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Details on the PS3 Online Service
Eurogamer has details of Sony's online strategy for the PlayStation 3. Finally. The long article goes into the process by which you log into the service, some of the things you can expect to find online, the different aspects of user accounts, and finally some details about the PlayStation Store. From the article: "As to the content that will be available, Sony is still playing its cards close to its chest to some extent - but one thing the giant firm is clear on is that the PlayStation Store will grow to encompass more than just new game content and demos. Alongside the free and paid-for game content, the store will also play host to a wide range of new titles developed specifically for download (the first of which, fl0w, was shown off at TGS - dozens more PlayStation Store exclusive titles are being worked on around the world thanks to an initiative which Sony launched at GDC last year) - and as Ken Kutaragi revealed at TGS last month, it'll also be possible to buy PSone and PS2 classics you missed out on, as well as a selection of PSP games, from the PlayStation Store, and download them directly to your PS3." After all this time, it's nice just to know there is an online strategy.
Actually, it's a pretty reasonable comment - and a sentiment that many PS3 developers share, which you'll have seen evidence of, if you've been following the PS3 news in the past couple of months.
Sony have shown time and time again that the one thing they are hopeless at is software, and an online service is all about the software, not forgetting of course the hardware/server farms, which I think Microsoft just might have more experience with.
Knowing Sony's MO, the fact that this service is free basically telegraphs to me that Sony don't think this service will be as good as Xbox Live. In other words, they can't compete on quality or value with the online system, so they've decided to compete on price.