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[OldJadedGamer]

Which is why I welcome PS+ so very much! Automatic patch download is a blessing.

Only if you launch the game first. I downloaded like 7 games from PS+ then the next day I found that none of them patched. You have to load it up first, get to the we have to patch screen then back out. It was pretty annoying to do for each game when I wanted to play.

But I had the exact same issue with the exact same game. That patch took forever to the point where I played it unpatched and just waited till the next day so it would patch itself overnight.

Patches are not mandatory, just cancel and play.

For games with online they are.

 

[Uraizen]

Imagine downloading HDR from PSN to play with friends, just to boot it up and find out you have to download a "patch" the size of the entire game. Seriously, what the fuck. What's worse is that the private lobbies in that game are still broken.

 

[Apdiddy]

I get annoyed trying to download any patch on PSN because it just loves to knock off my entire home network from access to the internet and knock my router offline before restarting. Then it either downloads the patch very slowly or times out altogether.

 

[Delusibeta]

Imagine downloading HDR from PSN to play with friends, just to boot it up and find out you have to download a "patch" the size of the entire game. Seriously, what the fuck. What's worse is that the private lobbies in that game are still broken.

Pretty much. That's one thing Steam has got right: all the patches are in the initial download, so when it's downloaded it's also all patched up. Granted, that initial download might be significantly larger (TF2 has gone from being a 3Gb game including the common Orange Box engine files it shares with Portal and the Half Life 2 series to a 10Gb+ monstrosity), but you don't get presented with a "Patch again" screen when you attempt to boot it up. GOG and the Humble Bundle is also pretty good at updating builds, although they don't have any formal way of patching outside of re-downloading the entire shooting match again.

 

[MotionBlue]

The weekly "omg patching" thread for the week.

Right on schedule.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

PS3 has the worst user experience of any console (and PC with Steam) for sure and I don't think that can really be argued. This is coming from someone whose main console is the PS3 (although I game mostly on PC). Even if you have PS+ it is like a bandaid on a system wide (and probably unfixable at this point) problem. Hopefully they fix their shit next gen.

 

[alr1ght]

I get annoyed trying to download any patch on PSN because it just loves to knock off my entire home network from access to the internet and knock my router offline before restarting. Then it either downloads the patch very slowly or times out altogether.

Yeah that sounds like a PSN problem...

 

[Agent X]

I don't like downloading a game and then having to download one or more enormous updates. They really need to figure out a way to apply the patches to the initial download. As others have mentioned, it would save bandwidth, cut down download time for the user, and put less stress on Sony's servers as well.

Probably comes down to costs, have to recertify the whole game again.

Does any of these digital download services (Steam, Origin, XBLA etc.) update the full games with the latest patches by the way?

Every nintendo service since the beginning.

True, Nintendo does that.

On the downside, though, Nintendo also doesn't push out patches for games (at least on Wii). So if you've download a WiiWare game and then an update becomes available, you must download the entire game again anyway if you want the update. On top of that, there's no patch notification system--you won't know a game has been updated unless you happen to go to the Wii Shop and download the game again.

One step forward, two steps back.

 

[Hydrogen Bluebird]

Hypothetically speaking, if he downloaded a 2.5GB game, then had to download a 700MB patch on top of that, he doesn't end up with 3.2GB of game content. It means that a substantial portion of the 2.5GB he originally downloaded (up to 700MB of it) was out of date and was replaced with the patch.

Seems like a perfectly legitimate question to ask why the obsolete ~700MB out of 2.5GB in this example wasn't just replaced with the most recent files to begin with.

This.

 

[Nuklear]

I have PSN Plus and my PS3 downloads all patches while I sleep so it's a non-factor for me!

 

[Melchiah]

700MB? While it's a large patch, it shouldn't take long to download. 10-15 minutes in my case. Just go and make a sandwich or something.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I have PSN Plus and my PS3 downloads all patches while I sleep so it's a non-factor for me!

Shouldn't have to be forced to pay money to fix the problem and even then it isn't a fix, it is a work around.

PS3 has the worst user experience of any console (and PC with Steam) for sure and I don't think that can really be argued. This is coming from someone whose main console is the PS3 (although I game mostly on PC). Even if you have PS+ it is like a bandaid on a system wide (and probably unfixable at this point) problem. Hopefully they fix their shit next gen.

