300°

Sessler's Soapbox: Is the PS3 Glitch a Sign of Things to Come?

This week on Sessler's Soapbox, Adam is talking about The PlayStation 3 glitch. He's not focused so much on the short term implications of the now past problem, but the cloud it casts over downloadable games, streaming, connectivity and online play.

Adam's point is that maybe there is some value in actually having physical media that will reliably play, as opposed to digital copies.

Hanif-8765169d ago

No...its not a fuucking sign of things to come!

Julie5168d ago

"Do we want to trust our ability to game to some remote server located in who knows where?"

Lol he needs to know that the PS3 bug was from the internal PS3 clock not from PSN but whatever makes him feel smart :I

FaSeCeX5168d ago

physical media is always better..may not be as convenient but its better

besides..ive seen terminator & i kno how that plays out

haha

Mr Tretton5168d ago

Julie, that's not what he was talking about. He's using the situation as discussion for another topic.

BulletToothtony5168d ago

but just about our future in general.. it is kinda scary that our money or other posetions could vanish.. but imo there will always be solutions and if someone still wants to argue that the psn sucks well let's get this straight

Ps3 was out for 24 hrs.. xlive was out for like a week on the christmas of 08 so please stop hating and accept that psn and ps3 are doing awesome things and those things are free..

Saaking5168d ago

It was a glitch that lasted 24 hours. It's over, so time to move on.

Seriously, I can't believe how the media is just waiting for Sony to make one wrong move. Sony's been doing everything right since 2008, constantly delivering the best games on the best console out there. This is just pathetic to be honest.

darthv725168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

It will happen again for the old fatties unless sony makes a fw update to adjust the RTC to register leap years as being every 4 years instead of every even year.

Other things to come...hmm??? I like the idea of digital distribution. I use it daily on stuff I don't need to get a physical copy of. So long as I have a receipt of my transaction, then it's all good.

5168d ago
pain777pas5168d ago

STFU! Seriously enough with the BS thanks!

jamesgtaiv5168d ago

Is your tiny hair-line a sign of future baldness?

It was one small glitch. Nothing big. I remember MS updating for close to a week for that lame NXE wii copy. THAT, was a sign of things to come.

FamilyGuy5168d ago

He's not even talking crap, just using this situation as a means to get a point across. It was only 24hrs because of the nature of the problem but what if it was something different and all trophy games were screwed for good? I know Sony would fix it but it is still a perspective worth looking at.

I NEVER would have thought that trophies not loading would prevent me from playing my disc based games. That's developer flaw if you ask me, speaking od which Uncharted 2 was unaffected in the sense that you could still load up and play that game. You just wouldn't get any trophies during those 24hrs.

5168d ago
Tony P5168d ago

Helpful hint to people who assume this is a PS3 bash article: read/watch.

Otherwise you're going to be the next idiot on Fox News calling a game "porn" when you haven't even seen it.

D4RkNIKON5168d ago

Dear Adam Sessler, you just lost some respect. Why not drag this out, it's Sony's downfall right?

VampHuntD5168d ago

But shouldn't this discussion have come up after the RROD? I mean, with PSN it was a temporary thing. With XBLA you either have to be on the original console or online. When I got my first RROD, I couldn't play anything in my XBLA for about 3 months as MS ported over the data for me to be able to use the rights as I wished again. That was a huge issue since then I used my 360 mostly for XBLA (and no it wasn't normally internet connected, I had to move the system whenever I wanted a new XBLA game).

So my point is, this discussion should have been brought up a long time ago. DLC and the like suck, physical form for the win!

BRG90005168d ago

Dear Darknikon and others,

At least watch the movie before blasting the man or the site in defense of Sony. Hell, even just read the paragraphs on here past the title. The video is NOT ABOUT SONY. It is about the direction the internet and video game industry are heading.

It's really a pretty interesting topic. Because so much of our gaming data is stored online and relies on a connection, something as minor as a calendar glitch caused the machine to cease many of its fuctions globally for a day. This kind of event was impossible just a generation ago, and it's the steps forward in technology that exposed this type of possibility.

