With the dawn of a new console age upon us, Sony announced some new information about PS4’s Remote Play. If you haven’t heard (or forgot this is a thing), Remote Play is a feature that allowed PS4 gamers to play their games on the go via their PS Vita. A great idea on Sony’s part that ultimately may not live up to such a lofty premise. Here’s the skinny (see what I did there?) on all the new information released about Remote Play.
Probably the best news mentioned: Unless the game specifically requires other peripherals (i.e. Playstation Camera), all PS4 games will have the Remote Play feature. This is great for gamers that want to (or have to because they share a TV) play games around the house while also being great for Sony to push PS Vita sales (sometimes it seems like they forgot they sell it).
***Yea… But can it dance? (Does The Worm)***
Onto the bad news. In order for Remote Play to work, your PS4 must be on. At all times. Also, you can only use Wi-Fi for Remote Play. It’s not 3G compatible. Oh and you wanted to bring the game to class while some moldy old professor babbles about American politics? Well it better be an online class (with high bandwidth) because Sony suggests you don’t leave the Wi-Fi the PS4 is connected to in order for games to work properly.
This is a huge let down as Sony told us we could leave the house and play our PS4 games while not attached to the TV (i.e. driving, rave parties) in public. The concept is still interesting. Being able to sit on the porch and play Killzone will finally give kids an answer to the classic parenting question: “Why don’t you go play outside?”
To be fair, it is possible to play a game while not on the same Wi-Fi as your PS4. While Sony seems to strongly suggest you should stay on your own Wi-Fi, it isn’t 100% necessary. Of course, when the public Wi-Fi at Starbucks fails and you lose or corrupt a game save that’ll be the end of Remote Play (and probably your Vita, as it no doubt will be thrown through a window).
***This isn’t the first time a beautiful woman lied to me***
Ultimately this news is a big letdown. While the idea is sound, it doesn’t appear to be what Sony promised it would be. If Sony admitted the feature wasn’t where they’d like it to be at launch that’s ok. Just don’t create a commercial for a feature you can’t guarantee on launch day. I hope that during the PS4’s lifespan they can find a way to have Remote Play function beyond my driveway. I also hope someone buys a PS Vita AND PS4 for me in the next few weeks. So we’ll see how that all goes in the future.
What do you guys think? Would you ever use Remote Play? Comment on my dance moves down below!
