PS4 'Kenshin' Details

Sony has released details of what the next PlayStation 4 update will include, some of it sounds great, but a few things don’t really seem as if we’re getting what we would have preferred.

Here’s a list as featured on the blog, with an opinion underneath.

Online storage capacity increase — PS4 online storage capacity has increased from 1GB to 10GB for all PS Plus members. In 3.00 system software, you’ll see that we added a handy usage meter to monitor your available storage capacity, and a new Auto-Upload menu has been added to Application Saved Data Management.

10GB is certainly a significant upgrade, but what exactly can you upload? Are game saves becoming so big, we’re going to need so much space?

YouTube live — PS4 owners will be able to livestream gameplay to YouTube. Livestreams will be viewable across YouTube, including on the new YouTube Gaming mobile app and website.

With YouTube making their streaming more prominent, albeit with stupid content ID strikes making it almost impossible to monetize, Sony are on the ball with this, giving streamers that option.

Events — A new hub for events has been added, giving an overview of activities taking place in the games you play most, as well as official broadcasts. For instance, you may see an update for a Double XP weekend, a special enemy appearing at a scheduled time, or seasonal events like in-game towns being decorated for the winter. You’ll also receive notifications when the event starts, or if the timing changes.

This is a good idea. There’s a similar thing on the Xbox One (if you can find it), only, I’m not sure if you can get notifications about when the event takes place.

Favorite Groups — Favorite Groups has been added to the Friends app, letting you quickly access groups of people you like to play games with frequently. This will make the process of getting a game session up and running even easier.

This is just like adding people as favourites. Mainly a good function for clans.

Communities — PS4 users will have the ability to create communities based around shared interests, like games, genres, and more. Communities include a message board with general discussion, screenshots shared by players, and the ability to join parties / games. If you want to tackle a big multiplayer raid, but don’t have enough friends available, this could be a great way to connect with other players who are looking for the same thing.

This sounds like something from Steam. Every game has a Community which you can follow if you like. Even Mental Gamers has a Community page, so that’s what I’m guessing this is about.

Sharing video clips to Twitter — Users will have the ability to share video clips directly to Twitter. Maximum video length is 10 seconds, though you’ll have the ability to trim longer clips.

I don’t really have an opinion about this. I share the odd image now and then, but I’d rather create a YouTube video than share a clip. I don’t watch videos on Twitter.

Stickers — Tired of typing out messages? With this update, you’ll be able to send stickers to friends through your messages.

This is a Facebook thing, right? For little Jonnie and Susie to spam each other with nonsense?

Now Playing / What’s New — The Now Playing screen will display even more information about what your friends are doing, and you’ll be able to quickly jump into a game, party, request a screen share, or get sent to the PS Store to buy the game your friend is playing – further enhancing the social relationship with your friends online.

What I would like is to not have EVERYTHING someone does in GTA V appear on my dash. I don’t care how much they spent on a car or if they went clothes shopping or delivered a car to Simeon. No other game does that, I want that to stop.

Screenshots – We’ve listened to your feedback and we’re happy to confirm that PNG format is now an option for Screenshot saves

Oh, so this is why they’re upgrading the PS4 storage to 10GB, the screenshots will now be 4x bigger than .jpg. Why did people ask for .png screenshots anyway? They’re fine as they are.

Live from PlayStation — We’ve improved the Live From PlayStation app, making it easier to view popular trending broadcasts in real time.

I would actually prefer a Twitch app, this only lists what people are streaming from their PS4.

Request to watch gameplay — Want to view a friend’s gameplay session? Now you can send a ‘Request to Watch’ notification to a player, which will start a live broadcast or Share Play invitation to the person playing.

Another ripped Steam feature.
Those are the main highlights with apparently more included which weren’t worthy of a mention. The beta starts today, so for those of you who signed up for it, keep an eye out, you should get an email soon.
I saw a few people complain about more social features and that they don’t want them, let’s put it this way, a lot of people do want them, just because you’re an anti-social moron doesn’t mean things shouldn’t happen. Do you play with friends? Then you’re a social gamer, whether you like it or not, so shut up being a big baby.