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PlayStation Network Thread | September 2016

B

Bliddo

Member
Well, I can't buy anything.
Buying from the PSN via browser I get an error like "Your order MIGHT no be processed ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯"
Adding funds to my wallet from the account page results in an error: "invalid card", even if I'm using Paypal (which is working).
Same thing trying from the console.

I tried with Paypal, with a credit card, nothing. I double checked my profile info (but everything was working until not so long ago... I did buy Deus Ex MD)
Anyone else having issues?
 
S

Saphirax

Member
Bliddo said:
Well, I can't buy anything.
Buying from the PSN via browser I get an error like "Your order MIGHT no be processed ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯"
Adding funds to my wallet from the account page results in an error: "invalid card", even if I'm using Paypal (which is working).
Same thing trying from the console.

I tried with Paypal, with a credit card, nothing. I double checked my profile info (but everything was working until not so long ago... I did buy Deus Ex MD)
Anyone else having issues?
Click to expand...

Try in 24 hours. Most likely Sony disabled purchases on your account due to their shitty fraud prevention system. That or PSN is having issues.
 
T

teflontactics

Member
Kresnik258 said:
Nonsense. They relaunched the PS3 slim in great fashion in 2009. And they made all the right moves from Feb 2013 right through to like a year after PS4's launch. It's just since then, they seem to have lost all sense of what made them do so well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that wasn't great marketing - that was them doing what they always do in the same way they always do it. Great marketing was the PSP, and the PS3's initial launch. The rest of this shit has been lol.
 
T

teflontactics

Member
Kresnik258 said:
Okay, now I know you're joking, lol.
Click to expand...

The PSP marketing was fucking fantastic. Sometimes it didn't make sense (those squirrels got into some shit), but it got people talking and it reached a big audience - as the number of sales wouldn't be near as high without it (look at Vita, which was barely marketed at launch and people still mistake for the PSP). They needed to market the PSP to break into the handheld scene, and they did - well. Remember that Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out" commercial where it swaps through people playing everywhere - from the screen's point of view? That sold the PSP to pretty much all my friends. They marketed it, it worked.

The PS3 was marketed like a boss.There were advertisements in theatres all the time, there were regular commercials, and they were always throwing logos at you. It was PlayStation everywhere when the PS3 launched, and people talked about the stuff they were seeing advertised pretty much non-stop. I remember the commercials, the ads, the songs, and the stuff that hyped it (remember "Ladies and Gentlemen" playing to a morphing black blob of games?). It wasn't what made me buy the console, but it's what made a few people I know buy it (no joke)

The Vita wasn't marketed pretty much at all other than a few select regions. I didn't even know it was called a Vita or that it was out until after it released - despite having a PSP and PS3 at the time, and visiting tech and PlayStation gaming websites frequently. I never saw a commercial, a print ad, a price, a name, anything until around November 2012 - after which I promptly did my research and ended up getting one at Christmas time. There were no ads, no commercials, no theatre spots, nothing memorable, no games advertised on TV or websites I frequented, and not even a peep about it in public. No wonder it only sold 10 million or so units, they barely even told us it existed.

The PlayStation 4 did well because it's a PlayStation and it offers the things people want, not because it's marketed well. I barely saw any PlayStation 4 advertising outside of places hardcore gamers would frequent on the internet, don't think I saw a single commercial or theatre tease, and couldn't tell you a god damn thing about it aside from what those posters with the price on them looked like. I bought it because I did my research and I'm a PlayStation kind of guy, but I'm not the average consumer. The average consumer just kept doing what they were already doing - buying new PlayStations.

Their marketing is shit, and if it wasn't they'd have pushed both Microsoft and Nintendo right out of the way this generation. The Wii U flopped hard at launch, and the XBox One garnered a lot of hate with their lock down bullshit that they ended up retracting - and even with that, the PS4 is only beating the XB1 ~2:1 and the Wii U ~3:1. I bet that would be at least 4:1 and 6:1 had they done their job and made the console "cool" to the general public. Most casual console gamers I know are still playing PS3 as their main console for fuck's sakes.

I'm not saying they haven't done well in the past, but their marketing lately is garbage and most of the time they tend to piss people off or bore them more than they impress. They're coasting, and they know it - but they don't care 'cause they're in first by the numbers, and they're making their cash.
 
K

Kresnik258

Member
teflontactics said:
The PSP marketing was fucking fantastic. Sometimes it didn't make sense (those squirrels got into some shit), but it got people talking and it reached a big audience - as the number of sales wouldn't be near as high without it (look at Vita, which was barely marketed at launch and people still mistake for the PSP). They needed to market the PSP to break into the handheld scene, and they did - well. Remember that Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out" commercial where it swaps through people playing everywhere - from the screen's point of view? That sold the PSP to pretty much all my friends. They marketed it, it worked.

