Remote play has been a great feature that we’ve made plenty of use of with the PS4. We all have our favourite games to play via remote play, but your host’s all-time favourite has to be Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – it just looks so good. It’s not without its problems though, and the PS Vita’s lack of physical buttons is still a pain in the bum, despite the developers best efforts to make a workable control scheme.
For those who aren’t aware of what remote play is, here’s the scenario: You want to play your PS4 but your other half wants to watch Modern Family on the TV. An argument could ensue and the other half could get their way, you may say something about their weight in retaliation and then end up sleeping on the sofa for a week. This can be avoided with a simple “alright, love, no problem” while you pick out your PS Vita and tuck yourself on the other sofa with a pair of headphones and stream your games to the PS Vita. It’s a life-saver – literally.
The problem with PS Vita remote play is that it’s not always ideal. Many have pondered having the function on their laptops and PC’s, as have we. That reality is coming sooner rather than later due to some tech geek getting remote play working on Windows. Marvelous! You’ll be able to play your PS4 games on a bigger screen with better controls at a higher image quality. Cracking!
There’s a video of Styx running on PS4 and PC via remote play down at the bottom, so give that a watch and see how the lag fares with this unusual option. It’s also worth noting that this isn’t an official app supported by Sony Computer Entertainment, in fact, we’re surprised the firm hasn’t stepped in to shut it down.
For the moment it’s only coming to Windows-based PC’s, though the developer states that if there’s demand for more platforms (Linux, Mac) then it could be ported to them in the future. You’ll also not need to worry about having a monster gaming rig as the software is being tested on some relatively low-end hardware; you could use remote play on just about any laptop within the last five years.
At the moment the developer is still testing the software and hopes to release an Alpha version for wider use sometime this month. If all goes to plan we’ll be giving this a go and letting you know what we think.
Interested in remote play on PC, or are you not all that bothered about it? Remotely tap a comment into the comments section below.