drives to store movies for playback.

4K display is no-brainer. All but the most powerful computers have trouble with 4K gaming today. I guess it would have been nice to have 4K playback support for movies, if not games. But not a huge loss.

Strange that DVD and Blu-ray isn't available in the shipping ROM. My best guess is they were still tweaking that part of the firmware by the time they had to start shipping these things around for launch.

Losing music and media streamer is really stupid, though. A PS3 made a great media server or streamer. MP3s meant some games had custom soundtracks capabilities ( I liked that in PAIN and Burnout Paradise. ) Don't understand why you're ditching it unless Sony is hoping to force people into their services. I'll hold out hope that like the DVD and Blu-ray support, this just wasn't done in time for shipping firmware and will be added later. Still, to not have it at launch is bad form, Sony.

Paid multiplayer, I'm not happy about, but I plan to keep my PS+ membership for the sales and discounts. It's still cheaper than XBL and at this point I think the two services are about equal, maybe PS+ is a little ahead thanks to its Instant Game Collection.
 

jl0329

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No media server?... How much does it cost to add that feature? Not that I care since I have Roku3, but I just don't understand why they removed that feature. Isn't their Slogan - "It only does everything"?
 

klausey

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I have to admit I'm surprised by the lack of media features. Sony might end up patching in some of this stuff down the road, but no support for MP3's? I get that it's a game system, but most people are using this as the focal point of their media center. Not being able to play the #1 music standard is just hilarious.
 

ianj14

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"...The PlayStation -Camera- is totally optional..."

No fair! You edited the original text and put in 'Camera' to make my post look wrong! waahhh!

;)
 

clonazepam

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"Strange that DVD and Blu-ray isn't available in the shipping ROM. My best guess is they were still tweaking that part of the firmware by the time they had to start shipping these things around for launch."

You'll no doubt have to agree to some crazy long EULA in order to use this functionality. Remember Nintendo's hardware not playing movies? They want to get away from the idea that purchasing an optical drive meant to read game data automatically has the ability to read other data formats out of the box.

For the same reasons they didn't want people buying up PS3's to crunch data (no revenue), they have likely omitted media features (at least initially) to suppress multiple system purchases that'd be used primarily for media streaming. I think it is a feature that will eventually show up, but Sony wants people buying games, DLC, and getting subs for their music and video services asap.
 

Garet

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Removing the Streaming capability just killed it for me. To me my PS3 is more than just a console, it is my central media hub. My kids listen do Audio CDs over the PS3, we stream lots of movies from our NAS, and I listen to my MP3 collection over the PS3, as it is hooked up to our A/V Receiver. The PS4 can't do that anymore and for that it is an expensive piece of Tech. Looks like the next upgrade will be an HTPC then...
 

TeraMedia

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Sony Product Mgr: "Hey legal, did you finish that negotiation with that DVD industry group yet so that we can support DVD playback?"

Sony Legal: "What negotiation? We have already prohibited them from allowing the copying or playback of any of our DVDs or Blu-Rays without physical media. What more do we need to do?"
 

andy610

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I'm going to miss my mp3s, especially for games like Gran Turismo 5 where you can change the music to your own playlist.
 

razor512

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Just get a gaming PC and make developers understand that they need to pay attention to this platform a little more.

Some may say that a gaming console cost less than a gaming PC, but those users will still want a PC and when you consider the cost of a non gaming PC VS one with the hardware the game, the cost is generally less than getting a non gaming PC + a game console.

Last time I checked (few minutes ago) I could game while listening to music, and if I need, I can play some vocal free/ ambient music while gaming and also playing a few video podcast on a second monitor. A decent gaming PC can handle anything a game console can and more while supporting both the xbox 360 and PS3 and 4 controllers and virtually limitless customization.

Most of the really good games make it to PC anyway but to get the rest, more users need to switch from console to PC and demand that those developers release the games for the PC.
 
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