You can’t simply price out the game you want to buy and type in the exact cost. The actual option to add funds is buried in your account profile under Payment Management.Īdding funds is not a straightforward process, either. Adding funds is not the most straightforward process to begin with, since the link that the PS3 store gives you doesn’t actually take you to the “add funds” page - it’s just a two-step tutorial on how to do so. I hopped onto my smartphone and logged into the PlayStation Store. Since I had advance warning, I couldn’t be too upset about this, but it’s still an extra complication in an already complicated process. When you first log into the PS3’s store, a notice reminds you that credit cards and PayPal don’t work, and that you’ll have to add funds via either smartphone or PC. This is about as tedious as it sounds.Īfter adding the game to my cart, I attempted to check out. Unlike the PS4, PS5 and Web stores, the PS3 uses an antiquated system that forces you to select one letter at a time, rather than simply typing out a game’s name on a keyboard. Next, I had to find the game in the PS Store. This was also the easiest part of the process to correct, requiring only one trip through an obscure series of menus. This, I discovered, was due to my system’s clock being set to the wrong time, as the PS3 does not automatically adjust for Daylight Savings. In retrospect, I should have foreseen that this would be a difficult process when I booted up my PS3 and found that the PlayStation Store refused to load. As physical copies of the game go for upwards of $80 on eBay, the $20 digital copy looked much more tempting. It’s not supposed to be a great game, but I’m invested enough in the franchise to see what it has to offer. While most of these games are available on modern consoles, the questionable spinoff, Yakuza: Dead Souls, is relegated to the PS3. I have nothing pressing to play at the moment, and I’ve been slowly but surely working my way through the excellent Yakuza series.

But each step of the process compounds on itself to create a vortex of unpleasantness, dragging out a five-minute process into an hours-long odyssey.

In fact, if the PlayStation Store worked perfectly on the PS3, they wouldn’t be. These may not sound like huge inconveniences.

You can download a game only from its store listing, not via a Web browser or app.

You must preload the funds you need into your account.You must buy games via the console itself, not a Web browser.

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