PlayStation 4 got released last week and I have to talk about in my opinion the biggest game changing feature. The ability to easily stream your gameplay online. This one feature I think is the most important for next gen consoles. Keep in mind I actually do not own a PlayStation 4 but I have watched people streaming it. The PlayStation 4 has teamed up with Twitch and Ustream to create a seamless way to stream your gameplay footage. Now your friends and if you want strangers can watch your gameplay footage. Now why is this so important to next gen systems?
The fact is I didn't even need to have a PlayStation 4 to see how amazing the PlayStation 4 looks. That is a ton of free marketing to not only get people exposed to the PlayStation 4 but excited about it too. Streaming on consoles is going to help the gaming community and industry become even stronger.
To be fair streaming gameplay is not anything new to gamers it has been available to PC gamers for a while now. Many popular games like League of Legends, Starcraft 2 and Minecraft will have thousands of viewers on any given moment. The significance of next gen consoles having this feature though is a much bigger market is being exposed to this opportunity.
With the streaming ability even having a devoted button to controller just symbolizes the importance Sony has given to streaming. When League of Legends had over 30 million viewers it easy to see how big the audience is for people wanting to watch steamed game play. The question is what the PlayStation community will stream and what games will benefit from this feature the most.
Xbox One will also have the ability to stream though at the moment not out of the box. They announced the ability to stream directly to Twitch will be released early 2014 and considering how few of us will actually be able to even get a Xbox One even if we wanted waiting a while to get it right is definitely the right move.
What I do know about the PlayStation 4 from what I have seen through streams is that it has definitely looking impressive. Though I won’t be getting a PS4 anytime soon I do see myself getting it one day. Until then I will just watch other people play it.