It’s our second Ready Up Grudge Match and this time we’ve got two writers arguing whether they think the “Welcome Back” package Sony is offering in compensation for the downtime is good enough. Sony are offering all PS3 users the choice of two games from a list of five and PSP users another two games from a different list of four. Unfortunately for Sony, some gamers still aren’t happy with the offer, with the age of the games being a common complaint – but do they have the right to complain? Or should they just be grateful they’re getting anything at all? Have your say on the forum.
 Mark:Sony have now officially released all the stuff they’re giving away as part of the Welcome Back package and well, I’m not particularly happy with any of it. As people have pointed out, it’s compensation from a free service and so I “can’t really complain about it”. But you know what else is free? The NHS, and people complain about that all the time, so I’m damn well going to complain about this. As was recently disclosed to the public, everyone who had a PSN account before 20th of April gets the choice of two games, from a list of five, to download and keep for free, which is good in theory, but not for everyone. I find myself in a very particular situation with this whole thing, because just under half of the games on offer I’ve already played or already own. Of the other three games, one is of a genre I dislike, another I have zero interest in and the last one… well, I kinda want that one, but only by a process of elimination. Sure, these really just affect me personally, but I’m not the only one in this position – a fair amount of Sony’s most loyal customers have already played most if not all of these too. The way I see it is it’s like Sony has specifically picked some old but popular games for the list to make it look like they’re not being tight-arsed, when in actual fact a lot of people already own or have played them, and so won’t pick them for their free download. Instead, they’ll pick the newer games that will cost Sony roughly the same amount of money, or less, to give away for free. However, even if the older games are picked, they’re still so cheap that Sony’s vast hoard of wealth will still come out relatively unscathed. Personally, I’d have been pleased if the list included more of Sony’s recent blockbuster titles. Things like God of War 3, Killzone 3 and Little Big Planet 2 would have, had they been on the list, shown me that Sony wasn’t just trying to rake around in the bargain bin for cheap shit they could throw our way in the hope that it would make up for everything. Even if we only had the choice of one game from the list of five, I’d have been overjoyed had the list been five blockbuster titles. Hell, even if the list only had one blockbuster title – and one that wasn’t an ancient relic – and we’d still only had the choice of one, I’d have been happy. But that’s not the case, so I’m not happy. What I’m trying to say is that this is not simply a matter of me moaning because I’m not getting precisely what I want; it’s a matter of principle. To my mind, Sony hasn’t really tried to make up for anything – they’re simply trying to make it look like they are, while at the same time making sure they don’t lose too much of their precious, precious money. |
 Paul:Sony’s Welcome Back package is not only generous but in my eyes it’s above and beyond the call of duty. Not only are all these games of exceptional quality but they run the gamut of genres from fun family games like Little Big Planet to the stunning futuristic combat racer Wipeout HD (with FURY DLC add on). These are some of the best games released this generation. However, the masses have reacted with some people complaining that they already own some of those games. “What do I do?” they ask. Clearly they have been screwed out of something. It seems Sony hasn’t done enough to assuage their sense of unjustness and seem quite certain about what would be appropriate remuneration. “Why not give me Game X? I want that game.” The very fact that that game is on their want list is precisely why they haven’t been offered it. In the cycle of a game’s release and sales projections chances are the game they want for free is one that is currently deemed desirable. That means they stand a much higher chance of selling than older games like Wipeout that, while not as desirable, are nevertheless fantastic games. For Sony (or any business for that matter) giving away one of these desirable games would be considered bonkers. No successful business would ever give away a product when they could sell it instead. A game’s projected sales are factored in during their development and taken into consideration if a sequel is planned and cutting that sales cycle short would be utterly bananas. If they did give away a more recent game it would not only make no business sense, but no doubt ensure eBay/Game would be flooded with second hand copies, in effect killing the game’s prospective sales stone dead. Another ubiquitous complaint is: “I already own 4/5 of those games, this makes me angry”. Well, it shouldn’t. When you purchased those games then surely you took a second to evaluate the cost to you and whether the experience and enjoyment you receive from it would justify your fiscal outlay? You have purchased those games and supported their developers. I fail to see how this entitles anyone to a different set of free games – a unique list created solely for them. Sony clearly chose five games so that the chances of someone owning all of them are slim and if someone does (still) own all five, then they represent a small minority and should understand that a company with millions of users cannot bend to the whims of individuals. If someone owns four of those games already the onus is then upon them to look forward to and enjoy their gratis game. The other one I have heard is “Why not just give us PSN credit?” This is my personal favourite. So why doesn’t Sony just give away money? Moreover, why would anyone think they should? I was without PSN for a few weeks and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t annoyed. I had just bought a few new games and was very much looking forward to playing online over the bank holiday weekend. However, I have received free online gaming from them for four years so while I was not overly enamoured with Sony over this whole debacle I could still see that it was Sony that was subject to “cyber crime,” (I love that phrase, it reminds me of Cyber City OEDO 808). This criminality has cost them a massive amount of money as well as no doubt hurt some relationships with developers. For me this makes them the victim in all this and is why I appreciate their humble, numerous and frequent apologies during what is probably the worst time for the PlayStation brand since its inception. What I expect from Sony is a refocusing of their online strategies, increased emphasis on security and for them to continue providing free online gaming as well as using this downtime to really do some work on the infrastructure. I do not expect to get anything for free from them. This is because if a game is worth it to me I will buy it. I pay artists for their paintings and musicians for their music so I have no problem paying for entertainment. Their humble offering of free games as well as free PS Plus service and free Identity Theft programme with insurance of up to a million pounds I think is quite incredible and they should be applauded for doing this. |
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