PS4 Planned Obsolescence?

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

So this has been bouncing around Twitter, but with the announcement of the PS3, PSP and Vita servers shutting down, it's getting even more attention.

Apparently, when the internal clock battery dies on the PS4, it loses the ability to play both digital and physical games until the battery is replaced.  The problem:  Once you replace the battery, you must update the clock through PSN.  Not a problem right now, but could become a problem in the future.  I mentioned in another thread, that I believe there will be enough of a community to fix these issues once the systems are officially abandoned by the console manufacturers, but this is still another example why I have so much less desire to even look at the current gen systems.  

 

https://screenrant.com/playstation-4-clock-battery-dies-games-stop-working/

 

 

[RH | 4,898]

Eye-roll directed towards the news, not you.  I wouldn't say this is intentional, but it is a sign that they just don't care.

 

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

I mean one assumes at some point all storefronts will be closed down for older systems, including eventually the PS4. But it says once you change your clock battery you just need to connect to Playstation Network in order to make everything available again. Playstation network won't ever go away (maybe just rebranded like Xbox Network) but it will always be there to connect to. Playstation would likely just add an exception for PS4 on the network to just validate the time and unhide all your stuff. 

Regardless of my above argument, newer physical discs rarely actually hold games anymore, they just act as a key to download a game. It is really just a matter of time when you have a game disc and can no longer get to the game you paid for. Owning games will become temporary unless you hoard Nintendo tapes like the rest of us lol

Edited March 25, 2021 by a3quit4s

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

1 minute ago, a3quit4s said:

I mean one assumes at some point all storefronts will be closed down for older systems, including eventually the PS4. But it says once you change your clock battery you just need to connect to Playstation Network in order to make everything available again. Playstation network won't ever go away (maybe just rebranded like Xbox Network) but it will always be there to connect to. 

Regardless of my above argument, newer physical discs rarely actually hold games anymore, they just act as a key to download a game. It is really just a matter of time when you have a game disc and can no longer get to the game you paid for. Owning games will become temporary unless you hoard Nintendo tapes like the rest of us lol

Agreed.  I know it's coming.  I almost wish they would have just gone all digital with this generation instead of trying to act like physical is an option.  Just rip the band aid off and get it over with.  I've said it before, the there are more than enough video games in existence that are truly physical to keep be busy forever.  I don't really feel as though I will be missing much if I decide to just ignore modern gaming going forward.  

[scaryice | 585]

12 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Regardless of my above argument, newer physical discs rarely actually hold games anymore, they just act as a key to download a game.

I've bought a ton of PS4 physical games and I've never owned a game like that.

(Yeah, on Switch there's a lot of BS with DLing half of the game. But, almost none of that on PS4)

Edited March 25, 2021 by scaryice

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

11 minutes ago, scaryice said:

I've bought a ton of PS4 physical games and I've never owned a game like that.

(Yeah, on Switch there's a lot of BS with DLing half of the game. But, almost none of that on PS4)

I was saying general - I've got a bunch of Xbox one games that had to be completely downloaded. The disc will have like 100MB and the rest is from Xbox Live Network

Edited March 25, 2021 by a3quit4s

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

24 minutes ago, TDIRunner said:

Agreed.  I know it's coming.  I almost wish they would have just gone all digital with this generation instead of trying to act like physical is an option.  Just rip the band aid off and get it over with.  I've said it before, the there are more than enough video games in existence that are truly physical to keep be busy forever.  I don't really feel as though I will be missing much if I decide to just ignore modern gaming going forward.  

I'm with you on this. I'm OK with the transition because I rarely ever play my older games anymore. I just wish they would lower the cost of digital games because it takes a lot of the overhead out. Plus it seems you are renting digital games as opposed to owning them. 

Edited March 25, 2021 by a3quit4s

[Teh_Lurv | 254]

10 minutes ago, scaryice said:

I've bought a ton of PS4 physical games and I've never owned a game like that.

True, but I'd bet a lot of those games require a Day 1 patch to get them to a usable state.

I think are putting the cart before the horse with the clock battery issue. Sony could always EOL patch out the clock battery requirement or custom firmware hacks could be created.

[KokiriChild | 1,644]

I forsee a lot of lost media in the coming decades as physical games become a thing of the past. As soon as a company decides that software is obsolete and removes your ability to find and/or play it, with the physical version literally not existing, it will be lost to time.

Of course, there is such a strong gaming community that several people will save most games to the cloud and find ways to launch them, but plenty of obscure stuff will fall through the cracks. 

