PS3, PS Vita, and PSP stores to close permanently in July and August

Been really busy and didn't really respond to everything I wanted.

Originally posted by Jmanghan

I don't wanna emulate, I wanna enjoy it the way it was meant to be played. I ****ing HATE having to emulate games.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
Also, David Jaffe, the person behind the "God of War" and "Twisted Metal" series', made a video in defense of this:

YouTube video

I agree with most of what he said, and think the "preservation" crowd should watch. I've said this before, but the games don't just up and disappear once a store closes. They still exist, but you can't buy them. It is perfectly preserved for historians and gaming museums though. That was what "game preservation" was supposed to mean, like with any other art form. It's there for documentation and not necessarily public consumption.

And he's right: it's almost a fake concern about games preservation anyway. The folks who complain aren't out donating to preservation efforts, helping retrieve game design documents, or contacting these developers. In fact, the emulation community does more for games preservation than nearly anyone else.

Additionally, game preservation efforts are primarily aimed at uploading games to computer databases. Digital is simply the best way to store them long term. You can duplicate, back up, and restore digital things. They're, objectively, much more resilient than physical media. If you truly care about preservation, you should embrace digital games.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
Nope.

For example, particularly on PSP and Vita (which is how I prefer to play PS1 Classics), Final Fantasy VII is no longer playable on there because of expiring licenses.

To be fair that's the only one I know from personal experience.

Originally posted by Smasandian
When has this happened?

My understanding is that every legitimate store allows you to download the titles you own...even if the license retires from that specific store.

Microsoft probably handles the old, delisted digital games things best. You can re-download delisted 360 games to your Xbone or X/S with no hassle. If you have to do the DRM thing, that's the way to go.

In all honesty, I predict that will be the future. The digital era had some growing pains, but with backwards compatibility becoming the norm once again, I don't really see it being a problem moving forward.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
Hard copies are the difference between 20-30 years and 5-10 years functionally forever on digital. There's plenty of games I don't own.

And even then, everyone is assuming you can't just redownload previously purchased games, despite Sony already allowing you to do that.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
There are some PSP games that cost a LOT of money, and now if I want to play them without being a dirty pirate I'll have to shell out tens, sometimes $100+ dollars for a single game.

Ys I & II can reach $300+. Most of the Ys games are commonly found at $150+.

Geez, sorry I can't pay hundreds of dollars for just one game, thank god I bought them on the store before all this kicked off. [/B]

But, even that isn't true. It's not "piracy" in any meaningful use of the term. If they remove your ability to actually purchase the game, then emulate away. Make no mistake: Once a game/system is no longer supported, the developers/publishers won't get any money from you buying a physical copy from some dude on Amazon. You'd just be handing $100+ over to a random schmoe who happens to own it.

PSNow also includes many old titles from previous consoles. Streaming old catalogue has become a bit of a norm too. Nintendo offers a service to play their old NES/SNES games. Companies could probably make at least some money uploading their old games to a database and charging a small rate like that if they want folks to use official routes. I'm totally willing to pay for convenience like that, especially for games I missed out on.

Originally posted by StyleTime
You're confusing digital games with Sony digital games. Again, this is only due to Sony's DRM practices. If you had the same game on GOG, it would be yours to duplicate, save, or do whatever else you wanted with it.

And even then, everyone is assuming you can't just redownload previously purchased games, despite Sony already allowing you to do that.

Yeah, but you're willingly eliminating your options, then blaming it on digital. I say you can emulate. You say you want to play on the "intended" platform(despite you playing PS1 games on PSP). I say you can emulate on your PSP, then you say it's dirty piracy.

But, even that isn't true. It's not "piracy" in any meaningful use of the term. If they remove your ability to actually purchase the game, then emulate away. Make no mistake: Once a game/system is no longer supported, the developers/publishers won't get any money from you buying a physical copy from some dude on Amazon. You'd just be handing $100+ over to a random schmoe who happens to own it.

PSNow also includes many old titles from previous consoles. Streaming old catalogue has become a bit of a norm too. Nintendo offers a service to play their old NES/SNES games. Companies could probably make at least some money uploading their old games to a database and charging a small rate like that if they want folks to use official routes. I'm totally willing to pay for convenience like that, especially for games I missed out on.

I mean, again my dude, I don't own them on GOG, though, I bought them on the PS store, and yeah again I'm hoping they do let you download still.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
Wasn't PSNow shut down years ago?

I mean, again my dude, I don't own them on GOG, though, I bought them on the PS store, and yeah again I'm hoping they do let you download still.

I sympathize there, especially since PSP games are harder to find. If Sony removes your ability to re-download things, then I will totally agree it is ****ed up. 👆

I'm saying... I WANT to play the official versions, I don't like hacking devices period.

I've owned several PSP's, PS3's, tons of gaming systems, I have never attempted to jailbreak, mod, or hack any of them.

This is mostly because I like things to be permanent, quick, and easy, and not have the risk of ruining my system ever.

About the Final Fantasy VII thing, it was from personal experience. I downloaded it onto my PSP, it was in the "Expired license" section (this wasn't a rental or demo), and I was not allowed to play it on there for whatever reason because the license had expired, I can try redownloading it again and seeing if it'll work this time but I can't imagine it would.

PS3 and PS Vita, for the record, worked fine.

Believe it or not I have played PSP games in less-then-legit ways, but without CFW (which you can do on PSP for free, it's how I first beat Ys: OiF), but I deleted em because it just felt... odd? One of the games corrupted my memory card tho, not fun.

