Digital games and media issues | Star Wars Outlaws disc requires an online check to install

Cumberdanes wrote:I can see why people are unhappy about this as it sets a dangerous precedent moving forward but who actually bought any Discovery shows on PSN? I didn’t even know you could.

Yeah, it's not so much the content in this case, but more the idea that Sony can - and will! - remove access to content that has been purchased.

Sony has, I believe, subsequently stopped selling film and TV content via PlayStation. Although... they have recently started up their "Core" digital film service.

Last edited by Jenuall on Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

And this is why ~~piracy~~ preservation is so important! :lol:

I trust the collective capability of online communities to preserve access to things far better than I do corporations.

In general though my threshold of trust for buying these things from digital stores varies by content and source. Buying GOG games = very happy and confident, that gooseberry fool is DRM free (for the most part!) Steam games = pretty happy, Valve have kept that gooseberry fool up (outside of a few exceptions) for ~20 years now. etc.

Buying MEDIA content from a GAMES service feels like a pretty risky combination in general, and one that I wouldn't choose to go down in the first place personally!

Kind of related - the other night we decided to play a pc based puzzle game ("The Room 4") and we'd normally do so by using the TV based steamlink app. Installed the game, sat down with the controller to play and upon trying to launch the app we were greeted with a message saying it was no longer in use and would be deleted. Gone there and then, can't even carry on using it, just deleted itself. :simper:

Fortunately I already had a steamlink box from aaaages ago that I'd just stumbled upon in the loft having forgotten I even had it.

Piss take that this harmless little app on the TV that was only used in the confines of my own network was just taken away for no reason. It was fine just sitting there, needed no updating or anything.

Jenuall wrote:...Buying MEDIA content from GAMES service feels like a pretty risky combination in general, and one that I wouldn't choose to go down in the first place personally!

I was pretty much all in on digital on my PS4 but subsequently I have been reticent and wary of doing this on PS5, generally preferring to get disc versions (even though they're often dependent upon launch updates :-(

). I've returned to buying discs for flims and TV, too.

On paper, digital downloading should be fantastic for both the publishers and consumers. Naturally, however, in reality the publishers are often trying to completely screw over the customer.

It appears that the disc version of the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game requires an internet check to be undertaken before the game can be installed. Users who have obtained the disc version of the game ahead of launch (7 December) are reporting that the game cannot be installed; with a message indicating that they need to wait until 7 December.

Source: VGC

Of course, this is not a huge problem right now... but, in the future, when the online check is no longer available, the disc version will become unable to be used.

I wonder if this is an approach that Ubisoft or other publishers will take for future games?

It's almost as if physical media is dead technology.

Victor Mildew wrote:it was no longer in use and would be deleted. Gone there and then, can't even carry on using it, just deleted itself.

This is why it's never a good idea to buy a TV for any built in app/service, they will get out of date and depreciated, licenses to host them or whatever expire and then they're just gone. I sideloaded steam link onto our fire TV cube as valve are kind enough to share the .apk themselves and our TV is probably one of the last non-smart TV's in the world.

jawa_ wrote:
Of course, this is not a huge problem right now... but, in the future, when the online check is no longer available, the disc version will become unable to be used.

I suspect as a licensed game it will get delisted before that happens, but yeah this kind of thing does undermine the physical-only argument when the discs themselves are hideous pre-day one patch versions or are just as unusable but now you've got a plastic case to go to landfill and a shiny tea coaster...

Zilnad wrote:It's almost as if physical media is dead technology.

It doesn't have to be; but, unfortunately, some publishers are making it so. Equally, downloading does have many positive aspects but, alas, some publishers are often twisting that path to make it far less attractive than it should be.

Sony has come to an extended - albeit temporary - agreement with Warner Bros Discovery (and who knows what their future, along with Paramount, is going to be like):

Similar to other services, we do not own the licensing rights to TV/movie content that was previously available for purchase on PlayStation Store, however, we’ve worked with Warner Bros to update our licensing agreements, ensuring that consumers will be able to access their previously purchased content for at least the next 30 months.

Now you can continue to watch Cake Boss like a boss for another 2 years.

