One of the more interesting aspects of console gaming is how different manufacturers will try to keep players locked to their ecosystems. Naturally, this is achieved through hard-hitting exclusives (PlayStation‘s primary strategy), but also through bonus features like achievements, themes, and the like. These features, while only tangential to the core gaming experience, can help better endear players to their Nintendo, PlayStation, or Xbox device.
One such feature was introduced to PlayStation consoles a few years ago: PlayStation Stars. PlayStation Stars is Sony’s rewards program, awarding players points for purchasing games, often with bonuses being offered in relation to various promotions. These points can be redeemed for PlayStation Store funds, and sometimes even full games, though these usually require a points balance that is hard to achieve. Much easier to obtain are Digital Collectibles, detailed art models inspired by various PlayStation properties. These are interesting, but it’s hard to justify spending points on them when other, more valuable rewards may be available. However, there might be one fairly obvious way to make them more gratifying.
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PlayStation Stars’ Digital Collectibles Need an Increase In Allure
PlayStation’s Digital Collectibles Are Thoroughly Underwhelming
Digital Collectibles have no inherent or monetary value: their only purpose is to look good. And to be fair, many of them accomplish that purpose rather spectacularly. They tend to be well-modeled and aesthetically appealing, and the fact that they can be interacted with makes them a nice novelty for PlayStation enthusiasts, at least in theory.
These collectibles are already at a disadvantage as digital goods. Setting aside issues like the transient, temporary nature of most software, it isn’t very exciting to collect something that doesn’t have a physical, tangible presence. Virtual “items” simply aren’t as satisfying to accumulate. Making matters worse is how they are presented: they can only be viewed within the PlayStation App, and even then, only in a “Display Case” that is relegated to its own section of the app. At least with other digital collections, like digital games, the collector can see them all in a location that they are likely to frequent. Through a similar kind of integration, PlayStation Stars’ Digital Collectibles can increase their appeal.
Digital Collectibles Should Become a More Significant Part of the PlayStation Experience
Earning PlayStation Stars Digital Collectibles, either through spending points or completing in-game challenges, could be considerably more exciting if they were to appear on the actual console interface. This could translate to having a Display Case on the PlayStation itself, which would be a nice start, but perhaps Sony could take things even further. Allowing players to organize their collectibles, say, on the home screen, would go a long way toward making them more interesting and meaningful, as they would be an ever-present representation of a player’s history with their PlayStation account. Plus, it would inject the PlayStation 5 with more personalization features, which it is sorely lacking in comparison to its two predecessors.
Whatever PlayStation decides to do with respect to its Digital Collectibles, one can only hope that they will become at least a bit more worthwhile. It seems like a waste to design so many detailed 3D models only for them to sit on a fake shelf, collecting Digital Dust in a companion app that most console players will only occasionally use. There’s potential in such virtual items—Sony should try to capitalize on it.
PlayStation 5
Sony’s PlayStation 5 is part of the ninth console generation and debuted with a launch lineup that included Demon’s Souls and Astro’s Playroom. The console comes with a Blu-ray disc, although a digital-only edition is also available for a cheaper price.