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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. "
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.
fuckwit.
Playstation 3 with rootkit pre-installed!
Hold up, did Sony say something about the ps3 coming preinstalled with Microsoft Windows? I don't see how they would be putting a Windows exploit on the ps3 with out it.
And yet even at Microsoft's ridiculously discounted price only a small fraction of gamers are signed up for Live. In fact, Microsoft has yet to break the 10% barrier. It's a small wonder that Sony wasn't rushing to enable "online" gaming to the same extent that Microsoft has. As of this point there is little evidence that XBox Live will ever be a good investment. It is estimated that Microsoft has spent ove $1 billion dollars in the development and marketing of XBox Live and currently they have only 2 million users (Source).
There is no question that XBox Live is a good deal. The real question is how much longer Microsoft is going to pay people to use its service. When you do the math it is pretty clear that even were Microsoft to get the volume of users that it is aiming for that at current prices Microsoft would still be losing serious amounts of money. At current usage levels XBox Live is like a money vacuum. Unlike Microsoft Sony has to make a profit with the PS3. Sony would be foolish to try and compete with Microsoft's Live service. Creating a comparable service would cost far more money than it is likely to bring in.
Yes, there exists a relatively small group of gamers that is convinced that XBox Live will change the world. So far it isn't happening and until it does Sony is much better off *pretending* that it has an even cooler system waiting in the wings while secretly spending all of its development resources on things that gamers are willing to pay real money for.
The reason that I bring this up is that in the end it is generally economics (and not technology) that decides which systems survive and which systems die. Microsoft is gambling that it can destroy Sony and Nintendo and turn its XBox product into a cash cow before investors start to wonder why MSFT is throwing away billions of their dollars with the XBox. MSFT has a ridiculously high Price/Earnings ratio considering Microsoft's current growth opportunities. The only reason that Microsoft hasn't pulled the plug on the XBox already is that Microsoft doesn't really have any other investments that have the payout potential that a dominant XBox does. Personally, I think that it is a long shot. Worse, it would appear that the online gaming portion of XBox is likely to be one of the bigger losers.