PSN Store Cards Confirmed w/pic

These are out now, at least at Meijer. they had both the 20 & 50 dollar amount cards in stock. I buy one tomorrow and post a pic.
 
glad to see another local CAG I too am in ohio up north in delaware will have to check my local meijer now for some. Thanks

bill123
 
Hmm. I have to go near a Meijers tomorrow and have been itching to play the Warhawk expansions. I'll have to go check it out. I checked a few weeks ago at mine and they didn't even have the empty display. I guess it doesn't hurt me to check if I have to go anyways. Thanks for the news.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Anyone else wonder just what the hell is taking so long here? This can't be that hard for Sony to implement...[/quote]

Yeah Sony seems to like making us wait for things. I thought these would be out like 2 months ago.
 
[quote name='H.Cornerstone']Too bad it's 20$ and everything ends with .99. :(
Either way, glad to see these finally coming out. I know they are huge in Japan, but I wonder how big of difference they will be in the US.[/QUOTE]

See the real problem with this is that the store charges tax, so if you buy the card, and they charge you tax on buying the card, then you're playing tax twice, unless the card is tax free, I didn't read the whole article, but maybe someone can share the info...
And for the guy who said the cards seem easier to use than credit cards, not really, the credit card is quite simple, you put in your info, and it's saved on the unit, so all you have to do is say you're buying something, and then it asks if you want to confirm it and you say yes and it goes right through...
-Goatman
 
[quote name='Ugamer_X']No, they're in Sanskrit.[/QUOTE]

You majored in a thousand year old dead language?
Here's latin that's the best I can do for you...
-Goatman
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Anyone else wonder just what the hell is taking so long here? This can't be that hard for Sony to implement...[/QUOTE]

That should be Sony's slogan for a number of things this generation:

PSN cards
In-game XMB
Home
Trophies/Achievements
PSX Games in the PSN Store
...what else am I forgetting?
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Anyone else wonder just what the hell is taking so long here? This can't be that hard for Sony to implement...[/QUOTE]Quite simple. Sony NEVER had plans for a PS Store when designing the PS3. The only thing they had planned was a SingStar store, but that wasn't going to be out for a while. When Sony saw the popularity of XBLA and people seem to be wanting VC, that got them to put together the PS Store. The layout was web-based and mediocre early on in order to get a store up. And the very first games in the PS Store were either in development for just a few months, PSP ports, or older Arcade games. But the explanation to the PSN cards is MS and Nintendo knew they would need another payment method outside of credit card, so they had to setup a system designed to deal with pre-paid cards (where they randomized codes, makes the cards, re-deem them, rinse and repeat). SCEA had no such system setup in the U.S. and they were nearing launch of the PS3 (they weren't even looking at putting it together until SingStar came out). So they ended it up. The very first cards were sent out to Military Bases to do a test run. If SCEA released the PSN Cards to every single store initially, and there was a problem, that could have cost them a lot of money in the end. And now, just around the time SingStar has come out, they are starting to appear (which was the original plan). Setting up a pre-paid card system is not an overnight thing, it takes over a year. The original Xbox had no such setup for buying content (only paying for XBL for a year).
[quote name='mykevermin']
In-game XMB
[/QUOTE]Not this again. :roll: I've said it over and over again, due to Sony's lack of experience with software, and only having 256MB main memory on the PS3 (with a portion allocated to just the OS), having the XMB appear during the gameplay was not technically possible early on. Their software used up more space than the allocated memory when compiling it early on. Just opening up the keyboard window used up around 20MB, and displaying the friend's list used up 9MB. Those two things alone were basically the entire 360 OS used in-game space wise, and that doesn't include many other XMB features. That is why every single firmware update was spent reducing the amount of memory the XMB uses. It's not like Sony could reserve more memory for the XMB because developers were already struggling to bring 360 ports to PS3 due to a lack of memory (Sony had 2X-3X more memory reserved for the OS, compared to 360). Now it is finally getting reduced enough to implement the XMB.

Although, if people wanted in-game messaging so badly, don't blame Sony, blame yourselves. Certain PS fans kept saying they wanted in-game XMB, which refers to the entire XMB. If people said they JUST wanted in-game messaging at least, we could have gotten it sooner because Sony would have implemented that before an entire XMB. But no, people wanted the entire XMB, which is why everyone has to wait.

