PS4 Play Share Preview

Interesting read - http://kotaku.com/ps4s-new-share-play-feature-actually-works-1651640156

The basic idea behind Play Share is like virtual couch co-op.  You can share any game with anyone, anytime.  Just load up Play Shar and start a session that allows you to invite another friend to your game session.  You friend automatically see everything you are doing in-game.  Like watching someone play at their house.  Then, at any time you can "hand the controller" you your friend and he can take over the game.

This works for all games on the PS4.  It's a platform specific feature and all games are supposed to work with the exception of Alpha/Beta's.  Single player games only require the host to have PS+ in order to use the feature.  You friend does not need to have PS+ to load up and  play with you.  However, co-op games require both people to have PS+ as that is essentially multiplayer.  Wait?  What?  Co-op?  Oh yeah.  Sports games?  Check!  Co-op shooters? Check!  Sweet!

Restrictions include a 60 minute game time limit but a new session can be started immediately and there is no limit of the number of sessions you can have.  I also read an article the other day that said resolution and frame rate would be lower on the friends PS4 and a lot of that is dependent on the Internet connection both people have.  I am anxious to see how this works in real like but according to the article I posted about "it actually works" and "Seeing it in action almost seemed to be too good to be true - no lag, no noticeable issues, not even any obvious way of knowing you weren't actually playing the game on the guest machine itself."

This sounds amazing.  Can't wait to try it out and see if it really works out in the wild.

well see i got good timing on getting my ps4 then XD  

cant wait to see how it plays out

I got to play some the other night with Kenny and I was impressed overall.  Setup and connection was a snap.  We were connected and running in seconds.  Graphic quality was actually quite good as well.  You just set it all up right from party chat.  Really easy. 

Frame rate was pretty stable throughout and only a few minor graphical glitches were evident and they were not persistent.  In fact, my only real grip would be the slight input lag experienced.  Not sure there is anyway around that considering I was in Mississippi playing a console in New Jersey.  Same problem exists in the PS Now rental/streaming service Sony offers.  The difference here is that at least it's free.

Gotta say that overall it was pretty awesome.  We played Infamous: Second Son first.  With SP games you load up and the host has control.  I could watch live as Kenny played.  Full screen just like he was playing on my console.  Then at any point he could pass the controls over to me and I could play.

Next we played Trials Fusion.  Normally a couch co-op game only.  No online MP to speak of but now, because of Play Share, we were effectively playing online MP together.  Pretty amazing.  We ended up the night playing Spelunky which is also local co-op only.  The power of this system is pretty awesome.  Even with the input lag, it was still a great experience.

Very cool stuff. It's funny, but everyone used to do the same thing on the original xbox using XBC. Now what, 15ish years later consoles are finally starting to officially implement it.  (I assume the XB1 will have something similar in the future once Sony has enough positive press out about it)

Update #2:  Continue to use Play Share from time to time and it really is pretty cool.  I got to check out Shadow of Mordor with Apex and took a break while playing Black Flag with Kenny.  I needed a break and to grab a drink so I handed over the controls for a while.  Cool stuff, especially when you're just sitting in chat playing different things anyway.  Even just watching while someone else plays is cool.  Much better than just watching a stream cause it's more interactive and you can take control at any time.  Very fun.