Slashdot Mirror
Sony Takes Aim at Xbox Live
Joystiq and the site ComputerandVideoGames are reporting on the first real action in the next-gen war. Sony is apparently readying a strong online service that will meet or exceed the features of Xbox Live. With no firm PS3 launch date yet released, the 360 still has the advantage, but if Sony is rolling out an online matching and media service with their (reportedly) more powerful console things could look bad for Microsoft's new system. From the article: "This story, together with the recent survey Sony conducted, should remove any doubts about Sony's online ambitions. Is it possible that Sony could create a network the size and scale of Xbox Live in such a short time. It has cost Microsoft, the world's largest software company, billions and taken years just to lay the framework for the current Live service. Sony is know for their hyperbolic marketing: the PS2's Emotion Engine, the PSP as iPod-killer; it seems unlikely they could take the crown from Microsoft on their first try, but any attempt is a huge relief. It was beginning to look like Sony didn't think the Live service was a valuable addition to console gaming, or a serious competitor to their hegemony. "
Playstation 3 with rootkit pre-installed!
Fascism is the greatest political ideology ever conceived. Sorry.
I'll believe it when I see it. Feature for feature and then some. Right. I have a bridge in NY and some beach front property in Arizona to sell you.
And the Emotion Engine is powering my workstation, Cell will dominate all electronics on the planet, the PSP will kick Nintendo out of the handheld market and beat the iPod in one fell swoop. Yada yada yada. Oh and something about incredible real-time CGI. When it all falls flat on it's face it's going to be whoever bought it's fault for not understanding the awe-inspiring vision that is exuded by the Sony corporation.
Put on your waders boys and girls, stand very still and brace yourself, the Sony people are talking and you wouldn't want to be killed by the bullshit.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
Will the online service be free?
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
Heh. Poor choice of word for a discussion on GAME CONSOLES. Only on Slashdot...
I thought that IBM was the world's largest software company?
Are these retards so ashamed of their families that they hide under such stupid nicks ?
What are you trying to say, Mr. Anonymous Coward? Are you ashamed of your family?
You don't have much room to speak.
Sony might having to perform a "me, too" not so much because of MS - but the combination of MS and Nintendo both having online services, plus both having a "purchase games via this interface" system (the Revolution possibly having a monthly subscription for playing the NES/SNES/N64 games).
Sony might have decided that if even Nintendo was doing an online route, they didn't want to be the last ones to the party. My guess is that they'll tell developers "You can still have the setup you want" (so if someone like EA wants to run thier own lobby/interface with ad revenue, they can), "... or you can use ours" (so publishers won't have to put all of thier resources into hosting servers - let Sony do it).
If so, I think it would be a good thing for Sony, if for no other reason than not look like the odd duck out.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
It's interesting the juxtaposition of roles here. Sony was the incumbent of the console wars, leaving M$ in the position of proving itself. I think it is pretty safe to say that M$ has given Sony a run for its money, and now M$ is the incumbent to a firmly entrenched online gaming network.
To put succinctly, Sony has one shot to get it right--not to dethrone M$, but prove that its online gaming shows the potential to rival or better M$'s system.
We're all hypocrites. We all have hidden parts, it's the contrast between them that make us more a hypocrite than others
A game console that's coming out in 2006 will have "on-line" capabilities? Really?! I'm shocked! They'll try to be better than their main competitor? You don't say!
That's like saying Ford will be coming out with a car that has airbags! Or the pepsi company launching a new "soft" "drink" that is carbonated! And they're saying it will taste better than coke or fanta.. I'm so excited!
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
where is the xbox manufactured?
...
ah nevermind
A more powerful competitor coming out a year later that is going to utterly quash its established competition? Man, that sounds so familiar...
If you like real action with the IBM Cell processor in the next-gen war, why not try this baby:
http://www.mc.com/powerblock200/
It knocks the stuffing out of any Sony PS3.
mine says Mexico. not that I really mind, This *is* a country of immigrants.
Fascism is the greatest political ideology ever conceived. Sorry.
Remember Sony already HAS a sizeable online network with Sony Online Entertainment already handeling a million+ users on the PC side. Utilize the same infrastructure and they could already be on good ground to get started.
Ok maybe I'm just jaded about having to pay for a console then pay MS for essentially just a NETWORK CONNECTION to other players, but why NOT make it free? (as in air) I know it would make my decision simple when it came to xbox 360 or PS3.
