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Gaming Forums => General Gaming => Topic started by: pokepal148 on March 22, 2019, 07:00:57 PM

Title: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on March 22, 2019, 07:00:57 PM
You know that thing where you can buy digital codes on little code cards in stores and buy digital games that way? Apparently it's a decently lucrative market because the Wal-Mart I work at just devoted a fair amount of shelf space to them back in January.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D2TBxpUXQAISSKS?format=jpg&name=large)

The Switch and Xbone have their own versions of this exact same display and apparently after April 1st Sony will no longer offer digital codes for Playstation games so this entire display is going to be pretty useless. (https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1109210884486754304?s=19)

I don't know why this is a thing but it won't be a thing on PlayStation anymore.

We also recently had the whole crossplay thing, the Playstation Classic, the big Sony censorship thing, and no doubt more to come. Overconfident Sony is back baby.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on March 22, 2019, 07:58:49 PM
Only a few years ago it seemed like Sony owned this generation by simply being competent with the PS4 while MS and Nintendo fucked things up.  But since the Switch that hasn't been the case.

What is Sony planning on doing with the existing stock of codes?  I'm assuming that the existing cards will still work?
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: nickmitch on March 22, 2019, 11:25:16 PM
That's so ridiculous.  That's like the only way someone can buy a gift for a person who only buys digital.  Was there some kind of fraud scheme that was going on?
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on March 23, 2019, 03:54:06 AM
It's because I now own a Playstation 4 and still have not bought a Switch. I'm doing ya'll a favor. N64 was doing great until I bought one.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on March 23, 2019, 01:39:21 PM
Only a few years ago it seemed like Sony owned this generation by simply being competent with the PS4 while MS and Nintendo fucked things up.
I don't think it's so much them being competent (just ask the PS Vita how that time-frame went) so much as Sony was able to keep it's mouth shut while Microsoft and Nintendo were aiming gatling guns at their feet.

That's so ridiculous.  That's like the only way someone can buy a gift for a person who only buys digital.  Was there some kind of fraud scheme that was going on?
Even than, the whole digital cards thing is something basically everyone wins on. If you run to the store to buy a new game and they're out of physical copies well at least they can sell you a digital code. Retailer win big because the cards are basically worthless (at least at Walmart, the digital code is printed on the receipt at the register) so they don't have to worry about being stuck with 18 copies of Fallout 76 taking up shelf space that nobody wants, you can literally just throw them away, and I can't imagine the margins on those cards aren't fucking amazing compared to having to print blu-ray discs, disc cases, and the piece of paper the box art goes on, to facilitate creating a physical print run.

Also if you're an indie game studio digital code cards are a decent way to get a foothold in the retail market without doing a full physical run, which results in a lot of indie games having code cards on the Nintendo Switch version of that display I posted above.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on March 23, 2019, 02:35:08 PM
>Even than, the whole digital cards thing is something basically everyone wins on.

Not Sony.  They have to give a cut to the retailer, a cut to the manufacturer of the cards, and a cut to FASTCard for processing the transaction and activating the code.

Now, they don't.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on March 23, 2019, 04:29:33 PM
That's still probably a better deal than manufacturing discs and cases for games.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on March 23, 2019, 11:40:48 PM
a 512 gb mini sd card is 70 bucks. By the time PS5 comes out cartridges will become standard again. **** downloading anything. Though if I had my choice, I'd make the games the size of 3.5 inch floppy discs. I'd give them real tacky holographic labels.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: broodwars on March 25, 2019, 06:11:19 PM

(Sony doesn't have an archive up yet, so you have to hunt through the stream for the 20 minutes of show)

...WTF was that, Sony (Sony's 1st State of Play episode...aka PlayStation Direct)? -_-

That was awful. No new (worthwhile, non-VR) games, and mostly trailers we've already seen with no dev. interviews or in-depth looks. That was completely pointless.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on March 25, 2019, 06:46:16 PM
That's still probably a better deal than manufacturing discs and cases for games.

Sure, but that's virtually a requirement of distributing physical media - and while I believe Sony would love to stop that, it's not really a feasible action in today's market.

