DRIVECLUB! HOO-AH!!!

@mooseymcman: This whole scenario is really weird, too. From the people that play it regularly (i.e., the people that bought it and stuck with it), they really dig the game mechanics (look at the 2nd OT post on GAF, which is already past 3400 posts).Combining the posters there with the Facebook page, it does seem like a decent number are getting in now and having some sort of fun.

However, whatever infrastructure/server software bug they have must pretty deeply ingrained, and with that type of systemic problem, adding millions of players would likely destroy any semblence of functionality right now. Here's hoping they can figure it out, as I also want to check it out at some point. (at least it's not actually PSN related, despite what people originally thought.)

What a disastrous game. I don't think I've ever witnessed such a terrible roll out.

I really hope that Brad argues for Destiny, because it's really not anywhere near the most disappointing game of the year. Its provided my friends and I many hours of enjoyment, and while it is light on content, what is there is pretty fun. Games like Titanfall were far more disappointing to me, considering how bare bones that product was, and yet nobody seems to complain about that.

@corevi: No way. It's about expectations. People expected the next big 1XX million dollar shooter from Bungie to be amazing. I don't know anyone who really cared about HashtagDriveClub, and especially after the delay.

Hold up. Its important to realise Evolution Studios did some impressive stuff on PS2 and PS3. Their World Rally Championship games and Motorstorm series are the reason they still exist. Studio Liverpool did F1 games and then Codemasters outdid that at the first time of asking. Wipeout's relevance is slipping.

This is a shambles, mind. The concept is all well and good but to not lay the groundwork down and test it thoroughly, in this age of beta and alpha testing, is astonishing.

This year's Sim City?

I was only really interested in it from a launch title perspective to see what the PS4 could do but honestly, i don't care anymore. Probably won't bother downloading it when it arrives on PS Plus, it sounds like beyond the technical issues its just a bad game, i barely have time to play all the good games so im not wasting time with it.

This is the category written explicitly with DRIVECLUB in mind, yes.

But no-one thought Driveclub would actually be good... Worst game of the year, maybe.

As a consolation they should turn the servers back on for MotorStorm: Pacific Rift.

The Forza killer.

To save face, they should totally make the full game freely available via ps+ whenever they get around to releasing it.

It's all relative. I don't personally know of anybody who thought Destiny was going to be amazing.

To be disappointed you kinda needed to be expecting something good from it in the first place.

@jsnyder82: I thought it was going to be amazing. I especially felt that way after playing the alpha. It wasn't until I found out that I had already played through roughly 1/4 of the missions in the alpha that I started to realize how lacking it was. It could have been the best game of the year if they finished it.

Some people were pretty hyped about this. I remember checking out some Forza 5 trailers with massive dislikes and having the comment section filled with "Driveclub is going to blow this out of the water." Anyways, I guess the new Gran Turismo is worth waiting for, if this game struggles this much. (I know it's not exactly the same kind of racing game, but I'm sure it'll be a fuller package)

DiveClub PSN - DNF

"Driveclub's hardly a paradise for players." I like what you did there Patrick!

I didn't think it was going to be grand but I expected Evolution to put something together that was functioning and at least a competent racer. And Sony did back this horse pretty thoroughly.

Yeah, but I look at it this way. It's probably not fair to be massively disappointed in a game when you have unrealistic expectations for it to begin with. I feel like a lot of people had that problem with Destiny. Me, personally, I knew exactly what it was going to be like when I played the beta. And I will admit I've already deleted it from my PS4.

But I went into Driveclub with reasonable expectations, and was still massively disappointed in both the game itself and the way they're handling everything. Therefore, it surpasses Destiny to me as being the most disappointing game so far this year.

I don't think Evolution Studios will make it to November 2015. Motorstorm Apocalypse underperformed because of the tsunami which delayed it right into the PSN outage. I'm pretty sure some of the DLC was cancelled it did so poorly. Then they had a digital only RC game that certainly didn't sell well. Then DriveClub's year long delay followed by this launch. If I'm remembering correctly even the (fantastic) Motorstorm Pacific Rift DLC was 5 months late (and trophy data indicates that only .02% of Motorstorm PR players purchased). If I'm the head of SCEE I'm looking at this track record and pulling the plug before the next project starts. Evolution either shuts down when the DriveClub DLC is done, or in the first week in January when Christmas break/the fiscal quarter is over. I'd bet good money on it.

@franstone: And waits, and waits, and waits...

