43 Things You Need To Know About FW 2.0


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PS4 Share Play is limited to 720p (& 42 other things you need to know about System Update 2.0)

Brand new details on the features coming to your PS4 tomorrow.

 

PS4 Share Play sessions will be capped at 720p and have a limited frame rate, Sony has confirmed to VideoGamer.com.

 

While the caps do not affect the host (1080p titles will continue to output at 1080p on the host's TV), they may affect the gameplay experience of the guest, with the quality of the Share Play stream determined by both users' internet connection.

 

The resolution on the guest's TV will automatically scale up and down based on the quality of the connection, and while Sony has not stated exactly what the frame rate cap will be, an early demonstration shown to VideoGamer.com suggests it could be around 30fps.

 

Sony has not disclosed recommended download and upload speeds for players using Share Play.

 

"We are not going to [disclose a minimum speed] because if we say, for example, you need at least a 3MB speed, I cannot guarantee if it works [even if they have that speed]," SCEE product planning manager Kazuhiro Yanase explained to VideoGamer.com. "The internet environment is really different user by user. For example, some users will be using a LAN cable, some users will be using Wi-Fi, sometimes you use the microwave in your house. Something like that. It's very difficult for us to guarantee you can use Share Play if you have [a certain] speed. That's the reason why we are not going to disclose any specific number. But again, this doesn't require any super-fast broadband."

 

Share Play is set to be introduced to PS4 in tomorrow's System Update 2.0 and allows players to invite a guest to watch their gameplay, join them as 'player two' in a multiplayer game, or hand control of the game to them - even if they don't own the title currently being played. It's an impressive piece of tech that - if it works - could completely change the way you buy and play games.

 

VideoGamer.com was given an early look at Share Play and the rest of System Update 2.0 last week, and was able to dig a little deeper into the lesser known features and restrictions/requirements of tomorrow's update.

Want to know what we discovered? Take a look below:

 

SHARE PLAY

 

ps4_2_shareplay.jpg
  • Share Play lets PS4 users host a game session that they can invite a friend to watch, take control of, or (if they're playing a local, single-screen multiplayer game) join them to play, even if their friend doesn't own the game.
  • In order to use Share Play, the host must be a PS Plus subscriber. The guest does not need to be a PS Plus subscriber to watch the host's Share Play session or take control of the host's game. However, playing multiplayer games together requires that both the guest and host have a PS Plus subscription.
  • You can host a Share Play session by pushing the Share button and selecting the Share Play option. A private party will automatically be created from which you can invite a friend to join.
  • Share Play sessions are limited to 60 minutes. However, Sony states that there are no limits on how many times the same user can join a Share Play session for the same title. In theory, there is nothing to stop the guest playing through the entirety of a game they don't own, provided the host is willing to continue inviting the guest to take control of their game after each 60 minute session.
  • Sony has not fully explained the reason for the 60 minute restriction, but it appears to be a speed bump put in place to reduce exploitation and encourage the guest to purchase the game themselves. Sony says that the 60 minute restriction proved to be the "sweet spot" when discussing the feature with game creators, but that it will listen to user feedback to see "whether it's right".
  • While Sony is aiming for Share Play to be a standard feature across the platform, publishers/developers can place restrictions on content that can be shared. For example, publishers may choose to prevent playable alphas and betas from being shared with guests.
  • There may also be scenarios where spoiler content is blocked from Share Play. "Generally it's a standard platform feature," SCEE's VP of Product Planning Murray Hume explained. "We do know that there are situations where if the game contains a spoiler or if it requires a peripheral for a certain stage, then we have a facility we provide that allows that portion of the game to be stopped and not shown... because there are certain contexts in which it doesn't work." It isn't clear what will be displayed on the guest's screen during these moments or how frequently they may occur.
  • Share Play is only compatible with games. You cannot broadcast Netflix to a guest's display, for example.
  • While Share Play is in operation, the guest can only control the game and cannot perform other functions on the host's PS4. The guest cannot access the host's personal information.
  • The host can take back control of their PS4 at any point by pressing the Share button on their DualShock 4 and ending the session.
  • The guest cannot remotely turn off the PS4 once they are done playing the game. System functionality remains the responsibility of the host.
  • Notifications intended for the host (such as messages and friend requests) will not be displayed on the guest's screen.
  • Trophies cannot be unlocked on the guest's account.
  • Game progress cannot be saved on the guest's account.
  • Once a guest has played a game owned by a host, that game's icon will appear in the recently played section of the guest's PS4 Home screen directing them towards the PlayStation Store. "This will encourage additional game title sales for game publishers," Yanase says.
  • Share Play is currently only compatible with PS4. A PS4 user, for example, cannot invite a PS Vita user to watch or take control of their game.
  • You cannot livestream directly through PS4 at the same time as using Share Play.
  • Resolution is capped at 720p on the guest's display during Share Play. Much like a live broadcast, resolution will scale up and down depending on the quality of both parties' internet connection.
  • There is a similar cap on frame rate, although Sony has not specified exactly what it is. Based on our early demonstration, the cap appears to be 30fps.
  • While latency did not appear to be an issue during our demonstration, both the host and guest PS4s were connected to a wired network at Sony's London offices. As of this writing we have been unable to test Share Play in a typical 'real world' environment, but Sony stresses that it does not require super-fast broadband.

