142
Sony’s PlayStation TV released yesterday in North America but not without some problems for early adopters.
released yesterday in North America but not without some problems for early adopters. Gamers who purchased Sony’s new streaming “console” may notice that a number of classic Sony titles that were supposed to be compatible with the system have been suspiciously removed from the device’s official compatibility list. To make matters worse, even Netflix is not functioning on the device.
Sony’s most recently updated listof compatible PlayStation TV games no longer features certain titles in the PSP, PSOne classics and PS Minis categories. Among the most notable removed titles are, Silent Hill , Sulkoden and Valkryia Chronicles 2 . A complete list of all titles that appear to have been removed from Sony’s earlier documentation can be found on NeoGAF. No Vita games appear to have been removed.
While some new PlayStation TV owners may be bummed to discover the fewer number of available offerings, it’s hard to say that this is a huge blow for the system. Since the PlayStation TV’s initial announcement, Sony has positioned itas more of a streaming device for the whole family rather than a dedicated game player. Most users in the system’s target audience probably won’t care that much about the absence of Twisted Metal: Head-On . Netflix however, is another story.
Inexplicably, a number of users are claiming that the PlayStation TV’s Netflix app is not functioning properly and that an error message pops up which states that the app is “not compatible with PlayStation TV.” Well, there goes family movie night.
Some games being removed from the compatibility list can maybe be excused but this Netflix problem just boggles the mind. This isn’t Sony’s first rodeo with Netflix – the app is also available on PlayStation 3and PlayStation 4. Add in the fact that Netflix is one of the most widely used apps among the microconsole’s user base and it just seems a little ridiculous that Sony wouldn’t have worked out all of the bugs ahead of launch.
A story posted late last night on Gizmodo paints an even darker picture. Gizmodo reached out to Sony when it discovered that in addition to Netflix, the Hulu Plus and YouTube apps were not working either. Sony sidestepped the issue, stating instead that “video streaming apps Crackle, Crunchyroll and Quello” are available at launch. Why are these other ones listed and advertised then? Keep in mind, these omissions are in addition to the obstacles in getting some games to work on PlayStation TV.
The scariest development may be the quote from an unnamed Netflix representative Gizmodo claimed it spoke to who said, “We have no current support plans for Netflix on PS TV.” If that’s actually true, wow. Just wow.
To be fair, there are of course other things to do with the PlayStation TV while Sony works on getting its video streaming up to speed. The PlayStation TV will allow gamers with a PlayStation 4 to stream gameplay to a second screen on the same network. Sony’s PlayStation Now service is available on the console and a number of PlayStation 3 games are available for rent.
Have you experienced any problems with the PlayStation TV? Speak up in the comments.
Sources: VG247, Gizmodo
Follow Jason Gallagher on Twitter @ MuckrakerJG