Pipr

@professorhat

I think you hit the nail on the head in post #34.

If Sony are running psn on cloud infrastructure my guess is they've with migrated their legacy applications to the cloud (warts and all) or their applications haven't been built to take advantage of what cloud computing has to offer in terms of scalability and resilience to failure.

@Mrskinner

I quite agree. People's opinions are just that - opinions. There seem to be a number of people who feel "entitled" to run down anyone who dares to venture an opinion that they don't agree with.

On the actual subject of the "paid for" monthly games I'm looking forward to trying Geometry Wars 3. I would have been looking forward to the rocket ball game but I played the beta and it didn't grab me (even with cars it was still 2-a-side football and I've not been a fan of football games since Sensible Soccer stopped being made ).

I appreciate the article telling us it's going to be down tonight but I have to agree with @Boerewors that the wording of this type of article doesn't add to the site's credibility.

I'd be really interested to read an article on what Sony are doing to improve psn but this would mean pushsquare putting direct questions to Sony. Questions such as does Sony have plans to migrate their infrastructure to use cloud based technologies that don't require any downtime for maintenance and that can scale with demand (especially for downloads).

I've worked in companies that have lots of system downtime and also in some that have almost none. A common reason for systems that need lots of downtime is that the company usually hasn't invested any significant cash or effort in replacing and upgrading their legacy technologies (or in house skills for that matter) and so relatively straightforward changes that in modern cloud-based architectures would require no down time at all instead require that systems be taken offline during upgrades. I guess a lack of progression to implement modern infrastructure could also be political (some companies have a culture of resisting significant change - even tech companies, bizarrely).

Without some more information on Sony's plans the continuation of these psn upgrades - which require down time and are considered "business as usual" - shouldn't give anyone cause to celebrate.

I noticed that the kickstarter project wasn't offering a physical copy on ps4 which I thought kind of sucked but then I've never thought any rewards on kickstarter were worth it (hey, rather than a tee shirt, how about you just give me a share of the profits!?!?).

I do find this story a bit concerning. The person running the project has been "considering ways" to get a disc version produced. This begs the question has he never produced a game on a disc before? Does he think it's somehow massively difficult or expensive? If he doesn't know how to get a bluray pressed and distributed (and if he thinks that now is the time to worry about this type of detail) then I would question how likely it is that this game will ever actually get made (getting a disk pressed is waaaay easier than delivering the software that actually goes on the disk).

I wonder if a lack of confidence in the project is why Sony is keeping the whole thing at arms length.

@blah01

As many people have already said, PSN download speeds rarely come close to their internet connection speed. My PS4 is wired and using the network connection test my PS4 tells me my download speed is 3.5mbps (not bad for a 4.5bmps ADSL line). But when downloading games or updates from PSN the actual download speed is often a fraction of this (~800kbps). Other devices on the same connection (PC's and even phones connected via a wifi access point) manage to download at almost the full line speed, but PSN downloads are consistently slow.

In my experience, the main bottleneck is the PSN server speed (caused by, presumably, server load). All other factors (wifi/connection speed/DNS[?]) pale into insignificance.

It's a shame Sony can't admit that their network can't handle the load that its users place on its download servers and just set up some S3 buckets to host the downloads (in other words, let Amazon's cloud take the load). If they did this most of us would easily hit download speeds somewhere in the vicinity of our line/connection speed.

@milero91

I pay my PS Plus subscription (£40 a year) to download a few good games a month and to sometimes (rarely I might add) play for free online. So for me, the games aren't free.

WRT driveclub I bought the digital copy the game a while ago (I think for £20) as I got tired of waiting for the plus edition and this site's reviews were so glowing. But I have to say I just wasn't impressed with the game (IMO it's lacking in the fun department). Shame I can't sell it on as it's a digital copy (lesson learned - always buy physical).

I've been playing 4 off and on over the last couple of weeks but it's appeal has faded quickly. It just feels very dated. Long cut scenes, limited "open" world (where you're essentially just ushered towards the next waypoint when trying to stray off path), and the character movements seem really clunky and unlifelike (for example, walking into a table, while inside a building, results in your character moon walking on the spot rather than stopping).