The PS3 was marketed like a boss.There were advertisements in theatres all the time, there were regular commercials, and they were always throwing logos at you. It was PlayStation everywhere when the PS3 launched, and people talked about the stuff they were seeing advertised pretty much non-stop. I remember the commercials, the ads, the songs, and the stuff that hyped it (remember "Ladies and Gentlemen" playing to a morphing black blob of games?). It wasn't what made me buy the console, but it's what made a few people I know buy it (no joke)

The Vita wasn't marketed pretty much at all other than a few select regions. I didn't even know it was called a Vita or that it was out until after it released - despite having a PSP and PS3 at the time, and visiting tech and PlayStation gaming websites frequently. I never saw a commercial, a print ad, a price, a name, anything until around November 2012 - after which I promptly did my research and ended up getting one at Christmas time. There were no ads, no commercials, no theatre spots, nothing memorable, no games advertised on TV or websites I frequented, and not even a peep about it in public. No wonder it only sold 10 million or so units, they barely even told us it existed.

The PlayStation 4 did well because it's a PlayStation and it offers the things people want, not because it's marketed well. I barely saw any PlayStation 4 advertising outside of places hardcore gamers would frequent on the internet, don't think I saw a single commercial or theatre tease, and couldn't tell you a god damn thing about it aside from what those posters with the price on them looked like. I bought it because I did my research and I'm a PlayStation kind of guy, but I'm not the average consumer. The average consumer just kept doing what they were already doing - buying new PlayStations.

Their marketing is shit, and if it wasn't they'd have pushed both Microsoft and Nintendo right out of the way this generation. The Wii U flopped hard at launch, and the XBox One garnered a lot of hate with their lock down bullshit that they ended up retracting - and even with that, the PS4 is only beating the XB1 ~2:1 and the Wii U ~3:1. I bet that would be at least 4:1 and 6:1 had they done their job and made the console "cool" to the general public. Most casual console gamers I know are still playing PS3 as their main console for fuck's sakes.

I'm not saying they haven't done well in the past, but their marketing lately is garbage and most of the time they tend to piss people off or bore them more than they impress. They're coasting, and they know it - but they don't care 'cause they're in first by the numbers, and they're making their cash.
Click to expand...

Oh, so we're talking about amount of marketing not type of marketing.

Let me first address type of marketing. I think Sony did a blinding job of it throughout the PS1 and PS2 era. Things like double life and PS9 were weird, but they got a message across - that these consoles help you escape to another world; that they're the future where technology has been heading all this time.

Compare that to what they brought to PS3 and PSP at the time. The weird baby commercial. The weird alien girl commercial. At least the infamous squirrels got the message across, even if they were racist and ridiculous.

Point being, I think arrogant Sony came across well in their advertising during this gen - weird for the sake of weird, they forgot what it was that made their product cool and the advertising reflected this. It was only with Kevin Butler and later on with stuff like "Michael" that Sony started getting a clue.

(And by the way, I'm not saying they weren't weird during the earlier gens, everyone remembers David Lynch's clusterfuck of an advert for PS2, but still).

With PS4, I think they've changed their marketing and made if very "safe". And you know what, safe works. Armies, fighting, community, stuff like that - compare this PS4 advert to this Game of War advert. Fairly similar in premise right? And I know the GoW advert had Kate Upton in which definitely helped sell it, but the point is those adverts turned it into one of the biggest mobile games of this generation from being an absolutely nothing game before.

Now, onto the other topic of actual amount of marketing. I don't really think I agree with you there either. I think Sony's marketing campaign this generation has been fairly smart. Sure, I'm putting Vita to one side for this - but you have to, because it's a failed product and so it's going to be treated as such for marketing purposes (I personally think they tried fine during the first year, with plenty of launch ads alongside stuff during the 2012 holidays - I remember seeing that crappy Call of Duty ad SO OFTEN on TV during that time).

Honestly, the marketing this gen has been a mixture of grassroots movement among hardcore gamers mixed in with heavily pushing certain games. Things like that used game instructional video was shared all over the internet and did wonders. You're saying that's bad marketing, but it's fantastic marketing since it cost next to nothing to make and seemed to convince a whole load of forum-dwellers that PS4 was the cool console.

