The first gaming consoles were made and programmed to only do a few things. It has always been to be turned on, read a game disc, get played with, and be turned off. For a while, these are the main things that a gaming console can do for the players, but it’s surely been a long time and technology has changed gaming consoles a lot.
As times change and technology started to do more things for people, gamers started to desire more features from gaming consoles and these features became the competing ground of different gaming console manufacturers.
Nowadays, you can do so many things with your gaming console or device. The games that you didn’t think you can play with these consoles are now available. Even online casino games or real money games are now playable with these devices. There are probably gaming console features that you just don’t know yet and haven’t discovered yet. Well, don’t sweat it because here are some of the features that took a while before many players discovered them.
- Access your smartphone
This is for PlayStation 4 users and what’s interesting is that the PS4 is actually built with smartphones in mind. When you download the PlayStation app from the Apple app store or the Google PlayStore, you can then use your smartphone as a second screen.
You can also use your smartphone and the app you downloaded to download PS4 games if you’re not at home to use your actual PS4.
- Use your smartphone or tablet as a controller
Aside from being able to access your PlayStation account from your smartphone, you can also use your phone or tablet to control your gaming console device. This is also applicable to Xbox users. You’ll need to download the PlayStation or Xbox app for this too.
It’s very handy because doing so could enable you to use your smartphone as a keyboard when you’re using your PS4 or Xbox. You have to admit that it could be a bit of a struggle and time-consuming to type letters with your game controller, so this is a great way to make things easier for you. Another great thing is that you can turn your gaming device on and off through the app you’ve downloaded.
- Play your games on a PC or laptop
You may be thinking that we’re talking about emulators that you can use to play Xbox games with your PC, but not really. If you’re on Windows 10, you can play with your Xbox with just your PC or laptop. You just need to fix the settings of your Xbox to do this.
When you’re in settings, you need to check the preference section. Two settings should be enabled and these are to allow game streaming to other devices and to allow streaming from any SmartGlass device. That’s located in the SmartGlass Connections column.
Once both are ticked on, you can then open the Xbox app on your PC and laptop Click on connect and it will start locating you Xbox. Once it is connected, you can then start playing your Xbox games on your PC or laptop
- Post on your social media accounts
Both Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles allow you to access your social media accounts like Facebook. You can download apps with the latest gaming consoles these days. It could function a bit like your smartphone, basically.
However, Nintendo Switch users are probably unaware that they can also access their social media accounts with their gaming device even if it doesn’t have a web browser. To do this, you need to go to the Users tab under the System Settings. There you’ll find the Post on Social Networks option. This should let you access your Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube accounts.
- Continue playing your Xbox 360 game
There are Xbox 360 games that you can play with your Xbox One device. What’s great is that if you used to play a game with your Xbox 360 and you’re not yet done with it, you can use your Xbox One and pick up where you left off.
This is as long as you use the cloud. Your Xbox 360 should be set up to automatically upload your saved gameplays to the cloud. When you turn your Xbox One on, you just need to select the game on the cloud that you want to continue. It’s simply best to always use cloud storage when saving your games.