PS3 Has No Achievements, Replaceable Controllers

So, there is bad news and good news. The bad news is, despite the popularity of the Gamerscore and Achivements on Xbox Live, the PS3 won't offer that. Despite earlier rumours on the subject, developers will have to pick and choose if they want to have a system like that. Sony says first party titles will offer 'entitlements' ... but none of the launch titles will have it. There is good news for PS3 fans, though, as Sony says it will replace controllers if the batteries wear out. The lithium batteries the company is shipping the controllers with should last 'for many years'.

Comments

Changing bateries in controllers

[jackharrer]

There's no vibration in pads. Because of new batteries. They're better - when you get hit - they explode!

Be Cautious People

[matt74441]

If we're lucky, Sony will put some of those non-exploding batteries into the controllers. Who knows, it could be a selling point for them.

I think thats a good thing

[AuMatar]

Thats one of the 3 things that I found a huge turnoff of Xbox Live. THe big epeen war over who has achievments. The other two are the voice chat (I want to chat with my guild, and only with my guild, not with random 12 year olds. I leave that to members of Congress and Micheal Jackson. Luckily, there's always outside teamspeak servers, and my TV is by my computer) and the fact it was for pay (pay extra for something that should be a feature of the game? No. Just no. I'll pay for a dedicated server if I get to set the rules, but no way in hell I'll pay for the ability to play MP at all).

Re:I think thats a good thing

[Ryan Amos]

It's like playing WoW or any other game: most of us gave up on being the "top" as soon as we realized how many 25 year old jobless basement dwellers there were out there.

Controller replacement isn't free

[jonnythan]

The spokesperson went on to confirm, "When and if this happens, then of course we will be providing a service to exchange these items."

Sure, they'll provide a service to replace your batteries or whatever.. but you'll probably be able to get a new controller on eBay for less than they're going to charge you for a replacement.

Oh good!

[drinkypoo]

There is good news for PS3 fans, though, as Sony says it will replace controllers if the batteries wear out.

That's great! I always wanted to wait four to six weeks to be able to play with my game console.

Re:Oh good!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's worse than that. In order to get a new controller, you first have to get an RMA (Return Material Authorization) from Sony. The only way of doing that is by phoning Sony and dealing with their automated call-handling system, which does EVERYTHING by voice recognition, no touch-tone allowed. Of course, there is just one problem with this -- the voice recognition DOES NOT WORK!!! After about a dozen tries, each of which results in "Im sorry, I do not recognize your ", you then hang up and BUY a new controller. But hey... they did provide you with a system for exchanging your controller!

(Actually, I dealt with this system when trying to get warranty work done on my Sony DVD player. Giving up on the automated call handling system was followed by taking the unit to a repair shop, which then shipped the unit back to Sony for me. Sony then held on to the unit for a couple months (just long enough for the warranty to expire -- what a coincidence!) and shipped the unit back to the repair shop -- still not working, but now it's cheaper to buy a new one than have the old one repaired...

Gonna Miss the Vibration

[queenb**ch]

Forget playing the game....the vibrating controllers were nice....now if they were just washable...

2 cents,

QueenB.

Re:This will hurt at least a little.

[Clever7Devil]

Not that I disagree with you, but...

When I read the post all I could see was, "Hey man, it's not the size of your e-peen that matters, it's how you use it."

Re:Achieve the zonked tag

[_xeno_]

If you had actually read the article, you'd see that publishers could have acheivments/entitlements - but there are none planned. At all.

The title of the article is "No 'Achievements' System for PS3 Games" - that's straight from the article. As a subtitle, it has "But some games will sort of have it. Kind of."

There's no centralized online service, so there's no way to tie your achievements into a central service to prove you've actually achieved things. This will be just like the final rankings that various games grant people in the PS2: totally meaningless.

When you complete Okami, you get ranked in several fields. Devil May Cry has a ranking system too. So does Metal Gear Solid. They don't mean anything and there's no way to prove you've actually received a rank online. You can't link to a profile page listing your achievements.

So, yes, companies can build their own online achievement system, but I'd be amazed if any game actually does. It looks like, just like last generation, if you want to play online games, go for the XBox 360.

+1 Fuck you Max

[loraksus]

"Max" (yes, they gave it a name) is Sony's condescending, annoying and buggy voice menu system.

If you yell "agent" at it long enough, it should route you through.