When Sony first launched the PlayStation 4, it came packaged with
something known as the Playroom. Using the application – which was
hooked up to the PlayStation Camera – PS4 owners could flail about and
play with on-screen robots. It was a sort of augmented reality game.
It
also allowed people to stream whatever they happened to be doing at the
time. I’m certain you see where I’m going with this, right? See, the
PS4 also launched with Twitch integration, While many users used it to
talk about games and the like, there was another, more nefarious group
who decided it might be the perfect way to explore something a little
more…X rated.
Cue a massive wave of exhibitionists who decided
that the living room would be the perfect place to film some of their
own porn shoots. This in turn led to a large (and rather embarrassing)
controversy for Sony; it was a fiasco which culminated in a man
stripping his drunk wife naked on camera. Sony and Twitch both sprung
into action, banning a ton of accounts and temporarily cutting off
integration between the two platforms.
Show of hands…who didn’t see this coming?
These two, apparently.
Anyway, after banning the offending accounts, Sony updated its EULA to reflect its new policies on Playroom Porn (something which I’m certain it didn’t exactly expect it’d have to do). With the Playroom (mostly) cleared of its corruption, Sony was free to wipe the egg off its face and consider how it could lend a bit more support to the users who didn’t use the system for ill.
It didn’t take them long to work out the details. Today, Sony announced that it plans to add a whole ton of new functionality to the Playroom with a free content update this summer called "Set Maker." Basically, it’s a dream come true for anyone who’s ever wanted to host their own show using their PS4.
Using Set Maker, hosts will be able to add a rather staggering variety of different effects and virtual objects to their sets. They’ll be able to create digital banners with both text and images, drop in spotlights, change the backdrop of their show and even make their PS4 controllers vomit lasers.
The idea behind all this is pretty simple (yet no less brilliant on Sony’s part) – it wants to make things easier for users. With all the high-tech stuff that’ll be available to PS4 owners, players will be able to host shows which display a previously-unprecedented level of quality. It’s an admirable move by the studio, and one which I don’t doubt will lead to a significant increase in the amount of user-generated (non-pornographic) content on the PlayStation 4.
It means more stuff like this…
It’s an impressive move on Sony’s part, I’ll admit. Many other companies would have shut down the Playroom altogether – and indeed, many have removed streaming functionality from similar services. My hope is that the Playroom’s able to overcome its negative reputation;
…And less like this.
Of course, Sony’s also ramping up its content monitoring and cracking down on all the ne’erdowells who still insist on using the Playroom to feed their narcissistic need for exhibitionism. People like that should probably get out of the Playroom, anyway. Don’t they know that’s what the Internet’s for?
