The whole world in your hands

All of the big games are getting companion applications these days. Titles such as Battlefield 4, Watch Dogs, and DriveClub are all expanding into the blossoming world of iOS and Android, allowing you to stay connected to your favourite games wherever you are. Many of these releases are also using smartphones and tablets to enable second screen experiences – and that’s something that the PlayStation App will unlock out of the box.

While the aforementioned examples are all employing custom created applications to interact with their games, this isn’t such a viable strategy for smaller studios working on a slimmer budget. Fortunately, the upcoming PlayStation App – which will launch alongside the PlayStation 4 – will allow developers to connect to the next generation console, and stream specific pieces of software to it. In short, it will enable teams to explore second screen experiences, without needing to build a brand new piece of software from scratch.

One game that’s already taking advantage of this feature is The Playroom. As demonstrated during Sony’s brief Tokyo Game Show keynote last week, you’ll be able to use the application to draw items on a smartphone, which can then be tossed into the game world. “Smaller developers can use the PlayStation App to connect to the PS4 and load an application, like drawing software for example, so that you don’t have to download and install a specific app on your smartphone,” Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida explained. “It’s open to all PS4 developers to use.”

In addition to all of that, the companion software will allow you to keep track of your friends, stream gameplay footage, compare Trophies, send and receive messages, and peruse all of the latest gaming news from the PlayStation Blog. You can even browse the PlayStation Store, purchase a game, and then tell your PS4 to download and install it, all totally remotely. Welcome to the future, folks – convenient, isn’t it?

[source blog.eu.playstation.com]