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SCEA: PSN “As Good, If Not A Better Experience” Than Live

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?"

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coverton341
coverton341
14 years ago

Do you honestly want all of those kids from XBL and their temper tantrum fuelled racist rants on the PSN?

cLoudou
cLoudou
14 years ago

I lol at MS. Their once untouchable service, has already been eclipsed in a shorter amount of time, since the launch of live way back when the original XBox existed, and for free.

Bloodysilence19
Bloodysilence19
14 years ago

this is just a debate that will go on and on and never stop.i love psn not cause of the feats i get but cause i can play online with friends for free.that's one of the reason why i don't like xbl.why should i have to pay online to play with friends, that's just dumb.i wouldn't mind paying for cross game chat part system etc as long as i can still play the games i have for free online.

the thing i want psn to have though is the party system like xbl, but i don't care to much for cross game chat.psn has come along way for sure big time.they just need to make the psn store some what equal in all other countries. like adding same movies in all countries, same themes, etc stuff like that.so ppl in other countries can experience what another countries has in their store.another thing i wish psn do is speed up the content u download.cause i can download the same content on xbl and xbl downloads quicker.last thing i wish Sony would allow is multiple content to download at the same time.


Last edited by Bloodysilence19 on 2/25/2010 12:06:05 AM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
14 years ago

Some good ideas. Notice the space after my period though?

___________
___________
14 years ago

SIGH!
when will the willy waiving end?
anyway, that is the largest steaming pile i have ever heard!
downloads are always faster for me off XBLA, there a smaller size sometimes that helps with download limits, people who play online actually use a head set and actually work as a team.
plus i have not had to put up with any racist brats on XBLA. granted i dont use it much again because of my download usage but when i do, i dont get the "a dingo stole my baby" remarks every 2 seconds.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
14 years ago

Is it opposite day?

cLoudou
cLoudou
14 years ago

"largest steaming pile" of the truth.
Face it, PSN has come a long way and is on par or possibly even superior than that of Live.

___________
___________
14 years ago

sure, keep thinking that sunshine.

Evil Incarnate
Evil Incarnate
14 years ago

"Plus i have not had to put up with any racist brats on XBLA"

You must be deaf?


Last edited by Evil Incarnate on 2/25/2010 8:56:36 AM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Well as preposterous a your comment was (IMHO) you crossed over into clear fantasy with this gem "plus i have not had to put up with any racist brats on XBLA".

Sorry, what? Did XBL suddenly undergo a cleansing? The last time I played on XBL it was populated with foul mouthed, racist, sexist, everything else-ist kids with volume issues and no inhibitions about swearing.

Banky A
Banky A
14 years ago

I had to disagree with you on the no racist brats on XBL thing _____ man 🙁

___________
___________
14 years ago

even if it is at lease M$ does something about it!
you get caught speaking like that you get kicked off.
MW2 a perfect example you cheat on XBLA you get your console banned.
sony?
sony could not give a rats a$$.
yea PSN is better with all the cheaters roaming free!

___________
___________
14 years ago

even if it is at lease M$ does something about it!
you get caught speaking like that you get kicked off.
MW2 a perfect example you cheat on XBLA you get your console banned.
sony?
sony could not give a rats a$$.
yea PSN is better with all the cheaters roaming free!

Robochic
Robochic
14 years ago

I love that the PSN is free, I think if i'm paying for a 60+ game taht i shouldn't have to pay more just to play the game online plus I'm already paying out the nose for great internet connection. My friends who swear live is so much better cause you pay for the service really do make no sense especially when I'm playing on PSN and they are complaining that they are waiting for another maintence on live to work properly?

Amyone else notice that you hear more and more about live have "maintence issues" my friends complain about it alot, i surely wouldn't want to pay for a service that has a crap load of problems.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

PSN is great. Way better then LIVE. Love the store design too.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

As I'm browsing through the Playstation store, i just thought of something. They should allow you to manage your Downloads list. Mine only has about 168 downloads, but it gets annoying sifting through all of them when you need to re-download some stuff. Would have nice to be able to organize your purchased content. Separate it from the junk and the demos you'll never download again.

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

theres a download history under account management, although its organized chronologically.

cLoudou
cLoudou
14 years ago

Yeah, I had to go through a long list to re-download R&C and Linger in Shadows.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

should be able to sort the paid content away from the rest at least.

H8WL3R
H8WL3R
14 years ago

Totally agree with that Jawknee. Fortunately though I have not had to sort through that many items yet.

You are correct johnld; I think (or it was my understanding) that Jawknee meant more in depth sorting options in that section.

