News

PS Vita will serve as 'ultimate companion device' for PlayStation 4

Remote Play's the thing

PS Vita will serve as 'ultimate companion device' for PlayStation 4
|

During Sony's PlayStation 4 unveiling, Gaikai's David Perry made an interesting announcement.

Not the name of the console itself, mind. The PlayStation 4 is the official name, but someone beat Perry to that punch.

Perry's big announcement was that the PlayStation Vita would serve as the "ultimate companion device" to the PlayStation 4 and will allow for instantaneous transfer of a game from the PS4 to the Vita.

Indeed, more widely, use of a second screen, whether Vita or Sony phone or tablet, is integrated into PS4's architecture. Beam me up

This feature is similar in effect to Cross Play, with some notable improvements.

If all works as described, players will be able to suspend and transfer a PlayStation 4 gaming experience to their Vitas with a push of a button.

Gaikai's servers will play an important part in all of this, as they'll power the experience and the Vita will act as a client that grabs information from the remote servers.

We'll be interested to see how this trend develops, but it looks to be a step in Sony's PS4 campaign to shift the focus of gaming away from the living room and into the world of mobile.

Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.