I posted it on Friday evening & it entered my browser view (not everybody else’s) thus:

Comment by fanpages — Jan 9, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Comment #8

Please let me know when you see it…

BFN,

fp.

(Thanks)

What I meant was that in majority everybody moans about the lack of this, or the absence of that, or the missing aspect of the other, and Sony have never once promised to delivery these items. Why do people think they are owed the PlayStation Store?

The PlayStation Network logo is not on the outside of the PS3 retail boxes (”Killzone 2″ specific 80Gb pack to come in February, btw), but there is no mention of the ‘Store or the promise of anything other than the console in the box.

My point was that anything you get is a bonus. If you set your standards lower, then you’ll never be disappointed

BFN,

fp.

Every week, Three Speech ASK US what we think of the update. (In their poll post this week). I sometimes give my opinion as others do. Sometimes it’s positive, other times it’s negative. What’s the big deal?

(Not picking on you specifically, just a general reply/rant)

…But you’re not paying for the PlayStation Store. No contract has been entered into to supply anything to you at any time, never mind on a we[e|a]kly basis.

For me, some weeks there is lots of stuff, some weeks there is one or two items, and other weeks there is nothing. Sometimes this situation is of my own making as I am greedy by having access to the ‘Store from more than one region (experiencing the “PlayStation(r)Home” downloads for “Far Cry 2″ & “Uncharted” being a good example, here). But I don’t complain about it (much). I certainly don’t think we should take to the virtual streets with flaming torches & pitchforks to seek the monster we all despise without taking the time to appreciate the day-to-day issues it faces.

Europe is the most diverse market to gain copyright clearance and to ensure all local market laws & regulations are adhered to, before the worry of implementing support for many languages. It is not just a case of a global search’n’replace of all one English word with a French one, then a German one, then a Spanish one, a Norwegian, a Russian, a Mexican,… and so on, more often than not on-screen assets have to be moved, or re-drawn, re-tested and re-entered into the software quality control procedures. Such tasks are not trivial, and I am certainly glad Sony & the various development teams spend their time ensuring the software titles are, to their best endeavours, error-free when we receive them. In the long-term nobody remembers a late project, but everybody remembers a faulty one. The early bird catches the worm, etc.

If the regular updates on the ‘Store are all that is keeping you with the PlayStation brand, and you’d sooner “go back to” the Xbox 360, then I’m not stopping you. Neither is anybody else. If there are games on that platform that (better) suit you, that’s fine. Video Games Consoles (or Entertainment Systems, depending who you listen to) are for playing games. As long as you are playing, and adding to the industry’s turnover, then any platform is better than none, and certainly better for the future of video games in our culture.

Yes, the fact that the Microsoft online experience can offer trial versions of all titles is a very notable feature that does catch my attention too.

However, I wouldn’t have the time to play them, so I’m missing out either way. I’m also very happy with what the PlayStation brand has given me in the past, and I see no reason to doubt their current console or vision for the future. If you think otherwise, I’m not going to argue with you, but please don’t try to put others off the Sony console just because you feel that each & every member of Sony’s European employees have a vendetta not to bring something to the ‘Store that is personally addressed to you.

It doesn’t seem fair, but life is not fair. Some people in the world cannot guarantee to have food, water, or even continue breathing tomorrow. Others have to decide whether to buy their kids shoes, or put money on their pay-for-use gas card. People are being made unemployed &/or their businesses are going bankrupt on a daily basis. And you are feeling slighted because the US got an updated version of a 14 year old game and Europe didn’t? Call me insensitive, but please get this into perspective.

If there is nothing of interest (like this week), I just get on with the vast stack of PS3 (and Wii) games I have to play from not only the Christmas period, but from many months (even years) before. I would sooner the ‘Store be updated with worthwhile items rather than just being updated for the sake of it. Quality not quantity, if you will.

(I still have many PS2 titles from five or more years ago unopened because I was so keen to get on with the “next big thing”. I am spoiled for choice… so much choice that when I have an hour or so to play something ‘new’ I don’t know where to start or what to choose! Sad, but true)

The lack of Playable Demos prior to, or on the day of release, yes, is annoying, but not the end of the world. “The Lord of the Rings: Conquest” demo may well have been out in the US before Europe, but it is still in advance of the UK release date (this coming Friday).

The “Exclusive” video for “Tekken 6″ (Bloodline Rebellion) was out earlier in the week on the GameTrailers web site, but not in High Definition. An “Exclusive” to some degree then. Too short in any respect, and other (longer) examples of game-play have been around Interweb sites for many months anyway.

I don’t have the ‘current-gen’ “Guitar Hero” (or “Rock Band”) titles, and probably won’t bother until the next “Rock Band” offers an audio keyboard (“synth”) add-on, but the fact that the download content exists doesn’t annoy me. The choice of titles on offer just goes to prove that I made the right decision to wait for a plastic-instrument title that allows me to download tracks that I will want to play, not just downloading tracks because there is nothing else to download on any given visit to the ‘Store.

I’m dying to try the “Naruto” (free) download packs (of which, the US Store is up to #6), but I cannot find “Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm” at a retailer in the UK for any less than £30 and, at present, £30 is a lot to spend on the off chance that the free packs suddenly become a cost option. Especially when other high quality titles (except “Resistance 2″, for some odd reason) have all been discounted in the last six weeks. I’d like the Collector’s Edition of the “Naruto” title anyway, but Europe seems to have missed out on this. Not a problem. I will survive without it. No wait, I must write a strongly worded letter to my MP… no, I was right the first time; it doesn’t matter.

I do miss the Hollywood & Blu-ray movie trailers we used to see on a fairly regular basis, but visiting IMDB & any BitTorrent site fills that void.
I expect the videos will return when European’s Video Store service is nearing release.

I also think the digital download versions of the (PS-One and) PSP titles are vastly overpriced, but if you pay those prices then they will remain that high. If you use Google, or visit dedicated sites like HotUKDeals, then you will find all these titles in a physical form for much less cost than you can download them for. And you have them to re-sell at a later date if need be… something you cannot do with a digital copy. Go on, try the in-built Web browser on your PS3… you may even like it!

If you’ve read this far, thank you. If you’ve lost interest & gone to play something less boring instead. Even better.

FYI: Media Molecule’s downloadable content will be back on 22 January 2009, as they are presently taking a longer-than-normal Christmas Break & spending the time working on a fix to the “save game glitch” where progress is lost & items go missing. Expect another version update towards the end of this month too.

Another week… another update. Can we wait that long? I expect so…

BFN,

fp.

Put it this way mate, if I were paying for this service I would be pissed off.

And to be honest I have alot more important things to worry about in life.

But yea, it has been a tad disapointing, although Lord of the Rings does look ok.

Three Speech - this week, as some examples, you should / could have reported on:

+ CES 2009.
+ confirmed the Home Red Bull update (as the US blog doesn’t always apply to us).
+ Reported the release of the HVB patch update.

People are getting so sick of this, that on the official Playstation EU forums, they’re trying to set up their own official blog to attract the attention and FEEDBACK / COMMUNICATION from Sony and their developers.

@28 Cakester - I used to be like you. Are you new to the PS3? A light user?

SCEE Equality Appeal - http://www.sceeea.com

Three Speech / Sony - say something (and preferrably not just ‘goodbye, you’re banned!’)