I too have had to sift through numeral things to only get at a few things I was searching for cLoudou.

Yeah, I had thought of that too actually. Something like in the way people can sort out pics or music in different categories or even make lists. Something such as: Demos, Disc Based Add-On Content, Downloaded Games, Downloaded Game Add-On Content and the like being grouped together, WITH the added ability to make customized lists/groupings probably being very appreciated and useful.

hehateme
hehateme
14 years ago

the psn is just as good as live,, i just want to be able to talk to one of my friends playing another game… its that simple… and that much of a difference… what else can xbots say when sony gets that?? lol nothing…. and my ps3 messed up!@!! i had to drive 2hours out of town… just to score a 250gb ps3 they are sold out of Ps3's in the central valley in california.. everywhere!! this is good news and bad news…. im just glad i got mine intime for heavy rain and GOW 3!!!!!

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

"i just want to be able to talk to one of my friends playing another game…"

Use a phone.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

@ TheHighlander – What if your friend is in another country?

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Vonage!

😉

Better still, both of you play the same game. Or use Home. If you simply want to chat to a friend in another country, fire up Home, and do it there.


Last edited by TheHighlander on 2/25/2010 12:45:12 PM

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

Oh hell no. Not Home. Not for me anyway. I'll use my Sony keypad before I use Home to chat. My friends are all in the States and usually chatting in-game is exactly what I do. But seeing them online and being able to chat right away would be sweet. I ain't paying for it, but it'd be sweet.

Dancemachine55
Dancemachine55
14 years ago

Cross game chat is the final hurdle for PSN to cross.

Once it has that (which is not that far off if my sources are correct) then 360 lovers will have nothing left to combat against the PS3 other than exclusives.

360 is for Halo fans and shooting enthusiasts.

Wii is for casual gamers and children, and the fans of Mario, Zelda and Metroid.

PS3 is for everybody and everything!!!

daizycutter
daizycutter
14 years ago

i would pay a subscription fee on the PSN if..the bandwidth was better and didnt keep disconnecting at peek times and had cross game chat..on LIVE i get good bandwidth i get very little disconnects and cross game chat!

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
14 years ago

Because I started life on PS3 in 2009, I don't know how PSN sucked back then.

Andysw
Andysw
14 years ago

Personally I don't care for premium features. I just want to play online. Psn is good at that, xbox live not so much, because you have to pay.

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
14 years ago

Agree, I bought a PS3 for 2 reasons and that's the amazing exclusives and free online.

chedison
chedison
14 years ago

same reasons I bought mine

H8WL3R
H8WL3R
14 years ago

Likewise about those two factors Snaaaake, also the Blu-ray movie capabilities also swayed me quite a bit.

I mean personally I can't compare the PSN to XBL but I'm satisfied with PSN overall thus far. The Xbox seemed to definetly have an edge over PS2 online supported games/capabilities though no? I'm solely basing this on reports and the number of online games for the original Xbox being more vast. I have been with Sony ever since the first grey box; other than a few exclusives on the XB360 and Wii I haven't been swayed or compelled to point of purchasing either at this point though. I place no hate on them, however if it's indeed true that certain corporations' systems/consoles are holding some multiplat PS3 games back and resort to monopolizing tactics it's disappointing to say the least.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

Hey Jawknee,
Just gotta thank ya man,
I saw your post up above about wishing the DL history was organized. Well, I never even noticed that DL History button, so I went over, found it, & checked it out.

Long story short, my 1st 60gigger had gone bad last year so GS had to replace it. But when I tried to DL all my saves for transfer, it locked me out of some of my game saves & stuff.(WTF?).

But thanks to your post, I found that my only locked game was in there, so I'm now DL'ing it to my replacement machine.

So thanks to you, I'm about to get my Rag Doll Kung Fu back!!!

Snap, DL's done!!!!
OK Jawknee, gotta go, just got me a Kung Fu appointment!

kokoro
kokoro
14 years ago

Of topic :Is anyone else depressed that final fantasy 13 has a metacritic score of only 84. I mean surely the game deserves more, considering the many years it was in development.

www
www
14 years ago

You're not alone, its really BUGGING me, just like I was watching Tekken 6 go down from 88 to 78, I felt like trading it. I'm already feeling I should get FFXIII when its cheap.

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
14 years ago

That's just wrong man, no matter how much content SE cut out, this is FF we're talking about.

SE never disappoint with FF(well for the main series).

Screw western critic's review on JRPG from this day on.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Don't pay attention to Metacritc.

