Sony Releases "Ultimate FAQ" for PS4, No Support for External Hard Drives

[SachielOne]

I would guess that the inability to play mp3s is specifically because the system can stream directly to the internet. Getting performance rights to content is an expensive prospect, and I would guess that Sony does not want to get sued by the RIAA.

 

[Strazdas]

What really stuck out is a 5400 RPM hard drive. are they serious? where 7200 drives were already choking with speeds some games require you to read them and led to invention of SSDs dedicated for gaming, they are putting in a frigging laptop drive in this thing?
Well i guess as long as you dont need to install, cause, you know, if you did you wouldnt be able to play it anyway.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Yes because paying $400 hundred dollars for the BARE BASICS of being able to put "disc in game unit" and have it play......is what we should be grateful for. Absolutely, we should all bow down and give thanks to our Sony Overloards for the this privilege.

And Nintendo DID do that......20 years ago, at the price of a hundred bucks. So, what's Sony's excuse?

And suddenly the PS4 is just looking like an average console. Thing is Sony probably couldn't afford any decent extras due to how shot their financials are. They REALLY need the PS4 to take off right out of the gates. However, all signs are pointing to that not happening, so it'll probably a typical first year: slow, with few interesting games, and a LOT of issues that Sony is going to spend the next year fixing.

 

[Something Amyss]

All this makes me appreciate how well designed the PS3 and 360 actually are. I can't even play MP3s?! That is a ridiculous move.

And no media server support? This is one of the reasons I use my PS3 so much. A relatively small one, but still.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

That sucks, but seeing as the games are not installed onto the harddrive I suppose that makes up for it somewhat.

Well i guess as long as you dont need to install, cause, you know, if you did you wouldnt be able to play it anyway.

You will, actually. Look in the FAQ.

but then the XB1 doesn't even manage that level of functionality out of the box.

That's because it was designed for something completely different.

 

[oldtaku]

but then the XB1 doesn't even manage that level of functionality out of the box.

That's because it was designed for something completely different.

Yes, it's designed as a marketing and advertising device using games and television as the honeypot. That was the point.

 

[oldtaku]

Well, perhaps that was too harsh... but it really seems like it wasn't designed with games as the end rather than the means.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

but then the XB1 doesn't even manage that level of functionality out of the box.

That's because it was designed for something completely different.

Yes, it's designed as a marketing and advertising device using games and television as the honeypot. That was the point.

At least it worked out of the box. I can't say the same for the PS4 with half of its features missing.

 

[oldtaku]

At least it worked out of the box.

Okay, you win, you got me, I was successfully trolled. I plead Poe's Law.

 

[Strazdas]

Well i guess as long as you dont need to install, cause, you know, if you did you wouldnt be able to play it anyway.

You will, actually. Look in the FAQ.

Not sure whether you misinterpreted me, are wrong, or FAQ is wrong, but my point was that with games the size and scome that next generation is promising, a 5400RPM driver WILL NOT be able to read data fast enough and thus would not be possible to play from installed only copy with such hard drive as they promise. Unless they find ways to cut corners with games again, like making less of a game than the game pretends to be. i remmeber when games promised certain calcualtions for hitting stuff and it ended up being just "x hits to destroy" because the console couldnt run the calculations fast enough.

At least it worked out of the box. I can't say the same for the PS4 with half of its features missing.

Except it kinda doesnt. Out of the box XboxOne will require internet conenction and checking every 24 hours. A day 0 patch is enacted, that you must download, that will disable this and make it... well... play games perhaps. because every other feature has been either removed or delayed if you follow the news.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Not sure whether you misinterpreted me, are wrong, or FAQ is wrong, but my point was that with games the size and scome that next generation is promising, a 5400RPM driver WILL NOT be able to read data fast enough and thus would not be possible to play from installed only copy with such hard drive as they promise. Unless they find ways to cut corners with games again, like making less of a game than the game pretends to be. i remmeber when games promised certain calcualtions for hitting stuff and it ended up being just "x hits to destroy" because the console couldnt run the calculations fast enough.