CUSTOM THEMES

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  • Sony is aiming to have 3-4 custom themes available at the launch of System Update 2.0.
  • As with PS3, third-party publishers and developers are able to create their own themes for download on PlayStation Store.
  • PS4 users cannot create their own custom themes or custom background images "at this time". You can, however, choose your own background colour.

YOUTUBE SHARING

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  • Uploading videos to YouTube follows the same process as sharing to Facebook. Simply push the Share button, scroll to Upload Video Clip and select YouTube.
  • A Google account must be associated with your PSN account to share gameplay footage to YouTube.

USB MUSIC PLAYER

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  • The USB Music Player allows you to play your own music tracks from a USB Flash drive. When a USB stick loaded with music is inserted into the PS4, a USB Music Player option will appear on the Home screen from where you can play your music. MP3, MP4, M4A, and 3GP file types are supported, and music can be played over the top of game audio.
  • A new Mini Player has been added to the PlayStation Button menu screen that allows you to quickly stop and restart the track or adjust the music volume. To access, simply press and hold the PlayStation Button while playing music and scroll down to the player.
  • While music must be played from a USB memory stick at the launch of System Update 2.0, Sony is investigating the option to allow music to be stored on the internal hard drive for a future update. "Lots of gamers want to store not only music files but also their favourite video files on [the] PS4 hard drive," Yanase acknowledged. "But... to deliver this kind of custom soundtrack capability as soon as possible is most important for gamers, so we have the highest priority to deliver this function first. Then maybe we can develop it for [internal storage] sometime over the future."

LIVE FROM PLAYSTATION

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  • The Live From PlayStation UI has been tweaked to include new 'Live' and 'Archive' buttons that let you quickly switch between live and archived footage.
  • You now have the option to follow your favourite live streamers, too, with their live broadcasts appearing in the Featured section. If somebody follows you, you'll see your follower count increase on whichever livestream service you use (Ustream/Twitch).
  • A new Games section lets you browse broadcasts of games based on their current popularity within the community.

HOME SCREEN & LIBRARY

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  • To reduce clutter, the Home screen has been tweaked to display the 15 most recently used games and apps. The remainder of your icons will be pushed into the Library folder.
  • The Library folder has seen some improvements, too, and can now be sorted by Games, Applications and TV.

VOICE COMMANDS

ps4_2_voice.jpg
  • A range of new voice commands are being added with 2.0, including 'Start Broadcasting' and 'End Broadcasting'.
  • A new context-sensitive menu is also being introduced to make it easier for players to know which voice commands are currently available. By saying 'PlayStation, All Commands', a new menu will be displayed detailing every voice command currently available.
  • Polish and Russian languages are now supported.

