Ever since its release in November of 2013, Sony has been diligent in addressing the issues and concerns levied by the community. From missing features to ones that aren't quite as efficient as they could be, the lasting appeal of the PS4 unsurprisingly relies heavily on these improvements. While the eagerly anticipated firmware update 2.0 has been a long time coming, the wait will soon be over with a release that has been slated for next week.
Headlining the new update will be support for a unique feature called Share Play that will allow players to simulate couch co-op in an online setting. In addition to this, players will finally be able to upload their gameplay footage directly to YouTube as well as access a dedicated app. All of this and more will become available to PS4 users on October 28 when firmware 2.0 launches.
These features aren't the only new additions that players can expect from firmware 2.0. Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, Sony has shed some light on a slew of features that are meant to improve the efficiency of their console. These include a list of players you may know, easier access to broadcasting with the Live From PlayStation app and newly-introduced content filters, improved voice commands that bear a resemblance to those on the Xbox One, the ability to add free PlayStation Plus games to your library instead of downloading them and a more organized library and Content Area on the dashboard.
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Another feature that will be making its appearance as part of firmware 2.0 will likely be familiar to Xbox 360 owners. Going by the name of USB Music Player, it will allow users to plug a USB stick full of music into their PS4 and listen to it in the background while playing games. While this is nothing new, the potential implications of it are rather exciting. Using the example of the upcoming re-release of Grand Theft Auto 5, the idea of a game someday taking your personal music collection and using it to populate an in-game radio station is tantalizing indeed.
In addition to all this, gamers will also gain the ability to not only add a theme to their PS4's home screen, but also change the color of its background from the stock light blue to one of seven other colors. It's a small change, but one that allows for further customization of one's console nonetheless.
All things considered, the firmware update 2.0 is looking to be a hefty improvement for the already-thriving console. The PlayStation mobile app, Vita and PlayStation TV will all be receiving their own versions of this update in order to better connect the platforms so it will not be at all surprising to see Sony continuing to improve upon their various platforms as time passes.
What features or changes would you like to see in a future PS4 firmware update? Are you happy with the concerns that Sony is addressing with update 2.0?
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Source: PlayStation Blog, Sony