As 5 was released in 2012 in Japan I wonder if it's going to seem as dated as 4 does when it releases here.

@Riririn

Incredibly the parental control level is system wide. So even with separate accounts there's no way to select a level per account. When I want to play games that are unsuitable for the kids I have to change the system level and then remember to change it back before powering off. I'll now have to do the same when using media player. Unless they change it, that is.

Wonder why media player's parental control level is a 9. That makes it impossible to use while the kids have access to the ps4 during the day (unless they have access to gtav too

I have a slightly off topic question. I enjoyed gtav on both ps4 and ps3 (story mode and a bit of online). But I never played any fallout games. How did fallout 3 compare with gtav and should I bother with fallout 3 or is it likely to disappoint (ie has it aged badly?). I much prefer open world games to games like uncharted so I'd probably buy fallout 4 when it releases (depending on reviews, that is). Just wondering if buying and playing fallout 3 now is likely to make me want 4 more or might actually put me off?

PS2 B/C would be good for no other reason other than I could play my PS2 collection on a console that has an HDMI port.

@ApostateMage

Even if they did I wouldn't hold out much hope of it being good. They crapped on the ssx franchise with the ps3 version of the game (wholly ignoring the early feedback from fans and ditching the concepts that made the originals so popular).

This is the least inspiring game trailer / ad / concept I think I've ever seen. I think if anything it's games like this that will undermine the promotion of vr. If Sony demo this one in shops I expect it will actually put people buying a headset.

Now if some of the first person games (like fallout 4) promised support for morpheus that would be great!

Excellent! We're actually starting to see trailers for Morpheus games.

It will be interesting to see what price point games like this come in at. I would think if this were for PS4 without Morpheus support we'd be looking at somewhere between £10 and £20. I just hope game prices aren't inflated due to the Morpheus/VR novelty factor.

On the subject of pricing I've noticed that PC games always seem to be less than their PS4 counterparts, at least this is true in the UK anyway. If this trend carries across to VR it'll be another reason people opt for the Rift rather than Morpheus (at least for those people who have a PC that's already capable of supporting the Rift).

@SeahorseLegs

They definitely missed an opportunity to at least boost support for the morpheus. Especially reading many of the comments on here recently it's going to be a hard sell.

I know it's off topic but you're spot on with the over priced ipods . I've been looking for a replacement for my old mp3 player over the last couple of weeks and some of the prices are ridiculous. Some players would be cheaper per ounce if they were solid gold.

@PokeMario

Most of what you said sums up how I felt after watching the two sessions. I have a ps4 but if I didn't I'd be considering getting the xbone right now.

Since the ps4, xbone and pcs now have similar architectures the only way Sony can get exclusivity is by seriously bank rolling of Dev houses. And the impression I get is Sony is being way more conservative with their spending than ms (probably since the Sony group have been struggling with the exception of ps4 sales).

I know I'm in the minority and I'm not trying to spread negativity - just saying how I feel.

Am I the only person getting a bit tired of having my ps4 download big updates for content that I have no intention of buying? Trials fusion seems one of the worst offenders. I'm tempted to remove it it has so many frequent 3gb+ updates.

@RicksReflection

I just hope that any morpheus demo units are actually able to reflect how well the product can be set up at home. TV demo units tend to be awful compared with how it's possible to set them up at home with some time and effort.

Having said that badly configured demo tvs don't seem to have stopped people from buying 3D tvs.

@SuperCat

I admire your enthusiasm. And you're right the gaming world should be more enthusiastic about this than they seem to be.

I think perhaps it's because many people feel let down by recent tech that hasn't quite lived up to expectations. Especially when it comes to Sony's products and services. Eg. vita software support dwindling, Christmas psn ddos, ps4 being unable to get it up (to 60fps).

Personally I really hope that either the morpheus or the rift are successful because if they both flop that will mean vr won't become mainstream (affordable) for some time to come.

