Source: GameInformer
The launch of the PlayStation 4 is behind us, and for the most part it went off without any major catastrophes. Some people are reporting issues, and others are having trouble
signing into the PlayStation Network to update their consoles, but the
majority of PlayStation 4 early adopters are working on their Resogun
high scores, or taking on the Helghast in Killzone.
It’s Microsoft’s turn next week, as the Xbox One launches on Friday,
November 22, and there are a few things Microsoft could learn from
Sony’s launch to make everything go as smoothly as possible.
Lessons to learn
Encountering errors – Unfortunately, when it comes to
mass-producing new technology, it’s nearly impossible to not have at
least a few defective consoles. Some are encountering issues with blue
lights, or white lights, or pulsating lights that prevent the system
from starting up.
Most of these issues are covered by warranty, or fixable with a
reset, but the problem that is coming up, is people aren’t sure what
issue they’re encountering in order to try and get it fixed. A solution
would be to associate on-screen error codes with these problems and make
them easy to define and track down online.
Or in the cases where there is no display appearing on screen, make
it easy to track down what the different light signifiers mean. Sony
does have a helpful troubleshooting FAQ
giving PlayStation 4 players a few options to fix their console, but
right now it’s not as easy to find as it should be because it is
embedded in Sony’s message boards.
If the Xbox One encounters the same problems, this would go a long
way towards helping people get their consoles fixed or replaced as
quickly as possible.
Lessons to copy
Updating outside of the network – Sony offered the PlayStation
4’s firmware update online through its website before the launch of the
console. You can learn about it here, but basically it allows you to
get your system up to date without having to sign into the PlayStation
Network.
Unsurprisingly, the PlayStation Network’s servers buckled under the weight of one million players
trying to update their console. The ability to download the firmware
update remotely, place it on a flashdrive, and use that to update the
system is something PlayStation 3 players have been capable of doing for
some time, but it came in especially handy this weekend.
It would be very helpful if Microsoft offered the same option for the
Xbox One, because I am predicting that on Friday, Xbox Live might be a
little difficult to sign on to.
Twitch – PlayStation 4 also had a great opening weekend with
Twitch. The new PlayStation 4 Twitch features were working and
highlighted on the service’s website. The Xbox One needs to make sure
that people are as excited about streaming on their Xbox Ones as they
were this weekend about streaming on their PlayStation 4s.
Most of the PlayStation 4’s launch problems were resolved fairly
quickly, with the exception of the defective consoles, which
unfortunately there is no quick solution for. Hopefully the Xbox One has
a similarly smooth launch. And hopefully everything stays classy.
Be First to Comment