The other day, I was helping Call of Duty expert Bobby Amos get a PS3 hooked up at his desk, and a lengthy firmware update began. He rolled his eyes and said "This is why I hate PlayStation." And... I couldn't argue. I could've pointed out the Xbox updates I sit through or how hard I think it is to find things on the Live Marketplace, but I didn't, because Bobby's right. The PlayStation hardware on the market right now is not player friendly -- it's not designed with the idea of you plugging it in and it being easy to use.
That's something that's go to change as we barrel toward the next generation.
For more than five years, I've been fortunate to cover nothing by PlayStation for IGN; with that have come heated debates over XMB/Xbox Blades, Trophies versus Achievements and so on. While I think the PlayStation wins on most counts, that comes from someone whose daily routine is firmware on memory sticks and holding the power button to switch the PS3 from HDMI to component. When you look at your iPhone constantly reminding you of updates for your apps or the 360 automatically updating your Achievements, it's simple to see the weak spots in PlayStation's user-interface.
However, it seems like lots of people are so used to the complicated mess that they can't see the sticky issues. Here are some of the more tucked away problems PlayStation has to address for next time around.
VIDIOTS
A few months ago, I posted the video above lamenting the purchase of Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy on the PlayStation Network. See, I bought the HD episodes fully expecting the ability to transfer them to my PlayStation Vita and watch them whether I be in front of my TV or my handheld. That wasn't the case. HD episodes purchased on the PS3 can't be transferred to the PlayStation Vita.
"Unfortunately, we do not have HD rights for mobile devices, nor do other device manufacturers," said Michael Aragon, vice president and general manager of Global Digital Video and Music Services at Sony Network Entertainment. "The studios have concerns about security and output control for these devices, but we are in constant dialog with them about this topic."
But here's the rub. There are three versions of most videos on the PSN -- HD, SD and an HD/SD bundle. While Sony doesn't have the rights to move the HD file to portable devices, it does for the SD file. So in the case of Sons of Anarchy Season 4, I could've purchased the SD version and transferred to my heart's content. Similarly, I could've nabbed that HD/SD bundle and passed the file around, but no one told me -- a man whose sole job has been to use the PlayStation platforms for years -- that this PS3/handheld relationship was the exact reason the bundle exists.
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The clear choice for an informed consumer is to skip the PlayStation Store.
Why not throw a bone to users and explain this relationship when they're trying to buy just one version? Why not allow the one purchase to unlock all formats? Why not make the HD/SD version the only one to buy?
"We did a lot of consumer testing on these options, and strongly considered pushing the HD/SD SKU on every purchase," Aragon said. "However, our consumers wanted the choice to forgo the SD SKU because hard drive space is a very precious commodity. However, given your feedback, we are going to ensure this is still the right option for all of our consumers."
See, I understand that hard drive complaint, but when I bought all my Smallville episodes off of iTunes, Apple forced me to take both the HD and SD version. I didn't know why, but it was easy enough to opt out of the versions I didn't want at the time. As someone who uses his PlayStation Network download list a lot, I can tell you it'd be a breeze to add that I've purchased each version of whatever video I've nabbed and allow me to pick and choose my downloads from there.
Even outside of this HD/SD issue, PlayStation has included video apps on the platform that now show how outdated the PlayStation video store is. The Amazon Instant Video App launched a week or two after I bought Sons of Anarchy Season 4 off the PlayStation Store. If I had waited, I could have bought the season for $20 from Amazon and watched it on the TV via the PS3 and on my PC. Instead, it cost me $42 on the PlayStation Store and limited me to one way to watch.
"We make money when Amazon makes money, so it’s a very symbiotic relationship," Aragon said. "Our goal is to give PS3 users a choice for which services they use."
That's noble in a way, but the clear choice for an informed consumer is to skip the PlayStation Store. That's not a mindset you want next generation as the digital marketplace becomes all the more important.
(LACK OF) FOCUS ON THE GAMER
When the PS3 was first announced, Sony made a big deal about it being the center of the living room -- the entertainment hub. That sounded great, and for many a user -- myself included -- the system became just that. All my digital photos and music are stored on my PS3, but that focus led to the PlayStation 3 missing the boat on the simple stuff gamers want.
A couple years ago, Sony unleashed PlayStation.Blog.Share, a forum where users could post things that would improve the PlayStation experience. The "most popular" threads haven't changed much since the platformed launched.