It'll be interesting to see who (Sony or Facebook) flinches first in the slow race to announce their price point.

Both products are being bankrolled by their owners and if success is down to price of the hardware along with software availability both companies are going to have to make a loss on the hardware in the first couple of years after launch if they're to make a success of their product. Unless the hardware turns out to be substandard / laggy and then it will fail anyway.

Maybe the prices are real but I think it's far more likely that this is probably just the retailer testing their holding page for the product. If that's the case I expect the people who put their finger in the air and decided on those prices will have a chuckle when they see this article.

"what will happen when the servers inevitably crumble on launch day?"

And what will happen when the servers are inevitably switched off in a few years (and depending on the success of the game "a few" might mean as little as 5 years).

TBH this title didn't really appeal to me anyway but I'll definitely be avoiding it if it won't even run without 1) an internet connection, and 2) EA's servers being up and running.

@thedevilsjester

I'm impressed that you worked out what the "paper" reference meant. I only realised when I read your comment.

I would have been one of those asking for an AAA title and less indie stuff but I have to admit that Ether One and Unfinished Swan were unexpected gems this month. Especially Ether One which I've been playing during my (limited) spare time since I tried it on Friday afternoon. It's a tricky game to work out but reminds me of the text adventure games of the 8 bit era as it requires quite a bit of thought to get anywhere. It's actually the first ps4 game that's really drawn me in to the story.

If June's lineup contained any games up to the quality of those included this month I'll be happy.

Both demos had the player rooted to the spot. Would it be cynical to assume this might be because moving demos increase the likelihood of motion sickness?

I hope I'd be able to play, say, project cars without getting sick but it will be interesting to see if/how customers can find out if they're susceptible to motion sickness from vr headsets without actually forking out a wad of cash to find out. Also what the return policy will be if a shiny new headset makes you puke after 5 minutes of use.

I prey that I'm going to be immune from vr sickness btw!

@Punished_Boss_84

Completely agree. By the time a studio like this turns out a decent AAA level game the planned morpheus launch date will have passed.

I just hope Sony's got two or three other in-house studios working hard on launch titles. Relying on third party studios for your launch titles is very risky for a new technology like this. They got away with it for the ps4 launch but only because the hardware was good and, barring some sort of disaster, the ps4 was very unlikely to flop. But I think with vr people will be much more interested in just how good the software is (and the range of titles) before they part with their cash on a product that could effectively be dead within two years if it doesn't sell in large numbers.

I have quite a bit of brand loyalty to Sony when it comes to consoles but I'm yet to be sold on morpheus. In fact I'd consider oculus rift if the software's better quality and/or more diverse.

Morpheus launch date and price. I can dream!

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I can kind of understand where you're coming from but maybe by publicising their matching of donations it will encourage people to donate (how else could they achieve this?). I have to admit that I hadn't considered giving anything to charities helping in Nepal but now I am (if only because this story - and discussion - has prompted me to think about this; that and the fact that ubisoft will match donations).

There's not much to like about people/companies who obviously use charity as a means to promote themselves, but there's nothing on the linked red cross page that suggests this type of behaviour in this case.

@Neolit

You make some valid points

I just expected more fun. Not sure exactly how. I didn't think it would be like burnout but thought for what people described as an arcade racer it would be more addictive.

It's just not for me. I'm still waiting for a PS4 racer that makes me want to keep playing after a couple of races.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi @Gemuarto

Unfortunately I have to agree. I bought this recently on the cheap as I thought with all the people on here saying how great it is I was just cutting off my nose by avoiding it.

There's something very basic missing from the game. It's fundamentally lacking in the "fun" department.

My fave racing series was Burnout. With take-down, revenge and paradise city all keeping me entertained for many hours. They had great soundtracks, slow motion crashes, and many features that, IMO, were fun. It wasn't just about finishing the race in first place or amassing points - there were loads of other targets and "things to do".