With the increased attention media preservation is getting with resources such as the Internet Archive and the Lost Media Wiki, protecting games from this fate will surely get better and better, but still... that's a lot of effort just to play a game that happens to be old. 

Its why I almost never buy digital games if a physical edition exists. You're literally buying the rights to borrow the game from the software library. It's the same reason why I will always buy a Blu Ray or DVD before I pay for streaming rights for stuff like the new releases on Disney+

Edited March 25, 2021 by KokiriChild

[phart010 | 1,706]

One time I was trying to play my physical version of Zelda: BOTW on Switch while I was away from home. On the particular firmware revision I had at that time, it would not allow me to play without downloading an update. There was no option to continue playing without installing updates. Since I had no internet connection, I could not play. 
 

Nintendo Switch is not immune. I hope they never release another firmware revision that prevents you from playing 

Edited March 26, 2021 by phart010

[T-Pac | 7,532]

On 3/25/2021 at 1:19 PM, KokiriChild said:

I forsee a lot of lost media in the coming decades as physical games become a thing of the past. As soon as a company decides that software is obsolete and removes your ability to find and/or play it, with the physical version literally not existing, it will be lost to time.

Of course, there is such a strong gaming community that several people will save most games to the cloud and find ways to launch them, but plenty of obscure stuff will fall through the cracks. 

With the increased attention media preservation is getting with resources such as the Internet Archive and the Lost Media Wiki, protecting games from this fate will surely get better and better, but still... that's a lot of effort just to play a game that happens to be old. 

Its why I almost never buy digital games if a physical edition exists. You're literally buying the rights to borrow the game from the software library. It's the same reason why I will always buy a Blu Ray or DVD before I pay for streaming rights for stuff like the new releases on Disney+

Yeah, the idea of losing all this media to the digital ether is devastating.

I wish there was a way I could've bought physical versions of all the flash-games I grew up playing on the old Cartoon Network website.

I also wish there was some legal-allowance for ripping dead media like that for continued use and preservation.

-CasualCart

[Gloves | 11,771]

5 hours ago, CasualCart said:

Yeah, the idea of losing all this media to the digital ether is devastating.

I wish there was a way I could've bought physical versions of all the flash-games I grew up playing on the old Cartoon Network website.

I also wish there was some legal-allowance for ripping dead media like that for continued use and preservation.

-CasualCart

There's a bunch of games I played on a site called CoffeeBreakArcade (a site which still exists to this day, though it looks like nothing on the site is functional anymore) when the internet was still young. Many to possibly all of those games are lost forever.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

8 hours ago, CasualCart said:

I also wish there was some legal-allowance for ripping dead media like that for continued use and preservation.

Libraries have some leeway under section 108 of the copyright act, but certain conditions must be met.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

4 hours ago, Gloves said:

There's a bunch of games I played on a site called CoffeeBreakArcade (a site which still exists to this day, though it looks like nothing on the site is functional anymore) when the internet was still young. Many to possibly all of those games are lost forever.

Holy cow I haven't heard anyone mention coffeebreakarcade in well over a decade. Thats a blast from the past. I remember someone showing me that site for the first time in 5th grade. Good times

[fox | 1,665]

At some point everything fails.  Consumer electronics are just not built to last.  If you are in it for the long haul, be ready to replace some parts or put in the extra effort to keep things running.

Be prudent and change out your CMOS battery prior to any possible announced shutdown.

Hopefully Sony can resolve this with an EOL update if not sooner.  Otherwise you should go ahead and put CFW on legacy consoles.
 

On 3/25/2021 at 12:00 PM, scaryice said:

I've bought a ton of PS4 physical games and I've never owned a game like that.

Yes the PS4 discs have the full game and it installs on your harddrive.  It isn't just a cd key or image that links to an online download.

 

On 3/25/2021 at 12:17 PM, Teh_Lurv said:

True, but I'd bet a lot of those games require a Day 1 patch to get them to a usable state.

Only games I have seen require these are Online Multiplayer focused titles.  In the case of a network wide shutdown, these wouldn't be playable anyways.  Every other game, you can launch it without patching.

Edited March 28, 2021 by fox

[TheGreatBlackCat | 20]

On 3/25/2021 at 12:52 PM, TDIRunner said:

Agreed.  I know it's coming.  I almost wish they would have just gone all digital with this generation instead of trying to act like physical is an option.  Just rip the band aid off and get it over with.  I've said it before, the there are more than enough video games in existence that are truly physical to keep be busy forever.  I don't really feel as though I will be missing much if I decide to just ignore modern gaming going forward.  

