back to article Sony piques PS3 fans with PlayTV patch fee

Sony is to charge PlayStation 3 users for a PlayTV firmware update that brings to the tuner and console the ability to view a seven-day programme guide and record entire series of shows at the push of a button - features DVR owners already take for granted. The Japanese giant announced the major PlayTV update back in April, …

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  1. Cornholio
    FAIL

    Not for me

    I was looking forward to series recording on the PlayTV, but I'm not willing to pay for it.

    Grrrr.

    1. Daren Nestor

      Not Willing To Pay?

      It depends on the price point. If it's £1.99 would you still be so adamant? I've no problem paying a fair price for something that is, after all, a fairly significant upgrade to my game console.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    LOL

    "Sony's action isn't unprecedented - other companies have done the same before."

    Microsoft rips of Xbox owners every month. If you had a launch Xbox (aside from the fact chances are it's long since broken), you would have paid over £200 in Xbox live fees by now.

    Wether you takes this update or not is entirely optional. if it's less than a fiver, I have no problem at all paying it. I use PlayTV alot, it's a very good option.

    Perhaps make it free to Playstation+ subscribers, that might be the push I need to subscribe to my £200 a year worth of content for £40.

    1. DrXym

      If you had an original XBox 360

      Then you're probably lucky it still works. Most likely in addition to fees you would also have paid for a larger HDD or memory card with the ridiculous premiums both items command thanks to their proprietary mouldings.

  3. Myopic Aardvark
    FAIL

    Very odd move

    I have a Sky+ box sitting above my PS3, as I suspect a lot of PS3 users in the UK do. (okay, granted, it could be below, or to the side or some other direction).

    This isn't going to get them anything other than the idiot buy, is it?

    Probably quite profitable, if other indications are anything to go by. (says the iPhone 4 owner).

    1. Lickass McClippers
      Thumb Up

      Or indeed...

      ...a Virgin+ box, sitting above your PS3, like I do.

      I'll give this a steer, I'm already paying one subscription for recordable TV...

  4. Thomas 4
    Unhappy

    Huh

    So it's free of charge to take features away like Linux capability and backwards compatability but if we want new features it costs us?

    Think my next console will be an Xbox.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      hey idiot

      you know they delivered a FREE update to 3D Blu-Ray today...

      My 2006 PS3 has been continually upgraded since launch, it was great then at £400, it's even better now and it's bang upto date.

      Microsoft at the same time have been rushing out broken turds and then relying on stupid gamers to rebuy. How many NEW xbox slim owners do you think there are? Not many almost all the slims are being sold to EXISTING xbox owners because the original one was so abysmal.

      So which company looks after it's customers? It's certainly not Microsoft.

      1. P Zero
        FAIL

        Well...

        It's not Sony either. Removed Linux support, making us pay extra for features others take for granted, and let's not forget the Sony BMG DRM scandal. Don't get me wrong, I like my PS3, but I haven't been able to justify even one more dollar on the console since paying for games that I bought years ago on the PSX. Seems the only one that's not actively hurting people is the one that's lagging behind in features: Nintendo.

      2. ukuser
        Thumb Down

        Anonymous Coward hey idiot

        "So which company looks after it's customers? It's certainly not Microsoft."

        corporations only care about profit and marketing not customers.

    2. DrXym

      Cut off your nose to spite your face

      Yeah you show Sony. Go switch to a console which charges for online services and slaps a large premium on peripherals like hard disks and headsets. That'll teach them!

  5. DEAD4EVER
    Go

    sony pay tv

    its fine if sony charge for it and also there premium pack because as long as they keep the free pack for ps3 users im happy as long as the options are there for me i can always upgrade in the future but i need a ps3 first lol sony arnt like microsoft and forcing you to pay microsoft on the other hand force you buy getten you to pay 39.99 a year thats a ripoff then theres microsoft points on top of that its crazy

    1. D@v3
      Stop

      choice

      Microsoft don't force you to pay. It's rare these days that people are leagally forced to do anything. Bad choice of words i think.

      Anyway, yes, if you want access to online gaming with the xbox, you need a gold subscription (none of my 4 years or so have ever cost £39.99 due to endless promotions) but the free silver access still gives you quite a lot.

      Its a choice.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Functionality

    I'm wondering if this is going to bring the very useful functionality of being able to record 2 programmes at once. For a device that has 2 tuners not to able to do this is really annoying...