Killing in-store download codes and telling people to use their card online or buy stored-value cards is, for the vast majority of people, perfectly fine.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: lolmonade on March 26, 2019, 09:07:53 AM
That's still probably a better deal than manufacturing discs and cases for games.

Sure, but that's virtually a requirement of distributing physical media - and while I believe Sony would love to stop that, it's not really a feasible action in today's market.

Killing in-store download codes and telling people to use their card online or buy stored-value cards is, for the vast majority of people, perfectly fine.

The only time I've personally seen the cards outside of the store has been as part of a present, and even then, it wasn't the ones with a game key, it was the PSN or Nintendo store $$.  I suspect maybe they don't see all that much being purchased when it's game-specific cards, and I'm sure Sony et al have to negotiate and pay something to have the store real estate for it. 
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Spak-Spang on March 28, 2019, 05:50:50 AM
I would not be surprised if Sony has to pay for that much shelf space and the cards were a way of getting as much value from the shelf space as possible, but it is a failed experiment.  Honestly, in store physical games or generic non-specific game gift certificates are the only thing that needs to be there.  I would be frustrated if on my birthday I opened up a new game I was going to have to download.  Thanks Uncle Bob, now I have to download this game for 3 hours before I can play it. 

This is also why Zero Day updates or forced downloads of discs are horrible for the gaming market and should be highly discouraged.  It just ruins gaming.  (Yes I know that is hyperbole and an exaggeration, but I still standby the main point.)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Stratos on March 28, 2019, 12:02:28 PM
a 512 gb mini sd card is 70 bucks. By the time PS5 comes out cartridges will become standard again. **** downloading anything. Though if I had my choice, I'd make the games the size of 3.5 inch floppy discs. I'd give them real tacky holographic labels.

I'd love carts to make a comeback, but by the time we hit that point, I suspect the point will be made moot by all-digital/streaming games.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on March 28, 2019, 03:31:16 PM
a 512 gb mini sd card is 70 bucks. By the time PS5 comes out cartridges will become standard again. **** downloading anything. Though if I had my choice, I'd make the games the size of 3.5 inch floppy discs. I'd give them real tacky holographic labels.

I'd love carts to make a comeback, but by the time we hit that point, I suspect the point will be made moot by all-digital/streaming games.

Maybe in the future cartridges will be like some hipster/retro thing, like how downloads or streaming is the standard way to purchase music these days but there is a prominent scene for vinyl records, with new albums getting released in the format and old albums getting re-released.  I figure at some point Atari, Sega or Nintendo will end up releasing not just a new product that can play old carts but will re-release old games in cart format.  If you can buy a brand new record for classic Rolling Stones albums why couldn't you buy new Genesis cartridges of the old Sonic games?
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on March 28, 2019, 04:25:05 PM
We kinda have stuff like that now, whenn ccompanies like Limited Run Games do small prints of previously digital-only games in physical format.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on March 28, 2019, 05:40:57 PM
There's a market for physical media. We're going to have really really nice boxes in the future.

Do you guys ever walk in Barnes and Noble and notice how blingy books are now?

(http://i55.tinypic.com/egvkeb.jpg)

(http://i31.tinypic.com/2wrhlc2.jpg)

(https://i.pinimg.com/236x/d1/cb/e5/d1cbe5c88672617811c946584482603d--barnes-and-arabian-nights.jpg?b=t)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ShyGuy on March 28, 2019, 08:06:32 PM
Please judge this book by its cover.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Stratos on March 29, 2019, 12:07:11 PM
They are copying the style of old classic book binding. Looking at those images filled me with the memory of the smell of old books and leather. I have a Lord of the Rings + Hobbit set all nicely leather bound with gold lettering inlaid. Very nice and probably worth a pretty penny.

My folks have a few nice sets of classic fairy tales and stories with similar designs. I'm glad to see new books taking a similar path.

I can see games following suit. If it weren't for the cost, I'd be all over some of these limited print runs of games, but I'm drifting towards all digital for convenience. Though my roots keep telling me to buy physical for the usual crotchety old reasons (shelf candy, preservation and long-term accessibility, some form of true ownership of the title that cannot be revoked, etc).