And there are some who complain about it taking a while getting some XMB features. Are they the ones developing the PS3 firmware? I seriously wish complainers would so they can see developing software isn't easy. If a firmware is out by has issues, people complain big time that Sony shouldn't have any issues when they release a firmware (and they are the ones complaining Sony is taking too long). If Sony releases an update within a week or two to fix issues, people complain because they don't want to update if there are no added features, they can't sign-on PSN because of an update, they rather Sony wait for another update to release the fixes, and so on. And if Sony waits, people complain it has been too long without a firmware update, and/or still having one issue after a firmware.
And there are some who complain about it taking a while getting some XMB features. Are they the ones developing the PS3 firmware? I seriously wish complainers would so they can see developing software isn't easy. If a firmware is out by has issues, people complain big time that Sony shouldn't have any issues when they release a firmware (and they are the ones complaining Sony is taking too long). If Sony releases an update within a week or two to fix issues, people complain because they don't want to update if there are no added features, they can't sign-on PSN because of an update, they rather Sony wait for another update to release the fixes, and so on. And if Sony waits, people complain it has been too long without a firmware update, and/or still having one issue after a firmware.
Click to expand...
People complain about the lack of PS1 games in the store, yet there's a huge complaint as to what PS1 game they get regardless of what it is (I'd be quite upset if I were Sony, putting together a PS1 game for PSP/PS3 if all I kept getting was complaints). And then people complain about the lack of PS1 games up, when just about every game that goes up (which usually sold well before), people complain.

I also posted the reason here, from an SCEA rep:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4452049&postcount=9
 
All right, so if many of you remembered the Kotaku article stating there was a price tag for PlayStation Network Cards. I caught it before the story was up at Kotaku and made mention about it at a few forums. Well, I heard yesterday that Meijer just got them in, so I decided to investigate today.

I checked where the price tag was and didn't see it. So I checked in the PS3 game section, and there they were.

PSNCardMeijer2.jpg


It said on the card, "No value until activated at register". So I called an employee over, and picked up a $20 card She had to swipe it just like a traditional gift card too (unlike Wii points and Xbox 360 Marketplace points). As you can see, the picture shows $20 and $50 increment cards.

I took it home and took another picture of the $20 card up close:
PSNCard.jpg


In case you all want to know, Meijer is a Superstore retailer, basically like Wal-Mart. They are only located in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky.

I have not tested the card yet to make sure it shows $20 in my wallet, but I'll give you an update on the process.

So if you have a Meijer in your area, and don't/can't use a CC to buy stuff off of PSN, you may want to check there. I just wonder how many CAGs are going to want me to purchase cards for them. :p
 
Right now, I am having no luck because I get getting it error. It recognized it was a card with $20.00 on it, but I keep getting an "Unexpected Error" under account management or "80023102" error when doing this under my PSN wallet.

I'm just told to try later, so I will, but I'll try out other solutions.
 
[quote name='freakyzeeky']Did you take those pics Mana? They're up on N4G as pending news... :O
If they were your pics...I don't see them giving you credit :'(

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/NewsPendingCom-156938.aspx?CT=1[/QUOTE]Yes I did take those pictures. They are in my cell phone right now. I posted the story at Gametrailers, PS3 Forums, PSXextreme, Modojo, CAG, along with emailing Kotaku. I'm trying to contact PS3 Fanboy about this. I never talked to N4G.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']Yes I did take those pictures. They are in my cell phone right now. I posted the story at Gametrailers, PS3 Forums, PSXextreme, Modojo, CAG, along with emailing Kotaku. I'm trying to contact PS3 Fanboy about this. I never talked to N4G.[/quote]

Oh, I see... At least you're spreading the word about these elusive cards! :)
 
He will. N4G just links to news sources which in this case is his gametrailer post at their forums. On the N4G page just hit the goto source button and it'll take you to his post.
 
[quote name='freakyzeeky']Oh, I see... At least you're spreading the word about these elusive cards! :)[/QUOTE]I do not know where they found it at. I uploaded the picture at tinypic, for most forums. I have a few different names, so there may be a confusion (Two forums I posted at, my name was Barret Wallace, since that was years ago).
 
[quote name='StrandedBrit']He will. N4G just links to news sources which in this case is his gametrailer post at their forums. On the N4G page just hit the goto source button and it'll take you to his post.[/QUOTE]I checked N4G, and they just mentioned my name.
Meijer hypermarket is now selling 20$ and 50$ Playstation Network Cards! See the attached pictures, coming straight from GT user ManaKignt.
Click to expand...
 
ahh OK Mana, I was just wondering because a co-worker said that he read somewhere on the Playstation forums that people were having problems with VISA gift cards so he never bothered with them.
 
Hopefully they'll add these to the sonyrewards.com site as well.

For anyone who doesn't know, you can check with your credit card company and they might offer temporary credit card numbers to use that are linked to your account and authorized for an amount of your specification. For example, if I wanted to download a map pack I could go to my CC website and have it generate a CC number authorized for $9.99 to use on my PS3. Even if the number is stolen, it won't be worth anything.
 
