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The PS4 Share Button is an amazing thing. Designed to incorporate the best of social networking and video streaming into one place, it is one of PS4s biggest selling points.
But did you stop to consider the possibilities beyond being able to tweet video clips and screenshots? You should. Its potentially the biggest revolution in gaming since polygonal 3D. Here are our ideas for ways the Share Button could (and should) be used
Instant replays of local gaming
The upload feature doesnt mean the action has to be shared with the broader community. With everything you play constantly being recorded to the consoles RAM, you need never again have to suffer the agony of FIFA refusing to replay a penalty decision or trying to decide who caused a crash in a split-screen racing game.
Live-streaming eSports
You will be able to broadcast your gaming via Ustream - that's been announced already. But theres more potential here than simply having your feed accessible to the world. How about scheduled football games in a league? An alternative F1 World Championship? Given the right marketing, the worlds best players could feasibly become real sports personalities if the wider world tunes into Ustream.
Relive every Trophy on your list
Just got the Trophy notification on a challenge youve been working on? Hit Share while the message is up and the moment could be preserved forever, linked to your PSN ID and viewable by anyone browsing your profile. Or you could just direct it straight at a friend of your choosing for ultimate bragging rights.
PlayStation Home digital artwork
Your greatest gaming moments need never be lost, but what use is that if you havent got somewhere to show them off? A new version of PlayStation Home (hopefully one that leaves Beta before PS5 is announced) might enable you to hang videoscreens in your gamerspace, replaying your best moments for anyone who swings by to have a look.
PlayStation Hall of Fame
Public online spaces could also have a Hall of Fame, where Sony moderators choose the greatest clips uploaded to the Gaikai service and display them for anyone to view. The greatest combos in Street Fighter, the longest knife kills in Call of Duty or the most spectacular pitch-long touchdown, all championed perhaps with prizes for any clip that gets selected.
Gameplay montages
PlayStation 3 already lets you edit video, so why not give gamers the ability to capture footage on PS4, edit it into a montage then upload it to YouTube? Spectacular crashes, unaware sniper backstabs, the best fouls and inevitably the greatest glitches next-gen has to offer.
Film syncing for Party Chat
If two users are both subscribed to Netflix or an equivalent service, the Share Button could be used to synchronise playback of a certain film, allowing viewers to enjoy the film together despite being miles apart. It could also send out invitations, like Just started watching Ghostbusters on PS4 if you wanna see the Stay Puft bit, join now!
Machinima
There are some highly popular animations around that use game graphics, such as Red vs Blue which uses the Halo game engine. So, logically, Multiplayer modes + Share Button = Machinima. Surely. Expect the world to go machinima crazy when PS4 gets released thanks to everyone having access to the necessary tools.
Speedruns
The Share Button is designed to use the last 30 seconds or so of game footage. However, dedicated time attack modes could feasibly see developers dedicate more RAM to the video recording space, allowing full-level speedruns in games like Sonic Adventure 3 (or whatever the next Sonic game will be called) to be uploaded to the internet.
