Thursday, August 4, 2011
Up In Smoke...
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Call me paranoid if you like, but I have yet to see the corporation who genuinely has their consumers’ interest at heart. It's not like my fears are completely unfounded, either. I had a lot of difficulty getting access to some of the Xbox Live Arcade games I purchased when my original 360 unit RROD’d, and now I'm having an issue with Sony...
Early yesterday, I was going through my purchase history on the PSN store. I recently got a brand-new PS3 and traded in my old model, so I was looking to re-download some of the games I had on the other machine. Everything looked fine at first, but I was keen on getting Super Rub-A-Dub installed again because it's a family-friendly one I planned to play with my son.
I scanned my purchase history in order to re-download and didn't see it. I assumed I must have overlooked it, so I went over it more carefully the second time and... still didn't see it. I went over it a third time, and confirmed that it was not there.
I went into the PSN store to make sure that the game was still offered for sale, and it was.
Being the detail-oriented, obsessive-compulsive list maker that I am, I then crosschecked the list of games that I know I bought and compared it with everything that was listed in my online PSN purchase history. For the most part it all matched up, but there were two omissions – Super Rub-A-Dub and Locoroco Cocoreccho.
Now, I realize that both of these games are low-key, older offerings, but that's not the point. The point is that I paid real money to "own" these, and through no fault of my own, Sony somehow forgot that I bought them and now I no longer have access. It doesn't matter that each one costs only a few dollars, what matters is that I paid, and that as a consumer, I expect that purchase to be honored.
(And really, if it can happen with small games like these, what's to stop it from happening from a $20, $30 or even higher-value “purchase”?)
I sent an e-mail into Sony customer service earlier today asking for a resolution to this issue, and I am quite curious as to what the response will be… However, regardless of what their answer is, I can't help but think that this problem wouldn't even exist if I had a disc on my shelf instead of relying on an ephemeral e-system outside of my control to grant me access to things I've “bought” with my hard-earned real-world money.
More to come.
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I suspect it's a licencing deal that's expired, but it could just as easily be something else. No doubt they'll take the time to remind that you don't actually OWN any of the games you BOUGHT; you've just got a licence to access them on their service (along with all the caveats that come with it).
It's BS, but it's where digital media is heading; however, that's not to say that things won't improve. In all likelyhood, there will be cases brought to court where customers have been mistreated, and the law and, hence, your rights as a consumer will be clarified in relation to what is owed by service providers and the sort of language they use.
There's one company that I actually trust with how they handle online games: Telltale.
You pay for their season service and when the entire game season is ready for a disc release, they will send you a copy free of charge, outside of shipping, of course.
Hey guys, thanks for the comments. I updated the story above, so you can see the further developments there.
Gotta say though, I'd be 100% ON BOARD with any DL service that offered to mail me a disc. I'd GLADLY pa an extra fee to have a hardcopy for sure.
Wish they all did it. = (