Slashdot Mirror
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.
anyone else read that and feel like the author just has an axe to grind against online gaming.
I think he is kind of shortsighted by saying (strongly implying at least) that full games will never be web based.
I certainly can see (as broadband speeds increase) purchasing a game like halo, and you download the 30 mg level in a 30 seconds. Video clips are streamed in real-time instead of being played off the DVD.
Am I just off here, or was that author lacking vision.
While the web browsing and friends lists looks nice, people seem to be missing one key point...the sony online services doesnt tie into games. You can chat all you want or buy things at the sony store but they service still isnt going to link you up to play some madden head to head. Gaming on the PS3 may be free (or may not in a few cases depending on the publisher) but its also piecemeal. Peer to peer or publisher control online play is still the only way to do it with Sony, there is no centralized matching service or more importantly infrastucture maintenance for gaming.
Thats the big advantage of XBox lives subscription services...if all you want is profiles and shopping, MS already has that for free its called Xbox Live Silver.
"the system does show you friend sign-ins and new messages received in overlays on top of the game you're currently playing"
"Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store - all of the online services, from sign-up right through to voice and video chat, are free, as is normal multiplayer gaming"
"the only things you'll pay money for are paid-for downloadable content, or subscriptions to premium services like massively multiplayer games."
"Unlike Nintendo and Microsoft's offerings, Sony doesn't hide the price of items behind an arbitrary "points" scheme"
"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."
"what we've seen is very promising. Account creation and management, buddy lists and various types of chat appear to be working just fine, the interface is simple and elegant, and the PlayStation Store"
Zonk: "After all this time, it's nice just to know there is an online strategy. "
Pathetic. Just pathetic.
The Wii and PS3 are only a month away and the Slashdot community is missing out on many major console gaming news due to the 'fucked in the head over Sony/PS3' Zonk. It's time for a change. It's not funny. It's not inflammatory. It's just fucking sad.
Zonk, go away. Deal with whatever the fuck issues you have with Sony on your own time. Slashdot is long overdue for a sane games editor.
Xbox live 360 from Microsoft costs 40 bucks a year. Has there been any indication this is going to be free or something?
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
If only microsoft, Sony and Nintendo could get together and have a "global" network with all three systems and even PC maybe (gamespy? or one of those guys?) and let people that have say Ghost Recon for the 360 play against people with the PS3... or even a global store where you could buy the things once... When i get the Wii and IF i get the PS3, i really dont want to pay for all 3... with Live costing 40/year or whatever it would be good to get a deal on all 3...
360+wii = 60
360+wii+ps3 = 90
where all seperate could cost people 120+ a year!
but we'll see... Nintendo seems to have things going the right way with rumors of being able to download old nintendo games (whether it be for free or not we'll see).
Also Microsoft seems to already be rolling with their network set up while the PS3 will have to work out all of their bugs that Microsoft worked out with the first XBOX... Nintendo also might have the same problems that Sony will have, but who knows...
How well it does these things remain to be seen, but Sony has far more ways of making money than either MS or Nintendo do with their systems. The other consoles have their online systems, but all their other revenues must come from games. Perhaps that is why the PS3 sometimes appears to be a "kitchen-sink" system to catch all those revenues.
When Nintendo is secretive about its product: "It makes perfect sense for Nintendo not to give everything about the Wii away all at once. Secrecy keeps the rumor mill churning, thus making sure that the Wii doesn't lose its presence in the news media. And every time Nintendo releases new information, it causes a feeding frenzy among the fans. Secrecy also keeps Nintendo's competitors guessing and sometimes catches them off-guard."
When Sony is secretive about its product: "Christ, what the hell is taking them so long to give us information about the PS3? Obviously the only reason they aren't talking is because they have no clue what they're doing."
I'd like to remind Zonk and the other anti-Sony fanboys that most of the important details for the Wii's Virtual Console were only revealed a month ago.
