The PlayStation Network has come a long way in the past few years, and although it remains free, some believe the $50 for Microsoft's Xbox Live service is worth the money because it remains a better experience.
However, according to what SCEA Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations, Rob Dyer, told Industry Gamers , the Network is the easier, more "egalitarian" service. His comments are interesting, because they relate to how third-party developers and publishers view the progress of the PSN, and why more are starting to side with the PS3's service. Also, because hardware sales continue to rise, this also helps the download numbers; after all, if the service is free, a PS3 owner only needs to hook up the machine, sign up for a free account, and go. Said Dyer:
“When I first started here [at SCEA] two years ago, it was slow and cumbersome and we were really struggling to put any kind of a dent into Xbox Live. But PSN has come a long way in just a couple years. What we're now finding is we're at par and offering as good if not a better experience; and publishers are putting a lot of content on our system now that they can't put on Xbox Live. And having been a publisher on the other side, I can say that PSN is a lot more egalitarian. It's easier to get stuff up, it's easier to get it promoted and easier to get it to your consumer, versus what you have with Xbox Live."
He went on to say that it doesn't take as much convincing to get publishers to put their content on the PSN these days, primarily due to the number of PS3s that are currently in consumers' homes. As of now, the total worldwide count is up to 33.5 million and that's the kind of number game makers aren't likely to ignore. Dyer ends by asking the rhetorical question, "So if I'm a developer, which system should I make the content for?"
This is true. Playing on both PSN and XBL, the only edge XBL has is cross-game-chat…and i don't use it that often anymore. I don't care for the facebook, last.fm, or all the other stuff; I could get it from my PC
Sony has already proven that people can play games online for free; Live members are really just paying for the extra crap at this point. Personally I think it's ridiculous to pay for online gaming.
Again with the cross game chat….sigh.
This is still the only feature of any kind that anyone can mention that PSN doesn't do. I honestly do not see how anyone can base their view of the merits of PSN vs XBL based on cross game voice chat.
To me PSN is about three things:
1. Online play – which is free.
2. Online purchased content – the PS Store.
3. Home.
1 includes things like messaging, friends lists, trophies, multi-player games and all that jazz.
2 now includes not only games, wall papers, themes, video content, music (depending on your region), PSP content, but also through NetFlix you have online video streaming.
3 now also includes online gaming, friends and online content purchases.
What more is there to want from your online gaming network? Oh, yeah, that non-core function cross game voice chat. How such a peripheral feature has become so definitive in so many minds I will never know. But quite apart from anything else, it's most certainly not enough to justify $50 a year subscriptions.
@TheHighlander
I think you misunderstood my post. I wasn't trying to imply that XBL was better because of Cross-Game-Chat. I meant that its the only notable feature XBL has. People see it as something that separates PSN from XBL and it's the core reason why people think XBL is better. If it was on PS3, too, no one would say anything special about it.
As I said, I hardly use it on the 360 at all, so even if it shows up at Sony's doorstep, I wouldn't care for it.
@highlander
i guess most xbox users value their cross game chat because they prefer to close them off to their own circle of friends rather than branching out to the entire community. I mean if you're going to play a game online, ie FPS, you should speak to your team mates and not someone who isnt playing in the same game or room.
Disclaimer: I'm a PS3 fanboy and I don't own a 360, so just because I'm about to speak highly about Live doesn't make me a traitor.
If I'm going to be perfectly honest here, Live is still the best multiplayer online platform.
* The Live Parties make finding and creating multiplayer matches between friends a lot easier.
* Cross game invites means you don't have to launch a game to invite someone to play.
* Cross game chat (sorry, Highlander, but it IS a valuable feature to heavy multiplayer users)
Other features that Live has that I'd like to see coming to PSN:
* Cloud computing game saves (the game saves are saved on both your console and on the servers)
* Faster patch downloads (for some reason, patching a game on Live is a 10 second job)
General features I'd like to see on the PS3:
* Generate a database of games that you launch, that the user can manage (as in, remove rentals from this list once they've been played and returned)
* "Check for updates" – use the above database – lets you check for patch updates for any / all of your games without needing to launch it.
* Background patch download
* Web developer API to access PSN messaging / trophies / owned game database. By all means require sign-ups to this, so that their servers don't get hammered by every wannabe web dev out there who has no idea what the word "caching" means, but for the love of $deity stop making us parse HTML.
Now don't get me wrong: Nothing of what I've listed in this post do I consider a "core" feature. I am very happy with the PSN thus far, and I don't miss any of the features I described that Live has got.
I would, however, possibly opt to pay for those features should Sony implement them as a premium subscription option.
I would just like to take this time to say that i have WKC a day early and i'll be humping it from here on out.
As for this….Sony, i know already.
@Sonic,
My apologies. I placed my reply poorly, your post reminded me about XBL and cross game chat, but I wasn't replying directly to you.
@Belazor
*Live Parties
Use Home, you can set up parties of friends live and launch directly into a multi-player game – assuming of course your game supports it.
