The bottom line is its something that's very annoying to us and we felt like we weren't the only ones that felt that way. It used to work just fine with downloads going in the background and it didn't negatively effect gameplay. I mean you can download lots of things at once on your computer and it doesn't stop you from browsing the internet does it? This is the same principle and maybe if you had read the article you would know that.

I'm am reading it.

I do agree with DVDs and PS2 software shouldn't affect the downloads, but you get completely signed out of PSN and your internet connections on both occassions, whether or not that can be changed, remains to be seen.

Sony aren't at fault here for the online portion of games, though. There's companies like EA who insist on you being connected to their servers at all times. GTAIV had problems because it always connects online, streaming data to Rockstar's servers for online stats (you disconnected from PSN and it never crashed, pre-patching).

Fact is, the set up is pretty standard, it's not Sony just being asses and stopping downloads, DVD background downloads would be nice, Blu-ray may face problems with BD-Live though.

I imagine because it slows down downloads substantially.

Even on PC with a 10MB/second line, with only 2 downloads open, you can cut the speed by a fair number.

It's just not really worth having multiple downloads, since, what exact purpose would it have, having 5 downloaded games at once?

If they're in a que, you can at least play/watch the first download, while the others continue.

If you think it's slow you must have a crappy internet connection.

I noticed this problem too, but its not a big deal in reality, but I guess when someone needs things to nitpick against the Ps3 they will go out on a limb.

inFAMOUS while my Uncharted 2 beta downloaded. I believe the game just needs no online aspect of it.

I wish they would change this.

It just won't notify you that your item(s) are done downloading until you exit the game to the XMB. You don't have to be signed into PSN to keep your content downloading that's from the store. It depends on the PS3 game for this situation. Some PS3 games will pause it automatically, some won't. I think it has something to do with the developers. Ratchet and Clank TOD doesn't pause your downloads. I haven't had a problem with this feature at all. It only pauses them when I play a game online. If it didn't, I'm pretty sure it would lead to a laggy game and you or someone else would be complaining about that(that they don't pause automatically).

Background downloads are selective and this applies the same to the 360 as well. If you're playing a game that requires (or is constantly connected to the network) your download will pause. However, if you're playing signing that you have to manually sign in to be taken to the online portion then the download continues. You can't have multiple data streams running at the same time and this has always been the case - the same applies to 360.

i thought it only stopped when you played online games... i've gotten "Download Completed" messages while playing games...

If you play Cod4 single player, itll download in the background. If you go online, itll pause. Simple as that.

Same thing happens on the 360. What point is this retard trying to make? It's obvious that downloading something as big as a demo, greatly decreases your internet speed while playing online and even surfing the net. This guy should just get a new job.

I've had the PS3 since launch and I know for a fact that anything downloading would be paused immediately when you launch a PS3/PS2/PS1 title. However, lately I've had things downloading and actually continue to download while playing a PS3 title, but sometimes it does not notify me that the download is complete. Other times it pauses like it used to. Was this part of some update we didn't know about?

Some of the author's problems don't match mine, but they are similar. For optional/mandatory updates for PS3 games, usually on my (crappy) Linksys connection the update stops at about the 7% mark and I have to back out and try again. I can get it to complete about 1/10 times. For anyone with this particular problem, I find that it goes away if you wait at the notification screen for the update (Yes or No option) for about a minute. The update tends to go through without a problem then.

I've never experienced this. If I download four demos at a time, one will finish, and the next demo will start to download. I don't understand where he's coming from.

I finished the article and I see where the writer is being stupid. He basically listed all the instances where the download would not go through. In other words stop playing games online, stop watching blu-ray movies, stop playing PS2 games. They never removed the downloading feature, heck I've played PS1 games and saw the "Your Download is Complete" pop-up.

the ps3 will only background download during game play if the game doesn't connect to the internet. and even if it just connects to a ticker like EA sports games the downloads will stop. that's why most people notice this during campaign play.

I have no problem with this... the download will stop ONLY if the game require an internet connection..., also, for the GAY @number 1, my PSN avarage download speed is 500kb/s.... its not slow, its your connection that is 90% satured due to your gay-porn download :(

This is the problem nowdays =/ people are becoming less patient with new technologies.

10 years ago, you would be fine with any download taking about a day, even for a song...

Now days you'll find people getting stressed out because something takes 5 minutes...its worrying =S especially because we're loosing the a sense of patience and being too comfortable with getting everything we want instantly...

God knows how it will be when if the intenet crashes xD /jk

What problem? That they can't stop complaining about unexistant things?

watching a DVD or bluray signs you out of PSN. starting a game and going online puases the download. going on to PSstore pauses the download.

Seems to me that any game that has a network/online component will pause the background download. Seems fair enough to me.

Not sure if this is the rule though, as I've not looked in to it enough - it's definitely game dependant. It's just not an issue for me. The article is nothing more than a whine.

If background downloading worked in every game, the person who wrote this article would probably compain about lag in online games as their download was sucking up bandwidth! :)

.... will this person get a life. Honestly.

I think the PSN speeds have been uped 10x's over seriously, I say this because yesterday I downloaded 4 PSN demos and 1 trailer in like flippin 8 minutes. I just went out the room to eat and when I came back everything was done, I was like WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! !!!! this has never happened to before, normally downloading one 100Mb demo take about 10mins, but this time I also had Fight night 4 downloading with the other 3 & it was like the speed of lightning seriously.

