Sony and the Great Disappearing Games Debacle... PSOne and PSP Classic Titles Added And Then Removed From The PS Vita.

Sony fans were delighted to discover that all of the classic PSP and PSOne titles were available for download on their PS Vita consoles on Tuesday the 22nd April 2014. These screens from PS Vita users on the NeoGAF forum show some of the games available:

However, it now appears as though the downloads may have been made available in error as they have all since been removed. According to the VG247.com website, it appears as though the games may have been added in error as Sony has now withdrawn all the classic titles. However, the website also claimed that: "some of the titles still work following their removal." [Sourced from: http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/24/sony-removes-recently-added-psone-psp-classic-games-from-vita-store/]


There has been no official explanation from Sony as to why the titles were available for download in the first place, but the most plausible explanation is that there was an error during one of Sony's many software emulation tests, which made the games available briefly, but this has yet to be confirmed.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

Were you lucky enough to get one of the classic games before Sony removed them from the PSN store? If so, why not leave us a comment in the comments box at the end of this post (or by clicking on the 'comments' link under this post in the Home page), and let us know. Mini Gamers is interested to know your thoughts and opinions on this issue.

PS Vita: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - What Do We Know So Far?

With only a few short months before the Playstation Vita emerges onto the Japanese gaming market, Mini Gamers examines the recent spate of news articles concerning Sony's new handheld device, and asks whether the PS Vita is gearing up to be an international success or whether it will all turn out to be a bit of a disappointment...

THE GOOD

The PS Vita (then known only as the 'Sony NGP') was announced on the 27th of January this year after months of speculation about its existence.

Amongst other things revealed about the new console, were its hardware specifications, including an enhanced graphics card, front and rear cameras, a rear touch pad and OLED touchscreen, and dual analog sticks, making it one of the most technological handhelds that Sony has ever produced.

However, Sony then surprised gamers by announcing that the console would be relatively low-priced despite its technological advances, with the 3G wireless version priced around £219, whilst the non-3G version was expected to cost around £187.

More good news came recently. Sony announced that the console would not be region-locked, unlike its main competitor, the Nintendo 3DS, meaning that gamers could purchase PS Vita software cheaply by obtaining it from other countries, including America.

Sony also recently announced that it would be offering previous PSP owners an opportunity for 'cheap downloads' of their previous UMD games onto the new console. According to gaming website, Siliconera, Sony plans to offer gamers downloadable PSP titles at a 'special price' when the console launches in Japan.

 However, it is yet unclear what form this price reduction might take, or whether similar offers will be available next year when the console launches in North America and Europe.

Sony have also provided details of the various launch dates for the PS Vita console release, which have now been confirmed as:

December 17th 2011 

Japan

 February  22nd 2012  

Worldwide release including Australia, America and Europe.

This  means that although Japan will get the Vita in time for Christmas, it won't be too long before the rest of us get to experience this nifty little console for ourselves.

THE BAD

Sony's recent announcements about PS Vita Memory Stick prices came as a shock to many gamers as the lowest prices were almost triple the price of most memory sticks and a lot higher than those memory sticks used in the older PSPs. Nothing really to suit poorer budgets. Details of the PS Vita memory sticks can be found by clicking HERE.

Sony have announced that they will cease production of UMD games for the new console, opting instead for a new game-cartridge system, which they have called NVGs. However, this means that the console will also be incompatible with older PSP games as it will no longer feature a UMD slot.

This means that PSP owners will be forced to either keep their existing PSP consoles as well as buying the new PS Vita in order to continue using the original games, or they will be forced to sell their existing software and then purchase a downloadable version for the PS Vita. Either way, this seems to be quite an off-putting factor for older PSP fans. 

Furthermore, Sony have recently announced that downloads on the 3G model of the PS Vita will now be limited to a disapointing 20MB during the console's initial launch, but Sony has stated that this may vary in the future.

PS VITA: IS THE FUTURE LOOKING 'UGLY'?

   It is yet unclear how the PS Vita will perform in the weeks and months after its release in both Japan or the rest of Europe. The console is vastly superior to the PSP or PSP Go, and, despite one or two minor bad points, the PS Vita does have plenty of  appealing features.

Nevertheless, the PS Vita has come under heavy-fire from critics who say that Sony are simply trying to rival the Nintendo 3DS, which, despite its obvious gaming advances is still struggling to make a good impression in the overall gaming market. Does this mean that the PS Vita is doomed to fail?

According to SCEJ President, Hiroshi Kawano, he does not see 3D smartphones or the Nintendo 3DS as a threat to the success of the PS Vita.

Speaking at the Tokyo Game Show 2011, Kawano claimed the two consoles were radically different, not only in their price and performance, but also in the fact that the PS Vita will contain many more elements aimed at 'Social Gaming', which has become very popular over the past few years.

Furthermore, Kawano claims that 3D smartphones only have gaming as a bonus, rather than as their main focus and therefore, he does not believe that this will be a major competitor for the PS Vita console.

