PlayStation 4 Console Thread

[womble9]

Is it just me that thinks the new back-up hard drive is a bit naff and would much rather be able to plug in a USB 3 big external and use that for storage / game installation like on the bone?

Is this something that Sony have said they're either going to do in the future or have given reason as to why they won't be doing it? Only my PS4s HDD is nearly full and I don't know whether to replace it with get a 2GB internal or a bigger external. Any thoughts guys?

[Graham S]

It is pointless for Bloodborne. You just quit and the game saves the state. You can then play any other game in between you sessions.

Still a lot quicker to boot using suspend /resume. Maybe 15 seconds or so and you're playing Bloodborne, as opposed to several minutes to boot and load.

[Eighthours]

It is pointless for Bloodborne. You just quit and the game saves the state. You can then play any other game in between you sessions.

With respect, that's nonsense if you're not planning to play anything else in the meantime. You have the initial load for Bloodborne to get the title screen, then the 'continue' load before you're back in the game - it's a minute and a half at least. Whereas if you suspend/resume, you're back where you were within 15 seconds of the PS4 being on.

Will also be great for GTA V, as the initial load for that is ridiculous. And my Spelunky sessions!

[Spacehost]

Is it just me that thinks the new back-up hard drive is a bit naff and would much rather be able to plug in a USB 3 big external and use that for storage / game installation like on the bone?

Is this something that Sony have said they're either going to do in the future or have given reason as to why they won't be doing it? Only my PS4s HDD is nearly full and I don't know whether to replace it with get a 2GB internal or a bigger external. Any thoughts guys?

It's very doubtful Sony will support external drives, you're as well either uninstalling the games you aren't playing or ponying up for several terabytes of internal storage.

[FishyFish]

Don't most games let you redefine the controls already though? This feature is to allow you to change the controller completely in case you aren't able to use all the buttons. It's a very good addition in my view, but it's not aimed at people who just fancy moving jump to the triangle button.

No, they don't. Most game provide the player with a choice of pre-defined controller setups. To be fair, in most cases these are fine, but occasionally they're not. What I'd like is the ability to completely or partially change the controller layout on a game by game basis so that it can suit my playstyle - which is what I assumed (a fatal mistake, I know) is what we were getting. PC games allow this, but it's quite rare on consoles.

I appreciate the accessibility update is to help people who might otherwise not be able to play games due to physical impairment of some type - it's a great addition in that situation, and I'm not bemoaning it - but the ability to store profiles on a game-by-game basis is not contrary to this - it just makes it a more useful feature for everyone (including those people the accesibility update is intended for).

[Lovelyman]

Fair enough! I am proven stupid.

[Stanley]

Remote Play is really nice now.

[Alex W.]

It's very doubtful Sony will support external drives, you're as well either uninstalling the games you aren't playing or ponying up for several terabytes of internal storage.

How fast is the PS4's USB? I read a lot of blog comments complaining that the backup feature was pointless because it takes hours to transfer just a few gigabytes, which would make it completely useless for running games from too.

[Lovelyman]

It can't be. For the same reason PS3 was success because it was Blu Ray player the PS4 is success because it is USB!

[Spacehost]

How fast is the PS4's USB? I read a lot of blog comments complaining that the backup feature was pointless because it takes hours to transfer just a few gigabytes, which would make it completely useless for running games from too.

USB 3.0, AFAIK. I think the whole speed thing is either a SonyLOL or people expecting their hard drives to be made from magical wish-granting planks or something.

[Paulando]

The suspend/resume thing is ace, and I can see it changing my gaming habits. Waiting for the PS4 to load up, then opening the game and wading through several developer logos and cutscenes and choosing my save and waiting for it to load just puts me off playing anything sometimes.

[K]

Is it just me that thinks the new back-up hard drive is a bit naff and would much rather be able to plug in a USB 3 big external and use that for storage / game installation like on the bone?

Is this something that Sony have said they're either going to do in the future or have given reason as to why they won't be doing it? Only my PS4s HDD is nearly full and I don't know whether to replace it with get a 2GB internal or a bigger external. Any thoughts guys?

Replacing the internal hard drive is surprisingly piss-easy – it’s just a case of sliding back part of the case, undoing one screw, and then swapping the drive for the new one IIRC. There was a degree of faff around getting all my old files across, but if you can back up your whole HD through the 2.5 firmware, then that issue’s gone away as well. It's a doddle, frankly.

[Liquid Myth]

The suspend/resume thing is ace, and I can see it changing my gaming habits. Waiting for the PS4 to load up, then opening the game and wading through several developer logos and cutscenes and choosing my save and waiting for it to load just puts me off playing anything sometimes.