I kinda wish there was a way to have our cake and eat it too, like being able to buy physical and get it available digitally for free. Amazon does that for music, if I buy a CD they give me access to the music on their music app. I don't have to be paying for Prime I believe, it came with the purchase. though I've not tried to listen to any of it on there since I dropped Prime last month. Will have to check.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on March 29, 2019, 02:51:08 PM
I was thinking less like Limited Run games but more like Super Mario Bros. on the NES, re-released on an actual NES cartridge with the label, manual and box all resembling what it looked like in 1985 for play on a Nintendo branded modern NES system that can play cartridges, like if the NES Classic had a cart slot.  So it's not offering a current download game on a current system in a physical format but a retro game on the physical format it was originally released on.  That's not really much of a thing yet.  There's a Data East collection that comes on a real SNES cart and an R-Type collection.  But this is very niche stuff and the major companies like Nintendo and Sega haven't done it yet.  But I'm thinking that that might happen 10 or 20 years from now.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on March 30, 2019, 05:54:14 AM
I'd be interested in a really nice NES Cart sized sd card like format in shiny transparnet poly-acrylic shell which has gold leafed labels.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Spak-Spang on April 02, 2019, 05:50:07 AM
I think I could see A Super NES classic or Nintendo Classic being released with a Cart that plugs in.  The card could be a different type of memory and then you could allow 3rd parties to sell their entire collection or as many as they want on one cart.  I mean could imagine if the NES classic allowed Capcom to sell a NES cart with all their games on it for $50.00.  I know many people would jump on that deal.  And it would just be fun.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Stratos on April 02, 2019, 11:31:31 AM
I'm willing to bet there are already custom modded devices like that out there. Might even try my hand at it myself.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Shaymin on April 16, 2019, 08:34:35 AM
Wired interviewed Mark Cerny about their plans for the PS5 and the official PlayStation Twitter account linked it (https://www.wired.com/story/exclusive-sony-next-gen-console/)

Mentioned:
- Back-compat since it's based off the PS4 architecture
- Video card allows ray tracing, 3D audio
- Contains super SSD with "a raw bandwidth higher than any SSD available for PCs"

Not mentioned:
- The need to get a second and third job to pay for it
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: broodwars on April 16, 2019, 05:59:59 PM
Confirming what's been long suspected due to statements by various Japanese companies & the pre-patch version of DMC 5, Sony's confirmed that they internally censor games for sexual content and "depiction of women" now before they're allowed on the PS4.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/sony-cracks-down-on-sexually-explicit-content-in-games-11555427944?shareToken=std2de3ce41eb9460096d9c45e41d3ec17 (https://www.wsj.com/articles/sony-cracks-down-on-sexually-explicit-content-in-games-11555427944?shareToken=std2de3ce41eb9460096d9c45e41d3ec17)

Hey, remember when Sony launched the PS4 behind Indie games and "**** giant corporations telling gamers how to enjoy their content?"  :rolleyes:

Seriously, Sony, keep giving me reasons to not buy a PS5. I hear that Microsoft is getting rather SAD these days.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 16, 2019, 07:13:50 PM
- Contains super SSD with "a raw bandwidth higher than any SSD available for PCs"
So that's code for either a Proprietary, or non user replaceable storage solution for the PS5 right? Awesome!
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: broodwars on April 16, 2019, 07:54:22 PM
- Contains super SSD with "a raw bandwidth higher than any SSD available for PCs"
So that's code for either a Proprietary, or non user replaceable storage solution for the PS5 right? Awesome!

