PlayStation Network Details 80
Gamasutra has details on the gaming network that will underpin the PlayStation 3 online offering. From the article: "Co-developed by Sony Online Entertainment, the company's MMORPG development arm, and GameSpy Networks, the PlayStation Network Platform will allow players to compete online even in its free iteration, unlike Xbox Live. Sony will enforce integrated online capabilities between games, but publishers will be free to run their own servers." The folks on the 1up podcast were just talking about this topic last week. I'm personally not sure 'free' is the way to go. I'm willing to pay if it means I'm getting a quality service. Obviously you'd prefer not to pay but if it means the difference between an unreliable service and one the quality of Xbox Live, are you willing to pay?
SOE Warning (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just ample warning that you may experience one or more of the following symptoms when using the Playstation Network:
I honestly hope that this Playstation network thing is done right. But then again
Re:SOE Warning (Score:4, Funny)
Re:SOE Warning (Score:2)
No, it's the fact that Sony Online "Entertainments" had a hand in that stuff.
It's doomed.
Re:SOE Warning (Score:2)
Re:SOE Warning (Score:2)
Incorrect.
Re:SOE Warning (Score:2)
they only host the matrix, they did not develop it. SOE's hosting is pretty good so i'm not sure that's the cause of any unusual amount of lag in the game (i havent played the game so i wouldn't know)
Re:SOE Warning (Score:1, Interesting)
Actually, SOE's hosting sux cox. They recently had a problem where all SWG players were running into massive latency, to the point of the game being unplayable. Their initial and repeated response was "It's not our fault". It took like 2 months for them to grudgingly agree to look into it. I stopped following it a while ago, but last I checked it was never res
Who's the idiot? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Yeah, that Slashdot article was basically a lie when it said:
Oh, hey but if you had actually RTFA, you would have noticed that this is pure bullshit. In all actuality:
playstaion linux (Score:2, Informative)
Irrelevant Comparison (Score:1)
A more accurate comparison would be to look at something like EQ2 Players [sony.com] which tracks stats for players and guilds (both serverwide and worldwide). It keeps track of ranks, who's done what first, items, etc. It even provides templates and assets for, and hosts, guild websites and forums.
I think the weakness of the PS3 system is the freedom for individual games to host their own servers and set their own rules. On
Free (Score:5, Insightful)
IF? Why don't you wait to see what happens and then decide?
If paying works out better overall, people will be willing to pay. If it works out worse, they won't. WTF is the big mystery? We'll know the future when it happens.
Re:Free (Score:1)
The commentary suggests that a free service is inherently inferior to a paid one. By this logic, OSS is crap! There are very few readers of this forum who would make this claim about free software, so why don't we wait and see what Sony's free online service is like?
I realize Sony is not the most beloved of corporations right now, but this predictive ranting grows tiresome.
Re:Free (Score:2)
Who knows. But it certainly won't be "free".
Re:Free (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Free (Score:2)
Then again, budget gamers aren't the ones buying PS3s this year (or maybe even next) so it's of no practical importance to argue this.
Re:Free (Score:1)
after getting the PS2 I had 0 intention of ever playing online, I only got the online adapter to get codes for my Action Replay Max (which was a major waste of money) in the time I got the network adapter till I got a slimline PS2 I played a grand total of 7 games online and this is over the course of about 4/5 years, now I've played almost 300 other games on the PS2 but only 7 online (either because it was worth playing online or my friends had it) now would I of
Re:Free (Score:1)
Re:Free (Score:1)
yes (Score:1, Redundant)
Great analysys, 1up! (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe in some parallel universe where paying for something improves the quality of it, but here in the real world comapnies just do the minimum they need to muddle through, fee or no fee.
What made you such a cynic (Score:1)
In a competitive market, you can sell the bare minimum and pull a profit. But say, add 200 man hours extra, add a few new creative feature, make it look appealing, and you will reap the benefits.
This is the reason Sony is barley pulling a profit based on their size, they are minimalists.
I'll give you a great example of paying for something makes it better. Free to air TV i
Re:What made you such a cynic (Score:3, Insightful)
But they do have another income stream, a massive one: license fees and royalties from sold games.
Don't get me wrong, all things being equal I think they would charge for it. But this is a way to stick it to Microsoft - why pay $x per year on XBox360 when you can get it for free on PS3? Therefore I think it is entirely possible that their service will
Re:What made you such a cynic (Score:1)
Good point. I noticed that VH1 comes in much more fuzzy when the cable is unplugged.
Re:Great analysys, 1up! (Score:1, Interesting)
XBox live is a very closed service where all of the servers are hosted by Microsoft and all communication is transmitted from an individual client to the server (or vice versa) including all game data as well as v
Re:Great analysys, 1up! (Score:1)
Re:Great analysys, 1up! (Score:1)
Re:Great analysys, 1up! (Score:1)
Free vs. Pay (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Free vs. Pay (Score:2)
Re:Free vs. Pay (Score:1)
Nintendos service is free (Score:1)
Re:Nintendos service is free (Score:2)
Re:Nintendos service is free (Score:1)
Unture (Score:1)
Re:Unture (Score:3, Funny)
PNP yo, its like a nut you play with in your house.
UntRUe (Score:1)
Umm...
FROM THE BLURB, NOT EVEN TFA:...the PlayStation Network Platform will allow players to compete online even in its free iteration...