The news is up. :D
http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-156938.aspx

Although blurry (I can take a new pic), says there is $20 on the card:
wu0bgp.jpg


This is a link to the error:
2wo9do6.jpg


I should try again tomorrow, in case it takes over a day for the validation or whatever to go through. I seem to be the first to test this. I still have my receipt also, which has XXXX followed by a number, so I think it was swiped correctly.

I had no issues with a CC before, but I prefer not to use one (which is why I bought the PSN Card). I'll continue to update, but I emailed Sony support.

EDIT: Crap, now it tells me my code is no longer valid, and I was getting an error in the first place. Crap, I'm out $20 and REALLY angry right now. :whistle2:(
 
I was told to call the PlayStation Network line at 1-877-971-7669, so I called that. I was first asked whether I checked the PC and PS3 stores, which I did. I was asked info and whether I entered the pin number right (it is case sensitive, which I did). After being on hold several times, I was told to go back to the retailer Meijer, and have them re-activated, since it must not have been done right. That's what I'm looking at doing today, and hopefully it works.

I was doubting Meijer screwed up by my receipt specifically has a number on it. I'm going to look into this.
 
Anyway, I went back to Meijer and it appears they did not mess up. Right next to the price on the receipt, it said A "as in 20.00A", meaning it was activated correctly and SCEA was wrong. Due to the employees there knowing me very well (for buying tons of games there), they let me have another and will try again. I'm going to test it on the PS Store for PC first, and see if it works. If not, SCEA PS Network line is going to get an angry phone call because I do not want to get scammed out of $20 (I was scammed out of $60 once, but that was no official transaction).

I got the code and entered it, and still got "invalid card".

Please, no one buy this PSN Card because if SCEA won't do anything (and there isn't much Meijer can do other than stop selling them), I might be out of $20.
 
All right, I got on the phone with a higher up on the PlayStation Network, and there appears to be a few people having the exact same problem as me, so they are investigating the head of the PlayStation Network team to figure out a problem. I'll get a call back later.
 
All right everyone, I finally got the PSN Card issue solved just recently. I talked to ta PSN representative again and he told me he got a few to work by walking people through it (he called me back). Here is what I'm told:

-Meijer IS the ONLY retailer carrying PSN Cards right now. If you go ANYWHERE else, you will NOT find them.

-Meijer sold the cards too early, since they were not suppose to start selling them until 6/13/08.

-I had problems with the invalid card, and the reason was I had to delete the cache on my PS3 and PS Store for the PC. So if ANYONE has issues with their card coming up as invalid, delete you cache. Once I did, the card was valid and $20.00 was added to my wallet.

That's all I can say for now. If anyone has any issues with the PSN cards or questions, don't hesitate to ask me, since I went through all the problems and figured it out. I even have a phone number to someone directly involved.
 
Thanks for the news Mana. I wasn't able to go out to Meijer yesterday like I wanted to but I guess it wasn't that bad that I didn't.
 
Wow good you got it all sorted out.. I don't have any of those Meijer stores in my state.. hopefully when they roll out nationwide they will have all the bugs ironed out. :)
 
They had a big stack of them at my Meijers, of both kinds.
The card worked immediately, adding funds was really easy.
I was able to buy the Warhawk booster combo (both for $12). I'm very happy with it.
One complaint would be them taxing the funds when I bought from the Playstation store, I already got taxed at Meijers.
 
[quote name='Doc Bacca']They had a big stack of them at my Meijers, of both kinds.
The card worked immediately, adding funds was really easy.
I was able to buy the Warhawk booster combo (both for $12). I'm very happy with it.
One complaint would be them taxing the funds when I bought from the Playstation store, I already got taxed at Meijers.[/QUOTE]Glad to hear it works. Well, if you live in a state that taxes when you buy online purchases, the PS Store will tax you unfortunately.

Anyway, my story was also posted at:
http://www.jplaystation.com/

OMG, one of my other favorite sites posted the story. :D
http://www.psu.com/PSN-cards-beginning-to-hit-major-retail-stores-News--a0003974-p0.php

Even on a site not in English:
http://playtugal.com/cartoes-psn-ja-estao-a-venda/
 
Cool....glad it worked for people now. I wonder why MEIJER is the only one selling. I know you said 6/13 was the sale date, so I wonder if more stores will carry them soon. come on Blockbuster....I want to use my credit and get some cheaper PSN games that way.
 