Maybe this is just plain stupid, but I like to keep things legit, even if it's a major detriment to me financially.

Yes, I paid $99 for that copy of Ys Seven, and I don't regret it. -Shrugs-

Also yes, you could play them functionally forever, unless something happens to the company hosting it, however unlikely. "Do you realize how dumb it sounds to talk about Sony or whatever company shutting down?"

I mean yeah, but meh, I guess the problem is they SHOULD be public consumption, not for museums.

I really don't care how amazing VR experiences are or how outdated traditional gaming is going to get.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
I'm saying... I WANT to play the official versions, I don't like hacking devices period.

I've owned several PSP's, PS3's, tons of gaming systems, I have never attempted to jailbreak, mod, or hack any of them.

This is mostly because I like things to be permanent, quick, and easy, and not have the risk of ruining my system ever.

About the Final Fantasy VII thing, it was from personal experience. I downloaded it onto my PSP, it was in the "Expired license" section (this wasn't a rental or demo), and I was not allowed to play it on there for whatever reason because the license had expired, I can try redownloading it again and seeing if it'll work this time but I can't imagine it would.

PS3 and PS Vita, for the record, worked fine.

Believe it or not I have played PSP games in less-then-legit ways, but without CFW (which you can do on PSP for free, it's how I first beat Ys: OiF), but I deleted em because it just felt... odd? One of the games corrupted my memory card tho, not fun.

Maybe this is just plain stupid, but I like to keep things legit, even if it's a major detriment to me financially.

Yes, I paid $99 for that copy of Ys Seven, and I don't regret it. -Shrugs-

Also yes, you could play them functionally forever, unless something happens to the company hosting it, however unlikely. "Do you realize how dumb it sounds to talk about Sony or whatever company shutting down?"

I mean yeah, but meh, I guess the problem is they SHOULD be public consumption, not for museums.

I really don't care how amazing VR experiences are or how outdated traditional gaming is going to get.

My whole point in all this is that folks blame digital games, but the actual issue is shady DRM practices and stupid company policies. I only bring up stuff like GOG because it shows that DRM free digital games exist, and completely shoots down that idea that you don't own your digital game. If Sony decides not to let folks re-download stuff, then that is a Sony thing. Not a digital games thing. I would love to talk about improving DRM policies on major platforms, but I can't even get there when I have to correct misconceptions about digital games in general.

I think the need to "own" things is overstated anyway, but it's such a sticking point for the anti-digital side and they need to understand that it's not true. You can own your digital games, if certain platforms would stop being assholes. GOG (and Steam in some cases) is really setting a good example, and we need to pressure other companies to do the same.

Is official now btw.

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-store-shut-down-ps3-vita-psp

Nice find Ridley.

"According to a PlayStation Support blog, customers will still be able to re-download and play previously purchased games and video, and still redeem games and PlayStation Plus vouchers."

According to this, you are free to re-download your already purchased content after the store closes. If true, then 👆

Originally posted by StyleTime
Nice find Ridley.

"According to a PlayStation Support blog, customers will still be able to re-download and play previously purchased games and video, and still redeem games and PlayStation Plus vouchers."

According to this, you are free to re-download your already purchased content after the store closes. If true, then 👆

Sounds good

time to spend some cash on the PS3 store before it closes.

Originally posted by StyleTime
Nice find Ridley.

"According to a PlayStation Support blog, customers will still be able to re-download and play previously purchased games and video, and still redeem games and PlayStation Plus vouchers."

According to this, you are free to re-download your already purchased content after the store closes. If true, then 👆

...But I'd feel way better if there was some setting keep the ability to download should all go wrong?

I'm guessing also the PSN store will be active in some capacity after it closes, So you can do the re-downloading of purchases that you've done.

https://twitter.com/pslifestyle/status/1376923801007493120?s=21

... Oh.

Yeah, very scummy of them.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
A question comes to mind, would you be able to download stuff if Sony went under? That's the million-dollar-question for me. I know that's kind of a resounding "no".

...But I'd feel way better if there was some setting keep the ability to download should all go wrong?

Originally posted by Kazenji
I'm guessing also the PSN store will be active in some capacity after it closes, So you can do the re-downloading of purchases that you've done.

Originally posted by Ridley_Prime
https://twitter.com/pslifestyle/status/1376923801007493120?s=21

... Oh.

Originally posted by StyleTime

I'm hearing that anything with cross buy for PS4/5 will still be available to purchase even after the store closes.

I'm talking about the things that you've bought on the PS3 store, I'm guessing the store will be active in some capacity after it closes. So you can do this

"customers will still be able to re-download and play previously purchased games"

YouTube video

mmm

Originally posted by StyleTime
Is that actually true? I haven't owned a PSP in years, but I can't seem to find anything supporting that. I heard there was a bug that stopped games from being playable, but it was apparently fixed?

I'm downloading FFVII on my PSP rn buddy, for the record I hope it does work! Maybe I just downloaded it when that bug was going on (I bought it and didn't really play it for a long time.)

Half-way through the download, so my fingers are crossed.

Pain in the ass getting on the PSP store these days, Last time i tried it out i had to go into my internet settings and change something just so it could ****en connect.

Originally posted by Kazenji
Pain in the ass getting on the PSP store these days, Last time i tried it out i had to go into my internet settings and change something just so it could ****en connect.

Oh, and good news, you can still buy on the PSP store. I wasn't able to buy stuff on there for a bit so I figured they quietly removed the ability to do so, but turns out you can still buy on there.