PS4 Does Not Require Constant Internet Connection

The biggest concerns for the home consoles going into this next-generation of gaming circled around three things: whether or not the systems would be always-on with DRM, whether or not the systems would enable the play of used games, and whether or not the systems would be future-proof enough to last an entire tech cycle. Well, Sony has answered all those milestones with flying colors and a parading chorus of cheers from gamers.

Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell has been on a journalistic steamroll lately, crushing down barriers and asking the sort of things gamers have been concerned about since all those patents started popping up that made us feel like our hearts had fallen to where our lower intestines should be.

The good news, however, is that following up on the revelation that the PlayStation 4 will indeed play used games (and to be honest, I think it shows how sad the state of the gaming industry is in that gamers are excited for a console that can still play used games) it has also been confirmed that the PS4 does not use an always-on DRM feature or require a constant internet connection for functionality.

According to Sony's worldwide studio boss, Shushei Yoshida...

"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." [[ br. br ]] 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."

This is great news for gamers who are either anti-social or don't like draining the bandwidth just because a company likes draining your bandwidth.

As for that low-power mode – it's cool that Sony allows you to turn off the system but still enable for the subsystem to download and update games while you're away. It's a little bit like keeping Steam open in the background while you do other stuff. Only this time, your console is sort of off but still downloading stuff that you might want to play the next day after a short night's sleep (because, anyone with a PS4 probably won't have long night sleeps after they first get the console because they'll be too excited to play it, and they might even get addicted to coffee just to stay up to play their PS4 and develop arthritis in their knees because they sat on the couch too long and maybe even have to take some Petpo Bismol because they failed to go the bathroom on a regular basis .)

With all this great news about the PS4, one might think there's bound to be something absolutely terrible inbound to offset it,but so far Sony is keeping the good times rolling.