:| )
Actually when I heard you had to PAY to change the skins, I backed off completely. Where are the days when you paid for a product and just enjoyed it without a constantly being nibbled to death by Credit Card Ducks?
No sir, I will still to my "alternatives", as offline as they may appear to MS, Sony or Nintendo until one day one of these companies gets a clue stick and sets up their system to be more P2P in nature then B2B.
GIMME MY FREE MULTIPLAYER ONLINE! (not like the game, the console the internet connection cost me anything eh?
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
Well, Sony has been in the EQ game for a while. Sony Online Entertainment. So I have no idea why people would think that Sony has to pull an infrastructure do Live-like functionality out of a hat.
The Internet isn't the only thing required for Live. There are the servers at Microsoft that run everything, as well as the code on the console and in the games that handles things on the client side. So it appears that your statement is actually horse shit.
In other news, DNF will be a PS3 launch title.
Frankly, I don't see online play as a major selling point. Sure, there are always hardcore gamers who will pay monthly fees year after year for the chance to play against gamers they've never met, but how does this add any value to the average gamer's purchase?
Your average Playstation gamer has GTA, a couple sports/wrestling games, and plays with a few buddies huddled around the TV. They have no interest in challenging anonymous strangers, nor to continue paying usage fees for a console they've already shelled out a mint for.
probably just assembled in Mexico, the parts must come from China Taiwan etc ....
I remember reading that the next gen nintendo system will have access to their old NES games for download from a nintendo service. Would it be a far strecth for PS1 games to be available for download to the PS3? with the advent of fiber to the curve and higher capacity HDs, i think this would be a great differentiator between te 360 and the PS3.
This *is* a country of immigrants.
Yeah, we "immigrated" the country right over most of Mexico.
KFG
Who said anything about the internet? How about the XBox Live infrastructure that has been in Beta for about 5 years now and is still not working optimally? You think Sony can just flick a switch on a cluster of servers and have a better service? Talk about horsesh*t.
I could care less if Sony manages to deliver on their online services. The fact that they have decided to do so will push a little harder on M$ to keep the 360 Live service on the top spot. With each new feature that appears on one online service will no doubtedly appear on the competitor's aswell. I'm glad this is happening and I can't wait to see what nice new online goodies we all get out of it.
If i wanted to hear bullshit, i'd go to church.
If Sony keeps blowing this much hot air, my heating bills should start to drop! Enough already. I know they need to stay in the news, but I'd rather that they concentrate on releasing a console that has some kick a** games. And of course they know they won't be able to steal the online crown from Live on the first try. Setting up an online service ain't like dustin crops, Sony!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
But I missed the most obvious thing.
Duh me.
When I finished reading how downloading games aren't just for pirates, and the use of Steam and MS Live for purchasing games, it became a "duh" moment as to why Sony wants their own online service:
Selling games. You can buy games off of Steam and Xbox Live for around $10 to $20 apiece, which brings us to a kind of "long tail" theory: not everybody wants to buy a game for $50, but there are probably plenty who will buy one for $15 or $10 if it's fun.
Sony can use that, and if they're making a good chunk of 25% off of each game sold, that's more revenue. Nintendo already stated they wanted to have independants on their online network, Microsoft has that now (see the success of "Geometry Wars" - and Sony sees those dollars.
I should have realized that first. I wasn't thinking greedy enough. I'm sorry.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Microsoft so screwed up the launch of the 360 the business mags are noting its hurting their bottom line and their outlook. It just floors me that a company so well known for business tactics (underhanded or just otherwise strong arm) managed to flub a launch so horribly. This is beyond the Japan roll out which was busted as far back as their planning meetings.
p hp?action=fullnews&id=132788R T/2006/01/25/43d78f7f0f8a8
The lack of boxes available for the retail chain for the holiday kept me from getting one (and I certainly won't compete to pay $1000 for something that should cost $400.) The delay means I don't even have one today and now plan on waiting and enjoying my Xbox-1.
I think Sony nearly wet themselves over the last 2 months watching this spectacle. If anything Sony now has breathing room do really perfect the PS3. Unless Microsoft can pull an amazing comeback I expect Sony to strap on the hobnailed boots and introduce Microsoft to a serious butt kicking. They've been waiting for this opportunity since Okinawa!