The shortcomings really become apparent when you are using other systems and can compare.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Why doesn't Sony just replace the versions of games on PSN with the most updated versions when a patch is released? This way, those who purchase the games will be able to download the latest versions and won't have to patch the games before being able to play.

Because Sony runs an online store about as well as Babu runs a restaurant.

 

[androvsky]

I get annoyed trying to download any patch on PSN because it just loves to knock off my entire home network from access to the internet and knock my router offline before restarting. Then it either downloads the patch very slowly or times out altogether.

Do you have an older router, like an old WRT54G that's still on factory firmware, and have UPnP turned on in the router's settings? I used to have the same problem, the PS3 would request some special setting from the router, and so the router would have to reboot in order to comply, and this would happen every time I turned on the PS3 or signed into PSN. Turning off UPnP in the router fixed it for me.

 

[Zoc]

This is one of lots of little things that add up to making the PS3 annoying to use. Some other things:

Downloads must be manually installed.

The list of games can't be composed of files and folders. If I make a folder of games called "finished" or "play later" or something, anything not in those folders gets put into a folder called "unknown."

Games can't be put into folders in batches, they must be done one by one.

Games can't be deleted in batches, can't be deleted in the background, and sometimes take over a minute to finish deleting.

Games can't be reinstalled except by going back to the store's download list and manually scrolling through the entire list, demos and all.

The list of games can't be different for different users, so my wife has to sort through my giant list of shooters and weird arty games to get to Pixeljunk Monsters, even when she's logged in to her account. She also has to change the system language each time, because that setting doesn't follow the user, either.

 

[Fix The Scientist]

A few weeks ago i tried to play Uncharted 2 multiplayer with my cousin, the whole process of getting this going was an absolute fucking nightmare.

First i had to download and install 9 patches, all of which downloaded at extremely low speeds, then the game had to sync livedata which took almost an hour plus at least 5 errors where it threw me back to the main menu... Then when i finally got into the multiplayer menu i was blasted with a pop up message telling me to go back to the playstation store and download the latest dlc and be up to date with maps and game modes, dlc was 250MB and took another 30 minutes to download and install. I'm utterly sick of psn.

 

[Vane_MagicCity]

PS3 has the worst user experience of any console (and PC with Steam) for sure and I don't think that can really be argued. This is coming from someone whose main console is the PS3 (although I game mostly on PC). Even if you have PS+ it is like a bandaid on a system wide (and probably unfixable at this point) problem. Hopefully they fix their shit next gen.

No, the Wii has the worst user experience. It takes forever to even load the store and then more loading with each button you press and then when you finally get to the download, it takes forever to download an SNES game.

My two Wii's can't even stay connected once a download starts, on average it takes 3 or 4 tries before a download succeeds. Both the DS and 3DS do much better than the Wii.

Not saying the PS3 is great, far from it but it's not the worst.

 

[XOMTOR]

PS3 has the worst user experience of any console (and PC with Steam) for sure and I don't think that can really be argued. This is coming from someone whose main console is the PS3 (although I game mostly on PC). Even if you have PS+ it is like a bandaid on a system wide (and probably unfixable at this point) problem. Hopefully they fix their shit next gen.

Don't know if it's the worst as I have no experience with Wii or Xbox but the PS3 has been a pretty big letdown for me aside from the few exclusives I've purchased for it. Bought my PS3 as soon as the Slim was released and built a gaming PC shortly after; as soon as I got on Steam, it quickly became apparent how antiquated the PS3/PSN experience is.

Hadn't turned on the PS3 in months but I picked up Red Dead Redemption from Wal Mart on the weekend and of course as soon as I fired up the game, there was a patch waiting not to mention a firmware update for the PS3 as well.

Another annoyance, why can't there be optional installs for disk based games? What's the point of having a huge hard drive if you can't install games to it? I'm playing with headphones but the wife is reading on the couch and she says the Blu-ray drive is going nuts. Sure enough, I removed the headphones for a bit and RDR is accessing the BR drive hard and it's pretty damn loud; sounds like the game is trying to murder the drive.

 

[JaseC]

They are automatic, but aren't background downloads. I'd just add them to the dowload queue instead of to stop the console activity to download this stuff.