  7. James Howat

    As an ex-TVTV user on EyeTV...

    The one thing I miss is being able to go to the tvtv.co.uk site, or desktop or mobile, and being able to schedule recordings remotely. I don't want to have to buy a Sony Ericsson mobile to be able to do that. If they incorporate that feature into the update, then I'd be happy to pay for the upgrade.

    On the subject of the charge, I would suspect that it's more to cover the cost of TVTV than anything else. If they could allow you to choose whether you wanted to pay for that feature or not, I suspect most would be happy.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unprecedented...

    "Apple notoriously charged iPod Touch owners for updated system software it was giving away free to iPhone owners"

    There's nothing "notorious" about this - US accounting laws means that they have to charge a nominal fee for the update on the iPod Touch (see sarbanes-oxley) because it doesn't have revenue based on subscription whereas the iPhone does.

    1. Mad Hacker

      Actually they've changed the accounting laws now

      I don't believe Apple charges anymore for iPod Touch upgrades as they recently changed the sarbanes-oxley law to allow you to add new features without requiring a subscription accounting model.

  9. MyHeadIsSpinning
    Thumb Up

    Perfectly ok

    It's perfectly ok for Sony to charge for something which arguably inferior playback devices provide free of charge.

    It's equally ok for Sony to weep softly when they realise that only a very small percentage of PS3 owners opt to buy the update/patch.

    It's also equally ok for Sony to then offer the update/patch for free later on, and then give account credit to those PS3 owners which bought the update/patch originally - in much the same way as Nintendo did with Wii owners and the Wii internet channel.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tuner?

    I didn't notice any aerial inputs on the back of my PS3. Am I missing something?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      have you tried a search on PlayTV?

      PlayTV is a box that connects to the PS3 via USB and has an aerial input.

      On related news: the net has been equipped with search engines in the last 15 years or so.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Hard to search for an external box

        When you don't know an external box is needed.

        Besides, why not get an external box that does it all at no extra cost (other than initial hardware outlay).

  11. Red Bren
    Grenade

    Why pay for DVR features

    When you can use MythTV... oh wait, Sony killed off OtherOS functionality so you can't.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Flame

      Some of us...

      Had the sense NOT to upgrade to 3.41 and lose linux.

      So, i can still use MythTV (or any other) and (very shortly) use a PSjailbreak or clone.

      They really do bring this shit onto themselves.

      Dear Sony. Thanks but, well, fuck off.

  12. Jim_aka_Jim

    I bet it's tax...

    Digital devices get taxed more when they have certain functionality. The FM radio feature on the iPod Nano for example, increases it's cost by a tax percentage, not by the cost of the FM reciever.

    I'm guessing 'somewhere' there's a tax for the functionality that Sony are adding. So someone has to pay the government for it. Why that has to be us, I have no idea.

    I'm glad I didn't buy PlayTV in the first place!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      shhhhh don't tell Tony

      That will totally destroy the credibility of this article..

      All EPG's use patented Macrovision technology ( which they acquired from GemStar). Obviously Sony adding a EPG to PlayTV, they will incur these royalties, which they are either partially, or fully passing onto the consumer.

      There is clearly no conspiracy, perhaps someone should tell Mr Smith.

  13. DrXym

    Maybe they should have offered ad supported and pay versions

    If the new update costs so much, perhaps they should have stuck ads in it and then offered users the choice to pay for a key to disable the ads. Either way Sony would gain some revenue, probably enough to justify continued support.

  14. Matt_payne666

    a cost upgrade?!`

    I hope they dont change the look of the EPG, its by far the nicest looking guide about... If the replacement changes the nice HD, Translucent thing to some garish block filled jobber than Id be pissed right off!

    If the update is sub£3 then id probably upgrade, but with the SkyHD box, I use PlayTV less nad less...

    It seems odd that Sony should opt to charge for an update on a niche product, surely the onus would be to give it for free and try to convince more people to buy the hardware...

    Paying still feels tight when HD broadcasts are on the horizon and the hardware is obsolete anyway....

    1. John H Woods Silver badge

      Talking of SONY Niche Products ...

      ... I bought a GPS add-on for my PSP. Very nice it was too. SONY are still selling these - but without any indication that they never have, and apparently never will, update the maps.

  15. Will 1

    Update

    I got the update last night, for free as per the normal update process.

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