FFXIII is getting the reviews it does for numerous reasons. Personally, I'm still surprised that it gets as good a score s it does. I have read several reviews that had the game solidly in the 7-7.5 range but them gave it an extra point for being so pretty to look at – ooh, so pretty!

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
14 years ago

Let's hope SE learns their lesson and goes back to its roots for FFXV

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Let's hope someone at SE and Tri-Ace has an attack of common sense and decides to fix a game released on another platform when that game is ported to a new platform. Better yet, when there is a problem with a game, how about acknowledging it instead of denying it and offering a useless game disc warranty exchange?

I got Star Ocean 4, and I'm enjoying it – as much as I can. Now I am on Planet Roak but can go no further because the game freezes ad the start almost every battle I enter. It's a soft fail so I can use the PS button to quit, but it's unplayable. Similar freezing happens at other times and the battle freezing happens to a lesser degree on the other planets. Despite there being a fair number of people online who are aware of this problem – now, SE steadfastly refuses to recognize the issue. Whatever the issue is, it doesn't affect every one, and it;s not limited to a single model or generation of PS3.

If I were reviewing SO4 instead of playing it for myself, it would currently have a review score of 8/10 with a penalty of -10 for having a game breaking bug that's not being addressed. Leaving it with a fabulous -2 out of 10 (take that Metacritic)…

Can you tell I am frustrated?

piratedrunk
piratedrunk
14 years ago

That sucks about SO4. I am also on Roak but havent run into that problem once yet so I hope I stay lucky.

kokoro
kokoro
14 years ago

I guess they had it coming, what with their attempt to give the game a "FPS atmosphere". Am I the only one abhorred by the possibility that at some point during the games development, the production team actually sat down and discussed how they could make the game appeal to western audiences by giving it a FPS framework. They probably got their ideas from COD…just blackens my heart.

Oyashiro
Oyashiro
14 years ago

I'm on Roak as well and haven't run into that issue. I just wish they did something about the camera.

www
www
14 years ago

The facebook app on the 360 is a joke, you basically do the same on the PC, wat's the point when you can't even post your achievements? When you can automatically post your trophies and any purchases made on your facebook page with the PS3, now that I can't do with my PC. Seriously paying for LIVE is a joke!

tanner1
tanner1
14 years ago

My only gripe with the psn is that i think they should do away with the bluetooth headsets and just have 1 usb headset for all because in my opinion the voice chat can be nothing short of diabolical, cough warhawk cough. And no my headset is fine seeing as its the official sony one.

Alienange
Alienange
14 years ago

Depends on the game. Burnout Paradise has some of the best online chat you'll ever experience. Games like Warhawk and MW are a little limp in that area.

Fane1024
Fane1024
14 years ago

The voice-chat in SOCOM works perfectly as well. I have to agree about Warhawk, though it's the fault of the VOIP, not the bluetooth.


Last edited by Fane1024 on 3/1/2010 3:52:51 PM

Mysterio Spyder
Mysterio Spyder
14 years ago

Is Xbox Live worth the $50 a year? All depends on what your preferences are. Me personally, no and here's why.

The whole point of Xbox Live and PSN is to PLAY ONLINE. Xbox Live was laggy for the most part for me, PSN is solid. Xbox Live cost me $50 a year, PSN is FREE.

I want Cross Game Chat, I also want Party Chat, 2 features I miss from when I gamed on Xbox 360. Am I willing to pay for these services if they come to PSN, sure. Do I WANT to pay for them, no. I believe they should be free services but if Sony decides to charge for the service it better be cheap, or have a good subscription with discounts or whatever the rumor is.

From my experiences Xbox Live is only "BETTER" than PSN because of it's "FEATURES" not because of it's online service. As I said the whole point of Live and PSN is to PLAY ONLINE in which I get a better experince on PSN than when I had Live.

Orvisman
Orvisman
14 years ago

First off, I agree with everyone that I prefer PSN to Live, even though I pay for Live.

The only thing I like better about Live is that the games or patches I download over there download and install in a blink of an eye while on the PSN it takes a lot longer because you first have to download and then install whatever you are downloading.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

The only patches that can be delivered in 'the blink of an eye' are very small ones. A 350MB patch for Burnout Paradise will take just as long on either console to download. The difference is that the PS3 doesn't background download a patch unless it's delivered as an item via the PS Store. So when a game has a patch, you have to wait for it to download and install.

IonHawk
IonHawk
14 years ago

@Highlander, what you say is true – it should depend on the size of the patch and XBL does not support background download of patches either, but I don't know how they do it but they have never had a patch in the last 3 years I've had an Xbox where the patch took more than a minute at max to download AND install. PSN seems to take more – but then this might just be due to the difference in architecture or something.