The new PS4 firmware has arrived, and it’s got some cool new features - including the long-awaited suspend/resume functionality.
“The system can now enter rest mode without closing any applications,” Sony said in the notes for the new update. Sleep mode is something convenient that people typically overlook. Even though most games feature a “save-anywhere” system, sometimes you’re in the middle of the story when something comes up. You’re playing a game, you’re just about to murder some fool ninja for killing your family, and then you remember you were supposed to pick up your girlfriend like ten minutes ago. Just put your PS4 to sleep and come back to the game later, after the tension dies down.
Elsewhere in the notes, Sony says that “Screenshots of scenes when you earn trophies are now saved automatically”, and “You can now share trophy details and screenshots.”
Everyone has that friend who likes to post pictures of everything on Facebook - from selfies, to pictures of their cat, to the sandwich they bought for lunch. You’ve probably asked yourself “Why would anyone take the time to take a picture of this?”
Well, now they don’t even have to take the time - they can do it instantly simply by pressing the “share” button on their PS4 controller. That said, this could be a handy feature for those particularly hard-to-get trophies. Even if you’re not the type to share achievements, it could be nice to be able to go back and remember when you unlocked that particularly difficult trophy. Like the time you spent 30 straight hours play Assassin’s Creed looking for those flags. Or pretty much anything in Bloodborne.
Other additions are minor, but welcome. Have you ever played a game that didn’t tell you what your ping was? Where you just had to join the game and hope for the best? It’s inconvenient. Watching someone stream without knowing what their internet connection is like is kind of like that. Being able to check the host’s connection before you start watching is going to save everyone a lot of time, so that’s rather nice to have. And the system software can be now automatically updated while the PS4 is in rest mode. Turning on a console only to find out that you’re 6GB behind in updates is a frustrating experience - particularly given how frequently Sony likes to roll them out. Now that your PS4 can update even while you’re not playing it, hopefully that experience will be a thing of the past.
There are a bundle of other features that come with the update, like being able to search for your Facebook friends or using the touchpad to control Blu-ray playback. You can either download it for yourself and check them out, or head over to the PlayStation Blog to read all about them.
Wayne Meeks
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