I made a mountain of text on the PS forums about why the network should freely grant streaming permission to games purchased on the PS3. If you guys feel like reading all or any of it and giving me your thoughts I'd appreciate the discussion.
If you have a moment, open the above spoiler to understand the context of this thread.
My intention here is to generate some kind of presence here on the forums that Sony will take notice of. At E3 its spokespersons were quite proud to be listening to the fans. This is a good opportunity to make good on that claim.
Sony has not been clear on whether or not purchases made on PS3 at this point are going to be available for transfer to the PS4. What we do know is that the physical media, such as bluray discs, will not be read on the PS4 due to vastly different architecture. While it certainly saddened people to hear that their physical games would not be backwards compatible, there isn't much excuse for digital purchases to share the same grievance.
As Yoshida mentioned in the spoiler above, the Sony Entertainment Network and Playstation Store have records of purchases made within the PS Store. Trophies, movies and shows will transfer without a hitch to the new network. It knows what you own. The issue is that games optimized for interpretation with the cell architecture will not be compatible with the new architecture. That's an unavoidable interference but I'll make the case below that it shouldn't be insurmountable in bringing consumers their purchased content.
Yoshida already knew that with Gaikai streaming of the PS1, 2 and 3 games it could be possible for older games to be played through the streaming network without processing on the consoles themselves. This server operated emulation would work around limitations of the console and software by bridging the gap between them. We know that they intend to have streaming software available. And with PS+ now being mandatory for multiplayer we expect that the cost will be funding these servers anyway.
What I'm calling on Sony to do is follow through and do what's fair to the consumer, not even because it's nice, but because it is mutually beneficial to both parties. Sony simply needs to have Gaikai and PS Store reciprocate data and grant permissions for software streaming on titles already purchased. We know they have the records and we know they have the hardware. All they need to do is put the two together.
From a business perspective why would they do that though? Surely, a company needs to cover it's bottom line and skim savings at every corner wouldn't want to experience the increased server loads and not be able to double or triple dip on selling the same software every generation, right? Well, actually, with their records I think they'll see that players may purchase a "classic" game they had once upon a time but the number of people willing to purchase a title repeatedly sharply tapers off. Sure, there are the people who will buy Final Fantasy 7 every generation at $5 a purchase but these people are far more rare and their $5 purchases pooled together won't compensate for the damage done nickel and diming consumers.
The damage I speak of is not rhetorical. Consoles' early lives are known to be fairly barren of worthwhile purchases. The major companies wouldn't say this but they put so much advertising and publishing into dealing with this issue that they surely are acutely aware of it. The PS3 suffered from a PR dilemma when it first arrived. For the first few years it was blasted as a console with "no games." The WiiU is currently suffering the same fate and is already losing developer support for this very reason.
People don't buy systems with bad libraries and systems that don't sell lose the developers that would create good libraries. The system that has the image of more available titles will sell more. Titles made available which demand repurchasing will not generate the the impression of abundance as consumers abstain from repurchasing. If the PS4 had early access to registering and streaming previous PS store purchases it would ameliorate this problem by offering continued access to the many highly acclaimed games that featured just before its launch. The message to consumers is that late arrivals like The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite, Metal Gear 5 and Dark Souls are not worth purchasing for their intended systems. As a result the "dead zone" before a new system launch will leave the next wave of games without the buzz that makes free advertising or the multiplayer communities they depend on. A fantastic game could become dead on arrival for poor timing. What's worse is that a game that flops for being within the dead zone may not even get reoffered on the next system due to being seen as a commercial failure for the wrong reasons.
tl;dr
It is in the best interest of both the consumer and producer for Sony to make available previous PS3 store purchases through Gaikai streaming, even if the company doesn't realize it. Insisting on the repurchasing of titles for the new console is a disservice to the consumer and a short sighted and damaging policy for Sony.
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has just confirmed that current-generation PSN titles won't transfer across to the PlayStation 4. The company admitted last night that PS3 games wouldn't be compatible with the latest console, but has added that it will try to make titles playable "in some form." Because the architecture of the Power-PC-based PS3 and x86-based PlayStation 4 are so different...
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/21/sony-psn-games-wont-transfer-to-ps4/
Yoshida has told Polygon that it could be possible for PS4's future cloud services to recognise users' PS3 PS Store purchases, if Sony should "choose" to make it so.
