Over the weekend, it was revealed by Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios at PlayStation, that PS4 Remote Play would be coming to Mac and PC. Though no timeframe was given, seeing how there was no need for him to address or confirm its release, we’ll either hear about it at PlayStation Experience which takes place this Friday or will have some kind of release no later than E3.
But does it matter?

Some people asked if we plan to provide Remote Play function to PC, and yes, we are indeed working on an official application for PC/Mac. 😀

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) November 27, 2015 

For those unfamiliar, PS4 Remote Play allows you to sync a Dualshock 4 controller to a device, in this case a Mac or PC, and stream games to that given device. So whether you’re rocking an iMac with a 5K display or an ASUS notebook, you’ll be able to game on and not be tied to your TV.

Sony already provides this functionality to a limited degree on Android on select Xperia smartphones and tablets. Seeing how Android standards are a bit all over the field and adoption of standards tend to be slower (the same reason PlayStation Vue is available on iOS but not Android), it’s unclear if we’ll ever see a universal app for Android.

On that same note, it seems bizarre that there hasn’t been an iOS app announced alongside the PC app. Especially with the release of iPad Pro, the idea that I could have a Dualshock sitting nearby and game on that display seems rather appetizing.

Ultimately though, while happy that Sony is working on such a feature, I question its usefulness. Is this something consumers want to do? If so, it’s certainly marketed at the ultra gamer who will set up their PS4 correctly, then download the given app to their computer, sync a Dualshock 4 controller and then stream games.

The average game will likely never do that, much in the same way that you can stream games from Xbox One to Windows 10 machines. Announced with plenty of fanfare, but I can’t say I ever hear about any real world usage among gamers.

What would perhaps be more interesting is if Sony released a PlayStation Now app for Mac, PC, and iOS. Then in stores sold Dualshock 4 controllers that had some form of QR code inside which would allow the companion app to easily connect to it, versus consumers having to do the Bluetooth sync dance.

Now you almost have another console on the market which is tangible and can be sold in stores like Best Buy and Game Spot that becomes an easy entry into the world of PlayStation via PlayStation Now. Almost what the PlayStation TV could have been.

Discuss:

Are you excited by the possibility of being able to stream games to your Mac/PC via PS4 Remote Play?