I assume it stands for "Solid State Drive", referring to a very expensive form of harddrive you can buy right now that is incredibly fast. You could put one in your PS4 right now if you wanted & dramatically cut down on your load times. Of course, you're also going to be paying dearly for it, which makes me wonder how goddamn EXPENSIVE the PS5 will be. -_-
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 16, 2019, 08:07:50 PM
The wording seems to imply that they're using some kind of proprietary variant of an SSD. Not that Sony would ever use proprietary memory on their devices. ;)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on April 16, 2019, 08:16:20 PM
SSDs are fast. They're even faster if you design a game around how fast they are.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Stratos on April 17, 2019, 02:44:47 PM
But SSDs are rapidly dropping in cost as well. You can get one for 2TB that has the top of the line specs for less than $200, so I would imagine they are using something like that and HOPEFULLY is drops in cost by the time PS5 releases in a year or so.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Super KYTim89 on May 26, 2019, 11:28:55 PM
Sony saw how successful the PS4 was and they also  witnesses Microsoft  get away with the Xbox ONE X and decided the PS5 will most likely be $499.99 with no cheaper alternative.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: nickmitch on May 27, 2019, 10:01:47 PM
I think, if anything, they'll probably keep an eye on Nintendo.  Sony put out a revision with a 'pro' version of the PS4 together, and Nintendo is rumored to be doing something similar for Switch.  MS put out an 's' model and then put out the 'X' over a full year later.  So getting one model out there and then doing the "cheaper" and "pro" version together seems to be the way to go.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on June 11, 2020, 08:00:18 PM
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/216416163809198081/720755727341453412/PS5-04.png)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ejamer on June 11, 2020, 09:45:06 PM
Is it really going to be that ridiculously ugly?
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on June 11, 2020, 10:12:22 PM
It took me way too long to accept that it isn't just a mock up of some kind.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Adrock on June 12, 2020, 12:31:33 AM
I don’t love the design, but I don’t hate it either. The Digital Edition looks better due to being symmetrical. That’s also the one I would get as I’m already all-digital on PS4. I don’t know why Sony loves designs that are more difficult to clean. Look at all those places dust can get into. Boo/hiss.

I’ll see where I am in 2025.

Also, Sony is still fucking with USB Type-A. Boo/hiss again.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on June 12, 2020, 01:11:47 AM
Eh, we're still kind of in a transition period for USB standards.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Adrock on June 12, 2020, 02:06:54 AM
Eh, we're still kind of in a transition period for USB standards.
No, you’re still holding on. Let go. (https://youtu.be/EneC23krrrM) It’s going to stay that way unless you let the past die. Kill it if you have to. (https://youtu.be/eGMpZnEMYVc)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on June 12, 2020, 04:01:56 AM
Pokepal still uses a Blackberry, he's not the kind of person to ever let outdated tech go.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on June 19, 2020, 12:02:30 AM
Apparently Naughty Dog is exempt from Sony's recent stand against sexual content in games because there's a full blown sex scene in TLOU2.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on September 16, 2020, 07:06:30 PM
Exclusive games? What are those?

*flips coin* You get a PC port.

*flips coin* You get a PS4 port

*flips coin* You get a PC port.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Kairon on September 17, 2020, 02:51:52 PM
Sony was THIIIISSS close to repeating their whole "FIVE HUNDRED NINETY NINE US DOLLARS" fiasco. I think they were pulled back from that precipice by Microsoft pricing so aggressively.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: ThePerm on September 20, 2020, 03:11:38 AM
(https://cdn.pocket-lint.com/r/s/970x/assets/images/150049-games-news-ps5-to-use-ssd-cartridges-suggests-150049-design-patent-image1-hsmc9etdon-jpg.webp?v1)

I forgot to prediction gloat

I'd be interested in a really nice NES Cart sized sd card like format in shiny transparnet poly-acrylic shell which has gold leafed labels.

Damn no gold leaf labels. Not transparent. I wonder how long it will take Sony to just ship a game on that format.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on March 31, 2021, 01:04:58 AM
Continuing Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO's Jim Ryan's legacy of incompetence and disdain for Sony's heritage, Sony finally officially confirmed today the closure dates for the PS3, PSP, & Vita PSN Stores. This follows last year's removal of those systems from their redesigned-to-be-**** browser-based store.

The PS3 & PSP online stores will go offline on 7/2/21, and the Vita's store will go down on 8/27/21. This effectively permanently kills off the Vita (which was still seeing new indie games), as Sony shut down manufacturing of Vita game cards years ago so no new physical media can be produced.

