Back when both Microsoft and Sony announced their current generation of consoles the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, most of the chat surrounding their launches was obviously about what they would bring to the world of console gaming. However, a good portion of the chatter was also centred on the specifications of the consoles and ultimately what gaming experience they would provide. This was because both consoles featured desktop PC components and meant that those with a passion for modifying would be able to make the necessary changes and probably complete a PS4 Mod and run additional operating systems such as Steam OS and Linux.
PS4 Mod
As far as a PS4 mod is concerned, one industrious modder who goes by the name of OsirisX has managed to get the PS4 working with a viable copy of the Linux operating system, and has also more recently been able to run Steam OS games on it too. This creative Modder cannot be credited with getting the first ever installation of Linux to work on the PS4, as that honour belongs to the Fail0verflow team back in December last year.
And whilst, they should be commended for this impressive PS4 Mod achievement it is common knowledge that any system that has been designed to run for one operating system, often runs slowly when forced to run another. The PS4 may be a powerful device with 8GB of RAM and multiple CPU cores running at 1.6Ghz, but it takes 2 painfully slow minutes to load Linux. Furthermore, there is an additional two minutes of waiting time to get the PS4 Mod to run the Steam OS on the machine.
So as you can see, the Mod is impressive, but it could hardly be seen as something that could be used every day!
Bastion for Steam OS running on PS4
In another impressive step OsirisX, the hacker behind the PS4 Mod has proved that he /she has had the Steam OS game Bastion running on the PlayStation 4 console. The game itself is not a particularly large one or something that would be considered a challenge for the PS4 to run, but it does look like it runs smoothly on the console.
Personally I would like to see OsirisX attempt to port over more visually intensive titles from the Steam catalogue and then compare the frame rates!
If you would like to see this PS4 Mod in action, take a look at the video below.