Seriously though, I think Sony has a great opportunity to put it to Microsoft like never before. The 360 was supposed to bring balance to the force... er I mean launch Microsoft to top of the pile. Now that its introduction was bungled so bad I think Sony is going to take the time to make sure the PS3 is extremely strong - perhaps strong enough to push Gates out of the market.
Again, I say all of this and am a big fan of the xbox. However even a fan has to own up to the facts.
And to back my initial statement about 360 killing MSFT read these:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/5140.html
http://localnewsleader.com/jackson/stories/index.
http://www.reflector-online.com/vnews/display.v/A
Why even in NORWAY they have this to say!
Bill Gates och hans någotsånär stora företag Microsoft har som alla bör känna till släppt nu två konsoller på marknaden. Den första gick enligt Forbes back hela 4 miljarder dollar. Gates snackar om detta, och han berättar att Xbox'arna är en långtidsinvestering.
If this is what they intend to do with the PlayStation 3's online offering, will you still be able to play PlayStation 2 games on the console online without having to go through the service?
If you think Live + PlayOnline is bad, just wait until you install Final Fantasy on your PlayStation 3. Or is that one of the games it won't be backwards-compatible with?
Development is probably starting with the announcement.
The great thing about this new network from Sony, is that it can install rootkits for you. And not even on-demand, but non-demand! Isn't that great?
Except in Soviet Russia of course, there the rootkits install Sony's new network...
Firehed - Unfortunately, thanks to medical breakthroughs, common sense is not as common as it once was.
I really enjoyed the Unreal Tournament games from my home computers for a time. I enjoyed that it was free, and that there were always folks willing and able to frag me repeatedly as I tried in vain to respawn. It was fun - I wouldn't have paid for it, though.
I have evolved my gaming to going back to platform games and driving games. I enjoy getting fragged by my children (in Halo or whatever) much more than paying lots of money for an adaptor and subscription fees. My kids (the Cubz) are much more fun with which to interact than someone who spends 10+ hours a day gaming alone in their room.
Sorry, I didn't mean that to be cynical. On the contrary - I'm trying to say that online gaming isn't for me.
A Passionate Independent Musician
A few years ago Sony made a big to do about Cell Processing, and the ability to do distributed computing across networks. The idea was they were going to put Cell processors in everything from soup to nuts, and these would all combine to make your PS3 more powerful. In addition to this, Sony was describing the ability to connect PS3's together over a network and allow them to combine to create a super-computing gaming system.
The one thing that Sony could do to make their online presence greater then Xbox Live would be to enable some form of shared processing environment, either to directly improve gaming performance, OR even to facilitate using the PS3 to work on global science problems while your not using it, like the slew of _@home distributed scientific projects. Using your PS3 for more then just vapid video gaming would make it appeal to a greater audience as it could find aliens, accurately predict weather, cure cancer, solve world hunger and facilitate world peace. I would buy a game console that could do all that. Xbox360 sucks because it can't do that.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Exactly, especially given that this is the same Sony that still has stability problems maintaining EQ/EQ2/SWG and Planetside 6 years after they entered the MMO space.
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20051 104
I must've been living under a rock. I didn't realize that the iPod was dead or dying. We better check with Steve Jobs on that one.
The first Microsoft online service was a marketplace flop - just like the system itself. Only around eight percent of owners paid for the service.
The flop of the first Microsoft online attempt has led to Microsoft having to scramble to follow Sony and Nintendo's online models of free play for users. The Silver and Gold stuff is Microsoft's attempt to come up with something Sony and Nintendo have had for some time now.
No one but a very tiny number of hardcore xbox fans are stupid enough to pay for chat, p2p, and login services from a console company. Microsoft is in a tight spot with the 360 and online play. They will most likely be forced to stop charging for what Nintendo and Sony are already giving away for free.
I don't think Microsoft will be able to make the necessary changes to their online service to stay comptetitive in the online console market. They will most likely remain a niche segment of a niche console.