The one good(ish) piece of news from all this is that owners of these consoles will still be able to redownload titles from their Download History, provided they're willing to scroll through the thousands of pages of entries they've accumulated by this point (I did that once. Never again).

I fucking despise Jim Ryan. I've never seen someone so dedicated to killing the PlayStation brand, from his censorship policies almost exclusively against Japanese games, to his on-record disdain for older games, to the closure of Sony Japan Studios, to his lack of interest in making anything other than games in the Naughty Dog mold.

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-store-shut-down-ps3-vita-psp (https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-store-shut-down-ps3-vita-psp)
I just love the optics of Sony cutting off support for their first digital only console almost immediately after they launched the PS5 all digital version.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Adrock on March 31, 2021, 03:31:43 AM
Continuing Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO's Jim Ryan's legacy of incompetence and disdain for Sony's heritage, Sony finally officially confirmed today the closure dates for the PS3, PSP, & Vita PSN Stores. This follows last year's removal of those systems from their redesigned-to-be-**** browser-based store.

The PS3 & PSP online stores will go offline on 7/2/21, and the Vita's store will go down on 8/27/21. This effectively permanently kills off the Vita (which was still seeing new indie games), as Sony shut down manufacturing of Vita game cards years ago so no new physical media can be produced.

The one good(ish) piece of news from all this is that owners of these consoles will still be able to redownload titles from their Download History, provided they're willing to scroll through the thousands of pages of entries they've accumulated by this point (I did that once. Never again).

I fucking despise Jim Ryan. I've never seen someone so dedicated to killing the PlayStation brand, from his censorship policies almost exclusively against Japanese games, to his on-record disdain for older games, to the closure of Sony Japan Studios, to his lack of interest in making anything other than games in the Naughty Dog mold.

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-store-shut-down-ps3-vita-psp (https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-store-shut-down-ps3-vita-psp)
I just love the optics of Sony cutting off support for their first digital only console almost immediately after they launched the PS5 all digital version.
Would you believe this actually gets worse? I meant to post this the other day, and I was debating whether it was worth starting a new thread. I completely forgot about this one so thanks for bringing it back up.

There are issues on PS3, PS4, and probably PSP and Vita that appear to be caused by the internal clock which will prevent people from playing digital games and even physical games on PS4.

The CMOS battery in these PlayStations powers the SRAM chip that stores firmware settings including the date/time. Without those settings, you have to be connected to the internet to pull the date/time from Sony's servers. This is presumably to prevent people from manually changing the date/time for Trophies. Regardless, if your battery dies after the servers go down accidentally or intentionally, you'll never be able to play your games again. That is, unless Sony fixes this, of course.

Youtuber HikikomoriMedia discovered the PS3 issue (https://twitter.com/HikikomoriMedia/status/1375229087166332932?s=20):
Quote
As it stands, my PS3 has a dead Pram (cmos) battery. When disconnected from the internet and changing the date, I am not allowed to launch any of my purchased digital content.
The link above is to his Tweet which includes video if you're interested.

Twitter user DoesItPlay discovered the PS4 issue (https://twitter.com/manfightdragon/status/1374368001756069895?s=20):
Quote
when the ps4 cmos battery dies (and it will) it renders all ps4 digital files unusable without a server reconnection and in ps4 it also kills disc playback
The link is to the whole twitter thread that explains the issue further:
Quote
This error is because Trophies on PS4 require the internal system clock (the one you can’t see / alter) to be correct, so people cant change their PS4 date/time to make it look like they got trophies earlier than they really did. If your PS4 clock battery dies, all your games die

The argument for physical vs. digital was always that if servers go down or a game is pulled, you'll still be able to play your games, unpatched but still. At least on PlayStation, there's a path for that not being true. I don't mean to be alarmist. The CMOS battery takes forever to die as long as the battery itself wasn't bad to begin with. By the time it dies, most people are probably done with the system anyway. Out of principle, it's still pretty fucked up.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on March 31, 2021, 06:15:15 AM
So, all you have to do is replace the battery and connect to PSN once?  As long as some form of the PSN exists, you should be okay?

