PS4 Owners Thread

[lakebum431]

Well I find it hard to believe that PS+ isn't profitable. If you're going to up the price and spout meaningless buzz word like "Current market conditions" without feeling the need to provide any sort of proof of this, this isn't helped when the gaming division drove 78% of Sony's profits in the first quarter of this year. If they said that the price increase was required to enhance services such as to pay for 2 form authentication or start providing PS+ games that aren't just indie games that no one cares about, then I'd be more understanding and even praise the decision. I don't mind added costs if added benefits are associated with it. If that's not the case then I just assume that it's because the company wants more money, and I find more often that not that's the case, especially in the game industry, which is one of the least consumer friendly industries in the world. Let's not forget Sony was also telling people that, God Forbid they wanted a refund for No Man's Sky, a game that Sony bankrolled, because it wasn't the same game they said it would be for the past 5 years, that they'd be unable to buy the game ever again.

Yes, at the end of the day $10 more a year isn't going to be the thing that causes a majority of gamers to lose access to public utilities in order to play their games online, but given how extremely profitable PlayStation is for Sony, it's that much harder to swallow that they NEED a price increase, especially one that's 20%.


The time for you (and the entire world) to remove your credit card was yesterday. Seriously folks, there are NO benefits to having your credit card file with Sony. They've been hacked TWICE, and there's more stories of people losing their accounts due to isolated hacks and then being told by Sony to either pay them for charges you didn't make, or lose your account and all the data and games associated with it than I can count. Just do all your purchases with Sony PlayStation cards. They're available at nearly every store, don't cost anymore than if charged to your card by Sony, AND more often than not you can get better deals if you shop around than if you just go through Sony. And if by some chance a situation comes up where you absolutely need to get a game or membership ASAP and your car broke down or you just don't feel like leaving the house, you can get digital codes instantly from Amazon. Remember folks, the less people that have your credit card info (especially those that have lost it before), the better.,

Totally disagree with both parts of this post. They don't have to explain exactly why the price is going up. It is just like the Netflix price increase. Prices go up over time. It is simply inflation. In this case it is also supply and demand. They are obviously very confident that the extra $10 isn't going to turn enough people off to cancel. I guess what I'm saying is that on the list of things to be upset about this one doesn't even come close to a blip on the radar for me.

As far as keeping credit card on file there is a huge benefit to keeping it there for me. Each time I make a purchase, I just click purchase. I don't have to go anywhere else. If it gets hacked and someone steals my number then I get a new card. I have had fraudulent charges on a couple of cards over there years and it was a very easy process. Last time I didn't even know about it and they had already cancelled my card and the related charges and sent me a new card. No skin off my back. By the way, I also have most of my monthly bills (cable, power, water) get auto charged to my credit card. Not worried about that either.

 

[king3pj]

If the extra $10 is really bugging you, you can always not renew. No one forcing anyone to sign up.

I can kind of agree with this in some ways since I am choosing not to renew when my current year runs out. Like I said before though, this has more to do with me not using my PS4 that often and the lack of PS Plus games I want to play than it does with the $10 price increase.

In other ways I kind of disagree. The current state of gaming is very online focused. There are people who don't care about online features but those are probably the exception and not the rule. Both consoles and many games advertise their online features heavily. You really need PS Plus or Xbox Live Gold to get the full, advertised, experience from either of these consoles.

I just don't think it needs to be that way. They are essentially charging you $60 per year for the right to use your own internet connection to play the games you buy from them. I realize that online servers have a cost and that they need to be maintained. Somehow Steam, Battle.net, Origin, and uPlay are able to provide multiplayer server access just from the proceeds of game sales on PC though. Nintendo is able to do the same thing in the console space. Hell, even Microsoft provides Xbox Live access with all the same party features that are offered on Xbox One for free on PC while they charge $60 per year on console.

