For Playstation 4 Owners, Bad News On USB, Bluetooth Headsets

itwbennett writes "Until now Sony has done a pretty good job of keeping future Playstation 4 owners happy. But last week they finally hit a rock when Game Informer posted an article about headset compatibility. At launch, USB headsets that work with the PS3 won't work with the PS4. Sony says that eventually there will be a system update that addresses the problem but for now, even your Sony-branded USB headset won't work. If you use a Bluetooth headset (as most PS3 owners do) the news is even worse. Bluetooth headsets will not be supported and no update is planned to address this. ITworld's Peter Smith is shedding a tear for his $250 Turtle Beach PX5 headset."

$250 for a headset?

[smooth wombat]

I don't want to hear anyone saying what someone else buys is unnecessary if this guy is spending that much for a headset. I don't care about the tonal values or fit or anything else. To someone looking in, that is just a waste of money to play a game.

Re:Bluetooth woes

[TWiTfan]

Maybe it would be easier for them to tell us what DOES work. Do they have some new headset with some sort of weird proprietary connector (hard as it is to picture Sony going with a proprietary device)?

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Heck, the damn thing probably _has_ Bluetooth capabilities, they just didn't want to bother writing the software to integrate support for it in the PS4 OS..

Re:Let's talk about headphones for a minute.

[Solandri]

While I'm all for good headphones for listening to music, here's a cautionary tale about using them for gaming. Back in 2000 my sister got me a set of Sony MDR-7506 studio monitors as a birthday present. They've been eclipsed by modern designs, but back then they were a classic and a mainstay in the audio world whose only drawback was somewhat weak bass. They were exceptional when listening to music, so I eagerly plugged them into my computer to play some games.

It was terrible. The sound was so clear I could tell the musical instrument sounds were synthesized. I could hear when the sound samples looped. In some of the samples I could even hear background noise from the original recording (which becomes really annoying when looped). They completely broke suspension of disbelief and distracted from my immersion into the game. After a week of trying to like them for gaming, I sadly unplugged them and went back to the crappy desktop speakers. Yes the sound through them was muddy and muffled. But they just sounded like I had bad speakers, not like the sound was fake.

Re:Bluetooth is not about backwards compatibility

[Lumpy]

Actuallyt hey could be going ahead with spatial chat. which give you your buddy's voice spatially correct in your ears to where he is in the game. Something that would significantly increase immersion.