Sony’s big PS4 firmware is kind of ‘meh’

Having poured through the list of features for Sony’s big PS4 update, I have come to one conclusion. Prepare to be disappointed!

Firmware 1.7 adds a whole spate of new features to the console. Most of which are heavily geared towards the “let’s play” community.

The new SHAREfactory app is built for putting your irreverent gaming commentary on the internet. You can edit gameplay clips together, add picture-in-picture through the PlayStation Camera, and add special effects. It’s designed to make things easy for novice video editors, while at the same time offering a powerful set of tools for more advanced users. Though I don’t think it has audio filters to give you a silly Swedish accent, which the kids love today.

Once you’re done editing, you can now export gameplay videos to sources other than Twitch. Though implementation is still a bit clunky. You must first transfer then to a USB drive, and use your computer to upload them to YouTube and other video sites. If you prefer, you could also edit them on your desktop instead of SHAREfactory. Though for more novice users, we would have preferred to see built-in apps for YouTube that allowed uploading directly from the PS4.

For the more technically inclined, HDCP can now be turned off for games. You can now use external capture tools to record full 1080p video to your computer.

If you’re into the whole live broadcasting shenanigans, you can now air your gameplay videos and homemade porn to the world at glorious 720p.

Let’s pretend for a second you’re not interested in making let’s play videos. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of tantalizing additions in Firmware 1.7.

You can now dim the annoying light on the DualShock 4. Since it’s only used with the camera, we wish you could just turn it off.

The touchpad now allows you to navigate the on screen keyboard, making entering those long passwords a bit less tedious. New voice commands have also been added, allowing you to now launch apps like you can on the Xbox One.

Friend and trophy options have also been expanded. You can now view friend lists and mutual friends of the people you follow, making it easier to find new folks to game with. You can also share your favourite songs with friends via Music Unlimited.

There’s been a few other minor UI tweaks, but so far a lot of what people are asking for is still missing. There’s no audio player, you can’t change the background, and it still can’t play 3D Blu-ray. Most importantly, the suspend/resume feature that was touted at E3 last year still hasn’t been added. Sony has a lot of work to do fixing the PS4’s system software. It still falls short of its predecessor in many ways.

Source: PlayStation Blog