* Cross game invites.
See the previous response regarding Home.
* Cross game chat
No amount of rationalization will alter the fact that this is little more than a nice to have feature. We all have phones, perhaps we should use them?
* Cloud computing game saves
This is a relatively new feature on XBL that Sony has also talked about implementing, not sure this is something you can use to differentiate between them.
* Faster patch downloads (for some reason, patching a game on Live is a 10 second job)
Um, well, there is no way that a 350MB game patch is going to download in 10 seconds, so I think you'll find that the speed of download for a game patch will depend entirely on the size of the patch. There are plenty of game patches for PS3 games that download in seconds because they are small, just as there are plenty that are larger.
* Background patch download
This is already there if the patch is delivered via the PS Store. If it's only delivered when you start the game you can't background it, but then that's not a Sony thing, that's a publisher thing. It certainly helps publishers make applying patches mandatory.
Cloud based saves have already been mentioned in connection with the as yet unannounced premium PSN services, as has cross game voice chat (which I still consider pointless, and if implementing it negatively impacts any of my games I will be severely pissed).
I don't think you'll find Sony opening up an API into anything that they even remotely consider to be proprietary or in any way security related. Sony is rightly concerned with maintaining it's security.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 2/25/2010 11:08:28 AM
Home doesn't even come close to qualifying as a replacement for Live Parties or Cross-Game Invites, because you can't join Home while playing a game. You can join a Live Party while playing a game, and get invited into a different game.
Whether cloud game saves are new or not doesn't matter – it's a feature that's infinitely useful, and PSN lacks it.
I'll agree with you on the patch downloads – I don't know why I've never seen huge patches on XBL – maybe it's related to the security architecture you mentioned in a different post.
Being a geek I don't mind progress bars – hell, I love them – but not everybody is like me.
When have a patch ever been delivered via the Store? I'm not talking about expansions or addon content, I'm talking about a version update. There's no reason why a patch couldn't download in the background in the same way most games seem to allow other games to download in the background.
Obviously I don't expect the patch to be INSTALLED, but DOWNLOADED? No excuse.
Your API argument also makes no sense; see Blizzard and the WoW Armory, see MS and XBL, and I'm sure there's other examples. There's absolutely zero security risk by allowing us to access an XML feed of a person's trophies and games (unless a person's privacy settings blocks it, of course), because it's READ ONLY.
I have hopes that Sony's PSN expansion will make them realise the need to open PSN stats up to developers, if we're to believe their marketing talk for the X10 then they are realising that the community and the people are important.
Home doesn't even come close to qualifying as a replacement for Live Parties or Cross-Game Invites, because you can't join Home while playing a game. You can join a Live Party while playing a game, and get invited into a different game.
Whether cloud game saves are new or not doesn't matter – it's a feature that's infinitely useful, and PSN lacks it.
I'll agree with you on the patch downloads – I don't know why I've never seen huge patches on XBL – maybe it's related to the security architecture you mentioned in a different post.
Being a geek I don't mind progress bars – hell, I love them – but not everybody is like me.
When have a patch ever been delivered via the Store? I'm not talking about expansions or addon content, I'm talking about a version update. There's no reason why a patch couldn't download in the background in the same way most games seem to allow other games to download in the background.
Obviously I don't expect the patch to be INSTALLED, but DOWNLOADED? No excuse.
Your API argument also makes no sense; see Blizzard and the WoW Armory, see MS and XBL, and I'm sure there's other examples. There's absolutely zero security risk by allowing us to access an XML feed of a person's trophies and games (unless a person's privacy settings blocks it, of course), because it's READ ONLY.
I have hopes that Sony's PSN expansion will make them realise the need to open PSN stats up to developers, if we're to believe their marketing talk for the X10 then they are realising that the community and the people are important.
@Belazor
Why is it that my thoughts on APIs make so little sense? which console has been successfully hacked and is home to torrented game images? So far Sony's tight control on their system has yielded exactly zero successful hacks.
Home with game launching allows you and friends to meet up in home and launch a multi-player session of your favorite (supported) game directly from Home.
You can't be seriously likening a read-only WEB SCRIPT ACCESSIBLE ONLY FROM A COMPUTER'S BROWSER to the lack of hardware security that the 360 has got.
The reason why the PS3 hasn't been hacked is because the hardware is the most secure system anyone has ever built (and also the OS doesn't have exploits in it), it has nothing to do with accessing information stored on Sony's servers.
Live Parties allow you to join and chat with a bunch of people while playing an entirely different game, and then receive requests to launch a multiplayer match for any game.
Likening this to Home is just wrong.
I agree with @Belazor's comments – the PSN has made incredible strides in the shorter time it has had than the XBL, but there is still a long way to go. And inviting friends from Home is not a good solution for me because I seem to always have to download a huge chunk of data every time I log in to home (even otherwise it takes a while to boot up and get you where you can send out invites) – that's just too much time – I should just be able to press the PS button from a game, say invite to party, select the friends I want to invite and be done with it.
