Every new generation is a clean slate for all the companies that make the consoles we love. What happens the generation before never matters once that generation ends, and we've seen it happen time and again. There is one constant though, one thing that has never changed, and that's the arrogance that being the "winner" brings. That arrogance may shift to the next console, or it may exist within the same generation, but it's always there. The idea that you can do whatever you want, cut whatever corners you want, and have terrible customer service because you're in the lead and can get away with it is always a problem.
This has happened with Nintendo, most recently with the Wii U but also with the N64. Nintendo thought that they could use the success of the SNES to dictate the trends moving into the 64 bit era and were hammered by Sony because Nintendo were unwilling to give up cartridges and Sony used the much easier and cheaper CDs. Nintendo thought that they could endlessly cash in on the Wii name and retain the attention of the enthralled casual audience that they built up with the Wii when they moved on to the Wii U, but they learned that casual gamers are fickle at best and only core gamers stick with products and brands for the long haul.
This happened with Microsoft, where their success with the Xbox 360 made them believe they could dictate the trends of online gaming and game sharing with the Xbox One. They forgot who made the Xbox 360 a huge success and decided they were going to make the Xbox One focus more on non-gaming initially when the Xbox One was revealed and for a while after its launch. They learned that gamers don't take kindly to not being able to play their games even when offline, and that they don't care about tv, tv, tv.
It's happened, and still is happening, with Sony. The PS1 was a massive success, and Sony moved that on to the PS2 which was the most successful console in the history of the industry. Two generations of absolute dominance led Sony to believe they literally could do anything they wanted, so they released the PS3 at a stupidly high price thinking people would just eat it up, all while making it the most difficult to program for thinking they owned the generation and developers would simply flock to work longer to make games for the PS3. Sure, everything you got with the launch PS3s was impressive, but it was still arrogant.
Now it's the PS4 and Sony launched the console off right, but Sony is still arrogant. Outselling your direct competition consistently by a 2:1 margin is always good for the shareholders moods, but not so good for us gamers in certain, less talked about ways. Yes, being the lead console of the current generation means more games, more developers wanting to make games exclusively for your console, and all the good things that come with being a winner. It also means you stop caring about the little problems, and the little people that have them.
Sony spent a lot of time trying to make the perfect console for developers, but they skimped on other necessary things. For me, one of those things is a well-built, long lasting controller.
A lot of people are complaining about things like DLNA, video codecs, external MP3 playing, and other insignificant (to me anyway) software based "features." I have a left analog stick that prevents or slows forward movement. Guess which one should be more important?
I bought a PS4 at launch, which means my console is almost 1 year and half old. The analog nubs are slightly worn, not enough to complain about so that doesn't bother me, but recently the left analog stick has effectively stopped fully functioning. Looking into it, I found out that I'm not the only one that has experienced this, and some have experienced it with greater severity and with both analog sticks. The general consensus is that the problem isn't hardware based, it's software based as the calibration is off. These people want Sony to include a method of recalibrating the controller through the PS4 console. I've seen other reports though of people fully replacing the analog stick themselves and the same end result occurs. This would suggest a hardware fault, and it's something I'm more inclined to believe due to wear and tear. But... wear and tear after only a year and a half?
What's clear to me is that Sony didn't want to take much of a loss, if any, on the PS4 so they had to cut down on manufacturing costs. The DS4 is generally a decent controller, but the analog sticks are shite. They are the kind of sticks you'd find off a $20 knock off controller, complete with the clicky noise they make when you use them. This is a clear indication of cut corners.
Sony is in the lead now. Try gaining satisfaction from this issue from a company that's in the lead. Customer Support is always hot and cold in any company, but when said company is doing so well it's usually a lot colder. Sony doesn't have to care about my problem. My console is past its warranty so I'm out of luck. Sure, I can hope that Sony would be willing to be generous and replace my controller free of charge if I use some kind of CS magic, but why would they? It's in their best interests for people to buy a new controller rather than replace an out of warranty controller for "free."
Why did I put free in quotations? Because in all the research I've done on this, even in warranty, you get to spend the shipping cost to have a controller that was poorly built from the start fixed by the company that didn't care about the life span of their device. Out of warranty? Well you may as well just buy a new controller, which is what I'm going to be forced to do. That's $65 plus tax for a controller that doesn't cost nearly as much to make and has a good chance of failing again.
But Sony's in the lead. They really don't have to care about this unless enough people make a stink about it, and even when they did/do it gets brushed off as being an isolated problem. Happened with the PS2 and the DRE situation, and it's happening now. Companies in the lead become complacent. Not really their fault if they are a publicly traded company though, it's the shareholders. The suits know nothing of the real world of gaming, or anything for that matter. The suits are used to projections of profit, spreadsheets of sales, and models of money. They deal in things like "If you sell 3 units of product to each person that walks into your store, all at the same price, at the end of the month you can make approx. $125,000 dollars more." The same kind of people that thought it would be a good idea to end their business quarter by releasing Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin in the same month as Bloodborne even though we gamers were telling them that that's a bad idea.