It's clearly not going anywhere now. Console players have shown that they are willing to pay this $60 a year so they would be stupid to stop charging it. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense that the same games have free multiplayer on PC but require a subscription on PS4 and Xbox One.

 

[yourbeliefs]

As far as keeping credit card on file there is a huge benefit to keeping it there for me. Each time I make a purchase, I just click purchase. I don't have to go anywhere else. If it gets hacked and someone steals my number then I get a new card. I have had fraudulent charges on a couple of cards over there years and it was a very easy process. Last time I didn't even know about it and they had already cancelled my card and the related charges and sent me a new card. No skin off my back. By the way, I also have most of my monthly bills (cable, power, water) get auto charged to my credit card. Not worried about that either.

Sony isn't like other companies. If your account gets hacked, and some jerk charges a bunch of money on your PSN account, Sony is going to force you to pay or lose your account. I'm not kidding. You can dispute the charges and maybe get your money back, but you'll lose your account. If you challenge, your account is automatically banned. That means you also lose any games you purchased that are tied to your account.

http://kotaku.com/if-someone-hacks-your-psn-account-youre-kinda-screwed-1691083834

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/my-playstation-account-was-hacked-and-i-had-to-pay/

 

[lakebum431]

Looks like that is a Paypal/Sony issue, not a credit card per se.

 

[Zookster]

I hadn't had a credit card connected to my PSN account since the big hack in 2011. But as a PS Vue subscriber now, I don't want to deal with constantly adding PSN cards to my account. If I don't have enough money in my wallet (or a credit card on file), my primary TV service gets cancelled with no notice once the month has run out. So now I have a credit card on file.

Unfortunately, being a Vue sub means I have to have my account set to auto-renew, which applies to all PSN subscriptions, both Vue and Plus. I most definitely won't be renewing my PS Plus membership in February, which has nothing to do with the price increase (I'm not really playing video games anymore). So I'll have to be careful about the timing of turning auto-renew on and off that month. Kind of a pain, but I'll live.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Unannounced PS4 so totally exists..

https://www.destructoid.com/the-unannounced-ps4-slim-now-has-an-in-depth-unboxing-video-382082.phtml

 

[yourbeliefs]

FYI:


http://kotaku.com/go-set-up-two-step-verification-on-your-playstation-rig-1785733056

 

[yourbeliefs]

To go back to the PS+ Price increase, I think Jeff Gerstmann said it best, especially after waiting 5 minutes to download a 40MB app on my 150Mbps connection (which translates to about 20 MB/s)

 

[yourbeliefs]

Yet another PS4 "Slim" unboxing video.

 

[yourbeliefs]

New Gran Turismo Delayed.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/30/gran-turismo-sport-update/

 

[yourbeliefs]

PS+ games for September announced.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/31/playstation-plus-free-games-for-september-2016/

 

[king3pj]

PS+ games for September announced.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2016/08/31/playstation-plus-free-games-for-september-2016/

This is the first month I have actually wanted to play something from PS Plus in a really long time. I've been meaning to play Journey for a few years now to see what all the fuss was about. I was actually planning to take my free trial of PS Now next week and this was going to be the first game I played. I'm happy to take the PS4 version instead though.

I'd say that overall, this is a better month for PS4 owners than we have had in a really long time. In addition to Journey, PS4 owners get Lords of the Fallen. From what I've read this is a pretty decent Dark Souls clone. Sure it was offered on Games with Gold a really long time ago and it has been dirt cheap on Steam but at least PS Plus is offering a decent AAA game this month.

 

[Zookster]

Yeah, this month really bucks the trend. We are finally getting award-winning (Journey and Badland) and AAA (PoP, Lords of the Fallen) titles again. And better-than-average filler (Datura and Amnesia). I've never played Journey before either. Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands was actually pretty decent for a movie tie-in game. I got it for a holiday gift not long after it came out. It isn't worth $60 (kinda of short), but for $5-$10 or free, it's worth playing. As a visual novel, Amnesia intrigues me. But in reviews, I'm hearing it compared to a dating sim, and one reviewer points out the protagonist unquestioningly puts up with lot of s*#t from her main romantic interest. Doesn't sound like my kind of heroine or story.

