TPA PS4 US launch countdown!

[peckda]

The only thing wrong with my PS4 is that it doesn't have TPA on it. Hoping to see it before Thanksgiving!

 

[Mark W**a]

If you have a faulty unit, it's DOA, and you return it to the store. Big whoop.

This is not unexpected. There was a story on GAF a while ago about a group of Chinese students who were forced to work at FoxConn for no pay. This is the result. I'm proud of those young Tyler Durdens, and I'd have done the exact same thing.

Quite frankly, the state of electronics manufacturing is absolutely appalling. The West never outlawed Child labor, unfair wages, or 10+ hour work shifts without overtime, we simply outsourced it. We did the same thing with our pollution. The "standards" in China are 80 years behind the curve, and as customers who buy these products, we shouldn't stand for it. And the workers in China should revolt. Simple as that.

I'm saddened that my iPhone and PS4 are made in China under these conditions. I do not buy anything made in China ever unless I don't have a choice (so as you can imagine, I don't buy a whole lot of stuff!). It's also a big reason I'm going all-digital on PS4 with software (that and environmental factors).

Anyways at the end of the day. Oh noes a few Westerners were burdened with having to travel in their fancy cars back to Best Buy to get a replacement. Meanwhile imagine how these Chinese workers daily lives are. FoxConn buildings have suicide nets... look that up. Imagine going to work 15 hour shifts 80 hours a week assembling devices you yourself would never be able to afford, only to come home to a shack with a dirt floor, and barely have enough to eat. It's time people wake up and realize what is going on in this world, but it takes a story that 'inconviences' a few people, who still don't care they are just super worried their consumer electronics product might not work! Oh the humanity. Shameful.

 

[Daniel Osborne]

Well bloody said mark.

 

[cnsllr]

IGN posted a review of TPA for the PS4 on YouTube (9 out of 10) with great video footage so have to assume it'll be out VERY soon

 

[dtown8532]

My PS4 arrived today. Funny thing was this was the first time that I ever bought a console and didn't hook it up right away as soon as I got it. Adult life demanded that other things be done first. So, I took it out of the shipping box and stuck it by my media rack until this evening.

My impressions:

Well, first off I was a little worried that I would have issues like some are but, honestly, if I had a DOA unit, I would have just returned it to amazon and got my money back. I would have held off on a PS4 until newer units arrived and amazon has been pretty good with returns in the past. Anyway, the console started with no issues. Downloaded the update which took about ten minutes to complete. No biggie. I did have to try signing in about four times till it worked. Sony is really pushing Facebook and sharing which I say, nope. Since there's no TPA yet I downloaded that free PS+ shooter (sorry, I don't remember its name). Played it for about a half hour. It was pretty cool but we all know that, had that game been released currently on the PS3 and it wasn't free for PS+ users which everyone gets a 30 day trial, it would have been lost in the mix. Since I bought the Killzone bundle I popped that one in. My thoughts? Well, it's Killzone. More polished and I like the use of the OWL drone, but, it's still Killzone. And what's with the dying by falling in water or in certain areas? Developers should have just put up some invisible wall obstacles. Played for a little over two hours with no issues. Had the console on for about four hours total and no issues so far.

Conclusions? I can't wait for TPA to get here and I really hope it doesn't disappoint. Otherwise, I'm pretty "meh" on the PS4 right now. Don't get me wrong. It's a slick system. Very responsive and I like the new Dualshock. Also, I'm well aware that with time will come more and better games. I'm old enough to remember the arrival of the Sega Genesis so I've gone through this many times. Maybe that's just it. I'm just kinda "meh" on gaming anymore. When you have so many other things occupying your adult life, gaming just seems to take a back seat for me. I guess that's why my most anticipated game for the PS4 was a pinball simulator. Try telling that to my childhood self playing Altered Beast on his new Genesis.

P.S. Since this thread has pretty much become a PS4 discussion, I figured I'd just post my thoughts here. Didn't see the need in starting a new thread.

 

[vpalmer]

IGN posted a review of TPA for the PS4 on YouTube (9 out of 10) with great video footage so have to assume it'll be out VERY soon

but how we can rely on opinion of noobs who dont even know how to select reward during video mode - on TotAN they firstly start puch ABXY buttons (switching between camera views) because they thought what you need push button "at right time" - so typical for consoles, lol
and now seriously - one thing looks realy strange at MM - the big gray splash in the middle of playfield, and even lights of inlays dont light it.

 

[Queue]

If you have a faulty unit, it's DOA, and you return it to the store. Big whoop.

This is not unexpected. There was a story on GAF a while ago about a group of Chinese students who were forced to work at FoxConn for no pay. This is the result. I'm proud of those young Tyler Durdens, and I'd have done the exact same thing.