They could redeem themselves easily with the PS3, with a live network you could add the ability to download games, movies, and music. With WB attempting to profit/"cut losses" in P2P markets Sony could easily compete if they did something along these lines.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
With the costs of being a console gamer in this next generation constantly rising this had better not be a pay service. There used to be this old saying that you could only call yourself a "true gamer" if you bought all the major systems, however I can't see that being used anymore because it is just far too expensive. HDTV, $400 Xbox, Xbox Live fees, $500(maybe)PS3, Sony online service fees, $250(maybe)Nintendo Revolution, games for each system. There is no way a lot of people are going to be paying the online service fees for both an Xbox and a PS3 at the same time. I think I will be sticking with a nice Nintendo Revolution, free online, and my regular SDTV. Online access fees and useless (to me) non-gaming media features can kiss my ass.
Sony has been doing a "cluster" online offering for a little over 5 years already. This whole concept is not new to them. They have also had some networking code and client processing already. Again this is not new to them either.
PS2 games are internet playable, just not in the Live enviroment like XBox Live is. It is left to each manafacture to implement the code into the game.
All of these pieces are in play.
Do I know if it will blow XBox Live out of the water? Nope, but I sure won't discount the ability of SOE To give them a run for the money, if not beat them.
neeeeerrddddddd neerrdddddnn nnn errdddnnnnnnn
neerrrrdd nerrrddd nerd
I don't have a lot going for me so I get VERY-VERY upset whenever my favorite game company does something wrong!
9/11? Who Cares?! Pokemon Green not released in the US?! Apocalypse now!
My whole value system is fucked up! I'm a typical slashdot poster!!!!!
Over hyped POS.. I sold mine on Ebay after playing it for 8 hours and 5 reboots.
...to defend their precious Xbox and their master corporation.
Using stuff like "rootkit" and "Emotion Engine", these guys are relentless.
Isn't it ironic that Microsoft has done more damage to the software industry and it's competitors than Sony has ever done to the electronics industry?
In fact, Sony's R&D has helped keep the electronics industry on it's toes.
We took the land that they had already taken.
If Mexico had retained it LA would look like TJ.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Aside from buying Bungie, possibly the one thing Microsoft has done right (very right) with Xbox is Xbox Live. It's going to be hard for Sony or Nintendo to match this second generation of Xbox live with their first gen offerings.
Sony is renowned for their utter marketing HORSESHIT and this is no different. Emotion engine, anyone?
Disclaimer: huge Apple/Nintendo fan here. But Xbox live is unquestionably a fantastic service.
from Zonk
Interesting... hasn't their whole stance been "you're on your own" in regards to connecting with other players for games? Given that their competition (MS and to a lesser degree, whether or not they consider themselves a competittor, Nintendo) have both rolled out various connection & matchmaking services, both to great success, it would've been foolish of them to not consider doing the same.
On a side note, if this is related to them missing the purported "spring release" then that's not going to be a bad thing for them in my mind. Especially if they can get some launch titles to take advantage of it.
Insert Sig Here
Sony Online Entertainment (provider EQ, Matric Online, SWG as well as various PS and PSP online titles) released an interview recntly that sheds a little light on this.... http://www.gamergod.com/article.php?article_id=353 8
This is going to get modded as Flamebait by some Microsoft fanboys even though it's not intended as such, but I'll say it anyway:
You don't think Sony learned anything from running Everquest?
Microsoft had a big hurdle too. They had to get their system working on Windows. Look how long it took them to get Hotmail working correctly on Windows compared to how easy it was for everybody else to get massive webmail systems online, and you'll have a good idea of how much harder Microsoft makes things for themselves.
Whats next? a KEEBORD? How about a MOWS? OH OH, perhaps a WEB BWOWSER!
Abso-fuckin-lutely not. People are used to Sony's constant hype machine bullshit, and when you're already used to the stink it's pretty easy to tell reality from BS and this is utter BS.
The fact is, Sony's constant "we don't need a Live service to compete with MS" has been shown to be as last-gen-thinking as the PS2's graphics currently are. Sony NEEDS to compete on this front (XBox Live/Arcade is fantastic) and isn't currently in any position to do it...at least if they launch in '06. MS is already on iteration 2 of their service for god's sake.
sony is totally that guy that just makes up outrageous stuff every time he opens his mouth.
here are some possible add campaigns:
Sony's online service: more amazing than the time michael jackson came over the house to use the bathroom
Sony's online service: More amazing than the time kutaragi saved those old people from that nursing home fire
MS's system is sure gabbed about like it's a success, when it's not.
Xbox Live! has, roughly, 1 million subscribers. There's been a pretty steady state number of subscribers since people would run out of interesting games on Live!, leaving a drought before the next set of interesting titles. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag became boring after a while.
