{"id":4083,"date":"2013-11-16T08:40:53","date_gmt":"2013-11-16T12:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calvertgames.com\/cgblog\/?p=4083"},"modified":"2013-11-16T08:40:53","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T12:40:53","slug":"ps4-day-one-reinventing-the-vita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.calvertgames.com\/cgblog\/2013\/11\/16\/ps4-day-one-reinventing-the-vita\/","title":{"rendered":"PS4 Day One (Reinventing The Vita)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wait was long, but once the UPS guy arrived a little after 2PM, the unboxing begun. I\u2019m not going to upload pictures or video, or give impressions of the packaging, system or Dual Shock 4; plenty of that to be found on YouTube and elsewhere. <\/p>\n

Sony decided to include a threefold day-one pack-in<\/a> for early PS4 adopters: one free month of PS+, one free month of Music Unlimited, and a $10 PSN voucher. It was nice getting the vouchers for 1 month of PS+ and Music Unlimited, but since I already subscribe to both, and Sony\u2019s official\u2019ish PlayStation blog said they don\u2019t stack, they are not much use to me. I understand Sony wants to help hook new subscribers, but a +1 month add-on for current Sony services subscribers would have been very well received. I did appreciate the $10 PSN voucher; that was a very nice throw-in by the Sony brass. <\/p>\n

My TV has two HDMI ports; I forgot that the one not reserved for my PS3 is used for cable. So for now, I have to manually switch my PS3 and brand spanking new PS4. I have a Portta 3:1 HDMI Switcher from Amazon and an extra 6 ft. HDMI cable via Amazon; both are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday and only set me back an additional $15.25 including tax.<\/p>\n

Before I could jump into any of that Greatness that Sony promised the whole damn lot of us, I had to download the firmware update. ~53 minutes to download, which as I understand it, was lucky for me because a lot of users were having problems getting the update file to download. So I switched over to the U.S. vs. Scotland friendly, putting Greatness on-hold until my new PS4 system could do its thing.<\/p>\n

I should add that my internet connection is wireless, not overly fast, and not too terribly slow. I have noticed that my PS3 always seems to download a little faster than my kids\u2019 PS3, but that could be proximity to the wireless router. At any rate, I don\u2019t have a base point to compare my ~53 minutes download against; would love for someone to post their experience with their firmware download time.<\/p>\n

PSN Goes Down<\/strong>
\nAfter getting my firmware updated, it was time to hook up my jcalvert PSN account to my new PS4. No go. Errors, timeouts, you name it. The PSN was hosed.<\/a> Sony should be embarrassed and appalled. Apparently the final folks at PlayStation network services were not actually expecting the volume and onslaught of the new PS4 traffic to impact their now paid for (via PS+ online experience) server farm. Funny since the day-one patch was pretty much mandatory. It took ~3-4 hours to actually get my PSN info setup; ouch.<\/p>\n

PS+ Resogun and Contrast<\/strong>
\nOnce I got connected, I quickly jumped into the Store to pick up my free games. There was also some DLC for another game \u2013 Warframe<\/a> or some such. I haven\u2019t read anything about this one, but it looks like a free to play title. It may or may not be a beta, but still something else free to mess around with (as if I have time).<\/p>\n

I started the download process for Resogun and Contrast, then left the store to start some gaming fun \u2026<\/p>\n

FIFA 14 and Need For Speed: Rivals<\/strong>
\nMy boys and I actually played these games before getting our PSN info setup on the PS4; we just couldn\u2019t wait. I\u2019m going to save any serious impressions for latter \u2026 I want to get in some gaming this morning!<\/p>\n

I took a spin with Need For Speed first. My oldest son and I took turns doing the racer and cop tutorials, which opened up the wider game. My oldest son and I each earned a trophy; the trophies did sync correctly to our accounts, once we were able to get our PSN info sorted out correctly.<\/p>\n

My son and I both had the same observation \u2013 there is a lot going on at one time, and it gets confusing on what missing you are doing. This was especially apparent once I was on the PSN. Connected to a group of 8 (I think) gamers, and trying to do race missions while a human cop is doing their own copy missions was fun but disconcerting trying to figure out what I was actually supposed to be doing. If there is a way to connect to a group of friends, this one could be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t dive into it deeply to see how Music Unlimited is integrated with the PS4, but it was nice being able to stream some playlist instead of listening to the Need For Speed default music.<\/p>\n