KK wrote:Sony has come to an extended - albeit temporary - agreement with Warner Bros Discovery (and who knows what their future, along with Paramount, is going to be like):

Similar to other services, we do not own the licensing rights to TV/movie content that was previously available for purchase on PlayStation Store, however, we’ve worked with Warner Bros to update our licensing agreements, ensuring that consumers will be able to access their previously purchased content for at least the next 30 months.

Now you can continue to watch Cake Boss like a boss for another 2 years.

I think this move merely confirms how dicey it is to "purchase" a product digitally. These companies are sometimes selling things that they don't have ownership of and "purchases" are effectively loans for an undefined period of time.

This instance - whilst not new - has woken me up to this fact and I will now be far more wary about buying digitally; and definitely not for TV or movies!

It's not dicey unless the publisher is a banana split (Warner Bros)

Plenty of game services have shown it's possible to let users play and download delisted games. There's no reason Warner couldn't do the same with their content.

They're just out of touch suits who don't realise people will just pirate content in the future because they've shown it to be the safer option.

Fade wrote:It's not dicey unless the publisher is a banana split (Warner Bros)

Plenty of game services have shown it's possible to let users play and download delisted games. There's no reason Warner couldn't do the same with their content.

They're just out of touch suits who don't realise people will just pirate content in the future because they've shown it to be the safer option.

I wonder if you're thinking about this from a PC angle, Fade? I'm not aware of any console platforms allowing consumers to download and play delisted games; and we have seen cases such as Nintendo turning off digital stores and Sony trying similar things (closing down the Vita digital store and delaying closure of the PS3 store).

I feel more it likely that we will see publishers being banana splits, tbh. In the case of the Warner incident, I personally place equal blame upon Sony as they are the platform owner and were happy to take circa 30% of the purchases costs without being clear that the purchases were, effectively, temporary rentals. Even though they have now "extended the loan" by a year or two, the purchases will still be lost after that point. In the mind of the consumer, trust is lost by these incidents.

I think Fade means if you’ve already purchased the game, it’s still available to redownload even when it’s no longer available on a digital store front (with rare exceptions, such as that Konami horror demo).

Not sure what happens when the PS3 store is eventually switched off. I think currently for something like the PSP you need to plug the console into the PS3 and transfer games over manually.

I was scrolling through old demos I’d downloaded on PS3 a few months back, some almost 16 years old, and I was still able to download them (such as Gran Turismo HD).

Funimation merger into Crunchyroll - previous digital purchases will be lost

IGN wrote:Along with announcing merger options, Funimation also informed migrating users that they may experience change in price to their subscription costs.

"Going forward, the subscription fees will be reflected in the next billing cycle through Crunchyroll or the third-party access platform, following Crunchyroll's pricing," Funimation wrote. "Future subscription fees will be reflected in your next billing cycle through Crunchyroll or via your third-party access platform to your current payment method on file."

Unfortunately, Funimation users who purchased digital copies of anime shows and movies on the platform won't be able to access them on Crunchyroll.

"We understand that you may have concerns about your digital copies from Funimation," the blog post reads. "Please note that Crunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means that access to previously available digital copies will not be supported. However, we are continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to explore the extensive anime library available on Crunchyroll."

Source: IGN

Sony are at it again. As a part of the takeover of Funimation and the merger into Crunchyroll, Funimation customers who purchased digital copies of shows will not be able to watch them.

...it does kinda feel like that approach is becoming the correct answer!

Unless it's iTunes, which is the most secure of all the digital store fronts, I wouldn't purchase anything unless that piece of media can be stored locally and played on most devices (i.e. music). Though as I found out a few years ago, any digital magazine subscription you purchase on Apple is dependent on that magazine not being scrapped. If it is, it's locked to the Apple device you originally purchased it on. So when that device breaks, you lose everything. There is a work-around, but it's laborious beyond belief (you've got to manually screenshot each page and turn it into a PDF).

Obviously with consoles you're taking the risk the big three won't collapse and your collection goes to gooseberry fool.

jawa_ wrote:...it does kinda feel like that approach is becoming the correct answer!

I know some people feel piracy is immoral. But if you have already bought the media and it's taken away from you, then I can't see any moral arguments against pirating it.

Moggy wrote:I know some people feel piracy is immoral. But if you have already bought the media and it's taken away from you, then I can't see any moral arguments against pirating it.

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Digital games and media issues | Star Wars Outlaws disc requires an online check to install

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