And regarding volume of adverts, maybe that just differs from country to country, I dunno. I can tell you when I was watching TV it's been plastered with No Man's Sky stuff (mostly clips from that trailer); before that it was Uncharted 4; before that it was Star Wars Battlefront.. Sorry you didn't see them, but they were definitely there :p
 
T

teflontactics

Member
Kresnik258 said:
-snip-
Click to expand...

Safe and garbage are the same thing, really. If everyone played it safe the market wouldn't evolve. If everyone played it safe everything would be the same. Playing it safe is the equivalent of giving up, and is basically telling your customers "We know you'll buy our stuff, 'cause you bought the last one."

How does that benefit anyone?

As for the meme-ish stuff, yeah; I'll admit that was effective as a "Yay PlayStation" anti-XBox meme. As for how much it had an effect on the market though, aside from the bottom line (you can play used games/share discs) I don't think it's very relevant. Yeah, we had a laugh... but did it make the community want to buy a PlayStation more than a simple confirmation would? Not really. Besides, it only really reaches the hardcore gamers that would've found that information anyways.

It seems like anymore PlayStation just tells us the technical details of how things work, and then the community creates the hype. There's almost no PlayStation-generated hype coming from their marketing anymore, as evidenced by the severe lack of clapping at that event yesterday. They show games, but that's not really even their hype - that's borrowed hype for the most part, and they often do that poorly as well. That whole "look at the 4K but you can't see the 4K right now so why are you watching this livestream" thing was completely laughable. Why even stream it then? Just post it in 4K on the blog after.

Their choices are just all wrong when it comes to their audience anymore. Yeah, they're marketing here and there - it's not gone or anything (aside from Vita marketing, which I still argue never really happened), but even when they do, they're not marketing to the audience. They're now marketing to the press and the hardcore gamer, who then processes that information and tells you why you should actually be hyped. It's like the technical and design teams know their audience, and the marketing team doesn't. It's become so fractured and distant.

You say they're playing it safe with marketing, and while I agree with that to a point, I say they're not marketing to you (the people) at all. They're doing the absolute minimum amount of marketing to the people that actually market to you, which is everyone but them.
 
I

incpdo

Member
Psp and ps3 ads were weird but got you thinking , it was a smart move actually, I cannot remember a single ps4 ad, vs all the weird Psp and ps3 ones that I actually can remember. The advertising is smart if it stays longer in your mind. The ads weren't for soccer moms but for the kid itself who wants to buy the console. I don't know I just prefer the weird classic PlayStation adds to this generic and boring " new style"
 
autoduelist

autoduelist

Member
incpdo said:
Psp and ps3 ads were weird but got you thinking , it was a smart move actually, I cannot remember a single ps4 ad, vs all the weird Psp and ps3 ones that I actually can remember. The advertising is smart if it stays longer in your mind. The ads weren't for soccer moms but for the kid itself who wants to buy the console. I don't know I just prefer the weird classic PlayStation adds to this generic and boring " new style"
Click to expand...

your lack of memory really doesn't mean a thing. I remember all those 'you're in the game' type ads quite well, the guy singing, etc.

it's perfectly fine to like the 'odd' adverts -- I did too -- but you can't use your personal taste to judge their overall effectiveness. Clearly, the PS4 sold like hotcakes.
 
I

incpdo

Member
autoduelist said:
your lack of memory really doesn't mean a thing. I remember all those 'you're in the game' type ads quite well, the guy singing, etc.

it's perfectly fine to like the 'odd' adverts -- I did too -- but you can't use your personal taste to judge their overall effectiveness. Clearly, the PS4 sold like hotcakes.
Click to expand...

ok
 
T

teflontactics

Member
autoduelist said:
your lack of memory really doesn't mean a thing. I remember all those 'you're in the game' type ads quite well, the guy singing, etc.

it's perfectly fine to like the 'odd' adverts -- I did too -- but you can't use your personal taste to judge their overall effectiveness. Clearly, the PS4 sold like hotcakes.
Click to expand...

That doesn't really judge their effectiveness either. If Sony brought out the PS5 and didn't say a goddamn thing about it beforehand it'd still sell like hotcakes, 'cause PlayStation gamers who keep up with the times will buy it.

There aren't a lot of things like that any more - but Nintendo systems, PlayStation home consoles, and iPhones are three big ones. All you have to say is "there'll be a new one," give people a price, and a big portion of potential fans will be lining up like lemmings.
 
G

Grimalkin

Member
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but does anyone have the 4.0 update beta and 2 PS4s and have tried the new copy feature?

