I was working on a project at home and got bored. I needed a break and thought to myself maybe I should spend a couple of hours with my PS4. I went to the living room and was surprised how high the temperature is outside. If only I can play with my PS4 where it is comfy… I didn’t want to re-setup the PS4 inside the bedroom just so I can play where the air conditioner is at. Then I remembered an article I came across where it discusses a feature such that the PS4 can be accessed remotely and the display will be shown in either a compatible Android device or a PC/Mac. Anyway, I got in front of my work area and Googled for it.

To get this going, here’s a list of things you need:

• PS4
• Windows PC
• DualShock4 (DS4) wireless controller (yes, the one that you use on the PS4)
• USB cable (Type A to Micro B – yes, the cable you use for charging the DS4)
• PSN Account
• Internetz
• PlayStation Remote Play Desktop App (click Windows PC)

Here’s what you need to do on both PS4 and Windows PC.

On the PlayStation 4

Enable PlayStation Remote Play

• Go to Settings > Remote Play Connection Settings

• Select Enable Remote Play

Activate as Primary PS4

• You also need to make sure that your PS4 is activated as your primary PS4. You can do this by going to Settings > Account Management > Activate as Your Primary PS4

On the Windows PC

Install PlayStation Remote Play Desktop App

• Once the download for the PlayStation Remote Play Desktop App completes, double-click on it (RemotePlayInstaller.exe) to launch the installer. Keep on clicking Next until the installer finishes. When it does, skip the next part below. Unless you encounter the following error.

Media Feature Pack Error

This error will prevent you from installing the desktop app and will open a browser to the media feature pack page when you click Ok. In the event that you encounter this error, which I did, here’s what you can do first to save time and effort.

• Press Win+R and type in optionalfeatures
• Ensure that Media Features and Windows Media Player are both checked and click Ok

At this point you can retry to install the PlayStation Remote Play app and it should finish without issues.

Connect the DualShock4 (DS4) Wireless Controller

Connect the DS4 to the Windows PC. Big end of the cable goes to the PC. Small end of the cable goes on the top portion of the controller. Windows should automatically install the drivers needed. Easy peasy.

Launch and Configure the PlayStation Remote Play Desktop App

• Double-click on the PS4 Remote Play icon then click on the Settings button

• Sign In using your PSN Account
• Select a Resolution (360p, 540p, 720p, 1080p)
• Select a Framerate (Standard, High)
• Click Ok then click on Start
• The app would then start searching for a PS4 nearby.

• Once it finds your PS4, it will show that it is connecting to it and will display the icon that it will show when the connection goes bad.

• There is an on-screen menu from the bottom of the window that appears when the mouse enters the PS4 Remote Play screen. You can click on the full-screen button to go, er, fullscreen.

• In case the DS4 controller does not work, unplug it for a bit then reconnect it again.

In my ahem limited time trying this feature out, I experienced that while playing Diablo 3, it stutters a bit especially when there are hordes of enemies on-screen. The audio is also affected which is why I’ll probably try to use the 720p or less (yuck) resolution to see if that helps. But if there are just a few creatures being rendered on-screen, the experience is actually pretty nice. Fluid motion and clear audio, no ghosting nor on-screen artifacts. The audio came through the audio port on the DS4. The PS4Pro was on wifi (5GHz band) and so was the Windows PC (which is actually a non-gaming laptop).

Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the Remote Play feature and so is the wife. So much so that she was egging me to find a comfy seat that’s good for working and also for gaming.

Her idea, not mine. >:)