Playstation 3 Network Platform Details

[bapenguin]

Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8529) has some details on Sony's PlayStation 3 Network Platform (couldn't they come up with something shorter?).

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.
Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?

[Nite_Moogle]

Don't worry, SOE has their fingers in it. Smedly will ensure it'll tank and make money at the same time.

[zangster]

What's that saying about you get what you pay for? I'm fine with paying the Xbox Live subscription fee for continued support of all the features I enjoy. Xbox Live is clean and streamlined, easy to navigate. Have you tried the Sony Playonline Viewer that comes with the Beta of FFXI? Terrible.

[Heretic Machine]

Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?

I don't think they can justify the $4.25 NOW, nevermind when their two competitors come out with free online play... Look for Silver gaining the ability to play online, with some features reserved for Gold.

[Serapth]

If Microsoft has to they drop the annual charge, BFD!

What is disturbing is "... publishers will be free to run their own servers".

If it isnt centralized like live there are a whole lot of things they wont be able to do that live does ( Like notification within games etc... ). Plus, the fact Gamespy was involved... ewwh. Plus, if servers are spread around the world you are at the mercy of the publisher for the server to be available. Now, if a company goes out of business or has connectivity problems, the game no longer works.

*Before someone chimes in that Live has the same issues, look into the live infrastructure sometime. Jesus Microsoft spent alot of money putting alot of redundant servers around the globe*

[Heretic Machine]

Ya, and with both Gamespy and SoE involved, they might wind up with something as "streamlined" as Nintendo Connect! FRIEND CODES FTW!

[The Continental]

Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?

Free online play sounds great, but I wouldn't trust the quality of a free matchmaking service, seeing as how:

a) There will be far more men than women playing PS3online, so the market is crowded.

b) Places like Match.com and eHarmony will probably do a better job despite the nominal monthly fee.

[/sarcasm]

[bapenguin]

I don't think they can justify the $4.25 NOW, nevermind when their two competitors come out with free online play... Look for Silver gaining the ability to play online, with some features reserved for Gold.

I suppose. The messaging service alone for me is worth 4 bucks a month. Voicemail ain't free, and you basically get unlimited voicemail with live.

[Skjef]

Wewt for capitalism. Now let us just hope that Sony decides to release its downloadable games for crazy cheap, forcing Nintendo to do the same. That... would make my day.

[Kamalot]

I very much look forward to any wonderful piece of network code that Sony writes, NOT.

You realize Sony will nickle-and-dime you to death on this. They want to sell songs and movies in their closed-system. This is their response to iTunes, tied directly to the PS3. It is going to be a kludge of an interface, it is going to suck, and it is going to quickly become overrun with cheats and hackers.

No thanks. I feel dirty just thinking of being on their PSNP (piss-an'-pee?) system.

[Evil Avatar]

What's that saying about you get what you pay for? I'm fine with paying the Xbox Live subscription fee for continued support of all the features I enjoy. Xbox Live is clean and streamlined, easy to navigate. Have you tried the Sony Playonline Viewer that comes with the Beta of FFXI? Terrible.

How do you get into the beta of FFXI or is it too late?

[QueeG-Servo]

Honestly, if MS loses $4.25 a month, do you think it will make them cry? If Sony does this, the drop in price, to free, of XBL will be just another thing to advertise in October.

btw, I love how we just found out on Monday that Sony has been lying to us for the last year about Spring. And now we take their word as set in stone.

:(

[Heretic Machine]

How do you get into the beta of FFXI or is it too late?

You jam your head firmly up your ass. Well, that may not get you into the beta, but you'd have a better time doing it.

EDIT: BTW, the beta came with an OXM disc in February. It's unplayable, and it takes HOURS (not an exageration) to set up and install.

[absolut taco]

Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8529) has some details on Sony's PlayStation 3 Network Platform (couldn't they come up with something shorter?).
They should call it PlayStation 3 Dead. You know, to be different than Xbox Live.

[see colon]

the price of the online service is only as important as the cost of the system. if PS3 is $100 more than XB360, then you can get a 360 and 2 years of live for about the same price.

some people won't play games online, and they shouldn't have to pay for it. how is sony making money off this? it'll be worked in there somewhere.

[Kamalot]

some people won't play games online, and they shouldn't have to pay for it. how is sony making money off this? it'll be worked in there somewhere.Nickle-and-dime.

Sony wants to sell you music (AATRAC) and super DRM movies. Thay have all these other Sony divisions that are all clamboring to get on board with the Playstation, the only profitable division of Sony.