Wow, what a nightmare.

To think, this was one of the games that sold me on a PS4 in the first place.

Further Notice Pending...

I'm surprised there was no update on this at the PSX. At least something...

Someone help me out here.

Wasn't it originally announced the Driveclub Playstation Plus edition would be free? And you could pay a small fee to upgade to the full version?

But this week the PS+ version is released for £20!?!?!?! What the actual fuck is Sony pulling here?

Between this, the lack of suspend feature, the 10% discount that was supposed to come this month but has been hushed up this is some absolute bullshit. MS pulls this and there'd be boycotts and pitch forks

@thatlad: I just checked the US PSN store. Searching for Driveclub yielded two results Driveclub and DriveclubTM. Driveclub is available for $50 with ps+ (the full game I assume). DriveclubTM has no option available for purchase. I do not see a Driveclub Playstation Plus edition available.

@cerberus3dog That's weird, maybe it's just the EU store. That would explain the lack of news items about it.

I am right though aren't I? It was originally announced as part of the PS+ subscription?

@thatlad: Yeah, you're correct. They seem to just want people to buy the full game, wrapping it in the PS+ Edition Full Game Upgrade. £20 is cheaper than what we were previously getting.

I was interested in the PS+ edition as well. It's a shame that Evolution is trying to push this instead.

That is exactly it. They said that they cannot in good faith release Driveclub PS+ Edition because of the messy servers. They said once they get the servers up and running, they will get around to the PS+ edition. Problem is, everyone I've talked to about Driveclub says that game is actually pretty smooth now. So I don't know what's going on. Sony's probably trying to squeeze as much as they can out of this before they move on.

@n7: @cerberus3dog So after promising this as a free download less than a year ago, they've now managed to put it out for £20 and we should pay this because they made such a fuck up of the launch? That is crazy, I can't understand how they are getting away with it. It beggars belief

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/05/07/whats-included-driveclub-playstation-plus-edition/

Evolution Studios has had a bit of a checkered past. Motorstorm Apocalypse wasn't very good and it also didn't help that it was released right before the PSN Outage, so no one could really play online. It also featured some pretty questionable game design. Then they said that after their poor performance Sony would give them one more chance with Motorstorm RC. I don't know how well that game did, but they didn't get shut down so it must have been pretty decent. Now with Driveclub I feel like we've got another Zipper Interactive on our hands and Sony's just trying to keep them alive long enough to salvage this mess before they pull the plug.

I don't think any one person can be put to blame for this. I think this is a situation where they are damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

20 is for the upgrade from the free psn+ to the full retail version of the game. The messed up part is them putting the upgrade up for sale without making the free plus version available. It's just a huge fucking mess.

The PS Plus Edition has been available since the game launched, it just happens to be discounted this week. It's the full game, just at a cheaper price for PS Plus members. The free edition was advertised as having 1/5 of that content.

Also, they never gave an exact date for when they'll be handing out the 10% discount and the five-day PS Plus extension, they just said they'll have more to share on that soon.

It clearly says full game upgrade.

Calm down

Yeah I saw this too, the game is on the EU psn store for 24,95 Euro's, but I feel what they mean is you buy the full game for that reduced price since you would already have acces to the free ps+ edition if you have PS+ only that version isn't up because of ...reasons.

It would make verry little sense to me to charge for what was going to be a free thing, plus the fact you can't
find the full retail priced game on the store anymore.

Yeah, I won't touch this game until they put up the PS+ version. And by the time that happens, it will probably end up being the whole thing without the season pass content. They really messed this stuff up big time.

Driveclub is excellent, worth the $49.99. I expect the PS+ Edition will hit soon because the servers have been sound for months. The third DLC pack hits next week.

soooooo when's the PS+ version?

@spraynardtatum: No news yet.

The game did get a big update yesterday, though, which added a new location (Japan) with its new tracks for free.

Coming out today, apparently. But they botched the launch. Showed up on PSN, then missing, downloads but won't start up.

@rachelepithet: Looks like someone messed up at Sony. This tweet from Shu may support that.

Although with Project Cars and Dirt Rally I could not care less about this game, I think they've really missed the boat here.

I assume it's out for next month if they are gonna do it

I kind of figured they'd take a cue from Atari and bury Driveclub in the desert.

@rachelepithet: We've waited this long already. I have no problem waiting for them to resolve these last issues.

The servers are never ready for the Playstation Plus Edition.