Compare this with Nintendo's DS service. They've already peaked over 1 million people in the space of a few months, beating out Microsoft's Xbox Live! service. Surprise, surprise, Microsoft has admitted that it's not working by offering the basic service for free (after all, if you want to pay for basic access, you're going to limit your customer base).
Nintendo was right to wait and figure out the logistics. Sony was stupid to wait too long, and set some bad precedents on their front. Nintendo has managed to turn a lot of people's biggest complaint into their biggest strength with the DS online service, and it's soon going to be linked to the Revolution service. That's a pretty good lead.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
But did it really cost billions? That seems like an awful lot for the kind of infrastructrue we are talking about here.
In the drops - An Aussie's musings on all things cycling
I couldn't answer that question any better than you could. AFAIK, Microsoft hasn't released any hard numbers.
When are the market-droids going to learn that how "powerful" a console is just doesn't matter? Surely what gamers care about is games that are fun to play, not which console can push 15% more polygons per second than the other.
Should they raise the price of the games in order to pay for the service? Passing the costs on to people who can't, or aren't interested in, playing online? Might be ok for online centric games, like the battlefield series (not that it even has much infrastructure), but I can't see it working in the console space.
Billions? The Xbox or Xbox Live? I would think that the Xbox costs billions, but not the online service.
Sony is known for their hyperbolic marketing:
Is there something wrong with the phrase "marketing hyperbole" that I'm missing that leads people to the above construction? I read the above and I wonder, what would constitute "parabolic marketing"?
Or is this just a hackish construction that relishes the ambiguity and punnage?
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
"Sony is know for their hyperbolic marketing: the PS2's Emotion Engine, the PSP as iPod-killer"
I think you meant hyperbollocks marketing...
The one thing that truly tempts me to buy a 360 is Geometry Wars - a game you can only buy on Live.
So I look forward to a an online service, not to let me play against other so much but instead to make possible the creation and sale of smaller simpler games that will be easier to pick up on a whim.
Hopefully the service will be free and they'll make it up in online sales.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So let me get this straight. Sony of PS1 and PS2 fame, Sony the company that dominates the video gaming industry, Sony the company that laughed off Microsoft's XBOX Live plans...is now playing catch up? Microsoft, the company that always follows, the company that never innovates, the company that only copies...is the leader? Next thing you know, Apple will buy an old style media company.... Oh wait...
I'm a Nintendo fanboy, have always been, will always be.
But currently, Nintendo WFC supports a grand total of three games. I haven't given Tony Hawk a try yet, so I can only speak for Mario kart and Animal Crossing.
"It's there" is the only good thing I can say about it. Yes, it is a huge leap forward to at last be able to play like-minded individuals who were bored outta their minds while playing their friends on regular Mario Kart, watching the others duke it out for a good thirty seconds to see who would be in second place. Yes, it's a fun game, possibly the best Mario Kart ever.
However, disconnecting pieces of shit suck. Friend codes suck. The interface is really NOT GOOD. Finding a game can take some time. It just sucks. The game in itself rocks all hell, and actually playing with some "nice guys" (by the way, spread the love, www.dsmeet.com ) is a great experience. But this "OH WE DON'T WANT PEDOS TO PLAY WITH TEH KIDDIES" bullshit could have been handled in other ways, and even though IANAL, I'm sure there was a sensible way to avoid any kind of "MY KID GOT RAPED BECAUSE HE MET A PERVERT PLAYING POKEMON ONLINE" without pissing the old-school crowd too much.
Animal Crossing is great fun. If you like to type 15 characters per line when you wanna chat, instead of simply incorporating pictochat, if you find something to do with people, heck it's fun! But at the end of the day, playing dollhouse is MY secret shame, and I'm not inviting you to steal my furry girlfriend away.
All in all, as a first shot, it's well-done, I'm glad they succeed, I'm glad it's free, but Big N has a few kinks to work out.
I'm not really saying it sucks. It's just that it sucks LESS than the competition, and I'm not holding my breath for the DRM3, thankyouverymuch!
The NEWS is that Sony is actually challenged by MS. By a feature they didn't like, even. And now we'll see if Sony can make decent software that doesn't have the words 'Gran Turismo' or 'Everquest' in the title. I'm not optimistic.
