Support NeoGAF

[Memorabilia]

This is obviously not the "counterpunch" for anything.

1. It is just a test.
2. It is limited to Poland.
3. It is movies, not games.
4. It is an added benefit

And...? The rather obvious point is Sony is testing add ons to gauge market interest. The problem is it has zero to do with games.

 

[THE DUCK]

I see why it's free, the offering of movies and TV shows is serious weak sauce. Not sure what they are testing here, how to under impress a customer? I guess it's a test of the integration system. But it's certainly not going to test to see if gamers really want something like this or not, the selection is 1/100 of the size it would need to be.

 

[Jigga117]

Funny as shit

 

[Barakov]

 

[Clintizzle]

PSA: More value for what you are paying is a GOOD thing.

 

[Mr.NiceGuy]

And...? The rather obvious point is Sony is testing add ons to gauge market interest. The problem is it has zero to do with games.

If this is what Sony had in mind for a "counterpunch" to GP its pretty underwhelming to say the least. Games and movie/TV services have been silo'd successfully bc that's what the market generally prefers. People mostly don't buy a game console to watch movies any more than they buy an Apple TV or Roku to play games. Yes, some people might but most don't. Yes, there is some possible value add to the crossover. But there are at least a couple big reasons why the "All in One" media push of the Xbone largely failed, one of them being that gamers don't give a shit about this sort of thing.

The other big reason is that movies/TV shows have to some degree been "devalued" as a potential value add even to those who do care by the variety of other, better services with far more content. Hell, even torrents have to factor into this to some degree. Shows and movies are ubiquitous at this point, an overflow of content and not enough time to watch it all and a big, bulky, electricity sucking space heater isn't the first choice for most people to consume it all when a 3 watt Roku or Firestick (or thumb drive with downloaded movies) can do the same thing for pennies per show.

mmmm, so Sony adding a video sub to PS+ is distraction to gaming.

Lets see what was your response to Sony not adding 4k movies to the PS4Pro (A feature that has nothing to do with gaming):

The "less is really more!" Defense Force hand-wringing is particularly out to lunch. Personally, I'd have definitely purchased a Pro if it included a UHD drive. I fully expected it to and penciled in a pre-order. Instead - because of the lack of the UHD - I picked up a Xbone S and will wait until Scorpio drops and the Pro gets a price-cut to maybe pick one up. I'm definitely not alone in my circle of friends/family in terms of being surprised/disappointed the Pro doesn't play 4K UHD discs. For casual gamers looking for a good deal on a UHD player (a much, much bigger market than "hard core gamers") it would have been a no-brainer, similar to how the PS3 was the first BR player for a lot of families who also occasionally play games. Cost of materials would have been offset by more sales.

I fully expect a Pro v2.0 revision (or, worst case, the PS5) to include a UHD within a year or two...which makes the Pro feel like a stop-gap that isn't future proof as a media player. As to the equivocating about the Pro being a "4K streaming device"...newsflash: True 4K streaming does not exist due to heavy compression on services like Netflix, Amazon, etc...people. Compounding the problem are 10s of millions of people stuck with poor internet infrastructure and/or bandwidth caps. End result is "4K streaming" doesn't generally look as good as a 1080p BluRay. And for much of the population that isn't going to improve any time soon (think in terms of decades, not months or years).

Don't get me wrong, for a lot of the population, DVD and relatively shitty streaming quality is still "good enough", which is why BR and UHD remain smaller pieces of the pie. But for people who want the best available VQ and are looking for a premium product to display their movies in UHD glory optical discs are the only way right now. And for many that's what dictates buying choices.

 

[Memorabilia]

mmmm, so Sony adding a video sub to PS+ is distraction to gaming.

Lets see what was your response to Sony not adding 4k movies to the PS4Pro (A feature that has nothing to do with gaming):

Your response literally makes zero sense altho it appears to be an attempt to deflect. Try again.

A missing UHD drive is a rather relevant piece of hardware in a head to head comparison and, af the time, was a glaring omission for someone like myself who prefers to collect 4K UHD physical discs vs Xbox One X/S.

Furthermore, as noted many times in many posts since then, I later purchased a PS4 Pro anyway bc I wanted to play GAMES at higher framerates, despite the missing UHD drive. And, Sony corrected this mistake of UHD drive omission WITH PS5.

Your response is nothing more than a piss poor attempt by a Sony console warrior who doesn't possess the basic analytical ability to understand that you are conflating two completely unrelated issues.

Edit: and, by the way, you people who search thru post histories to try to attack the messenger rather than engage in the debate at hand are fucking *weirdos*. Get a life.

 

[Mr.NiceGuy]

Your response literally makes zero sense altho it appears to be an attempt to deflect. Try again.

A missing UHD drive is a rather relevant piece of hardware in a head to head comparison and, af the time, was a glaring omission for someone like myself who prefers to collect 4K UHD physical discs vs Xbox One X/S.

Furthermore, as noted many times in many posts since then, I later purchased a PS4 Pro anyway bc I wanted to play GAMES at higher framerates, despite the missing UHD drive. And, Sony corrected this mistake of UHD drive omission WITH PS5.

Your response is nothing more than a piss poor attempt by a Sony console warrior who doesn't possess the basic analytical ability to understand that you are conflating two completely unrelated issues.

Edit: and, by the way, you people who search thru post histories to try to attack the messenger rather than engage in the debate at hand are fucking *weirdos*. Get a life.

Boy, I don't have to even argue, the posts are all there.

You got caught, deal with it.

 

[Memorabilia]

Boy, I don't have to even argue, the posts are all there.

You got caught, deal with it.

Got "caught"? So, you can't think OR read? Christ you warriors are bizarre weirdos trolling post histories to make irrelevant points.

For the peanut gallery: missing UHD drive (important to physical 4k movie collectors like myself) is NOT the same as adding a small catalog of Sony digital movies (as a piss poor competitor to Game Pass). Apples and oranges. You're a

 

[Hitchyhero]

The naming of the service seems like its trying to purposely confuse which console offers gamepass and which console offers videopass

 

[Memorabilia]

The naming of the service seems like its trying to purposely confuse which console offers gamepass and which console offers videopass

That's an interesting point I hadn't thought about. I don't know if it's purposefully meant to be confusing but using the word "Pass" in the marketing does imply they are piggy backing on the success of Game Pass by conflating the naming scheme. Regardless, it does seem like a half assed attempt to compete with Game Pass without actually adding games.

 

[Hitchyhero]

After all the comments about Gamepass, I was expecting a large portion of PS gamers to come out with:

"I don't like renting movies, I like to own them. And I don't like Sony curating movies for me, I'd rather just get the movies I want. So this service is terrible"

 

[TimFL]

Maybe their response to Gamepass is bundling other media services with PS Plus.

That‘s totally PS+ money well invested.

Not.
I can think of a million things that‘d be better than yet another shot at a media service / bundle by Sony which I‘m not interested in anyways.

 

[megreotsugua]

After all the comments about Gamepass, I was expecting a large portion of PS gamers to come out with:

"I don't like renting movies, I like to own them. And I don't like Sony curating movies for me, I'd rather just get the movies I want. So this service is terrible"

It has been argued time and time again that we consume videos and games differently.

 

[MonarchJT]

perfection