I saw this comment last night and I had to reply. I share the same sentiment as you. Contemporary games don't do it for me: Play times are often inflated/padded for content and newer games are often stretched twenty hours beyond their core ten hour content. We really do only get a good ten hours of solid story anymore. Dark Souls, Skyrim, Fallout, and a handful of other games are the rare exceptions.

I own over 700 games in my vintage game collection. With the exception of the Switch, I haven't bought more than 10 titles for each console generation post-PS2. It simply doesn't come down to preference or my age. Most games hand hold PS3-onward and I absolutely detest most FPS and sandbox games which have dominated the scene for at least the past 15 years.

Sure, modern games are flashy, they appear more alive, but games like Cyberpunk 2077 always reveal themselves to be a shallow veneer covering linear game play with the illusion of freedom of choice. In other words: The same old same old.

The PlayStation 4 was an underwhelming console and I'm convinced that it will go on to be looked on as only a footnote in video gaming. The PlayStation 5 looks to be the true follow up to the PS3, but even then, the technical leaps aren't all that impressive anymore. The explosion of successful indie titles attests to the want for tight, simpler, and high concept games.

TDI, same deal with me. I'm trying to finally chip away at those 700+ games sitting on my shelves. Core game play and immediacy of play was better back in the day. Indie devs picked up on this, but these concepts are generally lost on AAA houses. I have zero plans to buy a PS5. I never thought that I'd become a PC convert, but it appears that is the direction that I'm going for my modern gaming needs. The current console generation consists of name brand PCs and I see no point in entertaining the idea that consoles are still relevant in today's modern gaming era.

I just want to end on this point: There's a reason why retro games are in short supply whilst newer games have ample supply. It isn't just nostalgia; older games innovated because of technological limits. They are more compelling to play because of the creativity needed to work within those limits. As gamers age, who the hell has time to dump 90 hours into every sandbox game that comes out like Red Dead Redemption 2? We're not 15 anymore with only our school work to worry about.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

16 minutes ago, TheGreatBlackCat said:

...

I obviously agree with most of what you say, but I have to point out that I feel you are off base with your comments about the PS4.  If you didn't care for the PS3 generation because of the number of FPS's and sandbox games, that's understandable, but the PS4 seems to have avoided that.  The PS4 generation has exploded with more indie games than anything before it.  There are so many different and unique games on that console.  I've said it before, but I consider the PS4 to be one of the greatest consoles of all time because it has one of the most unique libraries of all time. I own several hundred PS4 games and only a small handful are AAA titles.  Of course I admit that it seems a little silly using the PS4 to play some of these indie game that only use a fraction of the PS4's power, but it is what it is.  If you skip the PS4 because you don't like modern FPS's and sandbox games, you are still missing out on a huge library of unique and fun games.  

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

I'd like put in a different opinion to what's been said so far.  I love retro games but I also am aware of the shit that exist in those console libraries like ever console that has ever existing.  8bit/16bit shit games not smell any less than 1080p modern shit games.  Part of why I may disagree with you guys more is that for me story plays a bigger role in my gaming satisfaction.  This isn't true for every game but it's a big reason why I enjoy modern gaming.  I totally agree that a lot of FPS game lack a good storyline but there are those that good.  Off the top of my head I'd say Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) was a good one.  But like books, manga, movies, tv shows, etc., the story plays a big part of my enjoyment and to be frank about it, modern games do it better.  Good voice acting is better than short text dialog boxes.  More charter dialog allow for deeper stories that you can really be sucked into.

When I was a poor college student I looked for games that where 40+ hours to complete because I had time but not money.  Now that role has reversed and can spend more but have less time to actually play the games.  I think you are very short sighted if you don't think there are modern games that will tailor to shorter game play.  Also I think it's a joke to say that new games don't innovate because there isn't technology limits.  Art styles and player interactions within the game are innovative.  Look at Borderlands for art style or Valkyrie Chronicles.  All of the MassEffect like games that allow you to have a different storyline based on your actions.  I LOVE the Lego games in how they tell a story and build things with Lego blocks to progress the story.  The Batman Arkham Series blows ANY previous superhero game out of the water.  I know you said there were a handful of games that were the exception but I think you are grossly understating how many good games there are on PS3/PS4.  

If anything I'm someone who doesn't appreciate retro games enough as I didn't get exposed to many games and being young and without guidance many of those games were way too frustrating to play because I didn't know how to play them.  So I'm sure that plays a role in why I don't have a bias toward modern gaming since it resolves a lot of issues I had when I played video games as a kid.  Also as a kid I had near zero interest in a story.  I didn't start to enjoy reading until I was in high school.

[fox | 1,665]

So seems like it has been patched