8 ways developers will use PS4 to change how we play

Despite being an industry veteran at the distinguished age of 49, the Metal Gear Solid creator is still at the cutting edge of game design. What could he bring to PS4? We think he’ll be most interested in the streaming technologies brought to PS4 via the Gaikai deal. So, expect him to build smart little touches into forthcoming Metal Gear outings. Imagine the return of a psychic character like Psycho Mantis. Pads are wireless now, so switching ports to beat him -– like in the classic Metal Gear Solid –- simply wouldn’t work. But what if you could use PS4’s remote play tech to fool him?

You could take control of your character using PlayStation Vita or iPad, or even invite a friend to play your game over PSN so that Psycho Mantis can no longer predict your movements by reading your mind… And what about the Codec? Will the next Metal Gear send Codec messages direct to your mobile phone? It’s another chance for Koj to break the fourth wall and remind us all that even though he’s touching 50, he’s still the master.

We’ve already had a taste of what the next-gen might bring to Media Molecule games thanks to LittleBigPlanet Vita and the forthcoming Tearaway. It’s all about the creation tools, and in the case of PS4, the way the will interact with the camera and Vita. Right now you can take photos on your Vita and use them as textures in your LittleBigPlanet creations. It’s a fun feature and, surprisingly, it has spawned very few levels plastered with pictures of the creator’s private parts. However, the PS4’s camera will let you scan in 3D objects, which opens up new possibilities for the inevitable LittleBigPlanet 3.

Imagine being able to scan in any object in your house and use it as an object or texture in the game. No more tinkering for hours trying to build a boat in the creation mode – just get a toy boat, scan it in, and change the textures on it. Viola! You’re ready to make a pirate themed level in a fraction of the time it took in LBP and LBP2. We’re also betting that the ability to link Vita or even iPad’s screen will allow you to use touch controls in creator, making precision work even easier. You’ve already seen the power that PS4 will bring to Media Molecule games thanks to the conference demo, but we’re more excited about the accessibility.

Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls creator, David Cage is constantly on the search for emotion and realistic representations of humanity in his games. At the PS4 conference, you probably saw his next-gen pensioner, who we’ll probably see in Quantum Dream’s first PS4 game –- grumbling about weekly bin collections and asking his Grandchildren how he can get some Internets in his house. However, it’s not the visual capabilities of the next-generation that will excite creators like Cage the most. It’s the PlayStation Eye.

We bet the French auteur is salivating at the prospect of using the Eye to track player emotion, and maybe even recreate it in game. At a basic level he could use it for simple gestures like waving at the screen. Imagine ‘being’ Ethan Mars and waving at Jason to say hello. Now imagine the Eye being used in conjunction with the microphone to record player voice so you can wave and shout ‘Jason’ at the screen and have the game react to that. Thanks to both the power of the console and the proprietary tech attached to it, David Cage will come one step closer to real human interactions in his games.

The Animus is the greatest feature of the Assassin's Creed series. Not only is it a great way to justify a franchise that hops around the most interesting places and periods in history, it also neatly explains away traditionally ‘gamey’ elements like the HUD, map-markers, health bars etc etc. The Animus is essentially simulating a game, within a game. Expect it to truly evolve in the next-generation by busting out of your console entirely…

Given the ‘always on’ technology of PS4 (also rumoured to be in the next Xbox) what would stop The Animus messing with your mind while you’re not even playing? It could randomly switch TV channels to grab your attention, or load up web-pages in your browser to point you towards secrets hidden deep inside Assassin’s Creed V. It could message your mobile phone, or even send you emails telling you not to trust certain characters. Thanks to the broad connectivity of PS4 and all your other personal devices, Ubisoft could use The Animus to create the ultimate ARG. Sadly, it won’t be able to erase personality-vacuum, Connor, from Assassin’s Creed history.

Three things in life are certain: birth, death, and a yearly Call of Duty game. However, the last few COD outings have felt a little stale, even though they continue to outsell every other game out there. We hope Activision are looking to Infinity Ward and Treyarch to rejuvenate the series in the next generation, and –- aside from the obvious boost in visuals and processing power for particle effects -– here’s how we think they’ll do it.

First off, there are some easy ways to make the game feel more connected. Expect Call of Duty Elite to sit on your phone or tablet feeding you real-time stat information during multiplayer games. Who is killing you, with what, and how often have you been tea-bagged etc. However, we think they’ll push beyond stats to keep players immersed in games minute-to-minute. Expect to be able to call in drone strikes using your tablet, or keep track of enemies by placing cameras and having the feed come directly to your phone. And, finally, there’s no excuse for a lack of communication in team-based games because everyone will have a mic built into the controller. Everyone – even that whiny 12 year old who likes to sing Jay-Z songs while repeatedly headshotting you from the corner of the room. Aaaand, mute.

Terrifyingly, Sony has said that the PS4 will start to predict the type of games that you like and actually download new content pre-emptively. While that seems like a potentially infuriating marketing tool (“You played… Red Dead Redemption 2, so we downloaded… Barbie Horse Adventures 3: Ponygeddon for you”) it does offer the makers of episodic games, like Telltale, new ways to get their excellent stuff onto your machine.

To start with, expect your PS4 to know when you’ll want the next episode of The Walking Dead. It’ll predict how far you are through a certain episode, and make sure that the next one is already on your machine, should you want to buy it and continue the story. As the tech gets more sophisticated, though, what’s to stop it downloading small patches or pieces of content that dynamically alter the game you’re playing? Ok, this maybe applies to developers like BioWare more than Telltale, but what if your next-gen console could download DLC that reflects the choices you make in Mass Effect 4 or Dragon Age 3? "Your Commander Shepard slept with the six-armed purple gas alien… would you like to download the Party in the Purple Alien Sex Nebula DLC?". This predicative download system could revolutionise the consequence of choices in games.

Ok, those are our thoughts -- now it's time for you to consider the true power of next-gen. What will your favourite teams be cooking up for PS4 -- or, if you prefer -- Xbox 720? More Halos from 343? Game-changing Horse Armour DLC from Bethesda? Even more men-on-screen in Dynasty Warriors? Let us know below.

Want to dig deeper into the next-generation? We've got you covered. Here's Everything We Know About PS4, to get you started, plus a list of Every Xbox 720 Game we expect to see in the next 18 months.