Kawano said: "Gaming is not the main focus of smartphones but merely just a bonus. The PS Vita, on the other hand, is designed for games, with extra features like social networking elements and applications built on top of that... people who want to buy a gaming system will not go out and buy a smartphone for exactly this reason." [Sourced from: http://au.gamespot.com/events/tgs-2011/story.html?sid=6334983]

The PS Vita looks to be shaping up nicely, with several games such as Escape Plan, Gravity Rush, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and Little Big Planet to name but a few. Nevertheless, one thing is certain - the PS Vita will only succeed if gamers want a console and go out and purchase one. Thus, one question still remains: Is the PS Vita what current gamers really want?

Mini Gamers in interested in what you think about Sony's latest offering. Why not leave us a comment and let us know? We'd love to here your thoughts on the subject.

New Suikoden Game Announced For PSP...

Konami has announced that they will be producing a new Suikoden game for the Playstation Portable.

The game was announced at this year's Tokyo Game Show, and its title has roughly been translated into English as Genso Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century.

OFFICIAL JAPANESE TRAILER shown at TGS 2011

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Suikoden games franchise, the first Suikoden game was developed in 1995 and the series has previously appeared on the Playstation I and II, as well as on the Nintendo DS and PSP handheld systems.

In each of the previous Suikoden games, players must attempt to recruit all 108 Stars of Destiny in order to unlock new abilities and bonuses. The games also featured many turn-based battle modes, including one-on-one duels.

However, what marks this new game out from its predecessors is the fact that it is being produced from scratch by a different production team than before, and the game itself seems like a self-contained episode based on - as opposed to a continuation of - the previous games in the series. This means that Suikoden fans could be seeing a lot of new gameplay features alongside the more traditional ones. Only time will tell if this serves to enhance the Suikoden franchise or not.

Genso Suikoden: The Woven Web of a Century is still in development and it could be some time before more solid details about the game start to emerge. Watch this space!

Sony To Drop PSP Digital Comic Service...

The Sony PSP Digital Comic Service is to be dropped just seventeen months after its initial launch. According to a message on the Official Playstation Blog, which warned users that the latest comic update would also be the last.

Playstation Store director, Grace Chen, claimed that the Digital Comic Service would no longer feature any new comics after the 6th of July 2011, but was quick to add that users could: "continue to download any of the over 4000 existing comics from the comic store as usual..." [sourced from:http://us.playstationcomics.com/main/blog/weekly-update-060711.html]

Just to confirm, although it has been announced that Sony intends to 'drop' the service, (which would seems to suggest that the service is to cease,) the truth is that the PSP digital comics that are already in the store will remain unchanged and can still be downloaded as normal, but there will be NO MORE NEW STOCK of comics after the above date.

 However, the playstation blog also mentioned that the Digital Comic Service would continue on other Sony products, although no specific details were given at this point.

 Mini Gamers is saddened by the news, but we are also left wondering whether there might be plans to move the Digital Comic Service to the newest Sony handheld, the PS Vita, which is set to debut in December 2011.

Keep checking in with the Mini Gamers blog for more news on this subject as it happens.

PSN Store and Quriocity Services Back By Friday?

It has been a long and frustrating few months for owners of Sony's PSP consoles in the wake of the malicious security breach which meant the closure of all major Playstation online services, but Sony are now insisting that full Playstation Network Store and Quriocity services will be restored by the end of the week.

Sony has already provided a special System Update (version 6.39), which means that all existing PSN and Quriocity customers will be forced to update their passwords and confirm their credit card details before being allowed back into the online store and other services.

This is just one of a number of new security measures which has been implemented since the cyber attack, which is thought to have placed 77 million Playstation users' personal information at risk, and cost Sony almost £105 million in revenue.

Sony also promises that it will be providing a full Welcome Back package to all of its existing users in the near future. The package has now been unveiled and will attempt to offer 'something for everyone', including:

• A selection of free  movie rentals for all PlayStation Network customers over the course of one weekend.
• Non-PlayStation Plus subscribers will get a free, 30-day PlayStation Plus membership.
• Existing PlayStation Plus members will get 30 extra days free.
• Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscribers will get free access for 30 days, plus time lost.
• PlayStation Home will offer 100 virtual items.

Mini Gamers is very pleased to hear that Sony's digital store will soon be open for business, however, the cyber attack and the delay in restoring its services may have caused untold damage to Sony's reputation and any profits that the company  might generate in the future. Only time will tell whether Sony will be able to fully recover from this unforeseen turn of events.

PSN and Quriocity Services v. 6.39 System Update...Is Sony Back?

Sony have today released a new System Update (version 6.39) to their PSP customers, in light of the devastating hack that is expected to cost the company almost £105.8 million pounds in revenue.

The new update forces existing PSN and Quriocity customers to change their password and re-confirm their credit card details before being allowed  back onto Sony's online services. It is all part of the enhanced security features that Sony had promised its customers, in order to ensure that an attack of this magnitude cannot happen again.

However, despite the fact that the update has now become available to all of Sony's PSP and PS3 customers, the PSN store and Quriocity services remain offline, meaning even more frustration for Playstation customers.

