Further evidence that online petitions and boycotts are joke.

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/BOYCOTTMW2/members

I skimmed the list, and I didn’t see a single page with people online that didn’t have at least 1 person playing MW2…. this is incredibly funny to me… at least leave the group so you leave the rest with some credibility at least.

Just terrible

After picking up Buzz! Quiz World yesterday, it has occurred to me that my peripheral count is getting out of hand… that’s OK by me though, the peripherals are cool, and large enough to not misplace. What isn’t cool is the amount of dongles I as a ps3 owner need to keep track of.

For those who don’t know a dongle is basically a small “key” that is plugged into a system to unlock something, back in the day it was used as a means to prevent piracy for expensive software, you couldn’t run this application unless this USB key was inserted into the system, I’m sure there are other, earlier uses for the technology but this is how they were introduced to me. In the context of my peripherals it’s not the same in the sense that it’s not really an attempt prevent misuse, but in the sense that if you lose it your purchase is useless then it is the same. With regards to console dongles today, they’re not really a key for unlocking things, all they are, are wireless USB receiver so your PS3 can communicate with the wireless device.

360 owners don’t suffer the same way as ps3 owners do, every peripheral I’ve got for the 360 has synced up like you would expect them to without issue or dongle, why can’t I get this kind of service on my PS3…

You will notice that PS3 controllers are wireless, and they don’t need a dongle. Good observation, PS3 controllers are BlueTooth and the PS3 has a Bluetooth receiver built in, so one isn’t needed.  So the question is, why don’t developers manufacture their PS3 peripherals Bluetooth devices, why not go the extra mile to make it compatible with the system natively. The first argument that comes to mind is for software that is cross platform, you wouldn’t necessarily want to manufacture 2 different sets of hardware, when the same will do with simply different firmware installed. Fine, I’ll accept that…. What about exclusives like Buzz! that isn’t on 360… Is it simply cheaper to make wireless usb, and an adaptor than it is to implement Bluetooth into your device? Fine I’ll accept that too. At least, if you’re making a device that comes with a dongle, create a slot for you to store your dongle within or on the device somewhere, a little slot that you can slide and lock in your dongle would go a long way to prevent people from losing them.

The answer is Sony, Sony has locked up the Bluetooth channel so only their devices work, you can’t even buy a 3rd party controller that doesn’t come with a receiver because Sony charges licensing fees and it becomes cost prohibitive for manufacturers, acceptable for software like Buzz! that charges next to nothing for it’s controllers in the bundle (60$ for the game and 4 controllers, and a dongle >.<), but still when it comes expensive devices like Koei’s Fight Stick (130$ alone),  or a Rock Band/Guitar Hero ($200 for the bundle) you know they’re certainly covering the margins, how much is Sony seriously charging for this? And honestly, telling me that I have to pay more because Sony is dumb is fine too, make it cost more for the ps3 to cover the overhead, as long as we’re not talking 20$ per unit I think thats acceptable, of course there would be backlash from the community thats why they don’t… people who don’t bother to read the press releases and just complain that it costs a few dollars more, that heat should be on Sony not the developer. I do pay for convenience.

Fine, Sony is being stupid about Bluetooth, blue like I said, please give me a place to store your stupid dongle? thanks…