OTHER STUFF

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  • While it will not be available in System Update 2.0, Sony says that it has heard requests from fans to let them change their PSN ID. "I'm aware of that request," says Yanase.
  • Sony is aware of requests to support external hard drives, too, but such functionality will not be available in 2.0.
  • Folders are not available in 2.0.
  • The option to suspend and resume games won't be introduced in 2.0 either. Hume says that, while "there's nothing to announce today, we haven't stopped working on it".
  • Notifications now have a context-sensitive PS button that will - presumably - take you to the relevant area when pressed.
  • A new 'Add To Library' button on PlayStation Store will let you add PS Plus games to your library for future download.
  • And finally, yes, System Update 2.0 will introduce the option to pause downloads.

 

http://www.videogamer.com/news/ps4_share_play_is_limited_to_720p_and_42_other_things_you_need_to_know_about_system_update_2_0.html

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Notifications now have a context-sensitive PS button that will - presumably - take you to the relevant area when pressed.
 

 

 

Hopefully when you get a trophy pushing PS button will take you to trophies!

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YouTube uploading is cool.

Everything else, yeah, not really much to get excited about for myself.

I hardly get time to play myself, I damn well won't be sharing my time with someone else.  :laugh:

The USB thumb music could be cool actually, I might use that for a game like DriveClub.

I will use different themes too, no doubt.

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YouTube uploading is cool.

Everything else, yeah, not really much to get excited about for myself.

I hardly get time to play myself, I damn well won't be sharing my time with someone else.  :laugh:

The USB thumb music could be cool actually, I might use that for a game like DriveClub.

I will use different themes too, no doubt.

 

Care if I get on your Driveclub tonight?

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I am slightly concerned here. Got home from work (about 6 hours ago now), knew the update would be there, when I powered up my PS4 it was already downloaded, let it install and went and played some Sunset Overdrive on my XBox One, and it has been stuck on the orange blinking light for at least the last hour now, possibly longer, I just noticed it now.

I am afraid to unplug it since I do not really know if the update was successful. Actually off to bed so am going to let it be and see if it is still happening when I wake up.

I did find this thread, and it seems like it is because of the 2.0 update.

I will not be a happy camper if the update bricked my console. Not at all.

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I am slightly concerned here. Got home from work (about 6 hours ago now), knew the update would be there, when I powered up my PS4 it was already downloaded, let it install and went and played some Sunset Overdrive on my XBox One, and it has been stuck on the orange blinking light for at least the last hour now, possibly longer, I just noticed it now.

I am afraid to unplug it since I do not really know if the update was successful. Actually off to bed so am going to let it be and see if it is still happening when I wake up.

I did find this thread, and it seems like it is because of the 2.0 update.

I will not be a happy camper if the update bricked my console. Not at all.

it's still under warranty, so it wouldn't be a total loss (you used the cloud save right?)

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I am slightly concerned here. Got home from work (about 6 hours ago now), knew the update would be there, when I powered up my PS4 it was already downloaded, let it install and went and played some Sunset Overdrive on my XBox One, and it has been stuck on the orange blinking light for at least the last hour now, possibly longer, I just noticed it now.

I am afraid to unplug it since I do not really know if the update was successful. Actually off to bed so am going to let it be and see if it is still happening when I wake up.

I did find this thread, and it seems like it is because of the 2.0 update.

I will not be a happy camper if the update bricked my console. Not at all.

 

http://www.twinfinite.net/2014/10/28/ps4-2-0-masamune-console-bricked/

Should you be struck by this sudden apparently bricked console then here?s what you do. First of all, stop having that panic attack.