SONY = quality
MS = flopity

If the game your playing is 'online' then it pauses downloads, if your not playing online the downloads carry on in the background. Is this really a problem ?

The article is lame and not correct at all. Some games don't pause the downloads, others do.

it depends from what you're playing, if you are playing a game that use online broadband connection (Cod, Warhawk, etc) the download stop, if you are playing a game that don't need online for his functionality (Eternal Sonata, silent hill, etc) download doesn't stop.

when i read what he wrote i knew that he doesn't own PS3 for godsake stop posting those stupid articleS in n4g

its not slow its just your internet i have 20mb broadband not the best but i get about 8mb sometimes 10mb and takes me 20mins to download nearly anything even r2 beta that was 2gb that took me only 30mins tops

@nlvwit..

dont say sony has crappy hardware your console is the worst built out of the 3 MS has lost millions from RROD you have fans at the bottom of the 360 so if you lay your 360 down it generates alot of heat stop being a troll dumbass

Now the complain is because the DL paused while playing a game, priceless.

Just use the option on the PS3 to turn off automatically when all dl are finished. What a tool

on either. You CAN que up multiple downloads on both. They both dl in the background on single player games unless it is 1 with drop in/out at anytime (Gears-R6:Vegas 2, ect).

the download will pause if you play a game online. If its a offline game like Infamous the download will continue to download.

Sony servers are really from the future. I have a 2mbit/s connection and I am downloading 2-3 mbit/s from PSN- wirelessly. I can't even get those speeds from my main CPU wich has the broadband connected to it.

It is kind of annoying if I am downloading something from the PSN and want to play a game or watch a BR movie at the same time but I can live with it.

Most of the time I know what I want to download in advance and do it whilst doing something else. Like if I am watching TV I'll use my PSP and go download something from the store to my PS3 via remote play, which is simply awesome.

I'm not sure what this is about really. I got my PS3 in March of 07 and downloads from the store have worked the same way since that time as far as I can tell. If I select multiple things to download, one will be downloading and the rest will be pending. I can't think of a single player game (that I've played) that stops this, but I know online games will pause the downloads. I can use my web browser while things download also, but it's noticeably slower so I usually pause the downloads myself before I browse. I'm not sure why you would want to (A) have everything download at once, making all downloads slower or (B) play online while you download, causing lag. This is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

To be fair, downloads only pause when you are playing games that access an online component, even if it is only passively accessing an online component. If you are playing a game that does not access an online component (not even an online leaderboard), then the downloads continue in the background.

wow the author is such a douchebag...

Now that Jim Ryan is gone just need to remove Herman Hulst from his position! And maybe give Shuhei the position he deserved.

This gen hasn't been the best for games, last gen consoles are still out there and now there's been talk of the PS6 and Xbox Two for a year or so. Many games this gen will be ported to next gen and the cycle will continue. The re-release of the Neo Geo AES+, games on cartridge for £70 ($95), gaming is going back in time. Gaming has gone pricing mad with the high cost of games, consoles and controllers. The men and women at the top are clueless.

It’s always interesting to hear behind-the-scenes stories like this, especially involving veterans like Shuhei Yoshida and leadership figures like Jim Ryan. That said, there are usually multiple sides to decisions at that level. It could be less about not “listening” and more about differences in long-term vision for PlayStation. Yoshida played a huge role in shaping the brand, so whatever the reason, his impact is undeniable.

If true, and I'm inclined to believe it is, it goes to show that Sony lost their way when they became more western/didn't respect the PlayStation origin story. Andrew House and Jack Tretton did great work, but they also didn't try to fundamentally change the PlayStation DNA. Ryan oversaw the death of Japan Studio and a live service direction.

I already figured this, good lord imagine if Shuhei took over instead, would've been a platinum era 😩

I miss the first three generations of PlayStation. The way they turned PS3 around, we knew they meant business. We were all worried for a bit there around launch. Eventually from 2008 they started shifting slowly. But since Yoshida was fired, it's never been the same. Still enjoy my PS5 daily. I got a backlog dating back to PS2 lol So I'm fine but new games aren't as appealing anymore.

It seems like we were thrown on to the worst timeline possible where everything is too expensive and the wrong people were put in positions that makes the world a shitty place. We could have had Shu as the head of PS but we got the shitty alternative. Same goes for everyone in power around the world. Doesn’t matter the company or country the majority of us got the shitty picks and the world is declining like never before. I do think PS can come out of this because of their studios, talent and IP but they need someone more in touch with gamers leading things like Shu was. They’re still the best place for console gaming imo but it could be much better than it is especially without the massive live service failures. The rest of the world I have a lot less hope for right now. Hopefully the pendulum swings back towards the good ole days but I’m preparing for the worst.

There goes illuminati distraction story

So now there's certifiable proof that Ryan was in fact "fired", as opposed to when it was first announced that he "retired", in order to save face.

There's another guy who recently "retired" as CEO of another large gaming company, after doing a dismantling job as lead for well over a decade.

seems legit, the business man, fires the one who has ideas to move the business forward.

Jim Ryan is the reason why we are entering year 6 since the PS5 launch and many of us don't feel like the PS5 has gotten started as yet.

I hope going forward, we will see a return to form.