“60% of the time, it works everytime!” Whilst I chuckle at that quote, I’m worried that it accurately represents the PS3 at the moment. This week’s Firmware update started off good; we were optimistic for Sony ( twice!) and the Vid Store was a welcome addition to the Playstation Store, but, Sony don’t seem to be doing so well afterall.

First off, the release date to Gravity Crash was “accidentally” revealed by the EU Playstation Blog and now we are getting reports from members that the Vid Store is about as quick as a tortoise on Valium. TSA VIP – Michael - has reported a rather less than enjoyable 16 hour wait for a 2 hour film to reach 50% complete. Needless to say, he cancelled and, despite trying different things to boost internet connection, still has no joy. Of course this is just one side of the coin as I’ve heard others saying that their purchased film was ready within an hour. Many of you commented on our previous Vid Store articles stating that download times were very long; are you still having issues?

But there are more problems on Sony’s ‘must fix’ list. Firstly, there are masses of reports that the DLC for Dragon Age: Origins is not working. TSA member – stefhutch20 – brought it to our attention and upon further investigation, it would appear that there are a whole load of people with the same issues. The problem appears to lie with the exclusive DLC that comes with the Special Edition of the game and the free DLC; most notably ‘The Stone Prisoner’. Upon entering the codes, these various pieces of content disappear from the download queue and download content lists. A post from Bioware on the game’s official forum, points the finger squarely at Sony:

Just a quick heads-up that we are aware of the DLC issues with PS3 in Europe, and continue to work with SCEE to resolve them.

There are 2 specific issues we are tracking as a result of the DLC not being activated correctly by SCEE – they are aware of the issues and working on fixing this.

Issue 1: Promo items (wolf charm, etc) were made visible on the PSN Store, even if you didn’t have the game or entered in a code.
- This has been corrected by SCEE.

Issue 2: The free versions of some of the DLC – such as Stone Prisoner, and the 3 Collector Edition items, never went live.
- As a result, you do not get any messaging after redeeming a code for these tiems (even though it successfully takes the code), and are instead directed to the paid version of Stone Prisoner or no CE items are shown, depending on which item.
- This is obviously not the intended action for this.
- Please do NOT purchase the paid version of the content. If you did so in error after redeeming your free code, please contact EA Customer Support, they are aware of the issue and will be able to assist you.

* You will not lose these items. Once the content is correctly made live on the PSN it will appear within the in-game downloadable content screen (off main menu) for you to download for free.

Unfortunately this is something that is outside our immediate control – so please bear with us. We will update you once we get confirmation from SCEE that this was resolved.

There has been no word from SCEE (at time of writing) as to when this will be resolved.

Sony are aslo responsible for another game’s content not working properly. This time it’s one of their flagship titles – Little Big Planet. The Creator’s Edition of Little Big Planet for the PSP has incurred very similar complaints about content via voucher codes disappearing without downloading. Once again, this is due to Sony not yet going live with the content. This issue has been recognised and SCEE have confirmed that they are working on the solution. You can read the full explanation/apology here. For all of you with codes for LBP Creator’s Edition, you might not be so pleased to hear that Sony have earmarked 7th December for eventual release.

As always, not everyone will be having problems. How are you finding the Vid Store? Have you had problems with the DA: O DLC? Are you awaiting LBP Creator’s Edition? Let us know.

Thanks: stefhutch20