 

The next thing to do is place your finger over the power button until you hear a pair of beeps (should take at the most 10 seconds between each). Doing this puts the PS4 in safe mode. After this plug your PS4 controller and select the fifth choice which is Rebuild The Database.. This will rebuild your database and save your PS4 from becoming nothing more than a doorstop thanks to the PS4 2.0 Masamune update. This is the recommended option and the only course of action you should talk. It?s even being advised on Reddit.

 

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it's still under warranty, so it wouldn't be a total loss (you used the cloud save right?)

Sure it wouldn't be a total loss, and I do use Cloud Saves, but call me crazy, I am also of the opinion and update should not brick ones console. If it in fact did brick it and I had to send it in to get replaced, etc., I would not have been happy at all.

 

Luckily it sounds like that is not the case...

 

Thanks. I will have to try this when I get home. Was running late today for work and did not even notice if it was still blinking, I am assuming it is based on this though.

 

Glad to hear there appears to be a solution. (Y)

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I am slightly concerned here. Got home from work (about 6 hours ago now), knew the update would be there, when I powered up my PS4 it was already downloaded, let it install and went and played some Sunset Overdrive on my XBox One, and it has been stuck on the orange blinking light for at least the last hour now, possibly longer, I just noticed it now.

I am afraid to unplug it since I do not really know if the update was successful. Actually off to bed so am going to let it be and see if it is still happening when I wake up.

I did find this thread, and it seems like it is because of the 2.0 update.

I will not be a happy camper if the update bricked my console. Not at all.

 

 

My PS4 seems to be in working order... Everything updated, and powered up without issue... All the apps appear normal...  Key word "Appear", it seems that my apps seem like they are going to load up fine and then crash out of nowhere... This has happened to Netflix, Amazon Instant video, NBA Gametime App (which is in worse condition than the others)... And then after a power cycle (complete shutdown and pulling cable from outlet)... The apps work fine... But this seems to be happening frequently as of late last night..

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I will have to try the music player when I get my next chance. Got the update without issue, but haven't been able to really dig in yet. I like the UI adjustments so far.

 

If anyone is going to try it, I'd love to know what kind of volume control you get. I'd like to know the following:

 

1. When you play music from USB, does it mute in game audio, play both, or simply mute the in game music and not the other in game audio?

 

2. Can you record game clips while playing your music and does it record that music along with the in game audio?


My PS4 seems to be in working order... Everything updated, and powered up without issue... All the apps appear normal...  Key word "Appear", it seems that my apps seem like they are going to load up fine and then crash out of nowhere... This has happened to Netflix, Amazon Instant video, NBA Gametime App (which is in worse condition than the others)... And then after a power cycle (complete shutdown and pulling cable from outlet)... The apps work fine... But this seems to be happening frequently as of late last night..

 

That's not good to hear. My app experience with the ps4 has been poor so far. I regularly get crashes running most of the media apps to the point that I just don't bother using them. I was hoping 2.0 would help there. I will have to test myself tomorrow.

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FYI, those directions above did not work for me.

I held down my power button waiting to hear the two beeps, only heard one of them, kept holding down the power button for almost a minute, never heard the second beep.

As soon as I let go the console turned off, rebooted itself, and gave me some message about having to check the storage integrity or some ######.

It took about 2 minutes to do that, restarted again, and I got the message about how the PS4 was not turned off properly.

It then booted as normal and all seems fine.

But it was not what I expected.

######ing Sony.

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FYI, those directions above did not work for me.

I held down my power button waiting to hear the two beeps, only heard one of them, kept holding down the power button for almost a minute, never heard the second beep.

As soon as I let go the console turned off, rebooted itself, and gave me some message about having to check the storage integrity or some ######.

It took about 2 minutes to do that, restarted again, and I got the message about how the PS4 was not turned off properly.

It then booted as normal and all seems fine.

But it was not what I expected.

######ing Sony.

Weird, the 2 times I had to unplug my ps4 from the mains and had to do the power button reset it was fine.... can I confirm that you had unplugged the power cable before you tried to hold down the power button? (usually only takes 3-5 secs)

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Weird, the 2 times I had to unplug my ps4 from the mains and had to do the power button reset it was fine.... can I confirm that you had unplugged the power cable before you tried to hold down the power button? (usually only takes 3-5 secs)

I did not unplug the power cord, as the directions, and plenty of people, said do not unplug it.

