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Why PS4's Social Features Probably Won't Be Free

Push Square: "The current goodwill surrounding the PlayStation 4 will almost certainly come to an end at some point. There comes a moment in every system’s build-up where the early enthusiasm is replaced by a wave of negativity. This onset of scepticism typically stems from the hardware in question’s price – or, in the PlayStation Vita’s case, the cost of its memory cards – but it almost always comes after a swell of world-beating positivity. Before long, the initial optimism is replaced by a chorus of cynicism, complaints, and the distant chant of a few loyal soldiers desperately trying to reassure everyone that everything’s going to be okay."

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pushsquare.com
xX-StolenSoul-Xx4023d ago (Edited 4023d ago )

I suppose this makes sense. Since Sony has not mentioned if some of these social features are for premium members we'll obviously have to wait till more information which my guess would be at E3.

Yes the bandwidth of uploading these videos could be costly. If they did go this way where we would have to pay for some features I personally would not be completely against the idea. Yes Free is always good but as long as I get to keep playing my games multiplayer online components for free I'll be generally happy.

Dark_Overlord4023d ago (Edited 4023d ago )

"Yes the bandwidth of uploading these videos could be costly."

The only confirmed place for video uploads is facebook at the minute (That was the only one mentioned in the show), and due to the video being processed on the PS4 the only bandwith involved with uploading would be my own (that I pay for anyway), so I don't see how this could be costly to anyone? Unless they have capped limits

shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4023d ago (Edited 4023d ago )

Only thing I need to be free is multiplayer and watching other people play.

I think those would be free.

I think streaming ur own shows will not be free.

Mookie4023d ago

That share button would be useless...

linkenski4023d ago

So next gen will totally be "pay to press on the buttons"

supremacy4023d ago

The article makes a great point, now the question is. How would the PlayStation faithful feel/response to this?

Me personally i could care less, i already pay for plus as is, so as long as they offer compelling features, than i dont think many will care much.

xX-StolenSoul-Xx4023d ago

I've been paying for plus early on release. I would not mind paying for something is It has real value. I'll have to try this stuff out before I can really decide if it's even worth paying for.

MysticStrummer4023d ago (Edited 4023d ago )

When they announced all the social stuff, I assumed much of it would only be usable by PS+ members. I think basic use of the Share button will be free though, as in uploading to YouTube. Some other basic social features will probably be free also.

XabiDaChosenOne4023d ago

MMMMMM doubt it, I think most of playstation plus will concern "free games" and gaikai. I wouldn't put it past Sony to charge for some of the social features but not all. Espicially not cross gamechat.

Muerte24944023d ago

some of the social features are an integral part of PS4. It wouldn't make sense to have a dedicated chip to encode, if you wanted only a percentage of people to use this feature. As long as I don't require Plus to use Hulu Plus, Crunchyroll, play online, etc; I don't see this being a problem.

70°

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200°

Bethesda Needs to Reduce the Gaps Between New Fallout and Elder Scrolls Releases

Waiting a decade for new instalments in franchises as massive as Fallout and Elder Scrolls feels like a waste.

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gamingbolt.com
-Foxtrot14h ago

Microsoft have Obsidian but I feel it's Bethesda who just don't want to play ball as they've always said they want to do it themselves.

Once MS bought Zenimax in 2020 they should have put the Outer Worlds 2 on the back burner, allow Bethesda to finish off its own Space RPG with Starfield (despite totally different tone why have two in your first party portfolio with two developers who's gameplay is a tad similar) and got Obsidian for one of their projects to make a spiritual successor to New Vegas.

When the Elder Scrolls VI is finished Bethesda can then onto the main numbered Fallout 5 themselves.

The Outer Worlds 2 started development in 2019 so putting it on the back burner wouldn't have been the end of the world, they'd have always come back to it once Fallout was done and it would have been nicely spaced out from Starfields release once they had most likely stopped supporting it and all the expansions were released.

If they did this back in 2020 when they bought Zenimax and the game had a good, steady 4 - 5 years development, you might have seen it release in 2025.

We are literally going to be waiting until 2030 at the very earliest for Fallout 5 and all they seem bothered about is pushing Fallout 76.

