A reader is not impressed by Sony’s plans for Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection and argues it should be a free update for owners of the original.
I was watching the PlayStation Showcase with my friends on Thursday, just like most gamers, and I agree it was generally a very good event. There was one thing that stuck out to me though, not just because of how bad it was but how it showed that Sony has not learnt a single thing from the controversy over Horizon Forbidden West’s upgrades and the general issue of encouraging double-dipping while Microsoft tries to do away with it.
The games in question are Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, which were announced to be getting a remaster collection. It was never said what improvements would be added but Digital Foundry analysed the footage and found that it was still 1440p, and not 4K. It’s more than likely that Sony just ran footage of the PlayStation 4 version, and the final version will be 4K, but since they didn’t say we don’t know. You’d also assume it was 60fps but again, they didn’t say.
They certainly didn’t give any indication the games would feature anything new (it’s more likely that the multiplayer mode from Uncharted 4 will be removed, rather than things being added). So basically you’ve got two games (well, a game and a half) that are barely changed from their original form and yet which Sony want to charge you full price for.
What gets me is the complete inconsistency with which Sony does this sort of thing. Ghost Of Tsushima and The Last Of Us Part 2 both got free 60fps patches for the PlayStation 5 and since the Uncharted collection doesn’t seem to be anything more than that you have to ask why isn’t it free as well? Or, come to that, why the other ones weren’t paid-for? Not, of course, that I want them to be but where’s the logic behind the decision of it being one or the other?
With Microsoft it’s all very clear: all this sort of thing is always free, at least for first party games, and as a result they’ve effectively eliminated double-dipping. Sony though, clearly want to keep it going and try to sneak it in whenever they think they can get away with it.
I own Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy already, so why should I have to pay to get slightly improved versions of them, when other Sony first party games get them for free? At the very least they could’ve combined the existing Nathan Drake Collection with this so that you get all the mainline games in one package but they couldn’t even be bothered to do that.
You’d be an absolute mug to buy Legacy Of Thieves Collection, not only because it’s something that should be free if you already own the games but because the chances are that once people realise what Sony are doing, and get up in arms about it, they’ll have to perform yet another U-turn.
But why? Why do Sony keep blindly walking into problems like this? They’re like Krusty the Clown with the rakes, except the rakes are Microsoft’s Smart Delivery policy.
Nobody’s happy paying £70 for a PlayStation 5 exclusive but they do it anyway because the games are great. But these inconsistent, money-grabbing attempts to force people to double dip on upgrading games from one format to the next have got to stop. Sony has got to understand that those days are over and the more they try to scam people on a simple upgrade they more they’re going to resent giving them any money at all.
By reader Grackle
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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