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.
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 playing. 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.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/29/playstations-most-powerful-problems
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.
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 playing. 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.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/29/playstations-most-powerful-problems
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