I actually agree with you completely, Mark. If some Foxconn interns did, in fact, sabotage a number of PS4 consoles during assembly, I by no means hold them responsible. That type of behavior is just one of the many consequences of cheap labor. You can't expect laborers to care about the quality of their work when they're underpaid, unappreciated, and mistreated. People in the States often complain about the quality of service at retail and fast food businesses, but when the employees are only making minimum wage, it shouldn't come as a surprise when they spit in your food or mishandle your goods.

I only posted about the story to give a heads up to anyone who runs into any potential issues with their PS4. You're right, though: At the end of the day, it's not that big of a deal, because you can either swap it for a new one at your nearest retail chain, or ship it back to Sony for a repair. To be frank, I'm a bit put off by a few of the comments some posters have made in regard to Foxconn. Foxconn is a notoriously bad sweatshop, and they've been repeatedly caught abusing workers, employing children, not paying workers, not giving breaks, etc. Mass suicide of workers became a big enough issue that Foxconn now forces employees to sign a suicide waiver so that Foxconn isn't liable for any future suicides.

I understand that every American will inevitably have to buy something that was manufactured in China, but there is no need to whitewash the glaring human rights violations that are being committed against foreign laborers. I would like to see one of you work for $2.00 an hour at Foxconn and then preach about how it's one of the "better" sweatshops. Give me a flippin' break.

 

[spoonman]

Actually if one of the Foxconn employee interns took a dump in my PS4 (they mentioned they wanted to) I would seek the death penalty.

All joking aside, the working conditions of Foxconn are greatly exaggerated.
I've seen several news bits on iPad manufacturing and aside from low pay (which is pretty standard fare for a job like that) the workers are generally content with it.

People hear about "suicide nets" being installed and automatically assume it's caused by the horrible working conditions. The facts are many of the workers that show up to work there have traveled for days to get there and are in a very desperate state. Most of them have spent their life savings just to get there and many are not used to long hours doing monotonous tasks..

Foxconn has many amenities that many factories here in the US don't have, including break rooms with large HD displays, game systems, and even a full sized soccer field, all for their employees.
Hell, most interns here don't even get paid.

Anyway, there are disgruntled employees in just about every line of work, but I'd rather have someone ruin my cheese burger than my PS4!

 

[Wulftown]

IGN posted a review of TPA for the PS4 on YouTube (9 out of 10) with great video footage so have to assume it'll be out VERY soon

Here is a link to the review.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/19/pinball-arcade-review

 

[jrolson]

That review says,
"The PS4 version will be released in December"

That's 2 weeks or more of waiting...

 

[mrtangerineman]

Apologies if already posted but Farsight confirmed (via online live broadcast) that all Season 1 tables will be available when the game is launched.

 

[smbhax]

Apologies if already posted but Farsight confirmed (via online live broadcast) that all Season 1 tables will be available when the game is launched.

Yep, that's been known for a while now. : )

 

[smbhax]

FarSight are leaning pretty definitely on the "2-3 weeks after system launch" phrase as the release timing now, and if we guess it'd be released during a regular Tuesday PSN store update, that might put it on Tuesday, December 3rd.

~~~~~

Also, while I'm in speculation mode, since the one thing they mentioned as contributing to the delay was unexpected difficulty in arranging the 50% off deal for previous season one table owners, AND they warned before that you'd only get the deal if you bought the season one pack via the in-game option, rather than going through the PSN store normally, I wonder if the delay is at least in part to sort that out so that the discount works when you buy either through the game OR through the store--because they must know that many people would miss it if it didn't come up when going through the store, and they'd kind of have a ripped-off-feeling PR / tech support nightmare on their hands.

 

[cnsllr]

Offering 50% should be available to anyone who owns Season 1 regardless of how they purchased it. Most TPA fans like myself have probably supported TPA since the first pack was released and there was no season option offered. Then there's the fans who helped Farsight through Kickstarter. If they got the game for free via their donation, they should be entitled to the discount also. If Farsight and/or Sony picks and chooses who gets the discount based on particular buying methods, I will interpret that as giant middle finger to devoted TPA fans.

 

[smbhax]

Sorry, I meant that they'd said the 50% off would only work if you bought the *PS4* season pack through the game, rather than through the store. It wouldn't matter how you bought the PS3/Vita tables.

 

[brakel]

Sorry, I meant that they'd said the 50% off would only work if you bought the *PS4* season pack through the game, rather than through the store. It wouldn't matter how you bought the PS3/Vita tables.

I do hope that's how it works!

 

[DaPinballWizard]

So I have my PS4. Where is this TPA "launch" title? Oh that is right, this is FS we are talking about. I guess FS development time is like Hawaii time. It gets here when it gets here.

 

[brakel]

Technically it is still a launch title. Just not a day one launch title.

 

[DaPinballWizard]

Yeah. Just like Wii U.

 

[PiN WiZ]

FarSight already explained the reason for the small delay (which was to make sure the discounts were properly integrated) and already stated that The Pinball Arcade would be released 2-3 weeks from the launch of the PS4. There's no need for the sarcasm.