Question about Playstation 3 game -- Castle of Illusion

[AAA177]

A while ago, I had purchased Castle of Illusion, the remake, for the digital section of Playstation 3. It came with the free bonus of the original Sega title. Just today, I went to play the original (haven't played this game in a while) and it said I could no longer access the content. A search revealed the remake was no longer being sold, but I seem to still have access to it. Because the bonus was free, does that mean that can disappear when Sony no longer has the license? Do I have any recourse, or is it par for the course for free content to sometimes disappear? Thank you.

[onmode-ky]

Can you clarify what you mean by "no longer access the content"? I can think of four possibilities:

 

- You had the Genesis original already downloaded onto your PS3 from a long time ago, but when you try to run the game now, it says you can't play it. In this case, it's presumably because the game had an expiration date on it (press Triangle while your XMB cursor is on the game and see if the Information display shows a non-empty expiration field). Try downloading the game again from your PS3's Download List, under XMB -> Account Management -> Transaction Management. For all I know, though, the expiration date may in fact be built into the download itself, like a rental.

 

- You looked in the PS Store for the original Genesis game, found it (I don't know how, though, since I don't see it; but, maybe it's visible to people who had gotten it before), and tried to initiate a download in vain. It's possible that what you see in the Store nowadays is a broken database entry. The remake had been de-listed but was made available once again, and sometimes, when that happens, the "it's back" item actually has underlying metadata different from that of what was listed before the removal. Skip looking in the PS Store and instead look in your PS3's Download List for the Genesis game. What's in your List corresponds to what you actually bought, insulating you from any in-Store changes.

 

- You looked in your PS3's Download List for the original Genesis game, found it, but can't download it. This is not supposed to be possible. A non-PS3 system's Download List would show PS3 games as not able to be downloaded, but on a PS3, all PS3 games in your List should be green-lit. If this is your problem, try contacting PlayStation customer support.

 

- You looked in your PS3's Download List for the original Genesis game but don't see it alongside the remake. If this is your problem, I suggest looking further back in the List, because as I understand it, the Genesis original was a pre-order bonus, so its being added to one's Download List happened before the remake's release date. If you've looked further back in the List, and it's really nowhere to be found, then I'd say it's time to see what PlayStation customer support says.

 

onmode-ky

[Mord]

- You looked in your PS3's Download List for the original Genesis game, found it, but can't download it. This is not supposed to be possible. A non-PS3 system's Download List would show PS3 games as not able to be downloaded, but on a PS3, all PS3 games in your List should be green-lit. If this is your problem, try contacting PlayStation customer support.

 

I remember this happening to me with some DLC when Sega/Sony botched up some DLC Batch with Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd. This was caused by them giving you both PS3 and Vita versions of the modules but somehow decided to only make it available on one of the two systems. The particular DLC was suppose to be for the PS3 but I think it ended up pulled or just not set up to be ready for download. Took over a month before someone at Sony or Sega finally fixed it. Basically they decided to finish rushing out the rest of the 100+ dollars of DLC before going back and fixing it.

 

On a separate note, as an extra option of what's going on, is the DLC for that downloaded on two other systems already? That can cause errors when trying to redownload it as well. I've had this issue on a couple of the multi-system titles when trying to download some to the PSTV I received. Apparently it didn't like that since some titles were already downloaded to two PS3s or a PS3 and a Vita.

[AAA177]

Very sorry for getting back to this thread just now. I assumed, after checking a few times, that there would be no replies.

 

To the best of my knowledge, I think it is something else than what has been suggested, but I will try to check everything mentioned (especially that download list thing). I did not know that existed. This system was given to me by a relative a long time ago, and I just am not as skilled at using it as the kids are. That sounds like a good option to try (but I will try everything else as well).

 

I can give this bit of info. I did not realize it but when this game was downloaded for me, it was only the demo version. I actually had to pay for the entire version just recently to go on with the game ( as it was a long time in between downloading and finally getting to it; when I did play it in the interim, I only was able to get through just before the end of the demo, as today's games are very challenging for me). I suppose it is possible the demo did not give me access to keeping the Genesis game, but then again, I had played it off and on for a while. I will try to report back on this. Thanks again for replying.

[AAA177]

Sorry it took me a while again to get back to the thread.

 

I used the download list suggestion. I found the Sega Castle of Illusion game. I downloaded it again, it said it was installed. Then I tried to play it and unfortunately it said the content has expired. I guess, as suggested above, I will try to see what I can do with support, maybe they can help. Like I said in my reply, I suppose this could be my fault, since I didn't buy the whole game when the promo was on. We shall see.

[Atariboy]

The Genesis game was a preorder bonus. The promotion ran from August 20th through September 2nd, 2013. Purchases after that date don't get access to the Genesis game.

 

Since I didn't buy this one until it was about to be delisted last year, I had hoped they'd unlock it as a parting gift when it was pulled from the Playstation Store. That sadly didn't happen, nor did it when the game was suddenly relisted at the end of last March.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Atariboy