Reliable sources within the gaming community have claimed that all of Sony's online gaming and music services should be restored by the 31st of May 2011 at the latest. Nevertheless, Sony has remained guarded about when the PSN store and Quriocity services will be available again.

So, it looks like PSN and Quriocity users will have to remain patient for at least another week. However, the question is, will customers still feel safe about using the service after all this time, and is Sony's intended 'Welcome Back' Package enough to make up for the weeks of frustration that gamers have been forced to endure?

If you have any comments about the Playstation Network hack, and the delay in restoring the PSN and Quriocity services, then please share them with us via our comments link or via our suggestion box. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sony Starts PSN Restoration Process At Last. 'Welcome Back' Package Details NOT included...

Sony has today begun restoring access to its online Playstation Network and Quriocity services after a malicious security breach forced them to close down for over three weeks. PS3 users will be able to access the service from today. However, some areas of the PSP Playstation Store are still undergoing maintenance at present.

In an attempt for tighter security, PSN users will now be forced to update their account details before being allowed to access the services. PS3 users will automatically receive a system update that will do this for them.

Sony has also promised its customers a 'Welcome Back' package including some free game downloads and free one month membership to Playstation Plus, but there are no details of this at present. The details of the package are expected to be revealed soon. Further details can be obtained by clicking HERE.

This is terrific news for users of either Quriocity or the PSN store. We here at Mini Gamers are delighted with the news and can't wait to start using our PSP consoles again.

What about other gamers out there? Are you pleased that the services are now back online, or has the breach left you feeling unsure about using these Sony services?  Let us know what you think about this issue by leaving a comment in our comments box (at the bottom of each post). We'd love to hear your thoughts.



PSN and Quriocity Outage Could Continue Until The End Of May...

Sony's Playstation Network and Quriocity services continue to be unavailable for yet another week, and it looks as though the services will not return until the end of May at the earliest.

Mini Gamers first reported on the Playstation Network Outage in April of this year. At that time, Sony was confident that it would have both services up and running within a week. However, subsequent information leaks and fears of a second intrusion have meant that the "Phased Restoration of service" that Sony was planning, has so far not taken place.

Sony has suggested that they will be offering a so-called 'Welcome Back' package to all its customers, including the possibility of two free game downloads or music downloads and a thirty-day free membership into the Playstation Plus account amongst other things, but with Playstation gamers growing ever more impatient, it looks as though it may already be too little, too late where Sony is concerned.

Gaming website GamesIndustryBiz recently reported that there had been a higher trade-ins for Sony consoles, including the PS3 in the wake of the Playstation Network outage. This is a trend which could spell disaster for the Sony gaming franchise should it continue.

Sony's Head of Publisher Relations, Rob Dyer, recently wrote a letter to the company's developers and publishers in which he described the steps that Sony had taken immediately after the attack and how the company intended to get its services back online. The full contents of the letter can be read by clicking HERE.

At the time of this blog post, there is still no clear date when either the Playstation Network or Quriocity services shall return, but the longer that the outage lasts, the greater the overall damage done to Sony's reputation. Could this be the end for Sony as we know it?

What do you think of the current outage? Do you think that Sony have taken responsible measures by shutting down its services immediately after the breach? Have you lost interest in Sony products in the wake of the PSN outage?

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment in the comments box. We'd love to hear from you.



Sony Begins "Phased Restoration" Of Its Services...

Sony has today started what it has termed a "Phased Restoration" of its Playstation Network and Qriocity services after a malicious system hack forced them to be shut down for over a week.

During a press conference in Tokyo yesterday, both Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) announced that they will shortly begin to turn on their gaming, music and video services region by region.

Sony has also implemented stricter security measures since the cyber attack, including creating a new company position called the Chief Information Security Officer, whose role it will be to to supplement existing information security personnel in ensuring the safety of customer data.

Furthermore, Sony have added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks, enhanced the levels of data protection, encryption, and the ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns, as well as having implemented additional firewalls.

PS3 gamers will undergo a system update whereby they will have to re-register their Username and password before they are allowed access to the Playstation Network. There are also plans to move the existing network system to another secret location, which according to Sony, had been under construction for several months prior to the attack.

It was originally feared that customers' credit card information was also at risk, but Sony have since announced that this is impossible as customers credit card details are subject to encryption and were therefore not at risk.

Nevertheless, the same cannot be said for users' personal details, which were not subject to encryption at the time of the intrusion. However, Sony insists that lessons have been learned from the attack and the company has pledged that it will work even harder to ensure the safety of its online services.

Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President of the Sony Corporation said: "Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation programme for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services."

Nevertheless, the cyber attack, which placed almost 77 million customers' personal details at risk, could have done untold damage to Sony's reputation and may even impact the reputation of other similar online networks in the future.

The question that many gamers will now be asking is:  Is it enough to be wise after the event when it comes to personal security, or should Sony have taken more stringent measures to prevent such a security breach in the first place?

 Let us know your thoughts on this subject by leaving a comment in the Mini Gamers comment box. We'd love to hear from you.