 

EDIT - In fact, here is what people were saying who did unplug it while it was blinking orange...

 

 

  • So I accidently unplugged my ps4 after the update 2.0 and now it gives me a black screen. It wont even enter safe mode when I try. it just shuts back off after a few minutes, I have no clue what to due
  • I have the same screen issue as you. Let me know if you figure out some way to get it into Safe Mode, or how to send it in?

 

 

 

Unplugging the power cord was not part of the equation for the supposed fix I was trying.

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I did not unplug the power cord, as the directions, and plenty of people, said do not unplug it.

 

EDIT - In fact, here is what people were saying who did unplug it while it was blinking orange...

 

 

Unplugging the power cord was not part of the equation for the supposed fix I was trying.

Well in that case, don't, I don't want to advise you to try anything that will further confound your problem, If you find a fix, please share it though, as I'm sure it might benefit others here :)

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Well in that case, don't, I don't want to advise you to try anything that will further confound your problem, If you find a fix, please share it though, as I'm sure it might benefit others here :)

Oh I think you must have misunderstood, my PS4 is working again. It is just the directions provided did not work as they said they would.

 

I held down the power button as it was blinking orange, I heard the first beep, just never heard the second, even though I held it down for close to a minute.

Once I let go it restarted on its own, and it gave me a message about checking the integrity of the storage device or something along those lines.

It took about 2 minutes to go to 100%.

Once it was done, it restarted, gave me the message about my console was shut down improperly, then booted as normal.

It was back to normal at that point. (Y)

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Sorry to hear of your troubles Larry, glad it wasn't bricked.

Mine seems to be working okay so far, even with rest mode.

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Sorry to hear of your troubles Larry, glad it wasn't bricked.

Mine seems to be working okay so far, even with rest mode.

The good news is once it got back up and running, it seems to be fine, even going to "rest" mode. So was just that initial screw up with the update itself.

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Oh I think you must have misunderstood, my PS4 is working again. It is just the directions provided did not work as they said they would.

 

I held down the power button as it was blinking orange, I heard the first beep, just never heard the second, even though I held it down for close to a minute.

Once I let go it restarted on its own, and it gave me a message about checking the integrity of the storage device or something along those lines.

It took about 2 minutes to go to 100%.

Once it was done, it restarted, gave me the message about my console was shut down improperly, then booted as normal.

It was back to normal at that point. (Y)

 

 

I will gladly take my apps maybe or maybe not working, over my PS4 not working at all...

 

What Larry has described, sounds like a never ending migraine...

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Started this happening to me as well.  The first time I think I accidentally put it in rest mode.  The second time I had left it on too long doing nothing and it went into power save rest mode.

 

Both times I had to unplug it.  No issues so far, tho, after doing that.

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Started this happening to me as well.  The first time I think I accidentally put it in rest mode.  The second time I had left it on too long doing nothing and it went into power save rest mode.

 

Both times I had to unplug it.  No issues so far, tho, after doing that.

What actually concerns me more than anything is there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when it happens or why.

I tested it out by letting it go to sleep as that is what I usually do, and as I said it worked. You did the same thing and it did not work.

That concerns me, and it says to me they might have a hard time finding the root cause.

 

Like I said earlier, ######ing Sony.

They do some things so good, and some other things so damn bad.

If they want to keep this current lead they have they better get their act together.

Whether they realize it or not small things like this make or break companies these days due to the fact everyone has a voice on social media.

And the truth of the matter is the negative voices are the loudest and most persistent, even if they are the minority.

That then has the potential to sway potential customers one way or the other.

So what seems like, and quite frankly is, small, minor issues in the grand scheme of things winds up having a snowball effect.

They just need to really tighten things up. 

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