Rumour that PS3/PSP/Vita store is to permanently close

[ArugulaZ]

Bad news for owners of legacy Sony consoles. If you want to access your account on a Vita or PS3, you'll have to get a special temporary password... your regular password is no longer good enough. You might as well jailbreak 'em, folks... the sunsetting of these two systems is under way.

 

[MetManMas]

Not surprised. Even when Sony reversed course on the planned closure a while back, it struck me as a decision made primarily 'cuz they weren't about to pass up all those potential sales.

It sucks for sure, but the PS3 and Vita are both platforms that Sony no longer manufactures new consoles or releases new games for and the big sacrifice the PS4 made to be affordable was backwards compatibility. With licensing how it is, they can't keep all those games up on the digital stores forever.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

If you want to access your account on a Vita or PS3, you'll have to get a special temporary password... your regular password is no longer good enough.

I... I don't understand what this means. I'm watching the video in a bit after I get some other stuff here done, but... I can't think of any way this could possibly be good, or even "oh, it's not as bad as it sounds."

 

[Positronic Brain]

They are also removing account management from PS3 and Vita - odds are they are introducing breaking changes to the API and upgrading the protocols that authenticate your console to the PSN network, and they don't want to invest resources into upgrading the firmware to support it (we're talking about a significant saving here - depending on what they are changing in the background it might be a beefy technical challenge, given the PS3 age)

 

[Pombar]

Huh, I tried to log in last night and my password didn't work, I guess this is maybe why. Guess I need to move to jailbreaking. Hacked firmwares seem so unstable though...

 

[Patrick]

I'm probably going to hack both, but I'm going to wait until I'm in the mood for a project.

 

[YangusKhan]

What impact does this actually have on playing PS3 games? Like... you can't get trophies for them anymore? Is that it?? Other than not being able to buy games, of course.

 

[ArugulaZ]

If you've already downloaded them, nothing, I guess. I think Sony has a DRM system where the games you've purchased are assigned to your specific console, so you don't have to be online or connected to PSN to use them. Microsoft does something similar with the Xbox.

If you've purchased games before but want to download them again, that's where things become a hassle. You'll have to get online with your PS3 using a special temporary password, and if you've jailbroken your console, you're probably not going to be able to access the PSN store. I'm also hearing that they've made transferring games between your PS3 and Vita difficult or even impossible. This stinks, as the Japanese PSN store has a TON of great exclusive PSOne and PSP titles, and this move by Sony is going to make it pure hell to try to put them on your Vita. (You can have only one log in for your Vita at a time, unlike the PS3 which lets you use several, each from a different territory.)

 

[ArugulaZ]

Is there a silver lining to this news? Maybe! It ain't easy access on your Vita or Playstation 3, but it's SOMETHING.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1526712511591874561

 

[Ludendorkk]

I have zero confidence that a bunch of the rarer games are on old PSN will make it to the new service

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

I just bought Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Legends 2, and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne so I would have an easy way to stream them (and not have to dig up the discs). That would be helpful, but last I saw, none of them were on that list.

 

[ArugulaZ]

In "hell if I know where to post this" news, the new PS Plus has recently launched with a metric buttload of games. Sony claimed earlier that some of these games would be available free of charge to people who purchased them on other systems. Has this happened yet? Is there currently a list of the legacy games available to customers who already bought them on PS3 and PSP?

 

[Sprite]

The list of classic games is pretty chintzy at the moment, but I can confirm I was able to download Jumping Flash! without subscribing. I couldn’t download any of the PS1 Final Fantasy games because the versions on PS Plus are the remastered versions rather than the classic versions.

 

[Sarge]

It's letting me download Wild ARMs, and I don't pay for any PS Plus service. Very nice.

 

[Violentvixen]

Is there a list of the free ones or do you have to search on the console? I've been poking around on the Sony website and am not seeing anything.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Are these games you already got on PSN before? Or are you just able to download free games now?

 

[gogglebob]

The list of classic games is pretty chintzy at the moment, but I can confirm I was able to download Jumping Flash! without subscribing. I couldn’t download any of the PS1 Final Fantasy games because the versions on PS Plus are the remastered versions rather than the classic versions.

Are these games you already got on PSN before? Or are you just able to download free games now?

I was able to download PS1 games I had purchased in the PS3/Vita era without issue. I currently have Wild Arms, Jumping Flash!, and Ape Escape immediately downloaded and ready to go despite not subscribing to the new service.

That said, I suppose the same is not available for PS3 titles? I literally was just playing Tokyo Jungle on my PS3, so I know it is part of my account, but it appears that is exclusively streaming on the service, and in no way available without subscribing despite already "owning" it. I'm not missing something, right? I get the whole "streaming vs actual download" thing and how it would impact actually having to pay for servers and whatnot, but as a "simple" consumer, it seems completely arbitrary what is available and what isn't.

Sony is more or less just serving to annoy me with this service so far... Though Wild Arms (1) does have ridiculous enough trophies to justify the endeavor...

 

[jpfriction]

Are these games you already got on PSN before? Or are you just able to download free games now?

I think it’s just games you previously purchased. The only “freebie” for me was one I know I bought before. Wild Arms is ten bucks or whatever with my lowest level ps plus sub.

 

[gorha]

It looks like the games you can download if you bought them before are the PS1 and PS2 Classics, which you can also buy on PS4 now if they're part of the new subscription service. I do wonder whether someone who jumped through the hoops necessary to buy them on PS3 would be able to download them on PS4. It would be a nuisance, but they were cheaper there. The native PS3 games are streamed like they were with PS Now, and streaming them to a modern device is subscription-only whether you own them in their original form or not.

Also, the PS* Classics are technically new releases, which means they have trophies and different emulation options than on PS3, but also means they're displayed as PS4/PS5 games, with no way to separate them from any other PS4/PS5 release on the store.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

I think it’s just games you previously purchased. The only “freebie” for me was one I know I bought before. Wild Arms is ten bucks or whatever with my lowest level ps plus sub.

Ha, thought that sounded too good to be true, and Jumping Flash, which I never got before, wasn't showing up as a free download. For a moment there, I thought I was missing out on something.

That said, fingers crossed for the Mega Man Legends trilogy.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Apparently Namco and Capcom's respective Playstation games won't be given to players who've already purchased them on legacy systems.

 

[Sarge]

Darn. I've got quite a few of those.

 

[MetManMas]

Apparently Namco and Capcom's respective Playstation games won't be given to players who've already purchased them on legacy systems.

Yeah, there isn't even an option to buy them separately from the expensive new PS+ plan like some of the other PSone games, even though they're also emulated and not streamed.

 

[Positronic Brain]

I hope this means well get new retro games in Europe, at least. I’d kill for Dewprism or Dragon Quarter.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Apparently Namco and Capcom's respective Playstation games won't be given to players who've already purchased them on legacy systems.

Well, fucking boo to them, then, I guess.

TBH, if they release a MM Legends Collection, though, I'm willing to call it more than good.

 

[R.R. Bigman]

I busted out my Vita to see if the PS1 Resident Evil games were on it’s PSN store. I forgot that Sony made it arbitrarily harder to log in on that device. Baloney.