Seil
11-11-2010, 10:37 PM
So, slightly disappointed with the ending to Fallout 3 - I think someone made mention of that in another thread - I wanted to pick up the Broken Steel add-on, but didn't have the opportunities to travel too far, so I had to pick up a PSN card somewhere in town.
So, biking in the rain, I made it to town to discover that no one sold them. I did, however, manage to get my hands on a Visa Gift Card (TM) and tried to use that to affect my purchase. After pulling out my hair trying to get it to work, I looked to the internet; apparently the card is activated as soon as I buy it, but in order to use it in an online store like the Playstation Network or the XBox marketplace, I have to register it online to my name.
Go figure.
Anyways, I registered it, and after picking up my desired add-on, I did some searching. The PSN network lets you do stuff like download old PS1 titles - I'm downloading Silent Hill - as well as movies and TV shows. They've got new releases and old - they've got stuff like "The Adams Family" kicking around... The movies, not the TV show. Unfortunately, though, no Doctor Who. There's a wide selection of things grouped by category, such as anime and animation to Sci Fi and Action.
All in all, once you actually get your payment method sorted out, it's a pretty neat service. Individual episodes of shows, like Caprica for instance, go for about two dollars.
I've seen a little bit of the XBox Marketplace at work and understand that once you sort out the finicky bits, it's pretty neat - and it allows you to play old games like Doom, Wolfenstein and stuff - probably because it's a Microsoft product.
All in all, shopping online is pretty great, provided you've got the cash and the space - though I miss the experience of actually going out to buy something. If I'm heading out to the shop, I'm probably going to hit the mall, pick up a new shirt, catch a flick, grab something to eat, and talking with the people at EB - nice people who've got great opinions on games. Then I leave with a hard copy of my purchase in my hands.
Over the interweb, I've got a lot more information, sure, but it just seems a little too informal. I'm sitting in my underwear - don't picture it, just go along with me here - and I'm grabbing something that exists only on my PS3. I'm a little unnerved by the fact that I paid for something that's gone if I want to pick up a new version of the PS3, or will be gone if I get yellow-thingied. I don't know, I just prefer hard copies of things that I have in case of an emergency. You can fix a scratched disk, but if anything happens to the system, you've got to re-download.
That being said, the praise for the Network and the Marketplace still stand. Does anyone have a different opinion?
So, biking in the rain, I made it to town to discover that no one sold them. I did, however, manage to get my hands on a Visa Gift Card (TM) and tried to use that to affect my purchase. After pulling out my hair trying to get it to work, I looked to the internet; apparently the card is activated as soon as I buy it, but in order to use it in an online store like the Playstation Network or the XBox marketplace, I have to register it online to my name.
Go figure.
Anyways, I registered it, and after picking up my desired add-on, I did some searching. The PSN network lets you do stuff like download old PS1 titles - I'm downloading Silent Hill - as well as movies and TV shows. They've got new releases and old - they've got stuff like "The Adams Family" kicking around... The movies, not the TV show. Unfortunately, though, no Doctor Who. There's a wide selection of things grouped by category, such as anime and animation to Sci Fi and Action.
All in all, once you actually get your payment method sorted out, it's a pretty neat service. Individual episodes of shows, like Caprica for instance, go for about two dollars.
I've seen a little bit of the XBox Marketplace at work and understand that once you sort out the finicky bits, it's pretty neat - and it allows you to play old games like Doom, Wolfenstein and stuff - probably because it's a Microsoft product.
All in all, shopping online is pretty great, provided you've got the cash and the space - though I miss the experience of actually going out to buy something. If I'm heading out to the shop, I'm probably going to hit the mall, pick up a new shirt, catch a flick, grab something to eat, and talking with the people at EB - nice people who've got great opinions on games. Then I leave with a hard copy of my purchase in my hands.
Over the interweb, I've got a lot more information, sure, but it just seems a little too informal. I'm sitting in my underwear - don't picture it, just go along with me here - and I'm grabbing something that exists only on my PS3. I'm a little unnerved by the fact that I paid for something that's gone if I want to pick up a new version of the PS3, or will be gone if I get yellow-thingied. I don't know, I just prefer hard copies of things that I have in case of an emergency. You can fix a scratched disk, but if anything happens to the system, you've got to re-download.
That being said, the praise for the Network and the Marketplace still stand. Does anyone have a different opinion?