Except it kinda doesnt. Out of the box XboxOne will require internet conenction and checking every 24 hours. A day 0 patch is enacted, that you must download, that will disable this and make it... well... play games perhaps. because every other feature has been either removed or delayed if you follow the news.

*shrug* Don't look at me. Read it yourself.

When playing disc-based games on PS4, do I need to install data to the hard drive?
Yes, all PS4 Blu-ray Disc games must be cached to the hard drive to ensure a smooth gaming experience. However, certain titles may not require you to wait for the game data to be fully cached before starting gameplay. In order to start playing disc-based games, users will need to insert the game disc into PS4 just like on the PS3 system.

I should amend my statement to say that it WOULD HAVE worked out of the box as intended had they not done a 180. And what things have been removed or delayed besides the whole digital sharing system they were going to implement?

 

[Marden May]

So, to recap?

? This thing has USB ports ? can i use one to plug in an external USB drive, and play video files from that drive?
? They've actually removed the ability to play music files/MP3s from the system? Whether stored on the PS4's internal drive OR an external? And, some people are grateful for not having the licensing costs built into the console price? How would we ever know if Sony was 'discounting' the machine in the absence of those fees?
? The PS3's blu-ray remote control will not work with the PS4, and there is no PS4 device offered? Does everyone else seriously use their game controller for DVD playback and Netflix/Hulu/etc. navigation? Maybe i could get used to that, but it seems silly. I've had the PS3's remote for years, and find it incredibly useful. I NEVER use the game controller for anything other than games.
? The machine comes with 500GB HD, and can be user-upgraded to a 1TB 2.5" drive, no thicker than 9.5mm. Forgive my ignorance, but what's the 500GB to be used for? I currently only play games for which i have physical discs. Is the 500GB meant for downloadable games? Does the Killzone game i just bought have to be 'installed' to the 500GB? It can't just be played from the disc, as i had assumed was the case with the PS3? If only some information needs to go to the system (cache?) what will be the 'lag time' before i'm able to play? Killzone is 45GB.... If i have to wait 5 minutes to load a game, i'm going to be seriously miffed.
? So... if i have a bunch of movies and other video material on my PS3's INTERNAL HD, will there be a way to 'migrate' that content to the PS4? I guess game saves are moot, since there's no backward compatibility, but what about in the future, when PS3 games are available to be streamed?
? Even though i hate Microsoft and PCs, the Xbox' interface looks leagues ahead of the PS4's.... I've only seen prelim video of the PS4, but it looks like only a slight revamp of the PS3.

I'm quite sure the gaming experience on the PS4 is going to be fantastic. But, Sony had an opportunity to make this system a true Home Entertainment Hub, and it looks like this unit fails on too many accounts. It seems like it actually gets in the way ? in that i'll now need additional electronic components. I'll probably have to keep my PS3 unit next to the 4. Isn't that insane? The PS4 can't REPLACE the PS3?

 

[erbkaiser]

I would guess that the inability to play mp3s is specifically because the system can stream directly to the internet. Getting performance rights to content is an expensive prospect, and I would guess that Sony does not want to get sued by the RIAA.

Very good point, likely also the reason they removed DLNA support. With the 'Share' crap, they'd open themselves up to copyrighted content being 'shared' directly from the PS4, which means the MAFIAA would have a field day suing the crap out of Sony.

? The machine comes with 500GB HD, and can be user-upgraded to a 1TB 2.5" drive, no thicker than 9.5mm. Forgive my ignorance, but what's the 500GB to be used for?

Game installs, patches, DLC, save games.

As for PS3 saves, once PS3 streaming comes into play probably you'll be able to get them from the cloud. PS+ will be basically required for the PS4 and you can already upload your game saves to Sony's cloud on the PS3 or Vita now.