Old Playstation Stores shutting down soon (rumor)

Piscian

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I have an honest concern about this. I know this is corner case for some but the "House Of The Dead" collection is only on PSN, only on PS3. I have no way of getting my copy if they shut down and it hasn't been ported any where as far as I know.
 

Chimpzy

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I have an honest concern about this. I know this is corner case for some but the "House Of The Dead" collection is only on PSN, only on PS3. I have no way of getting my copy if they shut down and it hasn't been ported any where as far as I know.
Well, the solution would be to boot up your PS3, download the game while you can, and then never delete it.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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Well, the solution would be to boot up your PS3, download the game while you can, and then never delete it.
And copy it to an external drive just in case something goes wrong with PS3. I myself am mostly concerned about my MGS Legacy Collection, along with the digital install of MGS4.
 

09philj

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And copy it to an external drive just in case something goes wrong with PS3. I myself am mostly concerned about my MGS Legacy Collection, along with the digital install of MGS4.
You can't just copy digital games off the PS3's hard drive without some considerable effort. If your PS3 has new enough firmware it's a process that will involve a soldering iron. Dumping games from discs is relatively straightforward though.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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You can't just copy digital games off the PS3's hard drive without some considerable effort. If your PS3 has new enough firmware it's a process that will involve a soldering iron. Dumping games from discs is relatively straightforward though.

Not even using the backup utility? I mean, I know it’s useless to backup the games by themselves because they’re tied to the PS3 system checks, so it’s kind of a moot point as the data would ultimately need verification on any PS3 system to operate regardless. Save data is one thing, but I guess being able to use a backup install on a *newer* PS3 would be nice.

Having said that, perhaps we’ll need to rely on some form of emulation for everything and end up losing our progress on older games if Sony doesn’t honor legacy usage in the future. I think if they are going to require system checks like they currently do to run software, then they should either continue support or older titles or eventually switch them all over to emulation.
 
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BrawlMan

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We all knew this was coming. It's matter of "when", not "if". Thankfully, any games that I was interested on PS3, have been ported to PS4 or other modern consoles. It sucks that 3rd Strike Online Edition won't exist any more. Capcom, you dumb, lazy, bastards. Sony should really consider porting all of their old 1st party IPs from 7th gen on modern consoles. They lose literally nothing.
 
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Piscian

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Got my email today. Downloads will still be available for the foreseeable future it seems.


Hi Piscian,

We are closing PlayStation™Store on PlayStation®3 on July 2nd, 2021 and on PlayStation®Vita devices on August 27th 2021. Additionally, the remaining purchase functionality for PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) will also retire on July 2nd, 2021. After thoughtful consideration, we decided to make these changes in an effort to focus our resources for PlayStation Store on PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®5, which will enable us to enhance the customer experience even further. We thank you for your support on these platforms throughout the years.

What does this mean for you?
You will no longer be able to purchase PS3, PS Vita and PSP digital content, including games and video content.

You will also no longer be able to make in-game purchases through games on PS3, PS Vita and PSP.

While the PSP storefront was previously closed in 2016, the remaining PSP purchase functionality (e.g. in-game purchases) will now be fully retired.

What about content you already own?
• You will still be able to download your owned PS3, PS Vita, and PSP content, including games and video content.
• You can download your owned content onto your PS3, PS Vita, or PSP by accessing the Download List on the respective device.
• If you have purchased a PS3/PS Vita cross-buy bundle and have only downloaded either the PS3 or PS Vita version, you will need to download the other version prior to the closure of PlayStation™Store on the relevant device.
• Video content that you own can be streamed on PS3, PS4 or PS5 through the My Videos app, or on mobile devices through the PlayStation™Video app.
• You will still be able to re-download and play game titles you have claimed through PlayStation®Plus as long as you remain a member of the service.

What about vouchers, wallet funds, and cross-buy content?
• You will still be able to redeem game and PlayStation®Plus vouchers on PS3, PS Vita, and PSP devices once PlayStation™Store and purchase functionality for these devices close.
• You will no longer be able to redeem PSN wallet fund vouchers (e.g. gift cards) on PS3, PS Vita, and PSP devices once PlayStation™Store and purchase functionality for these devices close.
• Your PSN wallet funds will remain in your PSN account, but you will only be able to use your wallet funds to purchase PS4 and PS5 products on PlayStation™Store on the web, PlayStation®App, or on PS4 and PS5 consoles.
• You will still be able to purchase cross-buy content through PlayStation™Store on the web, PlayStation®App, or on PS4 and PS5 consoles and access both the PS4 version and the PS3/PS Vita/PSP versions.​


 
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Dreiko

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You can still DL your digital stuff, you just can't make new purchases basically. It's not like they're making new vita games all day. It's really not a big deal.
 
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Dalisclock

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You can still DL your digital stuff, you just can't make new purchases basically. It's not like they're making new vita games all day. It's really not a big deal.
It was to be expected, since the PS3 has been a dead system for a couple years now so they'd eventually pull the plug on the store.

What sucks is that the PS4/PS5 aren't backwards compatible with it and apparently it's a pain to emulate due to some very unique system architecture. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject will chime in.
 

Dreiko

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It was to be expected, since the PS3 has been a dead system for a couple years now so they'd eventually pull the plug on the store.

What sucks is that the PS4/PS5 aren't backwards compatible with it and apparently it's a pain to emulate due to some very unique system architecture. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject will chime in.
I don't think that's much of a risk actually because these games are still up on the ps4 version of the psn I believe. It's all one thing, so unless they move off to some other thing I don't think they would ever need to stop hosting the ps3/vita stuff.
 
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Chimpzy

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it's a pain to emulate due to some very unique system architecture. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject will chime in.
RPCS3 is progressing, but yeah, it's a pain for various reasons. Partially because of that complex architecture, partially because the software side of things got way more complex in general in the HD era. Partially because emulators tend to be dependent on the time and effort of volunteers, and RPCS3 spent over half a decade not really getting anywhere. Until they implemented the Vulkan api in 2017, which massively improved emulation performance. This gave a the project a big shot in the arm, both in terms of development interest, and public interest. Currently, compatibility is about 60% playable, with playable meaning a game can be completed start to finish with no game-breaking bugs and playable performance.

Tho this comes with a bunch of caveats. For example, no game-breaking bugs does not mean no bugs. Expect many games to have visual glitches. Playable performance can have wildly differing hardware requirements, ranging from better than a real PS3 on a modest CPU, to only barely playable on a top of the line CPU*. Some games will only run well on a specific version of the emulator, which is not necessarily the newest one. Some games will only run at all on custom builds of the emulator. There's no solution for Sixaxis functionality yet, so any game that requires that in any way is unplayable by default. And of course, there are still many games that don't run good enough regardless of how beefy your hardware is, or what version emulator you use. Multiplatform games generally work well enough, as do many (indie) PSN titles, but most of the PS3 AAA exclusives aren't there yet.

It'll probably get there, but there is still a ways to go. I'm guessing 3-5 years, barring some unexpected breakthrough. We'll probably get good Switch emulation first.

* like most emulators, RPCS3 relies more on way more CPU than GPU, particularly single-threaded performance.