I’d never had that thought either. It’s a case of not knowing a need until I tried it myself and found it to be truly wonderful.
I hear you though. It’s tough to know if something like that will be something you appreciate when you’ve never wished for it. Like with Brendan from No High Scores and Stephen Tolito going on about how cool playing WiiU games is on the gamepad screen or playing PS4 games on the Vita. I’d like to believe them but I’ve never been sitting in front of my computer monitor or on the couch in front of a big screen and gone “gosh, I wish I could play this game on a smaller screen”.
Still, I did find myself finding my free time in a very competitive situation during the past three years. It was a situation where I had about 2 hours of free time after getting home before heading to bed. Most of the time watching the Daily Show and Colbert Report takes an hour, eating dinner and maybe reading a book takes another chunk, so gaming tended to be a very small portion or eliminated most evenings.
So now, being able to watch the Daily Show while I play Forza? That’s pretty cool. Suddenly my possibilities for those two hours each evening have really expanded.
Certain games work for that purpose but others don’t. Powerstar Golf I actually couldn’t manage while watching TV even on the side. In Forza if I get distracted by something on TV I can always rewind time and undo the mistake. I think Resogun would make a great game to play while watching South Park or Daily Show. Certain TV shows don’t work with divided attention either by the way. Shows like Key and Peele and Lilyhammer only work for me with no distractions.
But I’m having fun discovering what works and what doesn’t, and it definitely has increased my gaming time a lot.
No interest in that ability. If I do watch a show that’s all I’m doing. Not checking Twitter or Facebook and certainly not also playing a game.
Well yeah, I don’t check Facebook much anyway, but even something I do quite often, like checking Quartertothree, I can’t really do while watching TV. I tried when I got my first smart phone last year. But both activities are too discordant and require a different kind of attention. Certain games and certain TV shows aren’t on as different a wavelength as those two activities though. Same as certain podcasts and certain PC games go pretty well together. An ARPG like Diablo goes pretty well with certain kinds of dance music or certain podcasts.
TVs have had picture for the past 30 years and it didn’t change shit.
I am glad Sony didn’t waste time putting in half assed features (can you control the volume independently between the game and the snapped window yet?) and just made a game machine.
Scamper
1965
Agreed with the above. For the record, with a Vita and Remote play, you CAN do this. Don’t know why you’d want to though. If the games are that boring to you, why bother? Sony tried the whole all in one approach last gen and it failed. None of the TV+Console features ever really caught on.
Got mine last night. So far all I’ve done is upgraded my PS3 copy of AC4: Pirates! and downloaded Zen Pinball 2 and my tables. Then PSN went pfft on me. I was surprised that I couldn’t rip an audio CD with it as I did with the PS3, until I recalled hearing all about that over a month ago, so I got over it. Ordered NBA 2k14, and will be happy with my Pirates, 3-pointers and pinballin’ until things like Watch Dogs and FF15 start cropping up.
Still deciding what to do with the PS3. There are a few games on it I’d like to play that aren’t even out yet (like the FFX/X-2 remaster, The Witch and the Hundred Knights, and I never did get Tales of Xillia as planned…and I have Tales of Graces f on the system and never actually remembered to start it.)
It sure is pretty, hopefully Sony gets PSN up and rumbling along again soon.
JD
1967
The tv functionality is neat in theory–and I don’t mind having some video feed on my second monitor while doing PC gaming-- but to me it’s somewhat impracticable the way it’s done on Xbox One. First of all, the whole hardware setup required for that might be common in the US, but it’s less common over here more and more people tend to rely on the receivers that are integrated into tv sets. Secondly,it’s not really appealing to pass the tv signal through the console over here for technical reasons. (Obviously, that doesn’t affect you US guys.) Thirdly, unless I’m in the mood for constantly plugging/unplugging the tv cable, I’ll have to have the console running even if I only want to watch tv. That’s an additional 70+W on top for, well, nothing. Maybe that’s just me, but it seems wasteful.
Just to clarify something, when I said I watch TV, I meant through Netflix and Hulu Plus, not through cable. I cut the cord long ago. I did check out the OneGuide over thanksgiving at my parent’s place with the Xbox One, and while it’s neat, it’s not worth getting cable for. Cable is too damned expensive in the United States now. Don’t they have something equivalent to Hulu Plus in Europe?
PS4 also has Hulu Plus and Netflix, with pretty much the same interface this time. Just like XB1, it’s really zippy and fast to load and is a great way to watch TV. Between the two of them they have 90% of the shows I want to watch covered. PS4 can already switch between Hulu Plus/Netflix and a game really fast, just like XB1, I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch that they would put in the functionality of allowing you to do both at the same time. And for those that don’t want to use it, great, don’t use it. One thing I’ve loved about Sony over the course of the PS3 and now the introduction of the PS4, is that they are very cool about matching features on other consoles. If it’s something people like, they eventually do add it, and sometimes add a better version of it. I’m sure they would have added cross-game party chat to the PS3 too, if it hadn’t been for technical limitations. I don’t think the PS4 would have any trouble running Hulu Plus and Resogun at the same time, though I don’t know for sure.