I for one, bought the Network adapter and find it somewhat of a disappointment since Sony has never really released any of the cool internet-based content that they *should* have delivered.
DEAR SONY:
- Please make the network adapter on the PS2 more useful.
- Please release a *FREE* or very low cost. Linux distribution. Your Linux kit was too expensive, impossible to buy separately, and quickly went obsolete.
- Please provide some sort of appliance-like web browser for the PS2
Set Linux on the PS2 free! With so many PS2s out there, I see a giant missed opportunity to turn the PS2 into so much more than it currently is and to give it a longer usable lifespan as a set top box or multipurpose computer. Just look at xbox and XBMC.
How sad is it that my tiny little router is a more usable computer than my PS2?
With something like Quake, you don't have to pay a monthly fee, but then it's entirely incumbent on users to run servers. That means that if a server is good or bad depends on the money that the end user is willing to throw at it. Likewise the user controls if the server is fair or not, up to date, and so on. There's nothing wrong with this model, but it doesn't really work so well with console games. An X-box isn't suited to be a server.
There's also the authentication question. One problem with a non-centralized system like seen on computers is that every game has different ways of doing things. Some work internally, some use things like gamespy, some only work with direct connections, etc. It's all up to the game developer to implement a system so it's as good or bad as they bother to make it. With a centralized scheme, it's easy and consistent. All devs use the same system because they have to, so all games function the same.
Now personally, I think the central model is more applicable to consoles. The idea behind a console is simplicity. You get a full integrated system that doesn't change. No setup, no messing with drivers, just plug in and go. The tradeoff is, of course, that you have no control. Take it as is or leave it, you can't tinker with the hardware. Well, for a simple model like that, a central consistent net service makes the most sense.
What's it take to become a developer for their Live! platform? It seems like the resources needed to develop a game for that market are much lower than a true XBOX360 game. Anyone have info on this?
Is it possible that Sony could create a network the size and scale of Xbox Live in such a short time.
Is it possible that the author could create a one paragraph topic without missing grammar in such a short time?
Geomety Wars is actually a part of Gotham Racing 3, just go to the arcade and play offline to your heart's content. GR2 has a simular version
Xbox Live is cool. Everyone says you'd be a sucker to pay, only the hardcore, it's for nerds blah blah blah. It's only a 5 bucks a month. How much do you spend on your cable bill? Xbox Live is a service that costs money to run and should make money too. Why else would they run servers? To spread joy and goodwill througout the world?
Consider the free service Battle.net. It sucks. There are routine disconects, the clunky interface, and the unregulated spam. Look how great that free service is. I much prefer to pay a few bucks for quality than endure second rate service. If you show the developers that you're not willing to pay they will look to other sources of revenue.
If you recall every week or so there's an article on Slashdot about the insidous rise of advertisments in video games. Then everyone says "Ads suck! I'll never buy!" Well if you're not willing to pay for online service what do you think will happen? You'll get spammed every time you logon.
I for one welcome Sony's effort. Even if it sucks (because it's free) at least it's another market choice. Truly the main reason I bought live was to play Project Gotham 2. If Sony's service were to compete it'd need a killer app.
"Sony announces X" is quite different from "Sony suddenly realizes that it seriously needs X, and will start work immediately". For all we know, they've been working on "PS3 Live" for as long as the PS3 itself, but only chose to announce it now.
... and remember, this is Sony. Apart from consumer electronics, they're well established in the content distribution market. For them "PS3 Live" won't just be a gaming matchup service, it'll be another distribution channel with built-in client-side DRM. Given that the PS3 is supposed to have CD-RW capabilities, it wouldn't suprise me if they offered a straight-to-CD iTunes clone... which could make things very interesting.
Xbox Live! has, roughly, 1 million subscribers. There's been a pretty steady state number of subscribers since people would run out of interesting games on Live!, leaving a drought before the next set of interesting titles. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag became boring after a while.
Might want to check some of your facts next time before you post. Live hasn't had a pretty steady state of subscribers. Back in July it was above 2 million subscribers. And looking at a random list of the 25 most played Xbox Live games, the categories of play you list don't even exist in roughly half of them. It's been growing since it launched.