RaidenBlack12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

Its not just only Todd not playing ball.
Obsidian have made a name for themselves in delivering stellar RPGs, but most famous once have always been sequels/spin-offs to borrowed IPs like KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Stick of Truth etc.
Obsidian wants to invest more in their own original IPs like Outer Worlds or Pillars of Eternity with Avowed.
Similar to what Bluepoint & inXile wants to do or Kojima is doing (i.e not involving anymore in Konami's IPs).
So yea, even if New Vegas has the most votes from 3D Fallout fans, Obsidian just wants to do their own thing, like any aspiring dev studio and MS is likely currently respecting that.
But a future Fallout game from Obsidian will surely happen. Founder Feargus Urquhart has already stated an year ago that they're eager to make a new Fallout game with Bethesda, New Vegas 2 or otherwise. Urquhart was the director of the very first 1995's Fallout game after all.
And don't forget Brian Fargo and his studio inXile, as Brian Fargo was the director of Fallout's 1988 predecessor: Wasteland

KyRo9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Obsidian should take over the FO IP. They're do far better with it than Bethesda who hasn't made a great game for almost 15 years

RaidenBlack3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

@KyRo
So, by 15 years, you mean Fallout 3 was the last great game Bethesda made?
You don't consider Skyrim a good game, which came out 13 years ago?
I'd consider Fallout 4 a pretty decent game as well. It's Story & RPG elements were a bit downgrade from New Vegas but the exploration and shooting on the other hand, were upgrades.
FO76 was disappointing and Starfield could've been better at launch I'll agree.

Duke198h ago(Edited 8h ago)

I disagree. Part of these games is the support for the mod community. If they move to releasing a "next game" every 2 or 3 years, the modding support plummets and the franchises turn into just another run of the mill RPG.

Make the games good enough to withstand the test of time, to keep people coming back to them and expanding on them with mod support.

--Onilink--6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

I dont think anyone is saying they need to come out every 2 years (not to mention almost no game is released that quickly anymore)

By the time Fallout 5 comes out, it will be more than 15 years since Fallout 4 came out (same with ES6 coming out 15 years after Skyrim). Even if you want to use F76 as the metric for the most recent release, that one came out in 2018. It will be a miracle if F5 comes out before 2030

The point is that for a studio that doesnt seem to operate with multiple teams doing several projects at once, that their projects normally take 4-5 years as a minimum, and that now they even added Starfield to the rotation, it becomes a 15+ years waiting period between releases for each series, which doesnt make sense. Imagine that Nintendo only released a mainline Mario or Zelda game every 15 years…

They either need to start developing more than 1 project at a time, let someone else take a crack at one of the IPs or significantly reduce their development times

Duke194h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs? Look at what happened to Final Fantasy as a recent example - there is pretty clear FF fatigue setting in because they are now pumping out titles in the franchise every few years. Pumping out more games faster doesn't always make a series better.

There are plenty of options to make new games, not just create more titles in the same universe at a faster pace.

-Foxtrot2h ago

"Why should someone else take a crack at one of the IPs"

He's literally just told you why

We're waiting like 15 years before a sequel comes out, it's insane

Skyrim came out in 2011, the next game is expected to come out in 2027 at the earliest so that's 16 years apart while Fallout 4 came out in 2015 and might not release until 2031, again 16 years.

We're fine with Bethesda trying new things and doing new IPs like Starfield but adding a new game to the cycle now means a bigger wait. Also Starfield didn't meet most peoples expectations, can you imagine waiting 15 years or so for a sequel and it's disappointing? It would feel even worse because you would have to wait another 15 years to see if they manage to come back from it.

They need to give it to another developer, we don't need main numbered titles but a spin off of Fallout and Elder Scrolls should be cycled in between the long gaps of the main releases.

Once again you are making out people want these games as quick as possible when all we want is a standard development time of at least 4 years or so rather than waiting 15.

mandf6h ago

Yeah I’m going to say it, who cares about the modding community when making a game? Half the time developers only tolerate modders because they fix there game for them.

Skuletor7h ago

Yeah, let's all advocate for smaller gaps between series' releases, then we'll probably get headlines about how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven. Let them cook.

SimpleSlave6h ago

"how the series have dropped in quality and they could have benefited from more time in the oven" So every Bethesda game then? Got it.

Listen, I would agree if this was about From Software or something, but Bethesda?

🤣

C'mon now. What timeline are you from?

Skuletor4h ago

Think about it, they're already bug filled messes on their current schedule, can you imagine how much worse it would be if they rushed things?

-Foxtrot2h ago

@Skuletor

Who's saying to rush the releases? No one is saying that...

People just don't want to be waiting 15 years for a sequel, they aren't working on the game for that long, you do realise that right? The issue isn't coming down to them working on the game and us "rushing them", it's the fact they are working on other games like Starfield now meaning bigger gaps before they even get started on them.

I bet you any more Elder Scrolls VI only entered full development last year when Starfield was finished despite being announced in 2018.

Duke194h ago

I mean you aren't wrong. People are going to complain about anything

isarai6h ago

Hows about you focus on quality, just a thought 🤷‍♂️

Sciurus_vulgaris5h ago

Bethesda [or Microsoft] would have to reallocate internal and external studios towards fallout and elder scrolls titles. Bethesda has the issue of developing 2 big IPs that are large RPGs on rotation. If you want more Fallout and Elder Scrolls, development will have to be outsourced.

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