Rob
This is an excellent point. PS3 developers/publishers are either rolling their own or using services like XFire or Gamespy to get their games online. That could (based on the history of the PS2) mean multiple logins to access multiple games. I just can't imagine developers being happy with that compared to the ease of use cited with Xbox Live from just about its beginning on the first Xbox.
Past the initial setup, Xbox Live access has been completely transparent with my 360. I start the console, I'm immediately logged in, any game I insert checks for updates and has multiplayer ready to go when I select the appropriate mentu options. The most I ever have to think about is how many XBL points I have when I'm looking at perhaps downloading something.
Maybe Sony will have similar functionality that allows the third-party online services to utilize Sony's login, but we haven't seen any evidence of that, yet. The bottom line is that if Sony's online complexity varies on a game-by-game basis, then it will continue to suffer in comparison to Xbox Live.
PS- I should note that XBL multiplayer is by no means perfect across all games. Lag is reported as an issue in some games while being a virtual non-factor (except on a connection-by-connection basis) in others, so obviously there is still code that depends on the developer. MS and developers still have some work to do in this area, but as far as convenience and ease of use they seem to have things down pat.
"Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store."
"So, once you add friends, what can you do with them? Obviously enough, you can check their status and see if they're online; you can see if you have any new messages from them, and send them messages. Sending emails through the system uses the same peculiar text messaging style keypad that users of the PSP will be familiar with, which seems a bit painful at first but rapidly becomes a much faster way of entering text than the on-screen keyboards used by other system"
Please take of the fucking blinkers! slashdot?! you ate my balls with the xbox360 fellatio!
You compare:to As others have stated, the Xbox Live does have a free service as well, and I saw nothing in the article describing free online multiplayer gaming (which is mostly what you pay for on Live).
You compare: toThe Xbox 360 is supporting 1080p following the fall 2006 update, which I believe is scheduled to be distributed prior to the PS3 launch. If that's a result of the competition from the PS3, great. But it really isn't a selling point right now. Also, the Xbox 360 does support digital surround sound audio. You don't make it clear what is better about the PS3's audio.
- You are correct that the Xbox 360 doesn't have an HDMI connector, but I believe it's $600 for a PS3 with one.
You compare: to The article doesn't say the hard drive is upgradeable. Are you making it up? I remember not putting my PS2 online because I had to pay $50 for a special 10/100 network adapter that fit the PS3, when a generic one cost $10. I'm not convinced there will be an easy way to upgrade the hard drive without buying proprietary hardware. This is Sony after all. (BetaMax, MiniDisc, MemoryStick, BluRay) etc. And are you sure opening the box won't void your warranty?
Are you claiming that the PS3's peripherals will be dirt cheap? (See comment above about $50 PS2 network adapter.)
How is anyone modding this "Insightful"?
As others have stated, the Xbox Live does have a free service as well, and I saw nothing in the article describing free online multiplayer gaming (which is mostly what you pay for on Live).
Playing online is free on Sony's PS3 network, just like it is on PS2. PS3 online gameing: free. Playing on Live costs money.
You are correct that the Xbox 360 doesn't have an HDMI connector, but I believe it's $600 for a PS3 with one.
$500 in US. $430 in Japan. All PS3s have HDMI connectors, not just the expensive one (was announced a month ago).
The article doesn't say the hard drive is upgradeable. Are you making it up? I remember not putting my PS2 online because I had to pay $50 for a special 10/100 network adapter that fit the PS3, when a generic one cost $10. I'm not convinced there will be an easy way to upgrade the hard drive without buying proprietary hardware. This is Sony after all. (BetaMax, MiniDisc, MemoryStick, BluRay) etc. And are you sure opening the box won't void your warranty?
Over half the games on PS2 that played online would support a cheap 10/100 network adapater, in addition to Sony's which was $50 (but fell to $35 very quickly and is included in the Slim PS2).