 

[Derwin0]

I'd say that overall, this is a better month for PS4 owners than we have had in a really long time. In addition to Journey, PS4 owners get Lords of the Fallen. From what I've read this is a pretty decent Dark Souls clone. Sure it was offered on Games with Gold a really long time ago and it has been dirt cheap on Steam but at least PS Plus is offering a decent AAA game this month.

Gotta justify the $10 increase at the end of the month.

Just renewed my Plus for the year, was set to expire next month, but did it a month early to beat the price increase.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Hope you weren't all pining for the Uncharted movie. It's been put back in development hell.

https://www.destructoid.com/the-uncharted-movie-is-in-development-hell-again-384486.phtml

 

[meStevo]

PS4 Pro feels half baked with all the focus on UHD and no UHD player.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[yourbeliefs]

Yeah... very weird decision. It's like handing Microsoft an advertising gift.

Digital Foundry spent some time with the PS4 Pro:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-three-hours-with-playstation-4-pro

Also, all PS4s are getting HDR Support thanks to an update.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/7/12831080/ps4-hdr-firmware-system-update-version-4-0-0-release-date

 

[king3pj]

PS4 Pro feels half baked with all the focus on UHD and no UHD player.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Yeah... very weird decision. It's like handing Microsoft an advertising gift.

Also, it sounds like the PS4 Pro won't natively render games in 4K. It will be upscaling a lower resolution to 4K just like the Xbox One S.

The PS4 Pro is more powerful than the Xbox One S but I think the Xbox is still a much better purchase. It's $100 cheaper, comes with with 4K Blu-ray support, and has the same HDR, 4K streaming, and game upscaling features.

I'm not sure who would choose a PS4 Slim over an Xbox One S at the same price unless they just really prefer the Sony exclusives. It's just a smaller PS4 with none of the 4K features. If you already have an Xbox One and just want a cheaper way to get access to the PS4 exclusives it can make sense though.

Depending on pricing the Xbox One Scorpio (combined with Xbox One S sales) could finally help Microsoft catch up to Sony. Unless I am missing something it is about twice as powerful as the PS4 Pro, supports native 4K rendering for games, and will have a 4K blu-ray player. As long as the price isn't outrageous I don't see how it doesn't blow the PS4 Pro out of the water. The only advantage I can see for the PS4 Pro is VR support.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Sony commented on why the Pro doesn't have 4K Blu Ray. Apparently they see "Streaming" as the future.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-ps4-pro-doesnt-have-a-4k-blu-ray-player/1100-6443411/

 

[king3pj]

Sony commented on why the Pro doesn't have 4K Blu Ray. Apparently they see "Streaming" as the future.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-ps4-pro-doesnt-have-a-4k-blu-ray-player/1100-6443411/

Reading the quotes in the article make it sound like putting in a 4K Blu-ray drive would have made the product less capable for video streaming. It's not like the Xbox One S isn't every bit as good at streaming 4K video from the internet as the PS4 Pro will be. The only difference is that the Xbox One S can do both.

This is a weird stance for Sony to take, especially since they are one of the companies that gets paid licensing fees from blu-ray devices and discs. Because of this they probably knew well in advance that Microsoft was going to put 4K blu-ray drives in both of their new consoles. I really doubt it caught them by surprise.

Also, all PS4s are getting HDR Support thanks to an update.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/7/12831080/ps4-hdr-firmware-system-update-version-4-0-0-release-date

This is a nice, free update for whenever I do finally get a 4K TV since I don't plan on buying a PS4 Pro. There is a good chance that I will upgrade to an Xbox One S or Scorpio when that day comes if they are still the cheapest 4K blu-ray players on the market though.