I made the unfortunate decision one time to get live for a year and would not make that mistake again. I haven't had any less of an experience on the psn
Paying for live is really a joke. People are fools.
It baffles me that so many people still think Live is better JUST because they pay for it.
That's just it: They tell themselves it's better BECAUSE they pay for it. Same reason, after getting 3 RROD's, they talk to trash about the other product, instead. Strange, but even stranger is they feel the need to tell others, so that by deluding others, somehow it helps them delude their selves.
@ Shams You hit the nail on the head my friend, that is literally the deal.
Its the battered wife syndrome.
*SMACK!*
"…but, but you still love me…right?"
Is it just me or have the xbots really went the way of the Dodo (bird)? They were REALLY vocal when the ps3 came out. Sony really showed them eh?
Yeah their going by the saying 'you get what you pay for' so its only right they think that way.
Oops, I meant "talk trash", not "talk to trash".
ofcorse it is, I for one hate free stuff and i think they are crap.
ON A SERIOUS NOTE
i think they are on the same level .
XBL-cross chat
PSN- free for god sake (nothing beats free except giving me money for playing maybe )
PSN has more creative games, that's for sure.
Like flower (the official Casual Game of the Year)!
Agreed
I believe Sony made a deal with Indy developers where they would cover the developement costs if the game remained PSN exclusive. Great incentive if you ask me!
He's being way too generous. It's better Dyer, MUCH better. Believe it.
Dattebayo!
Naruto-kun!
LOL!!!!!! I was just waiting for someone to say that, I saw "believe it" posted and desperately wanted to say something but I had to leave.
Naruto is one of the best my friend.
egalitarian must be fancy wording for 'free, having better games, and less douche-baggy"
Last edited by Superman915 on 2/24/2010 10:33:04 PM
By 'egalitarian' I think what he's getting at is that for publishers of content, the PSN is a level playing field, so everyone get's a fair shake of the stick when it comes to placement and promotion on the PSN. MS, I believe, sells publishers access and effectively sells favors to place things more prominently. I would also not be surprised to learn that MS offered preferential treatment for it's favored partners. In that way, PSN is more equal for publishers – egalitarian.
haha I actually laughed out loud at this one
Has anyone been on XBL lately? It's crap. It takes forever to access the content you want.
Ever get the feeling that the 360 and Xbox live are somehow becoming "yesterday's" console & service?
Yep, 100% agree Highlander,
360 is going the way of the PS2 now. Still very popular, slowly fading out but not quite dead, and viewed in the public domain as "yesterday's tech".
Yes, and I'm not sure that Natal will do anything to alter that. Natal isn't a replacement for the core console, and considering the ambition they have placed on it's capabilities any game that uses Nata will have to devote some serious CPU time to handling the data coming from the Natal hardware. I don't think that the 360 hardware can accept a significant new load and still push out games of the same performance or quality. From that point of view, I don't think Natal will affect Xbox360 core gamers.
The term Egalitarian is derived from the French word égal, meaning "equal."
Thus, it involves affirming, promoting, or believing in equal rights for all people.
Kind of how the PSN is equal.
And also kind of how I'm affirming, promoting & believing in the Playstation Nation & the PSN too.
Hmmm, thinking back now, as a youngster I learned I was a Homo sapian, and then as I grew older I learned that I was a Thespian.
But now, I suddenly learn from Sony that I'm a egalitarian too?????
WOW…….who would've thunk it???????
BikerSaint you are an actor?
Wait…that doesn't mean he feels feminine but still loves women?
the only thing i want from psn is the ability to change my psn id without having to create a new account and starting my trpohy run all over again. id even prolly pay a couple bux to be able to do so.
That would be a nice feature for sure…..but it shouldn't cost money.
I would like that as well.
@carlos
You don't like your current id(McLovinSpicyWeiner)?
mclovinspiceyweiner? thats not me man! my psn id is inkme1 and i just get sick of it after awhile! id love to be able to change it to my id on here!
LMFAO, World & Coverton,
No World, I'm not an actor, although I once stayed at a Motel 6.
BTW, me & my girlfriend(at that time) were extra's in the 1998 movie "The Lemon Sisters" and we even got "our whole 8 seconds of fame" in that movie.
Coverton, naaahhhh, no frilly pink tutu's for me that actually @______________ should be wearing, since he lost the bet he made to everyone here.
I'm strictly a 100% non-battery operated male lesbian-pleasuring multi-orgasmic sex-toy for the ladies.
Anyway, I gave ya both a "thumbs up" for your humorous posts.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 2/25/2010 4:16:42 PM
Sony should advertise this free feature a bit more. I'm sure there's a lot of parents who are forking out that yearly Live fee, that would love to know about it.
My 360 is in my basement, and every once in a while I hear a mysterious voice from down there say "Feeeeed meeee money!"
You should end her suffering.
With fire.