Next-Gen PlayStation Network Features
The next PlayStation is almost here; with rumors putting it being revealed at 2013’s E3 and a possible Q4 2013/Q1 2014 release and with that a brand new list of features for PlayStation Network. The PSN has gone through some major changes since its initially launch on the PlayStation 3; to bringing itself on par with, if not above, the competition. Yet, we want more. Just packaging the same features of the current PSN and bringing them over to the next console won’t be enough.
Let’s take a look at three of the biggest features should be added to the PSN to make it truly the premier online gaming network in the industry.
Tuesday PS Store Update
Possibly the biggest update that needs to be addressed on the PlayStation Store for the next generation is the time when the store is updated for this plays into another issue that I will bring up later.
Currently the PlayStation Store is updated at the end of the day on Tuesday. For me, where I live in on the East Coast, that is about 7:00/8:00pm every Tuesday. This needs to change; why do I have to wait till almost the end of Tuesday before I have access to all the new content? That shouldn’t happen. The new PlayStation Store, that will be included in the new PlayStation, needs to have an update system that actually releases the new content at the beginning of Tuesday, not at the end. Taking into consideration that time zone differences, the store should update every Tuesday at 12:00am PST.
Midnight Launch Pre-Orders
Recently Sony has really upped their support of purchasing games day 1 from the PlayStation Store, even offering pre-orders for games that will release in the near future – yet there is a big glaring issue with Sony’s system. Currently when you pre-order a game that is available, once the launch day of the game comes, the game will not be available for download until the PlayStation Store is updated at the end of the day.
This is not right, nor is it correct. When gamers pre-order a game on the PlayStation Store, at 12:00am in each time zone, that game should be available to download to the purchaser’s console.
Taking this a step further, it should be an automatic download for everyone who has purchased the game. So when they start turn their system on, they are ready to play their new game right away.
Messages Upgrade
There are multiple issues with the current messages options on the PlayStation Network; no voice messages, limited in-game message ability and no mulch-messaging *I am not mentioning cross-game chat as this was because the PS3 hardware can not do it, but Sony has said they want to implement it.
The biggest of the multiple issues that the messages need an update to is in-game message ability. Let me explain – when in a game and you get a message, there should be a few things that happen:
- Pressing the XMB button while the notification is still up should take you straight to the menu
- Full reply ability; text or voice reply
Firmware Updating
So updating the firmware on a system is something that will always be around, we will have to deal with that even on the new PlayStation; but it can be a lot less painful than it currently is. Now the way of updating the PlayStation 3 is by first having to download the firmware, which can take crazy long; THEN have to install the firmware which can add another hour sometimes to this wait time.
This process should ideally be background actions that the PlayStation does really without the gamer knowing it. It should not stop us from connecting online nor keep us from playing our games while it is downloading/installing.
There are four the top features that Sony needs to add into the PlayStation Network for the next PlayStation console. Is there anything you are looking for Sony to add as well that I may have missed? Let me know in the comments.
