PlayStation Must Really Not Want You To Use The Web Store
Sony is discontinuing the sale of PlayStation 3 games, PlayStation Vita games, PSP games, avatars, and themes on the mobile/web versions of the PlayStation Store within the October 21 to 26 time frame. The wishlist feature will be abandoned as well. This does not affect previously purchased items, and the PlayStation Store, via the PlayStation console, will not be impacted by this change. This news comes from an email sent to PlayStation consumers after reports that Sony informed their development partners of the change.
Allegedly, Sony is cleaning out the Store before the PlayStation 5 launch on November 12. The PlayStation Store has a history of being slow, laggy, and altogether a pain to use. There have been reports on Reddit that some users were not able to finish a purchase because the Store crashed on them. These cases are across all versions of the Store, from the mobile app to the PlayStation Pro. Reddit user ChaoticNonsense said: "I can run a gorgeous game like God of War at 4k HDR without dropping a frame [on the PlayStation Pro], but God forbid I try to navigate a menu."
Kinda Funny's Greg Miller and Dualshocker's Mario Rivera discussed the Store update on Kinda Funny's daily news show. The two hosts showed a positive reaction to the change, with Miller saying, "This gets me incredibly excited because it means PlayStation 5 is closer than ever, and we're trying to clean it all up." Rivera blatantly said: "We have to clean out the garbage. I'm tired of seeing old stuff on these stores." PlayStation users also reacted to the news on Resetera, and many people were confused about the decision to remove the wishlist. AwShucks, for example, said that they will be less likely to buy content from the Store when they can't organize it in a wishlist. Users also thought it was disrespectful of Sony to release this news six days before it went into effect.
Hopefully, the issues will eventually clear up when the PlayStation 5 launches, and the Store is revamped. A video showcase of the PlayStation 5's User Interface revealed that the Store will not be an app but rather seamlessly integrated into the PlayStation 5 home page. The new console interface looks promising, with smoother navigation across the menus. It may slow down when more items are added throughout the years, but so far, the interface looks to be user-friendly.
The Store is not the only PlayStation product to see major discontinuations and changes, according to the PlayStation Support page. The PlayStation Messages app is only accessible through the official PlayStation app as of October 14. On that same day, PlayStation 4 Events, which was a way to schedule game sessions, was discontinued. The "request only" option was eliminated when creating communities, and lastly, the Play Together option, a way to launch games from a party, was discontinued. Additionally, PlayStation trophies were recently revamped to increase trophy level from "1-100" to "1-999."
Sony is gearing up for the PlayStation 5 launch in other ways as well. Software update 8.00 revealed that Sony can record voice chats – or at least that's how it seemed. The PlayStation Blog issued an update stating that the PlayStation 5 will let players record voice chat and send the recordings in for review. This is, most likely, an attempt to safeguard against cyberbullying on PlayStation consoles. PlayStation 4 players may have their voice chats recorded when talking to a PlayStation 5 player. Still, gamers were angry that voice recording was not made clear to consumers in the patch notes.
Sony is obviously making changes to its pre-existing hardware to prepare for the PlayStation 5 launch. This happens when consoles leap into a new generation, but gamers are generally unhappy with Sony's communications. The main complaint about the PlayStation Store update was the lack of warning. Altogether, it has been a summer of inadequate messages, from the Playstation 5 pre-order date to the confusing announcement on how Marvel's Spider-Man will work on the PlayStation 5 via the Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales: Ultimate Edition. These things may clear up when the PlayStation 5 launches, but for now, Sony fans can eat some Burger King to try and win a free PlayStation 5.