PlayTV patch to cost "reasonable" amount

By Robert Purchese Published 21 September, 2010

Even PSN+ subscribers must fork out.

That "major update" to PlayTV that Sony's promised since April: well, it's going to cost you - even if you subscribe to PlayStation Plus.

"The guys at Cambridge put a great deal of effort into this update and, unlike the previous free updates, we will be charging a reasonable amount for the new features," James Thorpe, PSN product manager, wrote on the European PlayStation blog.

"[PlayStation] Plus members are very important to us and we are looking into providing you guys extra value for PlayTV. Will keep you posted on this.

"If you are not keen on the new features then you do not have to buy the update, therefore there is no reason not to recommend this to your friend, we are not charging people to watch TV."

The update, due later in the year, adds the ability to text-chat with friends while watching live TV. There's also a new guide so you can plan your recordings seven days in advance; a Series Link feature to earmark all episodes of a series for recording; the ability to send Facebook recommendations; and Community Favourites, which lets you see what your friends are watching. Giggle.

PlayTV is an external device for PlayStation 3 that allows you to watch and record free-to-air digital TV on PS3. PlayTV carries an RRP of £70, although most retailers offer significant discounts.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • spliffhead #1 2 years ago

    oh dear

  • myiagros #2 2 years ago

    it's better than charging an unreasonable amount. ;-)

    Thankfully i couldn't care less about any of the nw features, in fact i'd probably prefer not to have them cluttering up the UI.

  • ricpamiwor #3 2 years ago

    Can you get Freeview HD with PlayTV? Surely that's what they need to concentrate on, I realise that this means new hardware possibly but that's what they should be releasing along with new features.

  • SEVQA #4 2 years ago

    I use PlayTV loads and certainly welcome anything that's adds to the already great way to watch and record TV. Though I would expect a lot more than has been listed here to justify any cost for a patch!

  • X201 #5 2 years ago

    "James Thorpe, PSN product manager, wrote - almost a month ago - on the European PlayStation blog."

    CVG, Thesixthaxis and now EG

    Slow news day chaps?

  • rivuzu #6 2 years ago

    But no word on price?

  • riceNpea #7 2 years ago

    i just been told that some guy has created something called 'fire' just by rubbing two sticks together. though you all should know.

  • kangarootoo #8 2 years ago

    All I care about is series link. I hope that makes it into a standard product update as I don't want to pay for a bunch of stuff I don't want, just to get quite a basic feature.

  • Retro_ #9 2 years ago

    The picture quality through PlayTV on my setup is utter bobbins compared with what it used to be like. Nowadays it's very pixelated, nasty.

    Unless it's very cheap, i.e. < £5, I think I'll give it a miss as very few of my friends have PlayTV

  • ShapeThrower #10 2 years ago

    So we're going to have to fork out some "Hard Earned" for the update to PlayTV via the PSN Store ....
    So why did they bother including a lovely icon in the PlayTV menu to check for software updates ??

  • linksdad #11 2 years ago


    "[PlayStation] Plus members are very important CASH COWS to us and we are looking into EXTRACTING extra value FROM you guys for PlayTV

    There fixed.

  • gamingdave #12 2 years ago

    Add features that should have been there like series link and a 7 day EPG, and yet charge because it also connects with Facebook. Oh dear.

  • jonbwfc #13 2 years ago

    If there's a complete opposite to 'day one', this is it. This is like, 'day when I really genuinely have so much money I can't think of anything else to spend it on, not even like an ice cream or something'.

  • SBfistfun #14 2 years ago

    Roll up ! Roll up! For a pointless bunch of shit!

  • kangarootoo #15 2 years ago

    "not even like an ice cream or something"

    Hehehehe. Funny :)

  • Soton4084 #16 2 years ago

    If this update included Freeview HD, then I would happily spend a fair amount of money to upgrade. However, as I understand it, the current Play TV device is incompatible and the hardware is what's limiting it to SD channels. One can only conclude that a Play TV 2 is on the way and I will be saving my money for that. As I recall, Sony Cambridge have even admitted that they're looking into updating the hardware.

  • kangarootoo #17 2 years ago

    @Soton4084

    I believe it supports the HD format used in the US and some parts of Europe, but not the format used in the UK. I think that is the situation anyway.

  • MasterNameless #18 2 years ago

    @riceNpea

    How much is this 'fire'? Is it updatable through patches?

  • riceNpea #19 2 years ago

    " How much is this 'fire'? Is it updatable through patches? "

    you can get the new fire 1.1 upgrade from the Zippo website. now without sticks!

  • dominalien #20 2 years ago

    Not much of an upgrade if I have to provide my own sticks. Oh, wait, is that one of the newfangled stickless fires?

  • Kaminari #21 2 years ago

    It feels good to NOT be a PS+ member.

  • JahB #22 2 years ago

    "unlike the previous free updates, we will be charging a reasonable amount for the new features,...

    ...we are not charging people to watch TV."

    uhm, what?