And I think you are confusing your Nintendo numbers, too. Last week their UK office said they think worldwide they have gotten about half a million users. Your million number is presumably an earlier example of number of total connections. This number is now up to three million, which is actually pretty pitiful compared to Live. It's hard to pick a specific number to compare fairly, but Halo 2 alone saw more than 300 million games in less than a year of release, and each of those of course has quite a few connections involved (I'd guess an average of six, but I have nothing other than experience to support that). And each day sees more than 300,000 unique players.
But like others have mentioned already, the numbers shouldn't really be compared anyway. The DS online service is shockingly limited compared to even the original version of Live. Nintendo still hasn't even talked about unified friends lists, has it? There doesn't seem to be any real ability to stop players using hacks to screw over Animal Crossing, etc. players who put their friend code online. Anti-cheat protection is one of the things Xbox Live is most popular for. And the DS only offers a handful of online titles, right? It's certainly a nice first step on Nintendo's part, but beyond offering some basic form of online play the two services have nothing in common.
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
checkout this opening
or search for a different one here
Does (any Sony product) + (Rootkit Installed) = (Barrels of laughter at Slashdot)???
Never gets old does it? Boy, the laughs never stop here at Slashdot!
This is great - the only reason I bought an XBox was to play fighting games on line. If the Playstation 3 actually has decent online capabilities I'll NEVER buy a 360!
Your comment is insightful, but it's a little hard to initially take seriously when you have more "M$"s in it then you do sentences. If you insist on using such childish names maybe just use one early on and let the reader fill them in for the rest of it. That way those of us who recognize that Sony, Nintendo, and other corporations aren't nonprofit charity organizations won't be snickering the whole time.
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
Yah but anyone who has played EQ knows how much Sony bungled it.
Becasue the rootkits will be bundled with Blu-Ray.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
Speculation is not news.
Xbox Live was the beta test for online console gaming. Sony knew what works and what doesn't work watching MS. Then Sony launchs its own service without paying what MS paid. Very simple and clean.
I pretty much only play on live with people I know (yes, from real life). I live a long way from most of my friends and family, so it's a nice way to do something with them that we would do in the same room given the chance. Halo 2 does a great job with it's matchmaking system of letting you play with friends (on the same team), but mixing in random players as well. I hope more games take up that paradigm.
Paying for the time you play is the fairest solution I can think of to allow people with multiple consoles to take advantage of online services. It's the fairest solution because it doesn't use casual players to subsidise the hardcore, which is basically what happens with xbox live. Hopefully in the end there will be options for timed billing and unlimited packages similar to what is offered in the mobile phone market.
MS intended System Link (think LAN Party) to be local only, but by running the XLink Kai client on a local PC and tunneling the Xbox's LAN packets across the internet, you get exactly what you asked for: free, online multiplayer with your friends.
If you want it, you can have buddy lists, server arenas a la GameSpy, basic messaging and even voice comms on many games. It works on Xbox and Xbox 360. And best of all, it supports an even wider range of games than Xbox Live does.
Makes a great alternative to Live - and importantly (for me), it works well with XBMC.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
"
Hey guys,
I interviewed for a guerilla marketing business in San Francisco that targeted web forums.
I was told that if I accepted the job, I was to have at LEAST 50 identities on as many forums as I could muster (they wanted 100 eventually), with a goal of 5 posts an hour. The posts had to be well thought out, and the idea was that I was to establish multiple identities with a history on the forums, so that when the timing was right a well written but subtly placed marketing post could be finessed in. And regular visitors would recognize the post as coming from a long time poster.
They had 12 people working there full time, and were hiring 10 more. You do the math. No wait, I'll do it for you: that's 880 posts a day (if minimum was met). However he said the better ones could do around 8 or 10 an hour. And they had different "verticals" so there was the sports guy, and the games guy, the hentai, excuse me I mean anime guy, etc.
But the most critical point was this: develop and integrate the identity. No random "HEY EB GAMES IS AWESOME BUY THIS" stuff.
Kinda spooky.
Didn't take the job. It was a fucking mill."
http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/show/21589
Hmm. So you were wowed by the PS2 at launch? Can you remind us the name of the wowie-games? Oh, and learn grammar, your last sentence contradicts you.
...it's Dreamcast 2.0.
Look - Live is cool and all, but there's nothing on it. you can blow through the Live content in a couple of hours. Sure they'll add stuff, but still - it's not that good.
