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Gaming How To Life

Cleaning a PlayStation 4 Pro: From noisy to whisper quiet

When I lost my driving license, I bought myself a PlayStation 2. When I reached 40, I bought a PlayStation 3. And, so, another event prompted another upgrade – during the pandemic I upgraded my PlayStation 4 to a PlayStation 4 Pro (no, I still can’t justify a PlayStation 5).

Bought, used, from CeX, it came “refurbished”. But I suspect that’s little more than a wipe over with a damp cloth and checking it turns on. As a result, it makes a sound like a jet aircraft taking off. It was time to sort it out!

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Gaming Life

I’m thinking of writing a book

I’ve been thinking about it a while, in fact. But I’m not sure if anybody would be interested or how to go about the research it would require.

For a while it’s fascinated me how, since I started gaming back in the 1980s, how the method of game payments has changed – how the companies have made the money from them. Everything from a one-off price for a game (No Man’s Sky) to loot boxes (Overwatch), season passes (Call of Duty) and beyond.

I’d love to write about them – what they all are, how they work and the pros and cons of them, along with the controversies. And all with discussion from insiders across the decades who’ve had first hand experience.

And some crystal ball-gazing too, trying to predict where this is going in the future.

I’ve been thinking about this all for a while but Jon Bentley’s Autopia: The Future of Cars has inspired me further.

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Gaming Life

Upping my console game

Since day of release I’ve had a PlayStation 4 (the only time I’ve bought a console on day of release!).

And, for anyone who knows about that first model, you’ll know it sounds like a jet engine when in use and now that the PlayStation 5 is out it was time to look for a faster, quieter life…

So I bought a PlayStation 4 Pro.

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Gaming Life

No Man’s Sky: Online play is a mess

I bought into No Man’s Sky quite early on and have slowly watched it be vastly improved since that early release. As a result, every time I go back to it I find myself restarting it from the beginning as it’s so vastly changed from before.

One thing it does now have is multiplayer, giving you the ability to play online, cross-platform, with friends.

So, last weekend I decided to give it a try, roping in my good friend Barry Collins. He on Xbox and I on PS4 set off to explore strange new worlds…

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Gaming How To Life

How to improve the Bluetooth on a Playstation 4 – Part 3

Yeah, I thought I was finished with this too but it turned out that it wasn’t as simple a fix as I thought.

All was fine until later evening when Bluetooth problems would start again – I’ve checked Bluetooth signals in the vicinity – nothing kicks in my side at that time but there’s an awful lot of WiFi and Bluetooth coming from my neighbours.

Anyway, you’ll be glad to hear… I’ve found a fix. Properly this time.