So PS4 losing some features

[KazeAizen]

And I have no clue what they are. I just read an article on Kotaku explaining that the PS4 is losing some kind of "media server" support or something like that. I began to think to myself "Should I be sad and ashamed that I have no clue what they are talking about?" I have a PS3 myself, but I use it like I would think a "normal" person would. For video games almost exclusively. No photos, no music, and only the occasional youtube visit when my friends are over and we want to watch dorkly or honest trailers or the like. Does it suck that the PS4 is losing apparently a cool feature? Yes. Do I really care? No. So for the discussion then. Am I weird for not using my consoles as for all this other crap and pretty much only using them for video games like they were originally made to do? At least I think they were. Things seem to be changing. Also what do you think about it? Here's a link to the article.

http://kotaku.com/the-ps4-takes-a-step-backwards-1455495418?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

That sucks, I use the media server everyday. I'm sure you can at least use flash drives to copy over video and music. What's even worse that was detailed in the article is that the PS4 will launch with no MP3 support, what the fuck is up with that bullshit?

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

So long as i can play games on my console that's fine. That is why i buy them. For all other needs i have a PC. Got that thing hooked up to my tv and my speakers so i can watch movies or listen to music or what not.

Everybody and his grandma has a laptop at this point (at least in the demographic of "potential ps4-buyer") so what exactly do you need the media server for? Back in the day, before HDMI and laptops and facy stuff like that, i used my old xbox and XBMC to watch movies and listen to music, so back then i certainly see the point but currently it just feels kinda pointless imo.

 

[josemlopes]

Its not that I mind much (and I even used to listen to MP3s while playing some games) but for a console that is supposed to last 10 years or something it really feels lackluster when you cant use incredibly basic and standard features.

Even worse when you take a look at the other bunch of minor features that are even less necessary but are still there, why was it for them more important to create a like system for shared content then letting the console read MP3 files?


Its not the end of the world but it really begs the question "Are you serious?". Even worse is the fact that they waited so long to reveal this "not as good as you thought" info (at least Microsoft went full frontal about their shitty stuff, most of it atleast). Sony just went "We dont have the shit that you will find on the XBONE, we have our own shit but we wont tell you".

 

[TehCookie]

That pisses me off. If they removed everything and turned the PS4 into a system that only plays games I wouldn't mind. However if they still have Netflix or social networking and all the crap I don't use while getting rid of the only thing I do is a slap in the face.

It's much easier to use media center to stream videos and music to my TV than hook my PC to my TV. Especially since streaming lets me play formats the PS3 normally doesn't like .mkv.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

well the real irritating thing is that it's done in an obvious move to try and coax people onto Sony's online music or movie services. One problem: Sony's services SUCK. It's an attempt to try and squeeze money from consumers, but it probably won't work. What irks me more is something not brought up in this article and that's the fact that PS4 games have mandatory installs. Not good, especially since the PS4 won't allow for external storage.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Alright, so from what I read, "Media Service" means that you can't stream things from your PC to your PS4. If that is wrong, someone will tell me. That's still stupid, especially since that was one of the features praised in the PS3.

The PS4 also does not support External HDD's, which I think makes it the only console this generation to not do that (WiiU Definitely does, and I'm thinking both the XBone and Steam Machines will too). So while it might be the most powerful machine on the market graphic wise, it might actually be the most limited machine as well.

 

[scorptatious]

Meh. So long as I can play games on it, I don't really care that I can't use a media server.

 

[VanQ]

I could just keep using my PS3 to stream media from my compouter to my TV downstairs but I've decided to cancel my PS4 preorder and invest that money in a good long HDMI cable and a good wireless mouse and run the HDMI cable from my PC to my TV in stead of a Gigabit cable.

Good news
-I can now stream movies from my PC to my TV without any loss in quality from the recoding I have to do to stream to the PS3.
-I can also watch movies like Mardock Scramble on my nice TV and sound system without having to worry about the graininess lagging the video.
-I'm saving roughly $500 right before the Christmas season

Bad news
-
...
-
I'll get back to you on this one.