I saw in the PS4 Pro Ultimate FAQ on the PS Blog that:

You will be able to copy your games, saved data, captured videos and screenshots, system settings, and other content from a standard PS4 to PS4 Pro using a standard Ethernet cable. This process will also work from standard PS4 to standard PS4, PS4 Pro to standard PS4, and PS4 Pro to PS4 Pro provided that both units have system software update 4.00 or higher installed, and the same PSN account is signed into both systems.
Click to expand...

Can you copy just one game or is it the entire system's harddrive? And does it delete the info off the old system?

Really hoping I can use this to copy games from one PS4 to the other, I have a shit bandwidth cap and I can barely download 1 AAA game per month to 1 PS4, let alone download it on to 2 PS4s. Would really prefer to go 100% digital only but my bandwidth cap is keeping me from it. :(

Edit: I would sign up for the beta myself but unfortunately registration's closed.
 
D

deadfolk

Member
Grimalkin said:
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but does anyone have the 4.0 update beta and 2 PS4s and have tried the new copy feature?

I saw in the PS4 Pro Ultimate FAQ on the PS Blog that:



Can you copy just one game or is it the entire system's harddrive? And does it delete the info off the old system?

Really hoping I can use this to copy games from one PS4 to the other, I have a shit bandwidth cap and I can barely download 1 AAA game per month to 1 PS4, let alone download it on to 2 PS4s. Would really prefer to go 100% digital only but my bandwidth cap is keeping me from it. :(

Edit: I would sign up for the beta myself but unfortunately registration's closed.
Click to expand...

I have a related question. I just preordered a PS4 Pro, and am going to have to trade in my PS4 to partially pay for it. Thing is, I have PT installed. If I back up the PS4 and restore it onto the Pro, will PT work?

I know there's still an unknown about if we can restore from a PS4 to a Pro, but if we assume that's possible - should that work? Will it work from one PS4 to another?
 
K

Kresnik258

Member
teflontactics said:
That doesn't really judge their effectiveness either. If Sony brought out the PS5 and didn't say a goddamn thing about it beforehand it'd still sell like hotcakes, 'cause PlayStation gamers who keep up with the times will buy it.
Click to expand...

Sure, the first 10-20m or so, not the 40m who've bought PS4 so far. As evidenced by WiiU's dismal sales.

Anyway, I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this marketing thing. I can see why you're saying what you're saying, but I think you're off the mark with a lot of it.
 
I

incpdo

Member
Well I'm changing a little the subject from the marketing experts to:

I'm pretty excited for world of final fantasy Vita , it looks like a really nice port , the downgrade is basically resolution and lightning effects in a majority, I agree we should see the frames when the busy fighting is happening but I kinda trust in the handheld versions of final fantasy games they were mostly really good versions. Also the ffx hd collection is an almost perfect port for me. So yeah , I'm just wishing this game sales are good enough to justify bringing more square enix games to the Vita in the West.
 
S

Saphirax

Member
incpdo said:
Well I'm changing a little the subject from the marketing experts to:

I'm pretty excited for world of final fantasy Vita , it looks like a really nice port , the downgrade is basically resolution and lightning effects in a majority, I agree we should see the frames when the busy fighting is happening but I kinda trust in the handheld versions of final fantasy games they were mostly really good versions. Also the ffx hd collection is an almost perfect port for me. So yeah , I'm just wishing this game sales are good enough to justify bringing more square enix games to the Vita in the West.
Click to expand...

It also has no MP while the ps4 version will get it in a day 1 patch.
 
A

allintospace

Member
Has anyone ever had a 'View new posts for your community' notification from a community you haven't joined. I got one for a mine craft community I've never even looked up, let alone joined.
 
T

Takao

Banned
Saphirax said:
It also has no MP while the ps4 version will get it in a day 1 patch.
Click to expand...

That's not true. What we know right now is that the Vita version has ad-hoc MP. This is my speculation, but maybe it gets online in a patch later down the line?
 
S

Saphirax

Member
Takao said:
That's not true. What we know right now is that the Vita version has ad-hoc MP. This is my speculation, but maybe it gets online in a patch later down the line?
Click to expand...

I suppose it could, but do you honestly believe SE would bother?

Would be a welcome surprise if they did.
 
R

RK128

Member
I hope everyone is had a good friday today :).

Will be working on a number of Vita-centric articles tomorrow, as I will be releasing previews of Psycho Pass, MeiQ, & Criminal Girls 2 this weekend on 3wirel.

Recently wrote a review for the Vita game Claire: Extended Cut so consider giving that a read if you are interested in learning more about this horror title on the Vita.

Have a great day and lets all have a great weekend!
 
R

RK128

Member
Damn, this thread really is dead :(.

