PS4 “play as you download” feature moot in SA

Sony has confirmed that PS4 owners will be able to log in and access their digital game libraries from any PS4 console. Users will also be able to begin playing their game with only a partial download, thanks to Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai’s game-streaming technology.

However, while these features sound great for developed markets where Internet connections are fast and cheap, it is likely that most South African gamers won’t be making use of them. Our expensive and relatively slow fixed- and mobile-broadband environment is a serious barrier to entry.

“You can visit your friend’s house, you can log into your account and play any game from your digital library, which is good,” said Neil Brown, team leader at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s R&D department.

“But how useful is that if it takes half a day to download the game you want to play?” elaborated Brown.

Brown’s point was that the PS4’s new simultaneous downloading and play system will help gamers save time playing rather than waiting for games to download.

“With Play As You Download you get much quicker access to at least the first section of the game so you can start playing quicker,” said Brown. “So this makes a digital library a practical option in the real world.”

Killzone: Shadow Fall’s “Play As You Download” option allows for this, as once the menu and first level has been downloaded, you can get shooting Helghast while the remainder of the game downloads.

The feature also extends to actual disc-based games, where the game is installed in “chunks” to allow you to get gaming before its even finished installing completely.

“A similar system also works on Blu-ray, chunks are automatically copied to the hard drive in the background,” explained Brown.

“This means that after the first few minutes your game can rely on having faster read speeds from the hard drive, which provides a better experience for players. This is a completely background process for the player. They don’t have to wait for anything to install before playing the game. The game will launch as soon as the disk has been put in the drive.”