The TSA PSN Store Survey
We're looking at you, the PS3 public, to tell us what you think of the Euro PSN Store.Published 09/03/2009 at 8:30 by nofi
Neo Geo Coming To PS3 [10]
Free Fl0w On US Store [55]
Dante’s Inferno Demo Incoming [29]
Every week since we can remember we’ve put up the PSN Store contents, usually on a Thursday. But now it’s your turn to give us the goods: we want to know what you think of the PSN Store, and in particular the European one. Take your time, select the choices that apply to you personally, and vote away. The polls are AJAX powered, so just go through each one in turn, clicking ‘Vote’ after each question in the poll.
Feel free to leave comments, but please don’t let the comments affect your voting decisions – vote, then read the comments, if you will. Voting is open to guests of the site as well as our cherised registered users, so feel free to tell your friends about this. We will pass this to SCEE once we’ve collated all the results. Thanks for your time guys, we appreciate your honest answers.
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Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
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m4rkst4rling | 09/03/2009 09:10
Member
22 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I think the European store needs more content and features – like the US Store!
Topov81 | 09/03/2009 09:18
Member
253 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
Good survey… the problem for us Europeans without an official blog is it’s difficult to provide feedback directly to Sony – hopefully this should help.
My answers probably reflect most others (so far at least), but here’s a couple more observations :
1. I understand that for various reasons, some content is delayed in the EU. Things are getting better in that respect but upon the release of a title only in the US store, it would be nice if SCEE could tell us when to expect it in the EU (eg. Bejeweled?).
2. Prices seem to have shot up over the past 6-12 months for PSN games. Titles such as Toy Home, Super Stardust, Calling all Cars, PJ Monsters & HC Bowling were under £5 if I remember correctly. I don’t mind AAA titles such as Wipeout HD being £12 are they could have been justified as a retail release, but titles such as Soldner-X, Magic Ball, Lumines & GTI Club at anywhere between £8-12 seems a bit steep.
3. Releases of PSOne games and particularly Arcade/Retro Classics (MKII, Championship Sprint etc) seem to have dried up completely. Games like this seem perfectly suited to the store… I’d love to see more of these, although only at a reasonable price (again the PSOne games seem to be creeping up in price too).
Doofer_Nasenmann | 09/03/2009 09:22
Member
152 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Europe-Store isnt even the same in all european countries. In Germany we miss out on nearly every demo/game that is rated M. We had no Resident Evil, we had no Fear, we had no Killzone…
But the single most annoying thing about the store is the absolute absense of descriptions. The downloads have no explicit description of its contents! I always have to check the web to see that a LBP Level pack does not contain levels. Or even if I know that, I dont know what else is in there. There definitly has to be a complete list of contents for each and every download.
But that is equally shitty on every store around the world.
Gadbury | 09/03/2009 09:22
Member
48 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
Good post Topov81,
I would also like to see Sony address some of the issues outlined in the SCEE Equality Appeal petition:
http://www.sceeea.com/?page_id=29
Cheers!
Vandix | 09/03/2009 09:28
Member
1189 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
The only thing I really miss are the PSN Cards, because I don’t have a Creditcard and I’m not getting one just for PSN. If they would introduce the PSN cards to the EU I’ll buy a lot of PSN content.
Paragonknight | 09/03/2009 16:33
Member
3 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
You can use a debit card if you have one.
Pixl1983 | 09/03/2009 09:30
Member
487 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Great idea this.
I think the store as a whole has some excellent titles and it seems to be a breeding ground for fresh ideas and generally good DLC. Sony have made sure that their big hitters are expandable and have great support that is on going. The beauty of DLC is that it’s not mandatory. The ugly side is that some of it should have been released on the disk.
There is one thing that the PSN store has over XBLA and for me this is the deal breaker, no size limit. This has meant that titles like flower, that don’t warrant a disc release, aren’t limited to how much of the PS3’s graphical power they can use, are expandable and aren’t cut back or compromised.
It also gives Sony the opportunity to release full games on the Store. Having the option of this is excellent and of the five games (Warhawk, Wiperout, GT5 P, Burnout Paradise and Forbidden Siren) on there, four are perfect for their capability of longevity and continued support.
3shirts | 09/03/2009 09:45
Member
2405 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
Surely the Trophy thing is a non-issue now since all games have to have them.
smokeybeef | 09/03/2009 09:47
Member
276 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
How often do you check the PSN Store?
I put every Thursday as I assume that is my choice for “once a week”, I rarely actually check on Thursday itself.
Legroom | 09/03/2009 09:49
Member
56 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I agree with Pixl about the size limits on PSN content, but if you read Nofi’s Sunday Thought from a couple of weeks back you can also see the argument for limiting the size of PSN content.
The main improvements i would like to see are the inclusion of accurate discriptions on DLC which would include giving the size of what you’re looking at. I don’t get to take my PS3 online anywhere near as much as I would like to and so when I can, knowing how big a file or pack is (without having to look it up on the update post on TSA obviously!) would help me to maximise what I can do with my limited connectivity.
I also wonder about the releasing schedules for demos etc. KZ2 had it nailed, beta a couple of months early, then demo a week or two before launch. So why is it that a large number of demos now seem to be appearing anything upto a month after the game is released at Bricks and Mortar retailers?
