Sony Worldwide Studios boss debunks another PS4 rumor.
Some rumors have been floating around that the PS4 and the next Xbox will require a constant internet connection, and Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida seems to disagree. Yoshida, who gave a pretty vague answer regarding the use of used games on the PS4, has given Eurogamer a less wishy-washy answer regarding just how dependent the console will be on having an internet connection.
When asked if the PS4 needed a constant connection to work, he replied “You can play offline, but you may want to keep it connected. The system has the low-power mode – I don’t know the official term – that the main system is shut down but the subsystem is awake. Downloading or updating or you can wake it up using either the tablet, smartphone or PS Vita.” When further pressed on whether those features were optional or not, Yoshida said “Oh yes, yes, you can go offline totally. Social is big for us, but we understand there are some people who are anti-social! So if you don’t want to connect to anyone else, you can do that.”
While his answer does seem to suggest that you can completely disconnect from all the social aspects, his response does a good job of assuring gamers that you won’t need to be online to use the new console. However, Sony really seemed to push the online functionality of the system at its recent event, boasting that it can download updates and scan for new content while in the suspend state.
Games that require a constant internet connection have typically experienced backlash in the past. According to Sony, around 20% of PS3 consoles sold have never been taken online.
Source: Eurogamer