Arnon5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

I'm confused here. How is physical media better than Digital Distribution? Please don't mention things like "Well some places don't have it." That's dependent on the person and where they live, not the network itself.

Why do you think PC game sales have basically diminished from retail stores? Digital Distribution is a great, and in my eyes, better method to get your product to people. Not only do they not have to leave the comfort of their home, but other things such as manufacturing costs are not needed, royalties can be lowered due to the decreased amount of physical media that is used to distribute your product, and you can get the same, if not better experience from Digital Distribution, as there's absolutely no limitations like their would be with physical media.

Now of course, physical media will always be around as long as people are willing to use it, but in my eyes, digital distribution will take over as the main format in the near future. It honestly just makes sense to try and push it to that level.

Also, from the comments I've read, it looks like the majority of you only read the title and commented.

Darkstorn5168d ago

@1.0-
Sessler didn't even say that. Did you by any chance watch the video? He's simply begging the question, and I think it is a valid question to ask if it has affected potentially tens of thousands of PS3 owners. Ignorance ain't bliss, man.

Darkstorn5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

@1.11-
I think we all know Fox News is one-sided, but that's beside the point. I for one think G4 is a wonderful site with genuinely enthusiastic people running it. Just watch an episode of Feedback and get back to me, eh?

hulk_bash19875168d ago

i hate PS3 doomed articles as much as the next guy, but if you took the time to listen to the pod cast, you can see that Sessler isnt attacking the PS3. He thought what everyone else affected by the glitch thought; that this sucks. Losing trophies, not being able to log on to the PSN, Downloadable Games reverting back to demos, Not being able to play trophy enabled games. All these problems, especially with no info, was worrying. So, what he was commenting on was the situation and how it affects us consumers, not on how this situation is further proof of the PS3 being faulty hardware (aka flamebait fanboy stuff).

mugoldeneagle035168d ago

Yes, it sucked not being able to play your PS3 for a day (I say your, because for some reason my 80GB fat still worked), and I get that not being able to play your single player games really would blow, that I might be upset about, but I don't get all these comparisons to the RROD or this huge meltdown. Hell, I even saw it on MSNBC and CNN.

I just don't get how some people make this out to be this huge, end of the world, every PlayStation 3 is broken headlines. Ridiculous really

And I'm not referring to this article I love Sessler's Soapbox, just in general

SilentNegotiator5168d ago

He makes some good points about digital security and the relevance of physical copies. Don't be so quick to judge, he doesn't bash the PS3 at all.

Monkey5215168d ago

I do like the idea of digital distribution as a choice. The convenience of being able to download games from the comfort of your own home without wasting time/effort is great. What I think Sessler is trying to get at is the fact that if something goes wrong with the system/network that your game is stored on, you are screwed. I feel we have good, reliable hardware and support for the most part, but at the same time, we should not rely on it %100 for everything. There is security in having that solid copy with you.

GameGambits5168d ago

Does anyone not have the common sense to think that when you download a game from PSN/Xbox Live, that they could just link it to your account online with a giant list of what you bought and when. This way, if your PS3 ever bricks/blows up/gets eaten by a bear, you have the online "reciept" allowing you to redownload it whenever you want.

DaTruth5168d ago

Bu, bu, bu, but, teh digital downloads is teh future!

memots5168d ago

I love how when xboxlive went down for a whole week this kind of polemic never came to life.

This is insanity it was down for how many hours??
This Issue that affected a few console for less than one day.

Stuff like ApocalyPS3 ,
Ps3 the Toyota of the games console industry ,
The Day The PS3 Stood Still! PS3's Disaster Day, 2010.
When good game consoles go bad ,
Made up story like these : Unsynced trophies will be gone, if not synced before the 1st of March ,
PC World: Global PS3 Glitch ( do we need to specify here that it only affected older fat ps3? My friend has a fat 80 and had no issue )

Sony Stock Up In The Midst Of Global Crisis ( Global Crisis for a few console ?? )
Or gamestop not accepting trade in on ps3. Were there really people were trying to trade they're console only after a few hour?