I mean, this isn't ideal (and, in theory, is something Sony could patch at some hypothetical point in the future when PSN support is totally taken away), but it doesn't seem as world-ending as some are making it out to be.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Adrock on March 31, 2021, 11:49:48 AM
So, all you have to do is replace the battery and connect to PSN once?  As long as some form of the PSN exists, you should be okay?
Yes? This is assuming old PlayStations won't be cut off from servers. Still, physical games don't have the same value they once had.

While this likely only affects a relatively small portion of the user base (again, I expect the vast majority to move on to new hardware), I imagine most people don't know this is a potential issue or how to fix it which Sony is likely counting on. Sure, one can google it, but there's also a reason why LMGTFY is a thing.

It should also be noted that the CMOS battery for PS3 and PS4 is directly on the motherboard so you would have to open up the console to access it. How many people have a Torx screwdriver? Few people know this is an issue and even fewer people have the tools to fix it themselves. Comparatively, the CMOS battery on Wii and Wii U is accessible from the outside of the console. You would need a #00 Philips screwdriver which you may have if you wear glasses.

Regardless, what's worrisome to many is the implication that these games can disappear coupled with Sony's apparent disinterest in preserving its own history. While most of the bigger titles are available on the PlayStation Store and tied to a PSN account, there are also a lot of games "trapped" on those old systems so in the event that the CMOS battery dies and access to servers is gone, those games are unplayable (barring a hack). The ones I keep hearing about are the older Gran Turismo titles which will likely never get re-released due to the ungodly amount of licensed content in them.
Quote
I mean, this isn't ideal (and, in theory, is something Sony could patch at some hypothetical point in the future when PSN support is totally taken away), but it doesn't seem as world-ending as some are making it out to be.
One thing I've learned from working in IT is that fixing one thing can lead to unintentionally breaking a slew of other things. Removing the requirement to pull the date/time from a server is a really easy fix on paper, but it could create an exploit for hackers. And if it's a lot of backend work, no f-ing way Sony fixes this. There's very little cost benefit from the company's perspective (i.e. the goodwill of a small group of PlayStation owners). What are we collectively going to do about it? Stop buying PlayStation things? Given Sony's market position, it will call our bluff 100 times out of 100.

Again, I'm not trying to be alarmist. This absolutely is not world-ending. It's just kind of crummy because Sony didn't have to write its software on at least four different systems this way, and I'd bet it's the same on PS5. Nintendo's and Microsoft's hardware do not seem to have similar issues.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on March 31, 2021, 06:28:01 PM
I agree that it's shitty.

Similarly, the Nintendo DS will not work without a battery in it.  Even if you have it plugged into AC power.  I don't like that either, since battery packs can go bad to the point you don't want them in your system for fear of damaging it.  Seems like an oversight in design to me - but we just kinda have to face the fact that systems aren't designed to allow us to play our games indefinitely anymore.  It's no longer a question of how good of shape you keep the system/media in, and no longer worries of data/bit/disc rot rendering your games into useless piles of plastic to rival the Wii accessory dump bin at the local used gaming store, but a worry of when some design decision (either just not well thought out, or via planned obsolescence) by your chosen manufacturer renders you sol.

I would fully support changes to copyright law to make preservation of "lost" media legal.

Hug your video games tight, kiddo.  The Grim Reaper cometh for your bits and bytes now.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on March 31, 2021, 07:10:10 PM
The original Xbox has a battery in it that will leak and damage your system if you don't replace it.  The Turbo Duo and Game Gear have lousy capacitors that need to be replaced.  This isn't a new thing and isn't necessarily planned obsolescence, it's just that making a product that lasts for 50 years isn't a priority.  The logic is more that they're making a product that will be available for maybe 8 years and if the product can last for 15 then the R&D guys did a good job.

The one element that makes physical media appealing though is that it's not all-or-nothing.  Your system could fail but you might be able to fix it or find another one and all your games are still fine.  With digital you can have games stored on a system's hard drive but if the hardware goes and the server to redownload the games is offline then everything is gone at once.  The hope really is down to hackers.  The game executables will be backed up somewhere and it's really just a matter of being able to get something to run it.  I don't think too many games will become lost like some silent-era movie, at least not until streaming gaming is the norm and the users never have any files stored locally at all.