I'm not going to beat the dead horse of cross-game chat (the PS3 can't do it because of the way it was built), I know PlayStation Plus automatically syncs subscribers' Trophies, and LittleBigPlanet 2 does allow separate PSN log-ins. But, let's be honest: this stuff should be standard for all users in every game. When designing the PlayStation 3, it's like Sony got way ahead of itself and skipped these simple steps and chose to include "Printer Settings" instead.
I should be able to play with you on your PS3 and earn a Trophy on both our accounts. Your PSN profile should be the start screen of your PlayStation experience -- a constant reminder of what you've accomplished, who your friends are, and the greater online world. Right now, most of the people I know play their Xbox 360s over their PlayStation 3s because they think "that's where my friends are." The clunky problems above are just the tip of the iceberg as to why people are making that choice.
In a way, the PlayStation.Blog.Share has backfired. Initially started to give users a voice, the site now stands as a monument to how unable Sony is to iterate on its hardware. Not only have the items above been at the top of the list forever, an IGN article two years ago endorsed a number of suggestions on the Share site and only two of them them have come true (PS2 games, new avatars). Re-reading the article, many of the items from above pop-up and are joined by similarly cumbersome items like the inability to charge PS3 controllers in standby mode and delete Trophies at zero percent.
Why advertise what the system can't do but fans want?
F*** Firmware
I've already mentioned PS3 Firmware a couple of times here -- that punch-in-the-gut moment you come home with an awesome new game, pop it in, and find out you have to wait another 20 minutes to download and install the latest PS3 OS. Again, Sony has admitted mistakes in designing the setup, but alas, the PS3 is out and this is what we live with.
However, this is where I beg PlayStation to fix it for next generation. You can scoff at me and tell me they obviously will, but they've already dropped the ball on the PlayStation Vita.
The image above is from a flight I was on a month or two ago. After a week of coverage in LA, I downloaded Resistance: Burning Skies the night before my flight and was ready to shoot some Chimera on my way back to San Francisco. I powered up the Vita and found the game completely installed. When I hit start, I was greeted with this screen at 30,000 feet -- a long way from anywhere I could download the update.
"Unacceptable" doesn't even begin to describe it. This was a well known problem with the PSP -- this exact thing happened to me with PSP games and was mocked on all sorts of forums. Back then, we wondered why the UMD didn't have the firmware needed on it. Here -- with my 3G, constantly connect Vita -- I can't fathom why the game I downloaded from the PlayStation Store didn't make me download the new firmware, why it didn't bundle the data together.
When it comes to the next PlayStation device, make automatic updates mandatory for everyone. Let us opt in so that whenever a new firmware is pushed, PlayStation devices turn on and download so that they're ready to do the things we want.
PLUG AND PLAY
I infamously declared that the debut of the PlayStation Move made me sick to my stomach. It wasn't that I was that against motion controls; it was that I could see that Sony had no chance at capturing the casual market the initial reveal was aimed at.
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As much as it broke my Trophy-whoring heart -- I told them to get Xbox 360s.
My mom owns a Wii. She likes it and plays a game on it every few months. Now, I can only imagine the hypothetical phone call trying to walk through setting up her PlayStation 3 to play Sports Champions -- of course this is after the hypothetical conversation explaining she'd need a system, Move controller, game, PlayStation Eye, and possibly a navigation controller.
I have some friends from college who let this generation of consoles pass them by, and when they asked me what system they should get so we could all play together -- as much as it broke my Trophy-whoring heart -- I told them to get Xbox 360s. I didn't feel like trying to explain to them the process of buying a PS3 and then a bluetooth headset of their choosing and then the complicated setup for the ones that didn't buy the official Sony headset and then how not every game has party features.
Casual gamers love the Wii and everyone loves to play multiplayer games on the 360 because these systems are simple. You plug a few cords into the Wii, and you're paying. You buy an Xbox, and it comes with the headset in the box and you can setup groups once you're online.
If you're livid and telling me how easy the PS3 is to do similar things, I'm with you. I know how to setup a headset and game with friends, but I'm objectively telling you, other devices are doing it better than PlayStation.
THE NEXT STEP
This is just a small sampling of the hoops you have to jump through to use a PlayStation device -- devices I honestly love but have to admit aren't user friendly. What are the stumbling blocks you see when you use a PlayStation device? What devices are doing things you want to see in PlayStation's next generation? Let the world know in the comments below.
Greg is the executive editor of IGN PlayStation, cohost of Podcast Beyond and host of Up at Noon. Follow IGN on Twitter, and keep track of Greg's shenanigans on IGN and Twitter. Beyond!
Source : ign[dot]com
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