"We could do so if we choose to," he said. "We know who purchased what as a record. But we are working on service plans and we haven't decided."
www.computerandvideogames.com/392842/update-purchased-psn-games-could-be-transferred-to-ps4-yoshida/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/21/sony-psn-games-wont-transfer-to-ps4/
Yoshida has told Polygon that it could be possible for PS4's future cloud services to recognise users' PS3 PS Store purchases, if Sony should "choose" to make it so.
"We could do so if we choose to," he said. "We know who purchased what as a record. But we are working on service plans and we haven't decided."
www.computerandvideogames.com/392842/update-purchased-psn-games-could-be-transferred-to-ps4-yoshida/
If you have a moment, open the above spoiler to understand the context of this thread.
My intention here is to generate some kind of presence here on the forums that Sony will take notice of. At E3 its spokespersons were quite proud to be listening to the fans. This is a good opportunity to make good on that claim.
Sony has not been clear on whether or not purchases made on PS3 at this point are going to be available for transfer to the PS4. What we do know is that the physical media, such as bluray discs, will not be read on the PS4 due to vastly different architecture. While it certainly saddened people to hear that their physical games would not be backwards compatible, there isn't much excuse for digital purchases to share the same grievance.
As Yoshida mentioned in the spoiler above, the Sony Entertainment Network and Playstation Store have records of purchases made within the PS Store. Trophies, movies and shows will transfer without a hitch to the new network. It knows what you own. The issue is that games optimized for interpretation with the cell architecture will not be compatible with the new architecture. That's an unavoidable interference but I'll make the case below that it shouldn't be insurmountable in bringing consumers their purchased content.
Yoshida already knew that with Gaikai streaming of the PS1, 2 and 3 games it could be possible for older games to be played through the streaming network without processing on the consoles themselves. This server operated emulation would work around limitations of the console and software by bridging the gap between them. We know that they intend to have streaming software available. And with PS+ now being mandatory for multiplayer we expect that the cost will be funding these servers anyway.
What I'm calling on Sony to do is follow through and do what's fair to the consumer, not even because it's nice, but because it is mutually beneficial to both parties. Sony simply needs to have Gaikai and PS Store reciprocate data and grant permissions for software streaming on titles already purchased. We know they have the records and we know they have the hardware. All they need to do is put the two together.
From a business perspective why would they do that though? Surely, a company needs to cover it's bottom line and skim savings at every corner wouldn't want to experience the increased server loads and not be able to double or triple dip on selling the same software every generation, right? Well, actually, with their records I think they'll see that players may purchase a "classic" game they had once upon a time but the number of people willing to purchase a title repeatedly sharply tapers off. Sure, there are the people who will buy Final Fantasy 7 every generation at $5 a purchase but these people are far more rare and their $5 purchases pooled together won't compensate for the damage done nickel and diming consumers.
The damage I speak of is not rhetorical. Consoles' early lives are known to be fairly barren of worthwhile purchases. The major companies wouldn't say this but they put so much advertising and publishing into dealing with this issue that they surely are acutely aware of it. The PS3 suffered from a PR dilemma when it first arrived. For the first few years it was blasted as a console with "no games." The WiiU is currently suffering the same fate and is already losing developer support for this very reason.
People don't buy systems with bad libraries and systems that don't sell lose the developers that would create good libraries. The system that has the image of more available titles will sell more. Titles made available which demand repurchasing will not generate the the impression of abundance as consumers abstain from repurchasing. If the PS4 had early access to registering and streaming previous PS store purchases it would ameliorate this problem by offering continued access to the many highly acclaimed games that featured just before its launch. The message to consumers is that late arrivals like The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite, Metal Gear 5 and Dark Souls are not worth purchasing for their intended systems. As a result the "dead zone" before a new system launch will leave the next wave of games without the buzz that makes free advertising or the multiplayer communities they depend on. A fantastic game could become dead on arrival for poor timing. What's worse is that a game that flops for being within the dead zone may not even get reoffered on the next system due to being seen as a commercial failure for the wrong reasons.
tl;dr
It is in the best interest of both the consumer and producer for Sony to make available previous PS3 store purchases through Gaikai streaming, even if the company doesn't realize it. Insisting on the repurchasing of titles for the new console is a disservice to the consumer and a short sighted and damaging policy for Sony.