Re:Unture (Score:1)
Back when X-Box Live was first revealed, I understood that it was an x-box network of sorts, but I'm a nerd (I'm here, aren't I?).
I'd guess anyone outside of the gaming circle could've thought it was any number of things.
Playstation Network Platform doesn't have much of a ring to it, but it clearly and obviously states what it is.
It is the network platform for the Playstation console. Simple enough.
What I'd really like to see (Score:1)
Possible XBOX/360 Vs PC (Score:1)
What? (Score:1)
Balance... (Score:1)
Re:Balance... (Score:1)
Re:Balance... (Score:1)
-the xbox 360 has capabilites as a media center pc and can play movies.
-one of the big pushes in the PS3 seems to be it's abilities as a blu-ray disc player.
-Consoles also have increasing capabilites online, I wouldn't be surpriesd to see a web browser realeased to the next gen consoles, the PSP has one and i think the PS2 had on that had limited popular appe
Re:Balance... (Score:1)
Re:Balance... (Score:1)
I've been both an avid PC and Xbox gamer for quite some time and I'm starting to see my newfangled controller skills creep up on my well established mouse/keyboard skills.
I mean, sure the controller is cumbersome but with a little training I think it can be just as good as mouse/keyboard in the right situation.
I won't deny the fact that mouse/keyboard can out snipe a controller, but in CQB I bet a controller could whup some ass.
Re:Balance... (Score:2)
if you have a t1 line and a souped up gaming pc, you are more likely to be more responsive and appear to have better reflexes than a player playing on a shared dsl line and getting 15-30 frames per second on his two year old pc.
same in the console world. connection speed
PS2 (Score:2)
Think about it. You know the toolset, you know the tricks. It has 62% of the total market, an enormous installed base. The graphics capabilities are impressive enough--think Ico, Burnout Revenge, Jak & Daxter, and remember that cutting edge next generation graphics are likely too expensive for you to develop anyway. There are existing libraries and engines you can license. And when the PS3 starts to sell, all the games will
Re:What I'd really like to see (Score:2)
with ffxi square/ sony opted to allow pc and ps2 players to co-habitate, if the developer wishes to run their own server, why would sony outlaw an already accepted practice on their part?
Just add a Sony vendor section already! (Score:1, Funny)
All these PS3 stories are just Sony propoganda to ensure that potential XBox360 customers will remember that "oh yeah, PS3 is coming" and wait for the PS3 instead of getting the next-gen console that *actually exists*.
Why don't we see Revolution stories eve
Overseas (Score:1, Interesting)
If they can workout online entertainment that works regardless of location, I'm all for it, pay or no. If I can sit here in my tent and hook my PS3 into the net and game back with the states, more power to them. If not, then it doesn't really make much difference to me since I won't be back i
Re:Overseas (Score:1)
Married folk who live out on the economy have actual addresses though, but then they would have to have their credit card billed to their economy address, which sucks for most other purposes.
Re:Overseas (Score:1)
Re:Overseas (Score:2)
Odd choice by Sony (Score:2, Interesting)
With a free system can you:
1) Download 500mb-1g demos
2) Download HighDef movie trailors
3) Send Voice/Text messages
4) Videoconference
5) Have a 'friends' list with friend leaderboards?
This sounds like what PS2 had - basically just a network connection and then each Developer could do whatever they wanted. Since they have to build most of the online system from the ground-up it makes each
Why scramble? (Score:3, Interesting)
I would rather have 8% of my customers paying me $5 per month than have 25% of my customers playing online when I have to pay for all the bandwidth, hardware, and development costs.
Re:Why scramble? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Odd choice by Sony (Score:1, Insightful)
The XBOX fanboys hate it when you pull SOCOM out of your ass because it dismisses XBOX live and HALO in one fell swoop.
Hard to argue with the hard numbers.
free, but there is more (Score:1)
I can see XBL being free in a few years (Score:2, Insightful)
I won't pay (Score:1)
Your statement is what leads businesses to exploit people for as much profit as possible.
First of all, most of these games are going to be peer-to-peer, so they only need a simple match-making service. Blizzard has shown with Battle.net (wc2, w
Fee = Accountability (Score:1)
In other words, when there is a fee (even small), it makes it way harder for griefers and cheaters to hide behind anonymity.
A great feature of XBox Live is that user profile is unique accross all the games and hard to alter.
Things turned sour on XBox Live when cheaters started using free 1 month trials to create disposable temporary accounts (and pretty much ruin Halo2 MP for everyone else).
Quality of XBox Live? (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, any lingering hope that Zonk might not be a Microsoft shill just flushed noisily down the gurgler.
So Sony is now doing bad for offering a service for free huh? Talk about damned if you do...
Why not just ask "if paying money means the difference between an unreliable operating system and one the quality of Windows, are you willing to pay?"
GameSpy?!? (Score:1)
Well, now we know HUB is going to suck
How can you improve the QoS anyway? (Score:2)
The most interesting thing about this... (Score:1)
The "weaknesses" in the DS WiFi network are design choices on Nintendo's part, and may be different for the Revolution. With the services being developed by the same partners, and Sony looking to emulate Xbox Live (the only one developed without Gamespy's input it seems), it will be interesting to see how differen
Quality not controled by price (Score:1)