Xbox One and PlayStation 4 receiving new features in March updates

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It would seem Sony and Microsoft have been taking advantage of February’s bonus day to get some extra work in, as both companies have announced some new software features coming this month to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively.

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By Liam Andrews

@pass_controller

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First up, Sony are rolling out a number of new beta features arriving in tomorrow’s system update 3.50, also known by the infinitely better codename of Musashi.

Included in Musashi is the ability to create and organise gameplay events through the console or via the PlayStation App to allow like-minded players to easily arrange gaming events together. Event Hosts will also be able to edit events after they have been scheduled, with those invited being notified of any modifications.

Also included in the update are notifications for when friends come online. While it may not be the most innovative of features to ever come to a console, this much requested addition will also allow players to apply notifications to specific friends, making it easy to know when your best mates are about if you have a large friends list.

If you’re feeling slightly less social, Musashi also adds the ability to appear offline, allowing players to enjoy all PlayStation 4 has to offer without being disturbed.

Other features included in the update are the ability to stream to Dailymotion direct from your PS4 and a new option in the PlayStation Plus destination that will allow easier management of online storage. Remote play will also be coming to PC and Mac, and while it won’t be supported in the beta, Sony state that players can look forward to it arriving soon.

Lastly, we have Microsoft’s new features coming to Xbox One this month, including a number of top-voted requests from the Xbox Feedback page.

See below for a full list of the features members of Xbox One Preview program can expect to arrive on their consoles shortly.

• Purchase digital copies of backwards compatible Xbox 360 games on Xbox One.
• Include Party Chat in Twitch Broadcasts, allowing all members of a Party (including those via Windows 10) to be heard over a broadcast. Players who do not wish to have their voices included in the broadcast can opt out of doing so while continuing to talk and be heard by the rest of the Party.
• Output Party Chat via the headset, TV speakers or both.
• Customise Game DVR recording length. Recording a game clip has so far been a fixed 30 seconds of previous footage, now players can now record for 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes or 5 minutes.
  
• Achievements are now included in the One Guide to make it easier to check progress, meaning you won’t have to snap a separate app.
• Watch videos listed in the Activity Feed without having to leave the Feed to launch it, with the ability to pause, restart or switch the video to full screen added. Players can also press X to ‘like’ a video.
• Limit of Party Chat raised from 12 to 16.
• Xbox 360 achievements will now appear in the Activity Feed.
• Game Hubs will now include links to web pages and YouTube videos.
• Compare your Avatar to a friends via a ‘Compare Avatar’ link when viewing a friend’s profile and see what their Avatar is wearing and how you can acquire a specific item of clothing, accessory or prop.
•  Reputation ratings will no longer show players rated as ‘good’, instead only showing players with negative reputations and the titles ‘needs work’ and ‘avoid me’.

What do you think of the new features coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? Are there any you would like to see added that haven’t been included in these updates? Let us know in the forums.

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