Background downloads are a feature of PS+, although as you imply it seems there are exceptions as to when it can be used. There's no specific mention of game updates being an excluded data type, however, and a cursory GS suggests it is indeed possible to download said content in the background.

 

[Orca]

Just start posting that you found an exploit that unlocks the PS3 in the unpatched version of whatever game it is you think you might buy. It'll be the patched version in no time.

 

[Agent X]

Hadn't turned on the PS3 in months but I picked up Red Dead Redemption from Wal Mart on the weekend and of course as soon as I fired up the game, there was a patch waiting not to mention a firmware update for the PS3 as well.

To be fair, though, these are both unrelated to the original complaint. PS3 firmware updates are not as frequent as some people make it out to be. They usually come out about once every 2-3 months. If you haven't turned on the system in months, then it's not unreasonable to expect that there might be a firmware update waiting for you.

With regard to Red Dead Redemption requiring you to download a patch, that's not an unreasonable expectation, either. If you had to sit through several patches to play RDR, then I could see this being an issue worth complaining about.

 

[likedamaster]

I've had this complaint for ages now, can't believe it finally comes up on Gaf. lol.

I've only read the first 2 pages, but I'm surprised no one has pointed out that the 360 DOES NOT DO THIS with their games, at all. Unless, the patch arrives after you purchase the game, you receive the game with patch included all at one time for any game.

It's the most annoying thing on psn right now along with having to confirm EVERYTHING you do on the thing, TWICE.

 

[Degen]

I like it when a game makes me download a System Update and then a "Version 1.02" patch and then a mandatory install before I get to play it

just kidding

i don't like it at all

 

[Arla]

This thread proves people just get used to companies fucking them over. Peoples answer is, just dont update? Just play the game with flaws so glaring it needed an a huge update? Come the fuck on. The worst is, let it update and do something else. You just downloaded the fucking game and want to play it. Do something else? Jesus christ.

OP makes a very important point. These things should be updated on the fucking store already. It wasn't downloadable but I remember when I wanted to play ACII one night but it had an update and install. Both took over an hour and I fell asleep before playing.

 

[Maastricht]

I agree with the op. I imagine they did it originally because it is more test work, but hopefully they'll find a way to do better ...

360 has a limit on patch sizes that is a mixed blessing though.

By the way, there was a lot of interesting info on patching (and other stuff) on PSN on this weeks Playstation Nation podcast, with stuff like patches up to 3GB being free on PSN, except when you have to patch in the first days after release, publishers getting their money 1 month after purchase on PSN in EU and 3 months in US, and in EU digital downloads being required to have the same RRP as brick and morter.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Fucking patches are a killer on PS3.
Oh just got my new copy of Socom 4 can't wait to play.
HUGE ASS PATCH detected fuck, guess i'll go on the computer until its done.

Really no way to fix it though, since sometimes you don't want the game automatically patched look at Fez on 360. It's a damned if you do damned it you don't situation.
I just find ways to deal with it and manage the time accordingly.


*Also nothing is worse than a huge patch and a huge install.
Its a 2 hit combo of dissapointment. Would hate to go to a midnight launch and deal with that crap when I got back.

 

[Gxgear]

This is different than PC/Xbox how?

 

[phosphor112]

As a man who almost completely refuses to buy an xbox and get xbl sonys patching system is broken. Having to update a newly purchased game with SEVERAL patches isn't okay. I have PS+ but when you buy an online mp game and have to sit through updating for several hours just to play, its bullshit.

 

[dallow_bg]

This is different than PC/Xbox how?

Clunkier/intrusive process and extremely long waits if a game has multiple successive patches.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Clunkier/intrusive process and extremely long waits if a game has multiple successive patches.

Nailed It

 

[dallow_bg]

Nailed It

Yeah, I love PS3 and PSN games but its unfortunately the truth.

Hope they learn next system.

 

[blu]

True, Nintendo does that.

On the downside, though, Nintendo also doesn't push out patches for games (at least on Wii). So if you've download a WiiWare game and then an update becomes available, you must download the entire game again anyway if you want the update. On top of that, there's no patch notification system--you won't know a game has been updated unless you happen to go to the Wii Shop and download the game again.

One step forward, two steps back.