If it was possible for a major game demo (GT for instance) to be put onto a demo disk up to 8weeks prior (10 if you used to subscribe) on an OPM1 PS1 Demo disk, how is it not possible for the same to happen when all you have to do is approve the same file then pop it on a server that’s being updated anyway?! …..Rant over! Good work on the survey, I look forward to some lovely Gorman-esque graphs and pie charts when the results are in…mmmmm pie…
stefhutch20 | 09/03/2009 09:58
Member
371 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
My biggest let down with the store is price, pure and simple. Topov81 already mentioned this but prices have shot up dramatically, with most games now costing at least £8 when they used to be less than £5. I’d like to know what the reason for this is.
cc_star | 09/03/2009 10:11
Team TSA: Writer
7590 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
1 pound is now officially worth 1 Zimbabwe Dollar, the exchange rate isn’t SCEE’s fault, it is a reflection on the rest of the worlds view of this governments economic policy, so it should really be your MP answering the question rather than SCEE.
welshandy | 09/03/2009 12:11
Member
132 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
That’s not strictly true. 1 pound is actually worth 162 Zimbabwe Dollars which is slightly off what you said :p
There isn’t really a justifyable reason for SCEE to hike up prices given that there are no real differences in distribution costs from country to country.
It’s just SCEE capitalising on Rip Off Britain again.
BioEye | 09/03/2009 10:05
Team TSA: Writer
894 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
The ‘Shoot’ series, why didn’t they let the PSN users vote for their favourite, and get the winner that way?
and the same with the ‘Movement’ series…?
cc_star | 09/03/2009 10:09
Team TSA: Writer
7590 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
A common thought is that SCEE, need to have more content & features not only on the PSN but in Home as well, how long can an organisation ignore its customer’s wishes, there aren’t many business’s which can afford to do it in this day and age.
The ongoing lack of a blog is confusing, because nearly all SCEE customers want one, perhaps Sony don’t want to do one because they’d want it to be multi-lingual, but I’m sure most Europeans would at least think a single language one, is better than not having one at all?
The PSN store doesn’t have enough Retro content,I can’t be bothered to check but isn’t there only 30-40 PS1 classics on there (I use the word classics loosely because I’ve never seen a classic on there) The Japanese store has up to 300, don’t SCEE want our money?
Where are the other other retro games like R-Type, Sensible Soccer etc..
Flower & Noby Noby Boy are great, which shows that creativity is alive and well, but where’s the 3rd party retro classics, like the virtual console? Don’t SCEE want our money?
PSN cards are needed to help sales of the store, I would buy even more than I already do, if I didn’t have to justify it to my missus because it shows up on the bank account, this would also aid under 16’s buying stuff from the store, as well as those from countries without a store. I know for a fact XBL points sell well in GAME, so it’s a good way for SCEE’s other channel partners to benefit from the store. Don’t SCEE want more money?
To sum up there are some good things about the store, but there is an awful lot that can be done to please customers better, and help SCEE make more money.
Legroom | 09/03/2009 10:24
Member
56 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
haha… I’d agree about the “justifying stuff” to the missus if it weren’t for the fact that I do the books!
The blog comment is definitely true, one language would definitely be better than none. Just thinking about it quickly, it would probably have to be in English (and I don’t wish to sound like a stereotypical british holiday maker with that comment!). Even if only because of the percentages of of the PS3 user base (sorry that i can’t quote figures).
cc_star | 09/03/2009 10:46
Team TSA: Writer
7590 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
The UK is the second largest consumer of gaming entertainment in the world – it’s about time companies started respecting that fact.
Sitron_NO | 09/03/2009 10:32
Member
196 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
I think the store and SCEE is better now than one year ago, but there is something that should be improved:
- More info from SCEE about the updates. Some titles are not available in some countries, but we never get a reason why? And sometimes they just seems to be forgotten, like a person just forgot to push the “Submit”-button for one country.
- Better description about the items on sale. Or at least a link to a site with videos, screenshots and a proper description.
- Better sorting. Do you know how to find Burnout Paradise? Under demos, games or the A-Z listing? No, Burnout is not there, it’s ONLY location is under “We Recommend!”
On another note: TSA had a “Ask SCEE” post a year ago. What happened to that one? And some weeks ago the US Playstation Blog posted a survey, I am still waiting for the result. They even asked if we would like to see post from different regions, like Europe.
However, this survey is great. I just hope that the people behind the games, items and the store itself take a look at this.
nofi | 09/03/2009 10:53
Wants a custom tag.
4249 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
“On another note: TSA had a “Ask SCEE” post a year ago”
We sent it to SCEE, but didn’t get a response worth printing, to be honest. This time we hope will be different, though, with enough voters.
RocketSOL | 09/03/2009 12:14
Member
544 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
Some items do have a video you can watch. its only about a minute long but its good enough.
Radboud | 09/03/2009 10:34
Member
965 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
The things I am really missing on PSN (Store) are the Movie-download-stream-thingy they got in the US Store (if I am not mistaken) and I miss PlayTV very much. I know it is available in the UK, but in The Netherlands it is not possible to get it due to the law on aerial signals. That is really something that needs to change….
I think Sony has a lot of these walls in front of them with every country having there own rules and laws. And this makes it very difficult for a global player like Sony (or a europian player like SCEE) to fit everything into everywhere). Even within the EU-store things are not the same in every country.
So I know Sony can’t help it that much, but still I would like to see a Global PSN which have everything for everybody at the same time….
Shrui | 09/03/2009 11:10
Member
261 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
Would love to have a quick poll on “Do you want more PS1 classics?”
Its something I see a lot of people mention as being important on these comments and the US blog but I’m curious to know the overall numbers.
Partly cos after buying a couple of games I really wanted to go back to I found I really couldn’t care less about them. So I’m interested to see what the majority/minority is (purely curiousity, I like revisiting classic PC games, just not bothered about PS1 games).