If you visited the PlayStation Web Store this morning you would have noticed things are looking a little different. There is now a giant white bar at the top of the web page that offers new services to South African gamers.
Divided into Games, Hardware, Services, News, Shop and Help, the store finally has a collection of items that you don’t need to search around for. The catch, none of it works properly.
Most importantly is the new “hardware” section that has the majority of Sony’s consoles and accessories listed there and you can actually search through them and if you like something, head to the various online retailers to buy it.
Clicking on the DualShock 4 page takes you to an entire selection of controllers which you can browse through and purchase, if available. The biggest issue with this entire new setup is its old, outdated and most of the services don’t even work here.
Almost every piece of hardware I clicked on took me to a retailer that was either out of stock or the page was missing completely.
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Dualshock 4 God of War Limited Edition
- BT Games – Taken to a search result, no controller found
- CNA – 404 not found
- Game4U – 404 not found
- Makro – 404 not found
- Raru – Out of stock
- MHC – Out of stock
- Price Check – Product details no sale
PS4 Gold Console
- Makro – 404 page not found
- AWX (not even named that anymore) – Dead site
PS4 Silver Console
- Dion Wired – 404 Page not found
PS4 Standard 500GB (basic readily available model)
- BT Games – Taken to a search result, no console found
- Dion Wired – 404 Page not found
- Game4U – In Stock R5499 (yay)
- Other Game4U link – Taken to Takealot with the wrong bundle out of stock….sigh
PlayStation Hits Bundle
- BT Games – Taken to a search result, no console found
- Incredible Connection – Taken to home page
- Takealot – Correct page – out of stock
- Makro – 404 Page not found
- Dion Wired – 404 page not found
- Raru – Correct page – out of stock
- Game4U – In stock!
Do you get the gist? Out of everything available and listed on the system, the retailer links are broken, the pages are down or the product is out of stock (Game4U being the exception).
When clicking on the PS4 Pro, there is no way at all to buy it. The page states “Buy PS4” but takes you to the same page with “Find out more”. The only complete list of retailers that worked was for the PlayStation Classic Console.
The top bar also then lists the PlayStation Gear store which would be a fantastic addition if it was available in SA. This online store boasts some of the best merchandise for Sony’s best games and would make anyone’s wallet cry. We then also have PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, PS Video and PS Music under the services tab of which only PS Music is available in SA through Spotify.
Are the retailers to blame for the outdated links and lack of follow-through? Perhaps Sony just merged an older site with the navigation tools at the top? Who knows but the new tab at the top is nothing but a showcase on how little we get in SA in regards to PlayStation and the services the brand offers. If you are looking to use the PlayStation web store, just don’t. Head to your retailer and shop there as while the products might look great, only disappointment will follow.