This from Hulu:
Sorry, currently our video library can only be watched from within the United States
This from Netflix:
Sorry, Netflix is not available in your country yet.
Yay Australia.
edit: That’s with my VPN off.
Chaplin
1970
Save it for importing Gundam Extreme Full Boost next month of course! :)
Even as a fan of the PS4 I think it will be awhile yet until the new gen is in full swing and the old one is set out to pasture. This is making things awkward and messy at TV sets, but what can you do-- first world problems I guess.
Music is another matter IMO than TV or looking at a webpage. No problem having background music play while doing something else.
Exactly. That’s what I’m discovering is also true of certain TV shows. Shows like the daily show and Colbert report rely very little on visual gags and mostly on the spoken word for their jokes, so they make good compliments to certain types of games. And when there is a visual gag, I can easily glance over to that part of the screen.
It also solves the problem I used to have after cutting cable: what to do during commercials in Hulu plus. It’s enough time to be annoying, but not long enough to actually switch to another input. For example, back before this new generation of consoles came out, I tried switching inputs from the PS3, on which I was watching Hulu Plus, to the 360 to play an arcade game. But I discovered it was just too little time. Now the commercial can play while I’m racing or playing Killer Instinct.
Has anyone else tried the new Vidzone application? You can play music videos to your heart’s content in exchange for watching ads after every two songs or so. Sometimes the app bugs out and I got to watch 10 to 12 songs in a row without ads, but then it kept showing me the same ad 6 times in a row.
I love it! This is exactly what I thought Xbox Live’s Music section would be when they launched it on the 360 in 2006. Remember that? But after launching with a bunch of free songs, they started charging for looking at songs, and my reaction was: WHAT? Who pays to see music videos?
This is much better. Ads I can live with. MTV used to have ads too. Not this many, but still. I was just going to watch a music video or two, but I started looking up old videos I remembered from the 80s and I got lost down a rabbit hole of nostalgia. I was almost moved to tears a couple of times, because the combinations of music and the videos themselves really brought me back to that period like few things can.
(And at the risk of getting yelled at, damn it, this would be a perfect app to snap to the side while I played Resogun or Tiny Brains).
I highly recommend checking it out. Their library doesn’t seem to be super extensive, but they have a lot of songs. For example, they have about 15 songs by The Chemical Brothers, all of which I recommend watching if you haven’t seen music videos by The Chemical Brothers. But they don’t have all of them. They don’t have the best one (Get Yourself High). Same with nearly all bands I looked up. They’ve got some of that band’s videos, but nowhere close to all of them. Hopefully this will be a hit and they’ll add to their library.
glcm1961
1974
Great find! I downloaded Vidzone after reading your post and needless to say it has become an instant favorite. You’re exactly right about it being nostalgic. Reminds me of having MTV on in the 80’s. I don’t mind the ads either - small price to pay. I put on the all time classics channel and can’t get anything done. Lol! Seeing some old favorites and also more recent ones I’ve never seen. Thank you for posting this.
Thongsy
1975
I watched it on the PS3. It’s nice enough. My only problem is they have like the same two ads that repeat over and over. I don’t mind ads but I hate it when it’s the same ones over and over. I had the same problem when I subscribed to MLB.tv, they would run the same ad over and over.
Looks like my PS4 is borked =/. I ejected a game last night and now it is stuck in a state where every 5 seconds or so it tries to eject the contents of the drive (though there are none), motor whirring and all. A complete reboot of the system didn’t fix it either – guess I’ll call Sony Monday and get try and get it fixed.
Perhaps the mechanism is stuck and you can clear it by using the emergency eject process (even though it is empty):
https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5061
Hope it works!
Diego
Sorry for the delay in responding. Thanks for the link, I messed with that screw (I actually turned it counter-clockwise, then was afraid I did that too much, then went back clockwise, then was worried I did that too much, so who knows where it ended up) and everything seems to work now. I guess something was just stuck and I needed to mess with it. What’s odd is the screw had no resistance on tightening or loosening, I guess because no disc was in there or something. Thanks again!
So I got a PS4 from Santa. Well, kinda - I have a gift certificate for one when I can find it in stock at futureshop (not my ideal choice, but Santa is still a jolly, if unsophisticated, fellow).
The only game I think I’m interested in at launch is Killzone. I have AC4 and CoD: G for PC. Maybe Battlefield? I haven’t played one since BF1942. Or I’ll just wait until things like Destiny and WatchDogs, and maybe Infamous come out.
What kind of headset is best? Need another controller, I guess. Is the camera worthwhile? Anything else recommended?
@bigweather Glad it worked!
@desslock You do need a new ps4 controller, but any iPhone style headphones with microphone will work fine as a headset.
Regarding games: suggest reading reviews and other threads. Battlefield is fun but still kinda broken. Some of the others are good depending on your preferences. AC4 looks good, but you’ve already played that on PC.
Diego
