Tuesday, December 24, 2013

How to backup PS4 and Xbox One games!



If you are thinking that this post is going to be all about how to backup games for video game consoles that have not yet been released, then you are greatly mistaken. Instead, we are going to have a look at what it will take to crack these systems open and how far away are the actual game backups from now.

The age of 64 bits

First off, lets take a look at the architectures of both, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Both consoles are using a nowadays common 64-bit architecture, which can be found on most newer home computers. The previous consoles (Xbox 360 and the PS3) were based on something called the PowerPC architecture, which essentially made it a bit more difficult to write code for it and test it as there are a lot less people who are familiar with the architecture.
Why is this 64-bit architecture so great for the new consoles and the potential game backups? Well, mainly because the architecture is really common on home computers these days. This means that there will be a lot more developers who will be willing to have a shot at the system and exploring its possibilities further.

The Operating Systems

It is still unclear what the PS4 is going to be hiding under the hood in terms of software, but Microsoft have already revealed their secrets when it comes to the Xbox One.
Xbox One will be running a trimmed down version of Windows 8 which will be tailored for the Xbox One. The games will use something along the lines of a virtual environment to have the them run, but other than that it will all be based on Windows 8.
What does this mean to us?
Well, first off, we already know that there are loads of possibilities for modifying Windows 8 on a home computer, for example being able to backup your applications or install homebrew on there. Having a 64bit architecture and Windows 8 on the Xbox One makes it a lot more open to modifications and a lot more flexible as to what can be done with the system.
Having 64-bit architectures on both machines also opens up the possibilities of having the machines running alternative operating systems, such as Linux. Now with Steam being able to run games on Linux and the current consoles having amazing specs you could build a powerhouse for Linux gaming!

Conclusion

Overall, our guess is that Xbox One will be the first console to have game backups possible and the PS4 will follow soon after. We’d say give it 4 months after the release of the consoles and keep following the news closely on the progress. PS4 will be a lot more difficult nut to crack since it will not have a well-known OS under the hood.
Here is a comparison of PS4 vs Xbox One for those of you who are interested: