With the announcement of PlayStation 4’s social elements, companies, game developers and gamers are coming together in a more integrated social ecosystem.
After watching last night’s PlayStation 4 LiveStream I learned some interesting things about Sony’s next iteration of their upcoming system the “PS4”. I learned that Sony has been watching and listening by integrating social networks, integrating 4th screen technology and cloud technology.
I assume Sony is planning on hitting these mediums as follows:
Social Networks:
Sony has partnered with Facebook and UStream to help gamers collect and share content instantly with a dedicated “Share” button on the back of the controller. This is HUGE news to any gamer who’s ever wasted their time saving, editing and uploading their pwnage (pure ownage) to YouTube. Now gamers will be able to share their pwnage instantly in game as well as to the world. Seems like a gaming marketer’s dream.
If you don’t believe that people are actively doing this as we speak, here’s a clip from my COD:MW3 (Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3) clan member Dan.
YouTube: http://youtu.be/kge8esdag1I
4th Screen:
Sony is leveraging what it calls “Remote Play” so users can experience their game on multiple screens and keep users engaged in their game for longer periods of time while helping to boost their PS Vita handheld sales.
Game developers and Sony will also be working on separate apps to leverage smartphones and tablets to help bring gamers together and incorporate updates, news and invites to gamers on the go. Do you see the “social” theme coming through here?
Cloud Technology:
To the Cloud! Everything has to be on the cloud these days, even our games! Sony seems to have the right idea of leveraging cloud services to give users instant gratification by allowing them to buy a game and play it instantly while the rest of the game downloads. On top of that, Sony will or should be leveraging some of the PS4’s new social technology to help target market specific games to users on their networks based on their “likes”.
Only time will tell how successful the PlayStation 4 will be when it’s finally released, but it’s a great idea to socialize their technology on a medium that’s already its own social channel.
