Everybody is eagerly awaiting to get their hands on the Sony's latest gaming console, the Play Station 4. The first shipments are to be made last week of November in the US and the world thereafter. However the Play Station 4 is quite unlike the previous 3 Play Stations. There are some things you should note down once you receive your PS 4.
1. As soon as you unbox the PlayStation 4 be sure to get a patch for it. The patch bumps the version number to 1.50 and is 300MB in size. According to the Sony Blog the patch is necessary to unlock many of the console's most talked-about features, such as the ability to share games online, stream content to a PlayStation Vita and download games in the background. The patch also enables you to play DVD's and Blu-rays on the PS 4. Without the patch you cant run the media players. If you dont want to use your internet for the patch, you can call up the Sony guys for a disc to install the patch for DVD and Blu-Ray functionality.
2. Subscribe to PlayStation Plus, the PlayStation Network's annual membership service which offers you games for free or lower prices. The subscription may cost you $50.00 per year but is necessary if you wish to play games online with your friends. In addition, subscription to PlayStation Plus service grants you ability to automatically download the game updates while the console is suspended. You will also get access to free 1GB cloud space which could be pretty useful to save your game data.
You can watch streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime without subscribing to the PlayStation Plus. In addition you'll also be able to stream your games live to Ustream and Twitch, and share video to Facebook without PlayStation Plus. But if you want to play online games with your friends, the PlayStation Plus is absolutely necessary.
3. Storage space : The PlayStation 4 comes with a builtin storage of a 500GB hard drive which at first glance looks like a awful amount of storage space. But going by the trend the next generation games are bound to be at least 30 to 40GB in size and a 10 of the games should take away your 500GB within minutes. Combine to that, the PS 4 doesnt support external hard drives so you have to be your own mechanic and install a internal SATA II HD which meets Sony's specifications or you can get your friendly neighbourhood mechanic or technician to do the same.
4. Sony also requires games to be installed via disc. The Sony Blog specifically mentions that 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.
6. The Play Station 4 does not support audio CDs, MP3 and DNLA a device classless media server. So if you want support for them you have to wait until Sony releases a patch for that. Till that time you might as well get used to a PS without music playback support.
7. The PlayStation 4 offers innovative options to share game moments with your friends. In a first, the PS 4 controller includes a Share button that lets users easily access sharing functions in the heat of gameplay. The console will include a feature called "Game DVR" that continuously captures the last 15 minutes of gameplay. You can grab screenshots of that video at any point, and even edit the video using the console's tools and share them on Facebook. You can share the screenshots both on Twitter as well as Facebook. You can also share your gameplay live with friends via streaming services Ustream and Twitch. But other than above options there is no sharing or exporting your videos to your own PC, YouTube etc.
8. As of now only 23 games will be available for the PlayStation 4 on Nov. 15 as per Sony. You will get 5 free Indie games if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus. For more games you did have to wait many a moons.
Remember your unboxed Play Station 4 should contain the following :
1. Power Cable
2. HDMI Cable. This is the only form of communication between your TV and PS 4.
3. Dual Shock Controller.
4. A micro-USB cable to charge the Dual Shock Controller
5. A mono headset which you can use to voice chat.
Enjoy you new Play Station 4.
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