PlayStation 4 System Software 5.00 Details Leak

Everybody loves a good system software update, and having just heard about Microsoft’s wholesale revamp of their console’s OS – some of which isn’t actually going down too well if you skirt through certain corners of Reddit – now the changes and improvements Sony have planned for system software 5.00 on PS4 have been leaked to Eurogamer.

The headline feature for streamers is that you can now stream at 1080p60 to Twitch if you have a PlayStation 4 Pro, which simply latches onto what’s already possible via Remote Play and Share Play. Beyond that, it’s all about social, family and notifications.

Where you were given the ability to follow certain certified users in a previous update (I forget which one), you will now be able to follow literally anybody you like, which is a move designed to help the spread of user generated content and clips across the network, as a boon for developers looking to boost the profile of their game.

New family accounts will overhaul the current system, letting you have multiple adult accounts in a family that are able to set parental controls individually for child accounts. You’ll also be able to manage these privileges via a web application that you can access on computer or smartphone.

The fourth feature Eurogamer highlight is to do with notifications, integrating them into the quick menu, so you don’t need to head back out to the PDM to check what that plinging sound was all about. Additionally, when streaming in PSVR, you’ll now be able to actually see what viewers are saying to you.

Another interesting point is that the system will now support bundle and compilation discs with add-ons on disc, so Game of the Year editions can offer players a more seamless experience for users without developers needing to faff around with the code.

Expect 5.00 sometime in the near future alongside an overhauled PlayStation App that isn’t quite as useless as it currently is.

Source: Eurogamer

 

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21 Comments

  1. Cue the username regretters moaning about not being about to change the crap name they chose 5 years ago..

    • They should just make a new account like you do on here every time you get banned Blighty!

    • Because people never mature over time and decide that misterbiggusdickusumommarfatusireking is in fact a rubbish name. I mean, most services do allow that option of renaming and it’s not like it would break the service. For Sony to not do it is just baffling.

      • There could well be reasons it’s not possible.

        Just consider how many places your username appears? Every user has some username they chose and quite probably some unique ID (possibly just a number from when they signed up, or something more complicated for assorted reasons).

        What will Sony be storing on their servers? The unique ID in cases where it’s important (such as with your password), and just the username everywhere else. What about 3rd parties? Leaderboards in games? They’ll most likely just be storing the name. Or both, but displaying the username they’ve stored and not querying Sony’s database to get the display name every time.

        It’s not just a case of changing the name. There could be a huge amount of code that needs changing to look up the usernames from some ID, assuming that ID is even stored. Putting extra load on the servers (and so more expense) for games that are old and probably not making much money now anyway.

        Or you could change your username, and Sony update it everywhere it’s used (including 3rd party games). Seems unlikely.

        Services that _do_ let you change your name presumably don’t care about 3rd party services that could be storing old names (or don’t allow them).

        With Sony it’s quite probably never going to happen (at least not generally: it seems to have happened in very rare cases) and not in any way that will happen everywhere and not potentially cause issues. Just because someone else can do it, doesn’t mean Sony can, or that there aren’t good reasons for having designed things in such a way that it’s not possible. (Or that there aren’t downsides to designing a system that lets you do it either)

        So not baffling at all if you’ve got the slightest idea about how these things work. (Which is fair enough. Most people don’t. It just means you’ve missed out on the pleasure of swearing at a database at 2 in the morning trying to get the sodding thing to work and do it’s job in a sensible time)

      • How do you know it’s not going to break the service??? Are you familiar with the inner workings of PSN?

      • The inner workings of PSN must be pretty fragile if it can’t parse a user id tag from a user name handle. Wait, a yoghurt cup and string is pretty fragile. Mystery solved.

        Let’s not even suggest Xbox Live is less breakable than PSN because it allows username changes. Completely against logic, and therefore untrue, as old Trumpy will tell ya.

      • Fair point, Ydd but this is Sony. They must have realised that people may want to change their name. Then again, if the service is still running on string cup 2015 edition, it’s not surprising that it doesn’t work.

        Oh and yes, Microsoft paid me to say this. I am dead serious.

      • And if PSN ID is the database primary key for all database lookups???

      • It’s very likely that own uses the username as the primary key, other services might use a UUID and the username isn’t the key,making changes trivial…

        Whatever the reason, live by your actions, it’s not Sony’s fault you decided on an immature username

      • Whilst Sony can’t be held responsible of one chooses a silly name, they really should have taken that into consideration and allow a one time change. Heck, I had to ditch my old(and very first) sub account because it did not upgrade to a bloody master one then a few years later, ditched the new one because of an email issue.

        But i am doubtful that a one time name change is beyond the capabilities…. wait, i forgot, this is PSN we’re talking about. The only network that still runs on gaffa tape, can on a string tech with a brand new coating of paint.

        But seriously, it can’t be that hard for them to allow a one time change as long as the email is still the same? If so, no wonder Mods weren’t allowed. If they can’t even do name changes, mods are sure to break the entire network.

  2. 5.0 seems a pretty big milestone, so the fact it only delivers Twitch broadcasting at 60FPS for Pro owners & some master/sub account amendments seems pretty… meh!

    • There’s probably extra features there. To make things more stable. They’ve tried to hide it behind a big 5.0 update and features that nobody is going to be interested in.

      But “meh” pretty much sums it up perfectly.

      Is there anything left that anyone could want that hasn’t been implemented yet? Almost 4 years into the PS4’s life and all updates should be “meh” by now.

      • VR porn as a standard feature? Free Porn for birthdays? Nathan Drake exploring Lara Croft’s tomb?

    • Yeah there’s nothing exciting in it that i can see although i don’t feel i’m missing out on anything in particular either. Mainly i would like some tweaks to the main UI including the folders and general accessibility/organisation.

  3. Feels more like update 4.97 tbh.

    • Well done. You’ve discovered that version numbers for software are generally completely random and meaningless.

      Except in the weird case of TeX (which I doubt most people have heard of) where each version adds a digit of pi, and will eventually be version pi which actually means something. Mostly that the original developer has died and all bugs are now features forever. (And even that’s only true since version 3, almost 30 years ago)

      • And pronounced “tec” iirc.

  4. Seems a bit of a naff update.

  5. Actually working parental controls would be a massive improvement, the current system is broken and useless. But I only believe it when I see it working, Sony never managed to deliver that one before.

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