Driveclub isn't a simulator and it isn't fun enough to be "arcade". For me it misses both targets and feels empty. Shame as I thought I'd love it in spite of its dubious history.

@crazykcarter

I'd like to see another SSX game but EA made such a hash of SSX on the PS3 I can't imagine they'd risk another addition to the franchise. I expect EA saw the flop of the PS3 version as a reflection of a changing market. I prefer to think it was more about their inability to listen to the fans of the PS2 SSX games who consistently asked EA to inject more fun into the PS3 version while it was being developed (after the first trailer was released which made it look more like Battlefield on snowboards). Fans also consistently asked EA (on their forums) to include split-screen 2 player mode. But the EA masters decreed that online was far more important than having fun racing people sat in the same room as "this is the internet age you know!". And so SSX on the PS3 was a flop.

So, I'd love to see another SSX or fun snowboard game but I don't hold out much hope of one being made. Not while gaming companies' attitudes to what "we" (the gamers) want are so closely aligned to what they are currently churning out for their AAA releases (i.e., serious games with online multi-player that have to be age rated 15 or more just in case people get the idea that they're getting something that's fun and not worthy of £45!).

At least I still have my PS2 so I can still play my 13 year old copy of SSX Tricky against friends and relatives every now and again. And it's still awesome (even in 480i !).

So now the ps4 can brick itself with no user intervention

If they could change the ui so I don't think I'm operating a handheld toy that would be good. The shiny pebble icons really don't belong on a Sony ps product.

You people don't know what frustrating games are all about! As @themcnoisy said long load times these days (with the exception of gta5) are a small price to pay compared with load times of the 80's!

But the load times were nothing compared with the frustration and difficulty of some games. There was a game called slapfight on the commodore 64 (vertical scrolling shoot me up). You got 3 lives. Started with a very week gun but got power ups as the level progressed. Lose a life and lose all power ups. So 20 minutes in with a shed load of weapons taking a single bullet would mean losing a life and would also mean being busted down to the equivalent of a pea shooter. Finishing the game was then completely impossible so the last two lives were usually suicides. So losing one life was usually accompanied by extreme rage. All good entertainment when 2 or 3 friends could share the moment!

@Tasuki

"So I can't be truthful?"

Which bit of rant #10, exactly, was supposed to be truthful? I suppose in your defense most of #10 was about what you think the people who have been "whining" wanted, rather than what they actually wanted.

@Faruko (#12) my thoughts exactly

This sounds like the result of poor software project planning. In my experience bug fixing always takes longer than most people expect. The less years of experience the project manager (and programmers) have, the more likelihood there is that they'll fail to plan enough time in for the final chunk of bug fixing of development.

The fact that Ian Bell describes the remaining bug fixing work as "0.1%" is probably reflective of a corporate attitude that is dismissive of the realities of why so many software projects end up being delivered late. Bug fixing takes time. It can take a long time.

I won't be surprised if it's further delayed.

Still looking forward to it though

This doesn't surprise me. But it's funny how none of the photos I've seen of the Morpheus show a cable. Even the one in this article would appear to be cable-free!?

@get2sammyb Any idea if this thing's definitely going to be wireless? My guess is it will be, but 1080p at 120hz with 18ms lag sounds like a tall order, especially if the video (and audio) feeds are transmitted over wireless.

My price point estimate (as many others have offered their own guesstimate) is £299 at launch. I'm not sure if Sony would make a profit at this price but any more than £300 and I'm not sure it will get much buy-in from the mainstream consumer market.

As long as Project Cars supports Morpheus I'll be at the front of the queue when it launches. And GTA support would be awesome (I can dream!).

It will be interesting to see if they do give a reason for the delay when they finally announce the lineup. I can only imagine two possible reasons for the delay:

1. A developer pulled out of a deal leaving a hole in the lineup
2. They want to "surprise" us with some AAA PS4 freebie (probably driveclub which won't be a surprise when it arrives as I suspect a very large chunk of PS+ subscribers probably paid for the full version by now as it's been available for sub £20 for some time).