I hope you guys are having a great weekend and that we are all playing great games on our PlayStation platforms :D.
 
B

Benedict

Member
RK128 said:
Damn, this thread really is dead :(.

I hope you guys are having a great weekend and that we are all playing great games on our PlayStation platforms :D.
Click to expand...

Playing Bindning of Isaac on Vita and No Man's Sky on PS4 at the moment.
Bought Dark Souls II for PS4 during the PSN sale and have ordered a cheap copy of Far Cry Primal on disc.
Played Proteus on Vita but that was really nothing for me, boring experience. Thankful I didn't pay for the game.

Also did two playthroughs of Steamworld Dig on Vita. That is an excellent game I'd left unplayed far too long.
 
R

RK128

Member
stan_marsh said:
I'm here!

Lurking so hard.
Click to expand...

Don't blame you honestly XD! Thanks for responding back though :').

Benedict said:
Playing Bindning of Isaac on Vita and No Man's Sky on PS4 at the moment.
Bought Dark Souls II for PS4 during the PSN sale and have ordered a cheap copy of Far Cry Primal on disc.
Played Proteus on Vita but that was really nothing for me, boring experience. Thankful I didn't pay for the game.

Also did two playthroughs of Steamworld Dig on Vita. That is an excellent game I'd left unplayed far too long.
Click to expand...

Steamworld Dig is fantastic and easily one of my favorite Vita indie titles, so you are in for a great experience :D!

Honestly couldn't get into Bending of Isaac no matter how much hours I put into it XD. But I'm happy you like the game :).
 
Hikami

Hikami

Member
RK128 said:
Damn, this thread really is dead :(.

I hope you guys are having a great weekend and that we are all playing great games on our PlayStation platforms :D.
Click to expand...
I'm actually playing games for once instead of buying them and posting on GAF all day instead :p

Pretty addicted to Trails of Cold Steel II. I can see this game taking over Persona 4 as my favorite game of all time if it ends well enough. The first game was just right under Persona 4 for me.
 
R

RK128

Member
Hikami said:
I'm actually playing games for once instead of buying them and posting on GAF all day instead :p

Pretty addicted to Trails of Cold Steel II. I can see this game taking over Persona 4 as my favorite game of all time if it ends well enough. The first game was just right under Persona 4 for me.
Click to expand...

I'm quite busy too (playing a bunch of games for review on 3wirel) so I completely understand XD!

I was just talking to Names the other day regarding the Trails of Cold Steel series and your comments & his really make me want to get the games :). Will be buying both later this year for sure!

To be honest, I barely post on Gaf anymore anyway; focusing on writing news, doing college stuff and playing games.
 
K

Kresnik258

Member
Hikami said:
I'm actually playing games for once instead of buying them and posting on GAF all day instead :p
Click to expand...

Hey, me too! Or I was until the Media Create top 1000 for 2015 was released.

It's been Final Fantasy VII and Trails of Cold Steel (1) for me this weekend.
 
C

Chuy

Member
RK128 said:
I'm quite busy too (playing a bunch of games for review on 3wirel) so I completely understand XD!

I was just talking to Names the other day regarding the Trails of Cold Steel series and your comments & his really make me want to get the games :). Will be buying both later this year for sure!

To be honest, I barely post on Gaf anymore anyway; focusing on writing news, doing college stuff and playing games.
Click to expand...
I guarantee if you like JRPGs then you'll love Trails of Cold Steel but i'd highly recommend playing Trails in the Sky series before playing Cold Steel though.

I've been playing the first one this entire weekend non-stop and really want to finish and enjoy this one so I can start the second one.
 
R

RK128

Member
Chuy said:
I guarantee if you like JRPGs then you'll love Trails of Cold Steel but i'd highly recommend playing Trails in the Sky series before playing Cold Steel though.

I've been playing the first one this entire weekend non-stop and really want to finish and enjoy this one so I can start the second one.
Click to expand...

Will do :). Thank you for the advice Chuy and I hope you have a great weekend man :D!
 
R

RK128

Member
I just published my first impressions of Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness on 3wirel and soon will be releasing my first impressions on MeiQ - Labyrinth of Death.

Will give a link to MeiQ once I finish writing it up but hope you guys enjoy my first impressions posts :D!

My review on Psycho Pass will be up later this week, so wanted to share my thoughts before the games launch tomorrow (Tuesday).
 
C

coredecepts

Member
Played a bunch of Trails of Cold Steel 2 this weekend. Avoiding the CS2 thread, since people always seem to slip out info even when they use spoiler tags.
 
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