Simple question - PS4 Consoles

[Channel Hopper]

Will they play earlier PS 3, 2, 1 designated games ?

 

[Archive-8]

A PS4 won't play PS3 not even downloading them.

Ps2 games there is a Sony emulator that will play some.

Not owning one myself, I had to ask a mate.

Simple answer "no"

 

[2cvbloke]

You can play some select PS2 games on a PS4 so long as you buy & download them from Sony's Playstation Store and have an active PS Plus subscription on the go (sounds familiar that, having to sub to get certain features!!), but to play existing games you already have on disc, forget it, current PC emulators are shaky at best, so better just to use the real hardware, you can pick up a PS2 or PS3 for peanuts at the moment as people are more interested in the PS4 and their new variants...

The PS4 is basically just an AMD-CPU'd PC with a securely locked-down BIOS, so plenty of power to run emulators, but Sony are being a bit slow (probably intentionally) at getting emulation for previous console games up and running, it's a shame really as the consoles could do so much more, but, like a sky box, are severely limited to keep you on their particular track rather than make it a nice universal system...

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thank you for the quick answers. I was looking to replace the Wii we have here, and have a source of PS2 games from a friend that look good for the family. There was a PS4 machine in the local exchange shop that was advertised as 'faulty', about a third of the £220 they normally ask, but if it doesn't play earlier games then there is little point in trying to fix it, unless these things have another use.


I was also interested in the No Man's Sky a couple of months ago, and prices for the discs have dropped locally to around £30.

 

[2cvbloke]

unless these things have another use.

They make for useful monitor stands, aswell as good USB charger hubs (so long as you set them to leave the USB ports active in Standby mode), other than that, er, not a whole lot really, I suppose there's the TV on Demand apps, but can't recall if you need the PS+ sub or not to use them (sold my PS4 a few months after getting it to pay for PC Master Race upgrades!), there's spotify too, which replaced Playstation Music, erm, yeah, games, bit of streaming, charging things up and that's about it...

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks again (I think). Does the PS4 not play BluRay/DVD as standard then ? Can it do multi-region stuff ?

So, out of the present consoles around, what would be a suitable replacement for the ageing Wii (not that I have convinced myself it is old of course ;) ) from the list of usual suspects (WiiU/XBox etc) , bearing in mind the requirement of a reasonable backlist of educational content that would keep the attention of a 8 year old going on 12.

Again forward compatibility of the games for the older version would be useful (XBox 1 plays 360 games, or so I gather).

Or should I remain with the PC and stuff such as Roblox Studio ?

 

[2cvbloke]

Thanks again (I think). Does the PS4 not play BluRay/DVD as standard then ?

Yes, it does do DVD & BluRay playback, forgot about that, didn't have any disc-based games for my PS4, was all downloaded...

As for "which is best", well, Nintendo's in a league of it's own, catering to mostly physical interaction games with the Wii line, MS & the xbone are tailored to media streaming and apps, but just happens to play games too, and Sony has it's PS4 which is pretty dedicated to gaming, but, as with all consoles, it's limited to what they approve, and for the xbone & PS4, you HAVE to have a PS+ or xbox live subscription if you ever wanted to play anything online...

Personally I'd recommend building a decent gaming system, for the money that a lot of consoles sell for brand new, you can build a decent AMD-based rig for not a lot (I think I paid about £250-ish in total for mine, CPU, Asus board & RAM, utilising existing parts, such as graphics, case, SSDs & PSU), that way you have access to a vast quantity of games, a lot of which are mirrored on the consoles, but give you greater flexibility when it comes to what you want to spend, that and Steam sales are often handy to get decent games on the cheap...

 

[Channel Hopper]

Forgot to ask (though I think I already have the answer)

PS3 wireless handsets, compatible with PS4 ?

 

[2cvbloke]

Forgot to ask (though I think I already have the answer)

PS3 wireless handsets, compatible with PS4 ?

Yes and no, yes you can use them on a PS4, but you have to be wired by USB cable, and you'll also have reduced functionality, and of course certain games require the extra parts on a PS4 controller to work properly, it's the same in reverse, a PS4 controller works via USB on a PS3, but again, reduced functionality (having done both back when I had a PS4 before I got bored of it)...

A PS4 controller works great on a PC though with a program called "DS4windows", and a PS3 controller works well when using "BetterDS3tool", both end up as emulated xbox controllers so getting used to the different on-screen terminology takes some getting used to...

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks, I picked up a Dualshock 3 from a charity store over the weekend for a couple of pounds. It looks like it has the same number of buttons (with the exception of the scroll pad near the front).

I'll look out for the BetterDS3tool in the next few days.

As an aside, do the rechargeable batteries inside consoles ever need replacing ?

 

[2cvbloke]

Thanks, I picked up a Dualshock 3 from a charity store over the weekend for a couple of pounds. It looks like it has the same number of buttons (with the exception of the scroll pad near the front).

I'll look out for the BetterDS3tool in the next few days.

The buttons are there, yes, but in the eyes of the playstation, the PS3 pad will be a "Generic gamepad" on a PS4 and vice versa (like I said, I've tried it!), things like the variable-pressure trigger paddles (L2 and R2) don't work properly and just act as plain buttons, which makes 'em a tad useless...

The touchpad on a PS4 controller is also a button, but nonfuctional on other platforms (unless assigned to do something, you can use it as a mouse on a PC with DS4windows), personally I think its a pointless addition to the controller, but overall I like my PS4 controller on my PC, just wish that big touchpad wasn't there...

One added bonus of the PS4 controller, it uses Bluetooth 3.0+, so if you have a PC with a relatively recent enough bluetooth adaptor, you can use it wirelessly with little to no mods required, just needs pairing to the bluetooth receiver (Pressing and holding "Share" and the PS button together 'til the lightbar starts pulse-flashing, then pairing on the PC by however it's done) and DS4windows running...

 

[Channel Hopper]

The buttons are there, yes, but in the eyes of the playstation, the PS3 pad will be a "Generic gamepad" on a PS4 and vice versa (like I said, I've tried it!), things like the variable-pressure trigger paddles (L2 and R2) don't work properly and just act as plain buttons, which makes 'em a tad useless...

As you mentioned , it might come in handy for the PC. I already had an idea it wouldn't do much else. Probably why the ps4 controls are around £40 and upwards.

 

[2cvbloke]

As you mentioned , it might come in handy for the PC. I already had an idea it wouldn't do much else. Probably why the ps4 controls are around £40 and upwards.

I think I paid about £30-something for my Blue PS4 controller on ebay (I sold the white one I had along with the console, as much as I'd have liked to keep it as the design looked nice in white), think it was an unwanted gift or something, but works nicely and is more comfortable to use compared my PS3 controller as it's larger and a bit more ergonomic...

 

[Mickha]

This thread is from nearly 8 years ago, a lot changes, especially technology, in 8 years.

 

[scopus]

This thread is from nearly 8 years ago, a lot changes, especially technology, in 8 years.

Yes, PS5 nowadays..