[quote name='doubledown']Cool....glad it worked for people now. I wonder why MEIJER is the only one selling. I know you said 6/13 was the sale date, so I wonder if more stores will carry them soon. come on Blockbuster....I want to use my credit and get some cheaper PSN games that way.[/QUOTE]I think SCEA wanted to test them first, at a non-nationwide retailer. I mean, if they would have done Wal-Mart, and let's say many ran into the same issues as me, SCEA would be in a messy situation. I believe they are making sure any PSN Card problem (especially at a Wal-Mart type retailer, where employees aren't information) is solved before all other retailers get it (and making sure employees activate them right). The guy I talked to was thinking there might have been a problem with the cards in general (where SCEA would have to consider recalling), but it was just browser issues, SCEA reps not being informed, and Meijer selling a little too early. They do NOT work the same as XBL and Wii points (they work exactly like giftcards, which must be swiped to activate).

My guess is, around July, you'll see them do more retailers around the country, and then eventually every retailer by later Summer into Fall.

Like I said before, you can ONLY find PSN cards at Meijer right now, unless you go to a military base.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']Glad to hear it works. Well, if you live in a state that taxes when you buy online purchases, the PS Store will tax you unfortunately.
[/quote]

I thought the way online tax charging worked was if whatever online store you purchase from, also has a physical location in your state?

Like for example if I buy online from newegg.com, I don't get charged tax because there is no NewEgg stores in AZ, but if I guy from bustbuy.com, I get charged tax because we have Best Buys here.
 
[quote name='Sinistar']I thought the way online tax charging worked was if whatever online store you purchase from, also has a physical location in your state?

Like for example if I buy online from newegg.com, I don't get charged tax because there is no NewEgg stores in AZ, but if I guy from bustbuy.com, I get charged tax because we have Best Buys here.[/QUOTE]Some states have a law, where they tax online purchases anywhere. My state doesn't, but I've heard about it. For most sites, they only tax if you live in the state they are based in.
 
Meijer is having a 15% off General Merchandise day this Monday June 16th! (only when you use your Meijer Credit Card of course)

Just thought I'd throw that out there if anyone was planning on picking these up and wanted to save a little cash (if the discount applies)
 
[quote name='bornrunnin31']Meijer is having a 15% off General Merchandise day this Monday June 16th! (only when you use your Meijer Credit Card of course)

Just thought I'd throw that out there if anyone was planning on picking these up and wanted to save a little cash (if the discount applies)[/QUOTE]It MIGHT not work because it excludes giftcards, and the PSN cards work like giftcards (where they do not activate until paid the amount and swiped at the register. Could be wrong, but that's what I know of.

All right, when searching Google, I found:
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/13/north-american-psn-cards-available-now-at-meijer/
http://www.n4g.com/News-156938.aspx
http://www.psu.com/PSN-cards-beginning-to-hit-major-retail-stores--a0003974-p1.php
http://www.europs3forum.com/content/view/58301/107/
http://www.reizu.com/entries/view/N...vailable-now-at-Meijer*be86FwoBmr3yH_eJe5aeZM
http://www.wiiloaded.com/North-American-PSN-cards-available-now-at-Meijer-t-16208-1-wii (forum mentioned me)
http://ps3.qj.net/PlayStation-Network-cards-released-at-Meijer/pg/49/aid/121137 (Summarizing me)
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26433625 (someone stealing my forum post from GT )
http://www.gamegrep.com/news/10737-psn_cards_releasedjust_in_one_store/
http://seek.cc/news/ps3/playstation-network-cards-released-at-meijer/ (summarizing my story)
http://www.jplaystation.com/2008/06/12/want-to-buy-psn-cards-head-to-meijer
http://kiffnews.com/?page_id=1046 (scroll down)
http://www.jplaystation.com/2008/06/13/north-american-psn-cards-available-now-at-meijer
http://ps3.yourbloggingpro.com/2008/06/13/north-american-psn-cards-available-now-at-meijer/
http://www.yourgameblog.com/2008/06/north-american-psn-cards-available-now-at-meijer/
http://www.thegamergene.com/ps3/playstation-network-cards-available-at-meijer/
http://gamerevolver.com/north-american-psn-cards-available-now-at-meijer/
http://playtugal.com/cartoes-psn-ja-estao-a-venda/ (in a different language)

I'm still finding more stories. I did not link my forum posts. One I left out, because I feel I shouldn't post the site.
 
:D Mana's his own publicist

I'm tempted to go try out the sale Monday, but don't think I need any PSN credit right now. Maybe if a 20% rolls around soon.
 
[quote name='Sinistar']So is it worth using these or a VISA gift card instead?[/QUOTE]

gift cards still work. but the PSN cards are better if youre a CAG because Visa gift cards usually come w/ a $4 fee on top of whatever you put on the card.
 
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