I watched my 11 year old and 6 year old play FIFA 14. On the surface it looks like the same game as the PS3 version, only it is more polished. I\u2019ll play some this morning and see if I can carry over some of my PS3 FIFA 14 info.<\/p>\n

My one observation was that it was neat seeing real people in the crowd. This may sound stupid, but everyone watching thought it actually added to the game atmosphere.<\/p>\n

At some point while we were doing something else on the PS4 \u2013 either poking around, deciding what to play next, or setting up our PSN accounts, I received notice that Resogun was ready to install and that a FIFA 14 patch had been downloaded.<\/p>\n

Music Unlimited<\/strong>
\nI mentioned playing my Music Unlimited playlist while playing Need For Speed. Last November, Sony ran a PS+ special. 1 year of Music Unlimited for $12; this was an exceptional deal. I have been debating renewing my subscription, but not at the full price. Last week I received some sort of sale offer; I was able to stack another 3 months for $3. So I am good for another few months.<\/p>\n

Because of current MP3 and media server limitations with the PS4, Music Unlimited may become a must have service, which is probably part of Sony\u2019s strategy. See how many folks they can pull in as new subscribers.<\/p>\n

Remote Play<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m only going to touch on this briefly \u2026 want to get back to PS4 gaming goodness. I have posted in the past about the black magic associated with Remote Play. It never really worked well for me on the PS3 with my PSP or Vita; it was an interesting concept, but there was always too much lag or my PS3 would randomly turn on or off. It looks like Remote Play is purpose built into the PS4 with the Vita, so hopefully this time is the real deal.<\/p>\n

Getting Remote Play up and running was a snap. My Vita already had the PS4 Link app via the most recent firmware update. The PS4 (or Vita \u2013 I can\u2019t remember which one) provides step-by-step instructions. Once I entered a code on my Vita, I was connected to my PS4. This whole setup process took all of 2-3 minutes.<\/p>\n

It was an amazing experience listening to my Van Halen playlist, on my Vita (via my PS4) while playing Need for Speed. I\u2019ll have to play around some to see if I am better off playing music directly from my Vita or streaming from the PS4 during Remote Play.<\/p>\n

When playing Need For Speed, it was hard to keep up with what was going on, which wasn\u2019t any different than my PS4 experience. There were some slight framerate issues here and there, but nothing really game breaking. The controls were awkward controls, but manageable. The rear touch pad was used to accept missions, while the shoulder buttons were used for acceleration and braking. I would have rather used the right analog stick; maybe there is an option to change controls, but in my limited time, I didn\u2019t see where controls could be mapped differently.<\/p>\n

Think about this for a minute. Remote Play of Need For Speed, while online playing other PS4 gamers, so of which may have also been using their Vitas, while streaming Music Unlimited. That is balls out cool with tons of possibilities.<\/p>\n

Nightcap Resogun (via Remote Play)<\/strong>
\nAs a final night cap, from the comforts of the bed room, while my better half was fast asleep, I connected to the PS4 and played Resogun. Minimal slowdown, but I was really too tired to beat the final boss. I know, excuses, excuses.<\/p>\n

The new PS4 trophy system was nice enough to show me that my \u201cHow do I stop this thing?!\u201d (Kill 50 enemies with one boost) was \u2018ultra rare\u2019 at the time it was earned, but is now \u2018very rare.\u2019<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/strong>
\nFor starters, I haven\u2019t opened Killzone or Assassin\u2019s Creed. My 15-year old and 11-year old boys are dying to play both, but my wife and I are usually pretty restrictive when it comes to games where people kill people, but that is a story for another day. So I need to check out both games and besides playing for my own benefit, I need to do the parental guidance thing.<\/p>\n

I have only barely touched Need for Speed; same for FIFA and Resogun. Haven\u2019t look at Contrast, and I should be able to get Flower and Soundshapes for free, since I have previously purchased each. Same for flow, once it is released.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the PSN problems, I didn\u2019t really have time to dive into any of the new PS4 features, so between gaming, and today\u2019s slate of college football, I\u2019m sure I will be doing some of that as well. I also play to explore Remote Play more over the weekend so see what sort of limitations and boundaries are in place.<\/p>\n

Greatness Awaits \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Share\"\/<\/a>\n