Microsoft may be preparing to unveil the Xbox 720 for the first time, but details about Sony's PlayStation 4 machine keep trickling out in the meantime. The latest? The PS4 can potentially limit the amount of things users can "Share" on the console.
As we know, the PlayStation 4 controller features a built-in Share button that, when pressed, allows users to upload screenshots or videos of their gameplay to the Internet and share their experiences with friends.
In an attempt to stop users from simply uploading whatever scene they want (including spoilers), Sony will allow PS4 developers to block off certain parts of their game from being shared.
"There will be parts of a game that the maker does not want people to be able to see," Shuhei Yoshida, Sony's Worldwide Studios president, said in an interview translated by Edge. "For example, on Vita, developers can in certain scenes disable the feature that lets users take a screenshot, and [the Share function on PS4] will have a similar mechanism. The creator may not want to make video of the final boss shareable, for instance."
While this won't stop dedicated players from uploading spoilers if they really want to (after all, people upload PS3 videos all the time), it might have been necessary to placate developers worried about their work being spoiled all over the place. As Ars Technica notes, Nintendo simply lets moderators hide screenshots behind spoiler tags that must be clicked through before anyone can view the image.
Either way, Yoshida added that he wants the PS4 to be known as an easy-to-use console.
"I'd like to emphasise[sic] ease of use," he said. "How the controls feel, how much time you spend waiting around for it to turn on and off, things like that. It's about giving more consideration to the user experience. On portable smartphones and tablets, you can start playing as soon as you want to and quit whenever you like. PS4 will be a home console that can do that too."
In other Sony news, Sony Europe blogger Fred Dutton hinted that the company has "some intriguing game announcements planned" this week. It's always possible we could see some PS4 software surface, but it's also likely we see some PS3 and PS Vita announcements. Some are speculating that Gran Turismo 6 will be revealed, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear what's what.