And my favorite FFXIII Xbox 360 sales up amid PSN bug ...

Wow just wow and how many more of that crap was submited by ours truly Bungie and his multiple accounts.

Now we have even Sessler going on a rant about it.

I think we know now who are the biggest.... well you know .

Godmars2905168d ago

It is if Sony, and MS, are looking to go DDL only. We've got Ubisoft going with single-player games that require online connections to play.

One little technical hiccup could fu*k-up millions of people.

II Necroplasm II5168d ago

Good lord, some people are stupid on here. I remember now why I stopped signing in on here..

Syronicus5168d ago

The Zune went offline for 24 hours? I think it was because the date was not set up to recognize the leap year or something... Why is it that we never heard about the fear of future downloadable only media when that happened but as soon as the Sony PS3 experiences a 24 hour issue, the Sessler himself gets up on his soap box to talk about it...?

Tricksy5168d ago

is not what he is saying, as it makes sense; people will always love hardcopies of their materials and will part with that format very very grudgingly (if at all).

The problem is that the author used the PS3 glitch in his title in such a misleading way. People would not expect the article to be about Digital Distribution, but about the future or PS3 reliability.

Its a troll title on an article that would not have generated as much popularity on its own merits.

+ Show (26) more repliesLast reply 5168d ago
ScarT5168d ago

I prefer physical media, so I can sell my games.

Darkstorn5168d ago

Irrelevant to this discussion, but I completely agree. I'm really not feeling this switch to digital distribution, even if it means more potential profits for game developers.

George Sears5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

I have seen it myself. Soon, these so called machines will take away our freedom, opportunities, the founding principles of our society. This digital censorship will cast aside our free will, re-writing history as they see fit to do so. Do not worry my sons, for I will exploit this undeniable truth, and free society from the shackles of evil.

*At work, bored beyond imagination. Can't wait to leave and smoke a joint*

dkgshiz5168d ago

Not from PSN. Either way physical media is always the best.

Sarick5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

This glitch isn't rocket science. The Internal clock said it's the 29th and the OS clock couldn't recognize it as a real date. This means the software couldn't interpret what the real data was so it thought there was a failure.

As for trophies not working offline it was the system used to sync with the date. Because the hardware date was invalid when the software went to initialize them (locally) it couldn't because it was informing the software of an invalid non-existent date.

The Same thing was happening to PSN and DRM content. The data was considered corrupted because it wasn't able to initializes a correct date.

How would Sony fix this? I don't think the on board clock functions can be directly overwritten. The OS can detect the date issue and self correct it internally. If that's not possible then the OS and software can be set to ignore the internal date data by stealth offsetting the internal date through OS firmware until after the internal glitch passes.

This would effectively, bypass the issue and allow the clock resynchronization. Both trophies and DRM would work again. Needless to say the passed but it's still a hardware flaw that will remain a part of the ps3 phat hardware.

As for physical media. The problem with it being download content is that once the company decide to no longer support it you can't get it again once its erased damaged or corrupted.

I mean, what good is a windows 3.0 receipt if you want Microsoft to replace your disk. At least then you could backup your software. With download content once they stop supporting the hardware or software it'll be hard recovering it.

cmrbe5168d ago

could always lead to problems. Corrupted data or bad sectors etc. As it gets more complex i think the chance of things going haywire increases. Its something that we as society should be careful about. Imagine if this glitch occurred in the 911 system.

Show all comments (80)
230°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv7219h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle6h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18814h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio3h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Cacabunga6h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21835h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga4h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan18m ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

purple1019h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos8h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

XBManiac7h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1017h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic5h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

Show all comments (25)
140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein18h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno14h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k413h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson12h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu13h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson12h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

70°

5 Of The Best Narrative Twists In Video Games

GL compiles a list of some of the most mind-blowing video game narrative twists in recent memory, from The Last of Us to Outer Wilds

Read Full Story >>
gameluster.com
Rebel_Scum17h ago

With articles like these cant you tag the games mentioned so that we can know ahead of time if there’s a spoiler to avoid?

Not clicking on your article otherwise.