  • mumblyjoe #23 2 years ago

    Unless they have somehow managed to make it receive Freeview HD, no sale!

  • tiny_Eggy #24 2 years ago

    Aren't you guys used to paying for DLC. Quit playing around with your toys and buy a PC.

  • citizenHUNTER #25 2 years ago

    I liked Play TV, when it worked. I have a PS3 Slim bought last Xmas and I got a pre-owned Play TV box for £30. I like the guide and how to record shows, and the quality seemed at least not any worse than what my TV receives, but I gave up long ago trying to use it to record stuff when I wasn't there as it invariably would fail on start-up and not record the first show I had set.. then the second and so on.. (seems to crash the PS3 for a while).

    So basically it's main function was very much a hit and miss thing. Can anyone else with Play TV let me know if it works flawlessly, or even 99% of the time for them...? Do I just have a faulty box?
    Edited by citizenHUNTER at 21/09/10 @ 19:26

  • djskippy #26 2 years ago

    How utterly ridiculous; I'd pay a quid or so for series link, but we already have a 7 day programme guide and the rest sounds completely pointless. DVB-T2 decoding and m2ts editing (to cut out adverts etc) are the only things playTV is really missing imo. Why would I want to spam facebook with my TV viewing habits?
    Edited by djskippy at 21/09/10 @ 19:55

  • varsas #27 2 years ago

    If it's not very cheap then it might be better to buy the inevitable play tv hd.

  • septimus #28 2 years ago

    What a strange update.

    I was a huge advocate of PlayTV. The interface was fantastic, the video quality excellent (as was the recording) as is the ability to export to the XMB.

    Moved to Virgin HD V+ but even if I hadn't I wouldn't pay for that update.

  • vizzini #29 2 years ago

    citizenHUNTER: I liked Play TV, when it worked. I have a PS3 Slim bought last Xmas and I got a pre-owned Play TV box for £30. I like the guide and how to record shows, and the quality seemed at least not any worse than what my TV receives, but I gave up long ago trying to use it to record stuff when I wasn't there as it invariably would fail on start-up and not record the first show I had set.. then the second and so on.. (seems to crash the PS3 for a while).

    So basically it's main function was very much a hit and miss thing. Can anyone else with Play TV let me know if it works flawlessly, or even 99% of the time for them...? Do I just have a faulty box?

    PlayTV has worked flawlessly for us since it launched, so you could just have a faulty box or faulty USB lead or USB port.
    But alternatively, if you've upgraded the harddisk in your ps3, the crashes might be caused by a misconfiguration of the harddisk's SATA mode.

    Some drives need forceably set to SATA I mode, by a jumper setting on the drive, or by using the harddisk manufacturer bios tools, as they can't negotiation a SATA mode with the ps3 within the short bootup time; defaulting to SATA II mode when all ps3 drives need to operate at SATA I.

    Incorrect SATA mode can result in errors requiring the harddisk database to be rebuilt.
    Edited by vizzini at 21/09/10 @ 21:12

  • FuzzyDuck #30 2 years ago

    Television = "meh".

  • napalm68 #31 2 years ago

    Well, can't say that any of the new features even vaguely interest me.

    If it say had a video edit feature I might. I can't trim Playtv recordings with the PS3 editor.

    citizenHUNTER - I think you must have been really unlucky. It has worked flawlessly for me, in an old fat.
    Edited by napalm68 at 21/09/10 @ 22:38

  • MARKIV #32 2 years ago

    I do hope they've implemented multi select, as deleting programmes 1 by 1 is real pain. Also being able to record 2 programmes at once would be good too..

    They need to get the basics right before wasting time on all this social crap..

  • alcides #33 2 years ago

    Just passing through to remind you rosbifs that this PlayTV is the PlayTVHD.

    EDIT -

    Also, those Fuckers! I paid 99€ for that and I think basic features are to be expected free of charge. You'll get nothing from me, Sony. Except all my money. For games.
    Edited by alcides at 21/09/10 @ 23:11

  • Snixtor #34 2 years ago

    There's still glaring bugs and basic features missing, and now they're going to charge for an update that probably doesn't even address those issues?

    It still sporadically starts re-recording some shows every minute, leaving you with dozens of the same item in your recordings. It still doesn't let you just set a basic start and stop time for recording (which would be a great help when the program guide spontaneously loses programming info).

    Not impressed Sony.

  • 3william56 #35 2 years ago

    @citizenbrain. In Australia (unit imported from UK), works lovely, HD, recording and all. Apart from a slow startup, no complaints except lacking series link.

    This reasonable price they talk of better be a couple of quid, cos series is all i care about

  • Zomoniac #36 2 years ago

    How about you patch in the stuff you promised pre-launch and then went back on, like DRM-free recordings that could be transferred to PSP. Then I might take it seriously.

  • 5h1nj1 #37 2 years ago

    They can't be serious. O_o

  • Johnsters #38 2 years ago

    I'll pay for series link.
    Dont care about Freeview HD yet as my area wont roll over till 2012.