Sony have made some smart moves recently with software (e.g., purchasing SN Systems for their development middleware, bundling Havok with their PS3 devkits, and so forth). They are big company, with a long history of success, who really need the PS3 to succeed. They will move heaven and earth to make it happen.
MS have screwed up with the 360. A hardware screw up (bad RAM) caused the 360 shortage, and now MS are way behind their projections on 360 sales. Live 2.0 really is impressive, but there's not enough 360's out there, not enough in the channel, not enough on Live yet anyway, and no games on the horizon. And don't say Oblivion. Seriously, who the fuck cares? No one. Halo 3 or nothing.
And then there's the PS3, which destroys the 360. Cell and RSX *pulverize* the 360, and once developers get a handle on it it's over. Blu Ray will win the format war (face it, it's inevitable). MS will panic and ship HD-DVD peripherals which will go the way of all console peripherals (fragmenting the installed base).
Sony have owned with PS1 and PS2. They are poised to own again with PS3. Recognize. The 360 has done OK in the US. *Humiliatingly* badly in Japan. Basically nothing in Europe. If PS3 comes out with software (MGS? GTA?), a Live-style service (not that hard - and for all those who say Sony can't do software, check the PSP interface and shut the fuck up), Blu-Ray, and their usual awesome marketing, it's over. It's simply over. Thanks for playing MS. PS3 and Revolution FTW.
I heard rumors it would be able to burn discs, if it could write to CD's that would be one way to store downloaded content. Or, it could always stream it off the network.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
PS3 actual development screenshot
PS3 hype "screenshot"
Yes, Sony, of coooourse we believe you.
by Blue Vein VIPERsssss
My new CD
Has got a disease
DRM's got it jerking, now
Like a hound scratching fleas
Lord help me now
I got the backdoor blues
(have mercy)
I've got the tore down
To the floor down
Lowdown
Sony rootkit blues
What's up with my kernel
Now it's got a backdoor
They done messed with my kernel, baby
Ain't got control no mo'
Lord help me now
I got the backdoor blues
(in more ways than one)
I've got the tore down
To the floor down
Lowdown
Sony rootkit blues
Some guy in Japan
Gots a business plan
Gonna hop on a plane
And kick his ass like Jackie Chan
Lord help me now
'Cause you know he's gonna lose
I've got the tore down
To the floor down
Lowdown
Sony rootkit blues
We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion.
SOE has done some things right in online gaming, and some REALLY REALLY wrong.
Look at the car wreck with Star Wars Galaxies in November. I know about 50 people personally that quit playing the game because of Sony's great vision that destroyed it.
How could you trust them to do anything online right, and if they, not to screw it up later on.
SOE has so much arrogance, when they have 98% of their fan base telling them no, they tell their fan base they don't know what they want and do it anyway. Not a good company policy.
I do realize there is distinction between the PS3 and SOE, but I would imagine that SOE will play a role in anything ONLINE that the PS3 does with regard to gaming. A
For that reason alone, myself, like many people burned by SOE with Star Wars Galaxies, just won't touch Sony Gaming products anymore. Not only did SOE do really crappy things to their customer, but they lie and lie and lie... Even now they are running ads for Star Wars Galaxies on TV, that show items that CAN NO LONGER EVEN BE DONE in the game, and things that also NEVER EXISTED in the game, and the Television Ad is trying to promote the curren 'NGE' version.
In the past Sony' per game online model with no conhesive structure online was a bad idea, and they were selling that to the consumers and the developers as the 'best thing' with the PS2 as well, and it was a train wreak compared to XBox Live.
XBox Live is more than just connecting others, is cheap, and does everything from giving you voice and video with your friends to some immersive fast action play.
Halo2 and Jedi Academy for example are some of the top 'orginal' XBox games that are played on Live more than they are played in Single Player mode.
Unless Sony can even come close to this 'integration' with the gaming titles and online model, it will be egg on their face to not even match what MS has been doing for years.
Also think for a second, MS upgraded their Live network, and have updates planned. Does anyone here believe that MS is not just waiting for the PS3 to launch with its online abilities and then for Microsoft to release the next Live update, bypassing whatever Sony envisions or copies from Live now?
My two cents for the day...
Well...good thing they have a friends list and I can avoid most of the asshats you speak of. Additionally, the 360's Live service now gives you more options when it comes to rating a player's behavior online. So for me, it's not an issue.