4 Biggest Mistakes by the PS4 This Generation

Backwards Compatibility and PS Now

At the very start of this generation, neither the Xbox One or PS4 were backwards compatible with physical copies of 360 and PS3 games respectively. While Sony offered players the ability to stream their favorite PS3 titles with the Gaikai streaming service, PlayStation Now, it has not exactly taken the world by storm. In fact, the subscription service has fallen to the wayside as Microsoft found a way to bring the more traditional form of backwards compatibility to the Xbox One. The announcement at E3 2015 was a hit for Microsoft and backwards compatibility remains as a missed opportunity for Sony.

Having seen the overwhelmingly positive response to Microsoft’s announcement, Sony had the perfect chance to really put some momentum behind its PlayStation Now service. Instead, it stayed quiet, leaving the PS4’s backward compatibility streaming service to quietly struggle in the corner. Even now with the upcoming discontinuation of the service on specific formats, there seems to be no sign of Sony fixing the subscription model pricing, or trying to push it to players who so desperately want to replay their favorite PS3 titles.

Gaikai streaming was a huge investment for Sony, and one that’s failed to truly take off on the PS4 thanks to input lag making for a less-than-optimal experience, and a lack of marketing and buzz around it. Despite the company’s great successes this generation, backwards compatibility is something that’ll certainly need to be addressed going forward.

PSN  ID Name Changing

PSN has been around for a while now, and while it may have come on leaps and bounds since its rather primitive launch back on the PS3, there’s still one key feature noticeably absent from the online service. It may sound simple, but the ability to change your PlayStation Network ID name is something that Sony couldn’t crack on the PS3, and has continued to wrestle with throughout the life cycle of the PS4.

It’s certainly not the be all and end all, but when you’ve got precious platinum trophies tied to a name you’ve grown to despise over the years, it’s a tad frustrating. While there’s some technical complications on the back end that Sony hasn’t yet figured out clearly, players will be praying that the wait won’t be too much longer for the feature to finally arrive.

First-Party Delays

While the PS4 has had a bunch of truly exceptional first-party titles and exclusives since its launch in 2013, it’s no secret that many of them have suffered from a delay or two. No Man’s Sky, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4, and The Last Guardian all suffered from delays in 2016, and it’s something that Sony needs to tighten up moving forward with the PS4 and future systems.

Though Shigeru Miyamoto’s wise words “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad,” are certainly true, back to back delays can upset fans and eventually be damaging to brand reputation. Hopefully, the PS4’s upcoming exclusives in 2017 and beyond won’t continue this trend.

The Bethesda Mods Debacle

Back at E3 2015, Fallout 4 pretty much stole the show, and the announcement that both the Xbox One and PS4 would be getting mod support was even more exciting for fans. While Todd Howard said that the feature was a timed exclusive to the Xbox One at the time, it was all set to make its way to the PS4 at a later date.

Months after the feature arrived on the Xbox One in May, Bethesda shared a blog post stating that the feature wouldn’t be coming to the PS4 due to issues with Sony that could not be resolved. Though Sony and Bethesda managed to work together to get some form of mod support for Fallout 4 and Skyrim: Special Edition on the PS4, it didn’t allow for external assets, greatly limiting its potential on the system.

Exactly what issues Bethesda’s mods on PS4 faced in their original format remains to be seen, but the announcement certainly left many fans disappointed and angry at both Bethesda and Sony.