PlayStation 4 remote play: Problems are on scaling, not latency

One of the major problems with remote play between the PlayStation 3 and Vita were the common problems with latency. Button presses wouldn't register quickly enough to create annoying lag or sometimes the whole connection would be cut-off if there were any huge drops in internet speed. Some of those problems have been addressed between the PlayStation 4 and Vita, but there's a major problem that can't be fixed.

PS4 games are designed with the notion that gamers will be playing on the comfort of their own couch. Most consoles are connected to a TV or monitor that's 19 inches or much bigger. That creates a huge problem when trying to scale these games down on a smaller device. Time Tech explains in their rundown of playing Need for Speed Rivals on remote play.

At startup, you’re poking around a virtual garage where you can tweak your car, fiddle with mission parameters, pore over performance statistics and so forth. When you exit the garage, you first have to pick where you want to exit to using the game’s world map. On the PS4, I can see all the map’s text and iconography clearly, but on the Vita, my eyes struggle continuously to focus on the Lilliputian “objective” lettering or the activity icons that comprise the menubar near map bottom. When I exit to the game world, the automap is essentially useless, the display rondel too shrunken, the course icons like hieroglyphic flecks. And while I can track the general motion of my tachometer and nitrous gauge needles, I’ll often misread pursuit tech tallies because the numbers are so tiny. In short, the game needs a screen that’s at least an inch bigger — probably two.

 For those that think the conversion from TV to portable device will be simple, like the Nintendo's Wii U, that's not the case. Sure, games that are more simplified, such as minigames and indie games that are simple and cheaper, will have a easy transition to the portable device. But for those that are getting the Vita exclusively as a remote play device may want to rethink their plan.

That's not trying to sway people away from getting a Vita, however. With the addition of a PlayStation Plus subscription, Vita owners over time will see a huge selection of games to play in their library, and plenty of PS3 and PS4 games provide cross-play or cross-buy.

Image credit: Flickr