 

[josemlopes]

So while it might be the most powerful machine on the market graphic wise, it might actually be the most limited machine as well.

Kind of ironic, isnt it?

 

[Roxas1359]

The PS4 also does not support External HDD's, which I think makes it the only console this generation to not do that (WiiU Definitely does, and I'm thinking both the XBone and Steam Machines will too). So while it might be the most powerful machine on the market graphic wise, it might actually be the most limited machine as well.

It doesn't support it because you can actually change the HDD to anything you want unlike the Xbox One and Wii U. PS4 is like the PS3 in that it uses a 2.5" laptop HDD that is interchangable. Sony allows you to change it to either a larger HDD or an SSD if you want too. No real need to support external hard drives when you can buy your own and replace it. Yeah it'd be nice, but it's really not necessary in this case.

The Xbox One on the other hand uses a proprietary internal HDD so if they didn't support one that'd be stupid; also there was a news article that said that the Xbox One wasn't supporting externals at launch. The Wii U uses a proprietary internal flash memory that you can't change (which stinks). However the Wii U supports way more HDDs so that's no problem either.

Meh. So long as I can play games on it, I don't really care that I can't use a media server.

Summarized my thoughts entirely. I never even used the feature on my PS3 so as long as I can play my games I'm fine.

 

[EHKOS]

Awww I really wanted that Linux partition...wait.

 

[fix-the-spade]

What's even worse that was detailed in the article is that the PS4 will launch with no MP3 support, what the fuck is up with that bullshit?

They want you to sign up to their music streaming service instead, which is extra on top of the PS+ subscription naturally. There is also a video streaming service for yet another subscription, which is why they've killed the external hdd, home server, CD and MP3.

It seems Microsoft will not have a monopoly on bullshit tactics this generation.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The way I heard it wasn't that it was losing it, but it wasn't launching with it, and that they were planning on patching it in a few months after launch, same with the MP3s. Am I wrong here?

 

[Miss G.]

It's not like I use my consoles for anything but games (and the occasional Youtube video once in a blue moon) anyway, so no skin off my back.

 

[Ed James]

Funny how Sony has cut all the offline features. Makes you think they want you to be always online huh?

 

[Eve Charm]

So while it might be the most powerful machine on the market graphic wise, it might actually be the most limited machine as well.

Kind of ironic, isnt it?

Back in the good old days like nes and snes.

 

[faefrost]

Alright, so from what I read, "Media Service" means that you can't stream things from your PC to your PS4. If that is wrong, someone will tell me. That's still stupid, especially since that was one of the features praised in the PS3.

The PS4 also does not support External HDD's, which I think makes it the only console this generation to not do that (WiiU Definitely does, and I'm thinking both the XBone and Steam Machines will too). So while it might be the most powerful machine on the market graphic wise, it might actually be the most limited machine as well.

Yes and no. It's also the only machine you can replace the internal hard drive in. So the day you buy it you can bump it up to a 3 tb drive if you wish. (actually that's probably the best time to do that since with no external drive you can't do the old backup/restore that you can on the ps3 to migrate.) I suspect that the lack of USB drives may in some way be releated to a desire to limit certain types of portability and exposure of the console and OS to outside code. (doesn't the XBOne have a similar issue? "To be patched in later?")

 

[The_Echo]

I've never used the media server feature on my PS3, so this isn't an issue to me.

In fact, I rarely ever use my PS3 for anything other than actually playing games.

So as long as the PS4 can do that much, I'm still on board. That's all I want.

They want you to sign up to their music streaming service instead, which is extra on top of the PS+ subscription naturally.

There are no services locked behind PS+ paywalls, unlike XBL.

The only thing locked to PS+ subscribers are the benefits they already enjoy and online multiplayer on PS4 specifically (which isn't even completely the case, as free-to-play titles apparently won't require +).