TAC Reviews...Playstation 3...Problems...

Date Posted: 23/06/15

I am fully aware that there is now a PS4 console out and so this rant may seem a bit redundant but I have been wanting to talk about this for a while and now I have finally found the time to do so.

In a previous review I mentioned that a while ago my store bought PS3 console broke, now as I was going for the authentic Earther gamer experience I was not using my ship’s far superior computer system to play various games.

I really wish that I had.

Let me give you the lowdown on the main issue with the Playstation 3’s memory system.

So you use the one that comes with it or install a hard drive which is formatted to the PS3 console that you are using, initially I did not really think much of this, it was just something that the system did. It was only after the console broke that I discovered that by formatting the drive it effectively means that there is only one console that hard drive can now be used with…so unlike the Xbox 360 which has a detachable hard drive that can be taken off a broken console, plugged into another one and away you go…if your PS3 console breaks and you remove the hard drive and put it in another, the new console will immediately format the drive thus wiping all of your saved data. To make matters worse the files that are saved on the drive are effectively encrypted so if you try to plug the drive into a PC and transfer the files onto another drive or even save them on your computer it is damn near impossible if your knowledge of human computer systems is a little on the limited side. Most computers won’t find the save data and will record that the PS3 drive is there but is empty or is inaccessible. So effectively if your PS3 dies then all of your saved data, all of your hard work, is gone and unless you can either get your console repaired or are able to get the console to work for long enough to transfer data onto a flash drive then you are fucked.

To me this sounds like a pretty major design flaw with the console, if your console breaks, your data is lost, so hours…and hours…and HOURS of your hard work and dedication is lost to the ether never to be seen again.

Is there a solution to this pretty major issue??

Well, actually yes there is.

It is called Playstation Plus, which gives you the ability to save your data online. So not only are your trophies stored on your Playstation account but you can also make sure that all your data is safe and sound…[…well more or less…]…on the internet, therefore if your console breaks, your data is saved, so you buy a new console, log into your account and boom there is all your saved data.

Okay, well that isn’t so bad, yes you cannot transfer data between consoles unless both consoles are working, or transfer stuff onto a flash drive unless your own console is working. Yet the makers of the console have recognised the design flaw and given players a simple way to make sure that if your console fucks up then at least when you buy a new one you can put your hard drive into a new console and get all your data back.

Ask yourself a serious question…do you really think this feature is part of the Playstation Network to protect players like me from losing all of their saved data??

Of course it fucking isn’t

Now this is when Sony demonstrate that they are not going to just let a major design flaw in their console be something that they acknowledge and provide a nice and simple solution to…NO…they use it as a means of shamelessly cashing in it to drain money from the pockets of fans loyal to the console. You see, saving data online is only something that you can do if you pay to have Playstation Plus, as you know I am not interested in playing games online, and to have a subscription to an online feature that I cannot see myself ever using just so I can guarantee my data is safe if the console breaks is a massive dick move by Sony.

I have been a fan of the console since the original Playstation and I find it absolutely infuriating that this major problem has been used to try and sell another feature of the Playstation Network, a network that as we all know has been hacked before, if saving online had been a feature that was given to players then I would have no complaints but it doesn’t. If you want to protect your data you have to pay for the privilege which proves that Sony is not interested in the loyalty of fans or gamers, all they are interested in is money, I think Angry Joe’s Corporate Commander is working in the background to make sure that every possible penny is being drained from players.

I am a big fan of the Playstation 3 console, and until mine broke I would have said it was one of the best consoles ever because it has a built in blu-ray player, and this came out at a time when blu-ray players were around £400 mark so for Sony to make the PS3 blu-ray compatible was a stroke of genius. I know people who own PS3’s because it can play blu-ray DVDs and for no other reason, they aren’t interested in playing the games but wanted to be able to play blu-rays.

I do not understand the thinking behind some of the decisions made by the higher-ups in Sony, when my PS3 console went tits-up I was thinking about getting a PS4 and if it had been backwards compatible I would have bought one, but it wasn’t, so I didn’t bother as I had plenty of games that I wanted to play on the PS3 and it was not worth getting a PS4 which would have basically been nothing more than an expensive paperweight.

Would it be that difficult to have given the PS4 the ability to play PS3 games??

After this I decided that I would forgo the human gamer experience and just play games on my ship’s computer system rather than trust another console that can fuck up whenever it wants to and take my save data with it. Locking off the option to save online to those players who have no desire to have a feature they will barely use is just a dick move and seriously damaged my opinion of Sony.