Sony's PSN Quivers Under Strain As PS4 Users Start Using It

[Karloff]

Sony's PSN Quivers Under Strain As PS4 Users Start Using It

You may have noticed the occasional error, particularly with the 1.5 firmware update.

PS4 purchasers -of whom there are quite a few [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129714-PlayStation-4-Sells-a-Million-Units-in-24-Hours] - started plugging in their new consoles after last week's launch. The first thing they all wanted to do was download updates, particularly the 300MB firmware 1.5 update that unlocks a ton of features and pretty much makes the console worth having, as opposed to an expensive paperweight. For many of them, this worked; for others, not so much, as heavy traffic caused difficulty connecting to PSN.

"PSN seeing very high volume, some gamers may experience difficulty connecting," Hardware issues have also been reported [https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/401265743834406913], but Sony claims that these affect "less than 0.4% of shipped units to date," well within Sony's expectations.

Some game servers suffered significant issues during launch, including PS4 Information Hub [https://twitter.com/ZombieSpragUI/status/401731987238440960].

Source: Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/11/sony-heavy-traffic-causing-online-problems-surrounding-ps4-launch/]


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[RicoADF]

particularly the 300MB firmware 1.5 update that unlocks a ton of features and pretty much makes the console worth having, as opposed to an expensive paperweight.

The PS4 works out of the box, it plays games, I don't get how you can call it an expensive paperweight without the patch.
Source:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427050,00.asp

It's the online functions (which need the online connection anyway to work) that don't work without the patch. The xbox one though won't work without the day one patch/a stable connection.

 

[AstaresPanda]

So...PS4 came out friday, you cant play online till you patch. Then PSN goes down for fixes the day after the ps4 comes out. God i can not wait to see what happens with the Xbone

 

[Alfador_VII]

particularly the 300MB firmware 1.5 update that unlocks a ton of features and pretty much makes the console worth having, as opposed to an expensive paperweight.

The PS4 works out of the box, it plays games, I don't get how you can call it an expensive paperweight without the patch.
Source:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2427050,00.asp

It's the online functions (which need the online connection anyway to work) that don't work without the patch. The xbox one though won't work without the day one patch/a stable connection.

Not sure if it's site-wide, but there has been a definite Microsoft bias in a lot of the reporting here lately.

 

[Flatfrog]

Not sure if it's site-wide, but there has been a definite Microsoft bias in a lot of the reporting here lately.

Seriously? Where?

I'd say that so far they've mostly gone with the consensus view that Microsoft lost the PR war in the lead-up, and now they're waiting for the release.

 

[RJ 17]

Annnnnd this is the kinda thing that justifies my decision to hold off on getting a next gen console for a few months. Well, that and the fact that I currently have no means of affording one. :3

But there's always going to be errors and glitches and what-not that need to be worked out with a new console, so I figure it's just better to wait for all the kinks to get ironed out before picking one up.

 

[TwoSidesOneCoin]

Annnnnd this is the kinda thing that justifies my decision to hold off on getting a next gen console for a few months. Well, that and the fact that I currently have no means of affording one. :3

But there's always going to be errors and glitches and what-not that need to be worked out with a new console, so I figure it's just better to wait for all the kinks to get ironed out before picking one up.

Same issue for me except replace months with year or so. Yes it seem over dramatic to wait that long, but in the end, it gives even more time for issues to surface and be ironed out.

 

[Arawn]

A lot of people are curious as to why many people are accepting of PS4's rocky start. Some might be considered "Xbox fanboys" but the majority are regular people. It is a logical question; why would anyone not be FURIOUS about their product not working as expected out of the box. While the former would attribute this tolerance to being "Playstation fanboys" I'd like to think it's not completely true. Fore some it might be a factor, but I think otherwise. The short answer is cell phones happened. Everyone recalls the flood of phones coming out broken and faulty? Buying it one day returning it the next. There was some anger,but people still were excited to be holding the next gen of XYZ. They endured and eventually they got a product that had form and function. That was until the next one came out.... ~.~. It's the same thing with PS4. People are excited to have the new shiny even if it has it's hiccups. Perhaps another reason is that this isn't our first "next gen". Enough people have experienced a console release, this isn't our first rodeo. First hand we've seen the stuttering start these new systems have gone through. PS3? Xbox? Wii? People rushed to purchase them in waves, yet the response mirrors what we happened this weekend. And just like today many sat back and waited to see how the fledgling units found their stride.

Despite all this there is a buffer of goodwill towards Sony after Microsoft initial policies. I can't deny that it's there. The manner in which it all went down there's quite a bit of bitterness still lingering. So a PS4 is granted some slack, and I'm most certain Xbox One won't. It's a shame if that's true. Given a chance it might shape up to be a contender. There are some games to look forward to; Dead Rising 3 and TitanFall for me. Just bashing them for the sake of bashing them is getting tired. If they do make any mistake later any complaints will be less effective. If the default reaction to anything they do is hostility don't expect any response when such hostility is warranted. Constructive criticism.

Annnnnd this is the kinda thing that justifies my decision to hold off on getting a next gen console for a few months. Well, that and the fact that I currently have no means of affording one. :3

But there's always going to be errors and glitches and what-not that need to be worked out with a new console, so I figure it's just better to wait for all the kinks to get ironed out before picking one up.

Same issue for me except replace months with year or so. Yes it seem over dramatic to wait that long, but in the end, it gives even more time for issues to surface and be ironed out.

This makes some sense to me. For the most part I've decided to pick up a unit between now and Feb. February being the date in which the system will release in Japan. One of two things should occur by then.(hopefully both) The first they will have fixed the software and possible hardware issues. The second being there will probably be many more units (bundle units) available at that time. There is a third reason, that being that there are some games being released near that time that will undoubtedly perk some interest; inFamous Second Son is released in March iirc. (I think there are more, but can't recall atm) Waiting isn't a bad plan, but I can play on my friend's system until I pick up one of my own.

 

[Frost27]

The only problem I had at all was that it took 10 minutes to get it to accept my PSN login. Aside from that, my PS4 has been flawless. Battlefield 4 on the other hand.... Not so much. But that is an EA/DICE screwup that they have yet to unscrew.

I powered it up, said "Ooooo shiny UI" and started poking around the XMB and about 3 minutes later I heard a cheery "bloop" and a message popped up that the 1.5 firmware had been downloaded and was ready to install. The installation took about 30 seconds after the system rebooted and I was done. I had pre-downloaded the 1.5 patch and it literally completed the process itself before I could figure out how to navigate to find the update on the USB device.

I know some people did not have as smooth of a time, but I haven't been let down yet.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Oh yeah, it's OK for the PS4 to be having issues. God forbid that Microsoft has any at all.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

so yet another launch issue coming to light. Pretty much happens with every network launch as it seems people NEVER have enough for it.

 

[NiPah]

Oh yeah, it's OK for the PS4 to be having issues. God forbid that Microsoft has any at all.

Now it's just getting funny, look mate you're still getting people complaining ever time one of these "the PS4 farted" stories, you get the PC fantards telling how much better the PC is, you get the "only idiots buy day one", and you get the people defending the PS4 because they actually spent money on the system and need to defend their own logic.

When the Xbox 1 comes out you'll get the same groupies saying the same thing as above, the only difference is there are less people who shelled out money for the Xbox 1, so less people defending it.

Oh and there will be a shit ton of people like you pointing out how unfair this all is, they'll be in those stories too.