Sony Announces "Qore" Playstation Bundle

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced a new subscription-based, multimedia, Playstation bundle that promises to feature developer interviews, game previews, demos, betas, and add-ons all delivered in high definition. Supposedly hitting the streets on June 5th, "Qore," seems an awful lot like paying to get more advertising. Hopefully the playable gems make this (admittedly cheap) service worth it.

Comments

I don't understand why it's bad

[martinw89]

How can it be bad if it has Q in the name? The only way I would want it more is if it was named "QoreX" or "XCore".

Re:I don't understand why it's bad

[ILuvRamen]

at least they didn't call it Q-ray or Qu-ray cuz they totally could have after they assasinated the e in Blu-Ray

Re:I don't understand why it's bad

[JordanL]

Most posters here seem like they are completely lost.

Not surprised with the uninformative summary though. This is basically a digital subscription to a multimedia version of a PlayStation Magazine. It's a more convenient, and slightly cheaper, alternative for those who love picking up gaming mags. No grand scheme of villany here, just a giant company changing their business model to reflect the changes in technology and consumer expectations.

Which if I recall correctly is something people here are usually begging for.

Re:Ownership

[TypoNAM]

The entertainment industry (Music: RIAA, Movies/TV:MPAA, Gaming: EA Games, etc..) wants it all it go subscription only so that they have complete control while the consumer has none. They want to either annually or monthly make you pay out of the nose so to speak for their "Intellectual property" of which according to them you're not buying the product instead you're licensing it.

I believe things are just going to get worse once the majority are convinced it's more "convenient" to just subscribe for movies, games, music and such instead of buying a hard copy. By then there won't be any alternatives to getting your fix of media except their "approved" subscription providers of content delivery services. Cause once they don't get their periodic payments they simply lock you out and only option you've got is pay to restore the subscription (of course there will be a re-activation fee). Then they'll start to decide on what content you'll get. Say they figure it's cheaper and easier just to provide music that is nothing more but remixes of past decade's music and not release anything unqiue or new until they feel they've squeezed every last penny possible out of it.

There's quite many different views to be taken on this whole subscription based media content and the reality is that they simply want to have complete control over their products and ultimately you as to what you've got access to, when, how, and limited iterations of playback without further payments.

Maybe I shouldn't post such dark discussions as they could be used as blueprints of world conquest by the entertainment industry. ;)

What the Quck

[poot_rootbeer]

If I'm interpreting this announcement correctly, this is pretty much the same thing as the "Nintendo Channel" that launched on Wii a couple of weeks ago, except all the advertorial content is in High Definition. And you have to pay for it.

Who qares?

Re:Ownership

[grm_wnr]

I have to say any subscription based service makes me uneasy. You probably bought the internet wholesale instead of subscribing for access to it. Right?

Re:Odd.

[powerlord]

To quote the original Sony Blog entry http://blog.us.playstation.com/2008/06/03/introducing-qore-taking-you-behind-the-curtain-with-playstation/:

To get Qore, simply log onto PSN and go to the PLAYSTATION Store, as you would purchase any other form of downloadable content. Once the single Episode or annual subscription is purchased, that month's episode will be downloaded under the "Game" heading on the Cross Media Bar (XMB). Users who purchase the "Qore Annual Subscription" will notice only that month's episode is available to download. The following month, the new episode will automatically appear in your download list.

So yes, its limited to the PS3. Its basically an electronic version of a "dead tree" PlayStation Magazine.

Personally I'm pretty excited about the idea of an "old style idea" (PlayStation Magazine) being adapted to a new media (made for on-line, Downloadable, Pay on-line, Automatically downloaded as soon as its available each month).