My guess is it's the first reason. I can't imagine publishers get loads of money for "featuring" their games on the PS+ monthly lineup as Sony needs to keep some of the PS+ subs for running PSN. So the negotiations between Sony and the dev companies can't always finish with both parties feeling like they got a good deal. I do wonder how many devs have been burned in the past by PS+ deals and whether this is causing problems for Sony when they try to put together the monthly PS+ lineup.

I'm sure there's some room for some investigative journalism here (hint hint!) into how PS+ deals are put together. I'd be interested to learn whether development companies are forced to sign up to offer their titles as PS+ freebies in the future as a condition of being able to list a new title in the store. Also, how much they get paid for, say, an indie PS+ listing, whether they get paid per download, etc.

Anyway that's just my two penneth. I guess only time will tell whether we find out what caused this month's delays...

@get2sammyb

"Penal infection"

Nice pun! Can't believe no-one else has congratulated you on this yet!

@shingi_70 @themcnoisy
Just wait for the tabloid headlines in the days after it launches!
In all seriousness though this may be an issue. Imagine playing Project Cars and being on lap 50 of the Monaco GP when you realise you're getting a bit hot. You pause the game, take off the headset, and see that your house is on fire. It's an unlikely scenario but being deprived of both sight and hearing* does come with risks.

• OK you would probably smell smoke first but without sight and sound you would at least be unaware of the reasonably frequent arrival of SWAT teams

Good on them for delaying rather than releasing something broken. Sounds like if they'd released it last year, as planned, it could have turned out to be a real "drive-club-esque" turkey launch.

Funny how they dressed up the earlier delay as a good opportunity to "polish" the product though. Back then it needed polishing - now it needs fixing!?

@Dodoo I guess it all depends on what they mean by "PSN infrastructure". If they mean they're putting lots of effort into fixing its weaknesses and removing the need for the PS4 to be continually logged in to PSN just to function then great.

I suspect (hope) they'll be doing some of that but it's more likely that the marketing people will want something they can sell to the public and the idea of advertising "hey everyone we've spent $XX million and PSN is reliable now" just won't cut it with the Sony big-wigs who decide where the money goes.

I hope I'm wrong but while people like me (yes, I admit it) continue to re-subscribe to PS+ every year in spite of their poor record what impetus have Sony really got to fix the weaknesses in their PSN architecture?

At least there's project Morpheus to look forward to regardless of how the rest of Sony (including PSN) performs ...

Oh great. Social social social. What is it with the marketing departments of these companies. If I want social I'll socialise. I suppose they have to do what they can to overcome the image of a gamer wearing a vr headset moving their head randomly and generally looking odd.

More down time in UK prime time. Sounds like Sony needs to get with the 21st century programme (Ie cloud computing). I expect Microsoft don't need to take down xbl to upgrade as it's either on their azure platform or a hybrid of azure. Maybe Sony should ask Microsoft or Amazon for some help

A bit off topic but I see they're releasing this in the US 3 days before Europe. While I appreciate the time this gives me to check out the reviews before parting with my hard earned cash for the game should us Europeans not be a bit ticked off by this double standard?

Looks nice.

1st person looks like it has the usual limited field of view for the road cars though. I hope this is adjustable (I'd like to be able to adjust how close to the windscreen I am rather than choose between the usual options of "seat pushed right back", "face pressed against the windscreen" or "sitting on the bonnet" options). I normally end up driving 3rd person as a result since none of these seem to adequately mimic the actual visual experience of driving a car. But then maybe I'll have to wait for VR to solve this one...

I suppose the big question for Project Cars (at least on PS4) is how it stacks up against Driveclub.

@Godsire-

Couldn't agree more

@kohaku
Yeh! But who cares about broken promises eh?!

@KALofKRYPTON

If online worked fine they'd have released the ps+ version by now. If their online architecture won't scale up to meet demand then I say it's still broken (or maybe they've just not heard of cloud computing).

I agree with @ReigningSemtex. This news is not encouraging at all.