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

PlayStation Vita receives update, now links to PlayStation 4

Sony rolls out update 3.00 for the PlayStation Vita, including an all new application to make the portable device connect to the PlayStation 4.

It's been known for a long time that Vita would allow players that pick up Sony's next-generation console to play via remote play, and this crucial update has it packed in an app called "PS4 Link." Lance Whitney from CNET dives in to what exactly the app has in store for us.

Specifically, users will be able to remotely control a PlayStation 4 and play a variety of PS4 games directly on the PS Vita. Further, PS4 games that support a second screen can display information from the game on the Vita. PS4 Link will appear on the Vita's home screen.

It should be noted that not every game will be able to be streamed to the Vita. Some may require an update released at a later date, and some may never be compatible. But we're expected to see much better performance and a higher compatibility rate than remote play ever had with the PlayStation 3.

Not an early adopter of the next-gen console? Here's what else update 3.00 had in it:

But PlayStation 3 owners aren't exactly out in the cold. A new content manager lets PS Vita owners connect the console to a PS3 via Wi-Fi.
The PS Vita update also brings in a panoramic camera setting, improves the layout of the Friends and Messages applications, and adds parental controls to the home screen.

The update was released today, and Vita owners will be prompted to update before going online with their device.

[Image credit: Flickr]

PlayStation 4 Titles Will Require Remote Play on PlayStation Vita

Sony president Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed on Twitter that remote play from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation Vita will be mandatory for all titles, excluding those that use special hardware peripherals.

It was a promise given by Sony to all Vita owners that remote play would be possible, and does exist with certain titles on the PlayStation 3. A few problems with this feature: there's not enough titles that support it and using the feature renders the PS3 useless to do anything while playing with the Vita.

That's apparently going to change. Along with the announcement of a vast majority of PS4 games using remote play, Sony's purchase of Gaikai technology will be used to stream games instead of using the PS3's power.

Here's a more detailed explanation from the Eurogamer article that reported on a developer that told them Sony would make the mandate:

Remote Play works by downscaling the 1080p framebuffer to the Vita's native 960x544 resolution, using the PS4's in-built hardware h.264 video encoder to compress the image. This is then beamed out over WiFi to the Vita, which decodes the video and sends back controller inputs to the PlayStation 4. It's effectively OnLive cloud streaming technology relocated to the home - the difference being that image quality issues can be resolved through much higher-bandwidth video, while input latency is cut down considerably owing to the localised nature of the network.

While there's nothing that confirms multi-use on the new console, it could mean that if someone else in the household wants to use Netflix on the PS4 while someone else plays a game on the Vita with remote play, it could be possible.

[Source: Eurogamer]
[Photo source: Flickr/Javier Dominguez Ferreiro]