Those two steps back are largely addressed in the 3ds eShop, where you have update notifications in both automatic and manual form, i.e. the shop greets you with the list of updates pertinent to you, but you can also check them from a menu. No seamless background download of updates, though - those come as explicit downloads. It's pretty much AppStore-like, sans the incremental patches - all updates are complete games, AFAIK.

 

[Infinite Justice]

the multiple successive patches are fucking horrible

Even worse for games that have been out for a long time

 

[XOMTOR]

To be fair, though, these are both unrelated to the original complaint. PS3 firmware updates are not as frequent as some people make it out to be. They usually come out about once every 2-3 months. If you haven't turned on the system in months, then it's not unreasonable to expect that there might be a firmware update waiting for you.

With regard to Red Dead Redemption requiring you to download a patch, that's not an unreasonable expectation, either. If you had to sit through several patches to play RDR, then I could see this being an issue worth complaining about.

Steam does it properly. If there's an update to the client, it won't start downloading unless you start Steam and leave it running idle in the background for quite a while. It will never require you to update immediately upon launch so you can start playing right away, even multiplayer games. After you quit a game, then you'll get the notification.

As for RDR, I bought the Greatest Hits version so I don't see why the latest build of the game wouldn't be on the disk. Yes the original complaint was regarding games off PSN which is even worse; those should always be the most recent builds.

 

[test_account]

Every nintendo service since the beginning.

True, Nintendo does that.

On the downside, though, Nintendo also doesn't push out patches for games (at least on Wii). So if you've download a WiiWare game and then an update becomes available, you must download the entire game again anyway if you want the update. On top of that, there's no patch notification system--you won't know a game has been updated unless you happen to go to the Wii Shop and download the game again.

One step forward, two steps back.

Thanks for the info So Nintendo patches the games, requiring everyone to download it again? That is good for the first time buyers, but could maybe suck for excisting users, especially if the game is big in size.

 

[Saint Gregory]

I think the worst PS3 patching experience I've had was GT5. I bought the game at launch but never had time to play it. Fast forward about a year and I finally decide to fire the game up for the first time and it wants to download updates.

OK, I can wait a little bit longer...

...


...


...

the updates didn't finish until the next morning

I appreciate all the work they put into adding new content to the game though.

 

[Writer_Head]

Already updated games? That would be great!, I hope we can see it in the next gen.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Never seen a patch that big before, usually it doesn't take more than a minute or 2 to get patch and play. Not an issue with me.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I think the worst PS3 patching experience I've had was GT5. I bought the game at launch but never had time to play it. Fast forward about a year and I finally decide to fire the game up for the first time and it wants to download updates.

OK, I can wait a little bit longer...

...
...
...

the updates didn't finish until the next morning

I appreciate all the work they put into adding new content to the game though.

Hot Shots Golf took me close to 5 hours to patch if I remember correctly.

Fucking patches are a killer on PS3.
Oh just got my new copy of Socom 4 can't wait to play.
HUGE ASS PATCH detected fuck, guess i'll go on the computer until its done.

Really no way to fix it though, since sometimes you don't want the game automatically patched look at Fez on 360. It's a damned if you do damned it you don't situation.
I just find ways to deal with it and manage the time accordingly.

*Also nothing is worse than a huge patch and a huge install.
Its a 2 hit combo of dissapointment. Would hate to go to a midnight launch and deal with that crap when I got back.

I've been conditioned to know that I cannot play a PS3 game after I buy it. I always make sure I have an extra hour of time when I first put it in before I can play. So I usually will put a disc in first when I'm ready to watch a TV show or have nothing going on or want to play a game on another system.

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

didn't know that xbla also had the same problem as psn regarding downloaded store games not being already updated, even though the patching system is very different. psn and xbla really have a long way to go until they match steam.

 

[Saint Gregory]

Hot Shots Golf took me close to 5 hours to patch if I remember correctly.

Patches are one of the best and worst things about this gen. It's given devs the ability to add content to games or fix a game breaking issue they missed during Q&A but it's also given some publishers the ability to force broken games out ahead of schedule and break up features that would have been in the games and turn them into DLC.

I'd like to hope that things will get better next gen but at the very least Sony has to clean up their game patching system. PS+ helps a lot for games you've played already but god forbid you buy an old game or let one sit around in your backlog.