Share Play May Offer Better Experience Than Some Sports Games’ Standard Online

Share Play was introduced in the PS4 system update yesterday and having spent an evening testing it out what it offers is remarkable. There’s almost too much to go into for a single article so it’ll be discussed at length on the next Press Row Hangout likely to be Saturday night.

In one case I joined Rich Grisham and his NBA Live 15 to play a game against each other “offline” (Live doesn’t have local co-op). As the host he had an ideal offline experience. As the guest I was faced with slight input lag comparable to that of a fairly good online game. It was something I could easily adjust to.

The irony is that the responsiveness on my end was better than that of the actual online games I’ve played of NBA Live 15. I was better able to time jump shots, something that proved nearly impossible in those online games, and it was effective enough that I could time steals and blocks and execute dribbling moves…all you would expect to be able to do. Yeah the host has a slight advantage (and the graphics on the guest end are lowered to 720p) but I might just consider that a home court advantage. It’s amazing when you consider I didn’t even need to own the game to play it with him so that’s not a bad trade-off.

What Share Play can do is sell games based on more compelling experiences and in many cases that’s playing a game along with a friend or exploring aspects that wouldn’t be available in a limited demo. I ended up walking away from that matchup with Rich with a better impression of NBA Live 15 than I had going in. Then there are the games that don’t even have an online component but can be played with someone far away like they’re right there with you. Independent games that maybe couldn’t afford the investment in online will really benefit.

However I hadn’t really considered that Share Play could turn out to be the preferable way to play sports games that have failed to solve their lag issues. MLB: The Show, which also has strange visual discrepancies online, would be the prime example as going through Share Play may prove to be more stable and reliable than what their actual online service offers.

In the video below Rich Grisham and I talk while trying Share Play out with him joining my Destiny (which he doesn’t own) and me joining his NBA Live 15 (which I don’t own yet).