The future of playing your old games is unfortunately going to have to involve hacks and piracy, where as before you could just pop your old cartridges into the old system and everything was easy and legal.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 03, 2021, 04:18:39 PM
It looks like the PS3 is having server issues with the PSN store. I can't imagine how that happened, I mean Sony's servers are nothing if not reliable.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/ps3_owners_facing_wide-spread_problems_downloading_games_ahead_of_ps_store_closure (https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/ps3_owners_facing_wide-spread_problems_downloading_games_ahead_of_ps_store_closure)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: broodwars on April 03, 2021, 05:36:53 PM
It looks like the PS3 is having server issues with the PSN store. I can't imagine how that happened, I mean Sony's servers are nothing if not reliable.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/ps3_owners_facing_wide-spread_problems_downloading_games_ahead_of_ps_store_closure (https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/ps3_owners_facing_wide-spread_problems_downloading_games_ahead_of_ps_store_closure)

It's almost like, when you create a panic by announcing server shutdowns only a few months in advance, people panic and start flooding the servers.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 03, 2021, 06:26:32 PM
I don't understand why they didn't announce this when they announced that the website store was closing for PS3/Vita
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: M.K.Ultra on April 19, 2021, 04:18:59 PM
Update: PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita Will Continue Operations (https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04/19/playstation-store-on-ps3-and-ps-vita-will-continue-operations/)
Long live the Vita! RIP PSP
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on April 19, 2021, 04:45:42 PM
I am in shock that they actually reversed their decision on the PS3/Vita store.  I guess lots of people were buying stuff before it disappeared and the suits saw the sales figures and decided to keep things going.

I was planning on buying the Mega Man Legends games before July 1 but now I can get the first one and see if I like it first without pressure to grab the sequel and Tron Bonne at the same time.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: M.K.Ultra on April 20, 2021, 11:41:29 AM
I was planning on buying the Mega Man Legends games before July 1 but now I can get the first one and see if I like it first without pressure to grab the sequel and Tron Bonne at the same time.

I bought Mega Man Legends 2 and Tron Bonne as PS1 classics through PSN. I played 2 on PS3 and thought it was better than Mega Man Legends 1. I am playing Tron Bonne on Vita now as they are both cross buy.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: UncleBob on April 20, 2021, 04:39:49 PM
Gotta give Sony props.  No way Nintendo would have reversed course on a public decision like this.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 20, 2021, 07:17:40 PM
There were apparently devs who literally just bought a Vita Devkit right before the announcement was made. The whole thing was a trainwreck.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: Ian Sane on April 20, 2021, 07:50:49 PM
There were apparently devs who literally just bought a Vita Devkit right before the announcement was made. The whole thing was a trainwreck.

This is probably what convinced them.  Could they potentially have gotten sued for that?  This was probably a situation where the left hand didn't know what the right was doing so they decided to pull the plug without realizing that dev kits were still being sold.  I'll bet they're not selling dev kits anymore and they'll resume ending the store once they've reached the minimum amount of time the lawyers have determined would be sufficient to cover their butts.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on April 20, 2021, 11:31:17 PM
Considering how many server issues they had, it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to capitalize on the PS3 and Vita's exclusive content. I could see them roping some sap into making an "Only on PS3 Download" section of the store for when they try to close it again.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on May 09, 2021, 09:49:08 PM
Apparently you still won't be able to submit new Vita games after July so **** you indie devs who bought a Vita Devkit in 2021.

Sauce (https://t.co/1Uf4yXqeDE?amp=1)
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: M.K.Ultra on May 10, 2021, 02:03:45 PM
They are probably aiming for closing the stores in summer 2022. They must want a year with nothing new added before that happens. Meanwhile you still can't easily obtain a PS5.
Title: Re: I for one welcome the glorious return of overconfident E3 2006 Sony.
Post by: pokepal148 on March 20, 2022, 12:29:39 AM
So Grand Turismo 7 pulled an EA/Activision and patched in microtransactions after launch.