Negged by accident

[instasis]

How fast is the PS4's USB? I read a lot of blog comments complaining that the backup feature was pointless because it takes hours to transfer just a few gigabytes, which would make it completely useless for running games from too.

No idea, but I think my main use for backups - assuming it exists because I've not looked yet - is a standalone savegame backup. The 1GB limit on backups to the cloud and the ENDLESS errors I get on uploads due to that notification feed being full are infuriating. If I can sidestep both by plugging in my external drive once a week and backing them up alongside the videos I'm copying to YouTube in the same way, I'll be happy.

[jonamok]

The suspend/resume thing is ace, and I can see it changing my gaming habits. Waiting for the PS4 to load up, then opening the game and wading through several developer logos and cutscenes and choosing my save and waiting for it to load just puts me off playing anything sometimes.

It is. Been testing it this morning on FC4 (cos Bloodborne is still not here!) and it's really impressive. Whether in game or even in the middle of a cut-scene, hold PS button for a second and select rest mode. Then when you power the PS4 back-up it goes straight into the same game state or mid-cut-scene and picks up exactly where it left off, no PS menu (except a thin status bar at the top of the screen), no game loading, nothing. Aces.

Apparently it only works on BB if it's in offline mode. If playing online (and who doesn't?) it kicks you back to the start screen, according to an online article, can't remember where I read it earlier.

[Graham S]

Apparently it only works on BB if it's in offline mode. If playing online (and who doesn't?) it kicks you back to the start screen, according to an online article, can't remember where I read it earlier.

I don't think this is true. I had an online game (I think) and it seemed to work for me. Was just a quick test to make sure it worked, so I might have missed something.

[jonamok]

Dunno. Must be someone can try it here?

[Shimmyhill]

Oh boo hoo.

Lols, i know you have a hard on for Sony but why cry over someone complaining about another feature that is missing on he PS4 that all over consoles even the previous sony machine had??

In other news, my pad has its 4th fault now - I'm just going to buy another one and see if it will get this one fixed, i bet it will come back as no fault found as it is such an odd fault - only certain guns on BF4/hardline but i can't fire them as pressing the trigger does nothing and yet the trigger works fine elsewhere

[Liquid Myth]

Everton fan's wired controller dilemma solved

[robdood]

Hey chaps, after just learning about PS4 headset profiles, I was just wondering if anyone's seen or heard anything about blagging virtual surround / mixer settings on non-official headphones? I find it a bit of a con that they force you to use their own hardware for sound processing that is done in software on the PS4!!

[Spacehost]

The sound profiles are basically EQ settings, I think they wouldn't sound right on a different set of cans.

[robdood]

Sure, but in that case why not just let everyone have an EQ mixer? It's the virtual surround I'm more keen on, it's amazing on my PC!

[Kryptonian]

In other news, my pad has its 4th fault now - I'm just going to buy another one and see if it will get this one fixed, i bet it will come back as no fault found as it is such an odd fault - only certain guns on BF4/hardline but i can't fire them as pressing the trigger does nothing and yet the trigger works fine elsewhere

Doesn't that suggest it's a BF problem?

[Ferine]

Hey chaps, after just learning about PS4 headset profiles, I was just wondering if anyone's seen or heard anything about blagging virtual surround / mixer settings on non-official headphones? I find it a bit of a con that they force you to use their own hardware for sound processing that is done in software on the PS4!!

I don't think it is done in software. The official headset requires a USB dongle for virtual surround, so I assume that's a mini processor.

[PaB]

I have the official headset, but I'm pretty sure Astro A40s do virtual surround on PS4.

[Spacehost]

I don't think it is done in software. The official headset requires a USB dongle for virtual surround, so I assume that's a mini processor.

Yeah, there's no onboard virtual surround mixing going on.

[robdood]

I don't think it is done in software. The official headset requires a USB dongle for virtual surround, so I assume that's a mini processor.

I see! But if that's the case they could still put the processed sound out through any old audio output! But hey ho, a bit of a shame is all.

[BossSaru]

Doesn't that suggest it's a BF problem game?

Corrected

[MansizeRooster]

This is exactly how it works. In fact, the PS4 has a special auxiliary ARM CPU that it uses in low power mode and for stuff like background downloading.

I'm willing to bet that it doesn't. The ARM has a separate 256Mb dedicated to handling uploads/downloads etc, which it can use to spool off to the hard drive, which is kept running in stand-by. You can hear it idling if you're close enough to the PS4 and you're in a quiet enough room.

[Shimmyhill]

Doesn't that suggest it's a BF problem?

It's fairly common and affects some other games apparently and a new pad resolves it.

It's properly wierd, I can fire a jng90 but not a srr61! On hardline the default sniper doesn't work but the upgrade one does - no issues with any other games with guns like destiny or cod.

People did think it was a firmware issue but a new pad always fixes it