The hard drive is upgradeable on the PS3 (do a search). You don't have to open the box either, it goes in the end. Sony never said it was upgradable with just any hard drive though, it's quite possible you have to buy Sony's HD (like on PS2) to upgrade it.
The higher-end PS3 has CF and SD memory slots next to the memory stick one. My Sony digital camera has a CF slot! And don't use BluRay as an example of Sony going it alone, HD-DVD has only one company backing it (Toshiba), BluRay has the entire rest of the industry. On the other hand, UMD (as used in PSP) is a great example of Sony going it alone, to their detriment. Dumbos.
Are you claiming that the PS3's peripherals will be dirt cheap? (See comment above about $50 PS2 network adapter.)
PS3 uses a standard HDMI cable. It uses a standard power cable. It uses standard USB cables. The only proprietary cable it uses is the analog video out, and that's the same connector they have used since PS1, so many cheap 3rd party versions are available.
Additional wireless, rechargeable SIXAXIS PS3 controller: $43 (only priced in Japan so far). Charges with a standard USB A->mini B cable.
Additional wireless, rechargeable 360 controller: $62 ($50 controller + $12 rechargeable battery pack, and you still don't get a charging cable).
So, at least so far, the cost of peripherals for the PS3 looks pretty reasonable.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
This is an excellent point.
:|
It's not only an excellent point, it's the point. I can't see Sony getting their online service right for another year- they need a unifying framework that all of their game developers can use to provide one login, one matchmaking service and one game update platform.
Microsoft had it 80% sussed with the Xbox (there was no tangible dashboard, but the basic core was there) and are doing extremely well with the 360's service; sony have, it seems, only reached the 30% mark
When the posters fear their moderators, there is tyranny; when the moderators fears the posters, there is liberty.
I've never used Xbox Live, so I have a question concerning it: Are less popular or older games ever removed from the service, rendering them unplayable online thereafter? EA likes to remove online support for the PlayStation versions of older (as in two years old) sports titles in order to force players to purchase a newer version. Does this occur with the titles that are playable on Xbox Live, by chance? If not, then it makes perfect sense that EA would be a bit hesitant to support Xbox Live in the beginning.
1. Is cheap, reliable, FAST broadband available to the (gaming) masses? No. Its not unheard of to still meet people who surf the net or play online with dial-up.
2. Has anyone ever successfully streamed a DVD quality, full length video over the internet yet without hiccups? Not near the commerical level so that rules out Sony's dream of selling movies directly to customers.
3. Remember when Microsoft initially announced that Xbox Live was going to be broadband only? That didn't sit very well with many people did it?
With few exceptions, Sony's lineup has nothing on Nintendo's all-star launch and Microsoft "our system is already out so show up or shut up."
Peripherals (like bluetooth TV remotes, headsets, controllers, keyboards / mice (?) etc.
Which are directly tied into the system's success. Peripherals don't sell systems, systems sell peripherals.
Monthly subs from "premium" online services, whatever they happen to be
They just promised not to have monthly subs. And "premium" services are likely to be one-time purchases, not exactly a cash cow system.
Online games, movies & music promote to buy, rent & (sell?)
Unless Sony has some kind of PS3 Online Arcade system in the works, I'm not seeing this happen anytime soon.
Lots of licence fees if Blu-Ray wins the HD TV format war
General concensus is: Don't hold your breath.
Blu-Ray movies.
Thats assuming Blu-Ray takes off in the first place.
Increased sales of HD televisions.
Sony is not a major seller of HD-TVs these days. They don't own the patents either. Sharp is destroying Sony (and the rest of the market) in marketshare as well.
Increase sales of LocationFree wireless room-to-room / internet streaming devices.
The only people who would probably benefit from this would be companies like Netgear. People don't exactly think Sony when they buy a wireless router.
EA doesn't actually use XBL. They are the only exception I know of that is allowed to use their own service. I'm sure one of their main reasons was so that they can pull support. As far as I know no game's support has ever been removed from XBL.