Yesterday, Sony detailed the contents of its "Welcome Back" package, offering a variety of free games to consumers to make up for the PlayStation Network downtime. Sony was actually pretty decent about offering a solid mix of retail games and downloads, but inevitably, people weren't pleased.
Some gamers have been angry about the fact that the offered games weren't brand new (seriously? Who expected that?) and Sony has addressed the criticism, apologizing to those who own everything, but standing by its decision.
"I’m really sorry tha there is nothing there that you want," said SCEE's Nick Caplin. "We’ve tried really hard to put together a list of high quality BD games, rather than simply offering cheaper PSN titles. The average metacritic rating for these games is over 84%, so these are high quality games. Unfortunately with a user base of 77m people, it is really hard to offer something for everyone."
That's perfectly fair enough. When Xbox Live went down -- a service we pay for -- all consumers got was crappy Undertow, with no choice in the matter. I think Sony did well with its offer, and this is coming from someone who has either played or doesn't care about the particular games available.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
8:00 AM on 05.17.2011 | 
That said, FUCK METACRITIC.
@Pencoin: Yep, you get 2 for each platform.
I'm also stoked that i can grab LBP and ModNation for mah PSPgo, I've been really quite wanting both of those but haven't been able to justify the price just yet. FREE works quite nicely!
So yeah, whiners gonna whine.
I'd like to see any company please 77 million people with a free gift without bankrupting themselves.
As for me, I am more than impressed with what they have on offer. I didn't expect them to go around handing out brand new titles. That being said, I did hear a lot of people say they were surprised Warhawk wasn't on offer to sort of pull the same maneuver offering inFamous does: getting people interested in the upcoming sequel.
Other than that business decision, though, I can't be too upset, seeing as I don't own any single one of the titles on offer and I'm getting four free games out of the deal.
Any time now guys.
Sony did nothing to deserve being ripped on.
I guess that IS a nice change of pace, lately.
That. Is. All. I. Want. Sony. So. Give. Me. That.
Anyway, GOOD GOD PEOPLE. Give them a steak and they ask for cake.
That's what offends me, personally: the feeling that Sony is turning what is stated as a loyalty benefit into a chance to turn the screws on their users. It's the M.O. of both Sony and Microsoft, as shown through years, in some cases decades, of prior history in and outside the video game departments.
Oh because God forbid people remember that PERSONAL INFORMATION WAS STOLEN
I will now spend the rest of the week trying to use "cash and a handy" in conversation...at work.
I'm pumped for this. inFamous and Wipeout for me. I would have been fine if they just sent out an email acknowledging their failures, apologizing, and explaining steps they are taking to prevent the problem from happening again. This is gravy. Delicious, creamy, flavorful gravy.
For those of you freaked out over your personally identifying information being compromised.....do you have any idea how often your government allows this information to be compromised?? At least for those of you in the U.S. No, you probably aren't aware, and it's because they don't bother to tell you.
Sony, haters gonna hate. You did right by your userbase here, and that's an honest statement I'd like you to hear from me, someone who's done an awful lot of Sony-bashing as of late.
You did well with the selections, you really showed off the brand and got some solid exclusives out there for free. That's a fanrastic way to apologize, and honestly, all companies could learn a thing or two from the way you've apologized with these offerings.
Not to mention current + users get 60 days free! (30 days for new sign ups)
Also, I wonder if you can grab the 4 games on a UK account, then flip over to the US account and grab 4 more, then even perhaps see what the welcome package is for the japanese accounts! - Crosses fingers.
"I'd like to see any company please 77 million people with a free gift without bankrupting themselves."
Sure they could; just give people a PSN gift card equivalent to the games they're offering and let them choose their own titles. Sony would be out the exact same amount of fake money, and they'd have happy consumers to boot.
Granted, I'm not one of the ones complaining, so maybe it wouldn't be that simple. (GAMERS!) But I'd think it would be a start...
At first when I saw the package I was disappointed since I own all of them. Then I was glad cause now my friends can join me in Dead Nation and LBP. Now i feel even better knowing that I can do what you just recommended.
Bear in mind that once PlayStation+ expires, those free games go away.
I don't think it's quite that easy. Since Sony owns little big planet, it doesn't really cost Sony anything to give it away for free. On top of that they just sign deals with a couple of third parties To give away a select few old games. That's easily less than giving up to 40 dollars worth of credit to 77 million people. In that second case, Sony wouldn't lose money if people used that credit on first party games, but it would cost Sony real life money if people spent it on other games
I don't see why they didn't just give us PSN credit. Maybe there's some big difference for them, but I'd rather have had £20 of pretend money chucked my way than some games, most of which I already own.
That's dangerous. If someone created 5 different PSN IDs, are they entitled to 5 times the credit? Plus, if that fake money is used to buy a 3rd party game, would the publisher see any profit from it?
It might have been interesting for Sony to have physically mailed out vouchers for 1 to 2 Greatest Hits titles of your choice instead since your address could be confirmed.
When Xbox Live went down none of my personal information was reported stolen. Plus the service still worked sporadically.
I don't really understand why people keep bringing that up as if they followed the exact same situation.
Live went down and I couldn't play games online, PSN went down and I needed to change all my credit cards and passwords for things that had little to do with my PS3. There is a little bit of a difference.
77 Million x (say, about) £15 in PSN credit is a fuck load of money. A serious fuck load. I'm not 100% on how publishing works on the PSN either but that money would end up having to go to the 3rd parties owning the games downloaded at some point, or at least a part of it.
However this way, they can literally scrap the revenue on set 1st party titles for 30 days, no doubt destroy future revenue on those titles too, but still it's gonna be a whole lot less than paying out literally hundreds of millions of pounds/dollars in what is esentially real money.
Like I say I don't know how exactly the publishing deal for PSN works, but i'm pretty sure the money doesn't all go to Sony, like it doesn't work like a regular stock holding shop. Shit's gotta be paid for and 77 million people is a fuckload of people to give even $1 to.
@Christopher Bowen (hey I know someone IRL called Christopher Bowen) - The full games do go when your plus subscription finishes, which is a bummer if you're not planning on keeping it going. However the hefty discounts, DLC, themes and other stuff are all yours to keep forever more as far as I know.
Also, owning all but dead nation, I still applaud Sony on the quality offered in this selection. I'm just glad we can get back to gaming as usual
Those are good points.