These issues are problems with all of The Big 3. They will remain in the future as they always have. So now I have to spend $73 not because I threw my controller against the wall, or snapped it somehow, or dropped anything on it. No, I get to spend that money I really shouldn't be spending because after 1 year and 5 months of use (not even that as for awhile I was still playing PS3 a lot more and that controller still works perfectly) the analog stick decided it didn't like registering forward movement and because I'm past the warranty period Sony doesn't have to give a damn that their controller is defective, all they will give a damn about is the money they want me to pay to have it replaced with a new one which will be more than just going to my local Walmart and buying a new one myself, and take longer.
The saying "Pride comes before a fall" seems to be an alien concept to console makers in a lead position, and they also seem to suffer from selective amnesia because it's something all 3 of them tend to forget.
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Great little post bro really enjoyed it and I have X1
Just a little typo near the end
and because I'm passed the warranty period 'passed' should be 'past'
nice one. I approved your blog keep writing really liked it.
I don't think Sony is as arrogant as they used to. The PS3 taught them a lot, and the success of the PS4 proves it. They've done pretty much the opposite of what they did with PS3 with PS4, including announcing games way ahead of their time. Every company at some point has become arrogant, but they also learn from their mistakes. Being #1 won't change them. It will keep them doing the good work to keep the momentum. Sony is still releasing games and committed to improve the PS4( At a slower pace than MS, but still every update is solid and worth the wait). There will always be some kind of issue around anything we come across.
I had the same issue with the controller, but now I have the White controller for couple of months and it's still like new. Maybe it was for the Christmas rush that that happened. I don't know. But considering that Both PS4 and Xbone were rushed to market and had issues day 1, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt
PS3's Cell processor was like a double edge sword. It was hard to develop, but also it was built to last. I'm willing to bet it still has some juice left, but with the easy-to-develop PS4 already here, devs won't bother.
Love both PS4 and Sony, but I know they have their issues. Don't really care about customer service because I have never had to deal with that. There's till so much room for improvement. And that's why they need us: To report and give feedback to improve PS4.
Just some advice as someone who used to repair consoles and stuff like that.
The problem isn't calibration, it's the contacts used within the controller itself to register that the pads or buttons are being pressed. People's hands are oily, and in some cases very dirty but more often than not hands have micro-particles of dirt. Over time, that oil and dirt gets down into the controller, and effects the contact points of the controller.
The simplest way to fix it is to look up a video or article on how to dismantle the controller, get a qtip and some rubbing alcohol, and gently wipe the contacts clean.
Some further advice if you wish to try this before dropping $70 on a new controller...although I'd trade it in before your analog grips start to tear which will happen if they're already worn...probably during a game that requires intense analog movement where you press harder...anyhow this advice is to be very careful when opening the controller with the shoulder buttons. They can be fickle to put back together, so do the disassembly on a table and try to keep the shoulder buttons in place at all times.
You will not have to disassemble the whole controller to get to the contacts.
The above advice is true for any modern style controller.
It sucks it happened, but user calibration IMO would be a bad idea on a console. Developers expect the controller to work a specific way, and calibration tends to screw things up. More often than not, the fewer options the better for the average consumer....as much as it pains me to say that.
Otherwise, maybe just put in your two cents over on the requests forums. Sony is getting to things, but I imagine they have so many requests that they can't get to everything right away, and there may be reasons that have nothing to do with arrogance why something isn't offered.
I'm assuming you used a launch controller? The newer ones seem to be built better. I got my ps4 in september 2014, and my friend brought over a controller last week from launch and it just didn't feel as good. It's probably seen more use, but it felt like more than that. It's crazy how expensive controllers are these days. Gotta make money somehow, i guess.
The battery life is my main gripe with the DS4. It feels great, but i went from using AA's on the 360 to using the Wii U pro controller which has roughly 70 hours of battery life so i'm used to not even bothering charging my controllers lol.
The whole "in the lead thing" has always had a weird affect on me. I guess i just like rooting for the under dog. It sounds hipsterish but the cult-y feeling is refreshing. The PS2 has always felt like an overrated console to me just because it's all people talk about, all three of the other systems are arguably the best out of their companies. I'd say the PS1 was sony's best, personally.
You forgot about the most arrogant of all - Atari. An Atari exec was once heard saying something to the effect of "We could put s..t in a cartridge and people would buy it". That's not the exact quote, but I've heard this story numerous times so I'm pretty sure it's mostly accurate.
Of course, we all know that Atari treated their best programmers like dirt, released horrible high-profile games like E.T & Pac-Man, and for several years brought the entire industry down with them. Fortunately, there was a small contingent of gamers who kept video games alive on computers until Nintendo came along and correctly realized that there was still a market for home consoles.