This is my very first blog so forgive me if I sound a little naive. I wanted to discuss this because of the certain issue I'm sure a lot of you have had to deal with today. I just finished downloading a little game called Grand Theft Auto V on my PS3, which took me approximately 15 hours to download. 15 HOURS, and it is still currently installing and has been for about 20 mins now. I am very glad I took the intuitive and decided to download it late at night at 1am, because if I did other wise I wouldn't be able to spend my day off playing this game. I think it's a little unfair what Sony did with not allowing us to preload the game, because as I thought when first hearing the news that it was gonna cause some serious problems. I WAS planning on buying the game via Amazon, and having a physical copy shipped but w afraid that it wouldn't arrive here on time, on my day off, since this is last one I'll have for 6 more days. If they had allowed us to preload the game, like Rockstar said they were going to, I wouldn't have felt the need to write this blog. This may be a sign of things to come with the fast approaching of next gen, which to me is a great thing to happen, but at the same time I can't help but feel concerned about the future. Just imagine how long it would take to download next gen games digitally, especially if you have a bad internet connection. There is also the fact that as soon as Sony discontinues PSN on PS3 in a few years, that my digital copies may be useless. I'm no saying that Digital gaming is a bad thing, I'm just saying that we really have more control over the things that we paid for, and have the right to download our digital games a little earlier. I know that this was probably a precaution to deal with hackers and such, but still it should have been nothing to worry about. I only hope if that's not possible, that there should be some kind of solution in slimming down the file size of next-gen games, because I think that what we have experienced today is just the tip of the iceberg.
Thanks for reading
What are you thoughts? Did you all have the same problem today?
Square Enix will announce a new title in the Life is Strange series on January 20 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:0 p.m. ET, the company teased.
Where Winds Meet on PS5 is a wuxia MMO with strong action combat, open-ended exploration, and plenty to do if you like setting your own pace.
Travis Bruno of Capsule Computers writes:
"It is hard to believe that there would be a time that not only would the Western releases of The Legend of Heroes franchise manage to catch up to the Japanese releases of this incredibly lengthy franchise, but that the game’s that helped kick it off would be getting remade at the very same time. A few months ago we reviewed the fresh remake of Nihon Falcom’s Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter and now here we are, visiting the most recent release in a story featuring characters and plot elements spanning all the way from that very first game twenty-two years ago. It’s not often that a video game sequel requires full knowledge of its predecessors, and in many ways The Legend of Heroes tried to do that with Daybreak, but now that everything has gathered together in The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, players best be ready for the most character packed, lore heavy, game of the franchise since Reverie."
I think they'll make improvements with next-gen consoles, since they're actually thinking about digital distribution this time around, whereas they likely didn't give it much thought when designing the ps3.
Features that improve the installation process as well as allowing you to start playing a game as it is downloading should make DD a smoother experience.
TheLastOfUs actually already does the latter on the PS3 from what I've heard.
Also, you'll likely still be able to play your library even if PSN goes down. What you might loose is the ability to re-download your game, but playing a digital game you already have downloaded does not require PSN to be online.
Besides, I don't think PS3's PSN will get discontinued anytime soon. Something drastic, like Sony's Playstation division as a whole tanking, would have to happen for PSN to get discontinued. Otherwise, they can use the same servers to distribute content to different consoles.
As for the physical/digital thing. As long as there's a choice, it's fine by me. I generally stick with physical for console games unless a digital version is significantly cheaper.
Finally, gamers are seeing the light.
Blogs like this let us know that plain and simple, we aren't ready for an all-digital generation yet.
If you thought 15 hours was a killer, how do you think PC gamers felt when they had to chug twice that data with Max Payne's 33gb load?
For people who naively say that Microsoft was "thinking about the future", I'm sorry but you're wrong... actually, no I'm not sorry, you're just wrong.
The average next-gen game will probably be about the size of Max Payne 3 on PC or larger, considering that the games won't have blurry, low-res textures anymore and the geometry won't be trash. Heck, even with the extra texture pack and stuff installed, Sleeping Dogs comes out to around 24gb as well. These games are huge.
Can you imagine how big the next Uncharted will be on the PS4? Even with pre-loading it's still a bit ridiculous, but I like that Sony is at least working with ISPs to help boost connection speeds in the UK to accommodate for their digital future. I wish Microsoft would do something similar... without forcing gamers to pay an arm and a leg that is.
On my third download now. Everytime I get to install the game, I get that blasted error at 14%. Hope it works this time.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say your 15 hours is a little exaggerated. If it's not then that does seem like a huge your end problem. I downloaded GTA V to two separate PS3s at the same time about ten minutes after it became available. Both were done within four hours.
Plus with services like Gaikai in the future for PS streaming to many devices I'm a little more reassured about my digital purchases.
Digital sucks hard.Try having to download a game jobs WiFi network being shared by ps3 2 tablets a smartphone and the leeches around my neighborhood.