[bapenguin]

The reason I dig Live as a pay service is because it keeps SOME of the vermin away. Once you open it up to anyone without any cost, the system becomes total free reign. I mean, you think people are complaining now about whiny kids...if it becomes open it'll be disgusting.

[Roc Ingersol]

I'm inherently skeptical of everything about this product, simply due the stupid, stupid name.

And XBox Live's had a free internet gaming competitor from day 1. Hell, it's usually got the same exact games.
Guess what? XBL is still worth it.

The dedicated network, the consistent experience, the lack of HPBs -- it's all worth it.

[Roc Ingersol]

The reason I dig Live as a pay service is because it keeps SOME of the vermin away. Once you open it up to anyone without any cost, the system becomes total free reign. I mean, you think people are complaining now about whiny kids...if it becomes open it'll be disgusting.
You also throw any concept of 'feedback' out the window.
The only administrative tool you've got left, is the ability to blacklist a console.

[Evil Avatar]

Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?

You aren't seriously worried about anything developed by Gamespy are you? Heh. Look at how bad their in-game browser sucks. Most of the games that use Gamespy technology for their in-game browser are almost unplayable online.

[Evil Avatar]

You jam your head firmly up your ass. Well, that may not get you into the beta, but you'd have a better time doing it.

EDIT: BTW, the beta came with an OXM disc in February. It's unplayable, and it takes HOURS (not an exageration) to set up and install.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of getting FFXI for the 360 (since I like FFXI and it seemed a good match for how I'm gaming these days - ie, On the 360 instead of the PC.), but now I'm not so sure since it doesn't look like the Xbox 360 version contains the last expansion pack or the newly announced expansion pack.

[MosBen]

I don't know if whiny-ness is much of a factor in determining who does or doesn't have Live. I'd say that the fee cuts out people who either can't afford the service or don't care about online multiplayer, and I doubt very much that there's a coroloation between either of those and increased whiny-ness.

The thing is, online services like Live of this new Sony thing are software services. The hardware features of the game machine, say the Rev's control device, are pretty set in stone for a given generation and the competition pretty much has to wait until the next generation to integrate their competitor's strengths into their own machines. The online services are a software feature, however, so any good ideas Sony cooks up will be back in Live a couple months after they're announced, therefore it is unlikely that features will determine which system is better. The winner will be found in who implements the features which they all share the best. Personally, between Sony and Microsoft (I see Nintendo going after a different market, as usual; what I'll call the Nintendo Nostalgia market) I'm betting on Microsoft, at least for the forseeable future. On top of being primarily a software company anyway, they've also got several years of a head start in putting their system together.

[falcon]

Just because Sony isn't charging to access the server does not mean that third party companies won't (I'm looking at you EA Sports).

[Ludoc]

Final Fantasy includes the Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promethia expansions. What those are and what they do, I don't know as I never got out of the noob area, I quit after about two days. I spent more time installing, yes installing on a console, the game than playing it.

I'm on my wy to work righ now but if you still want to give it a shot I can mail you the demo disc tomorrow. PM me or send me a message on live tonight if you want to give it a shot.

[Sl1pstream]

Just because Sony isn't charging to access the server does not mean that third party companies won't (I'm looking at you EA Sports).

If they do that, people might buy their titles on 360, which will piss off Sony.
They won't.

[bone_matrix]

While I'm glad to see info from Sony, I'm disappointed. One of the reasons I didn't play any games online with the PS2 were becasue I had to register a name for EACH GAME, and I didn't have a cross game friends list. Heck, I still don't know if I'll have to register a name with Sony's online service, and then with each companies servers. I hope not. I'm looking forward to more details.

[Heretic Machine]

What those are and what they do, I don't know as I never got out of the noob area, I quit after about two days. I spent more time installing, yes installing on a console, the game than playing it.

I'm with you there. It took something like three hours to get into the game, and then I played it for maybe fifteen minutes before deciding that it was ass.

[King Drewsky]

I got my character up to lvl 11 on the demo for the 360. I am not a MMORPG player, but playing FFXI felt like work.

You might like it though, since it is the same game for the PC and you can play it on the couch as long as you don't mind bringing a wireless keyboard. If you have HD, change your settings to 480p. The text is hard to read in 1080i and 720p and there is currently no way to scale it.

[Steele Johnson]

Sony will enforce integrated online capabilities between games, but publishers will be free to run their own servers.

I don't like the sound of that. I'd rather pay for MS to manage the servers. It works great!

Sony will only offer free online gaming if the servers are managed by the game developer. That sounds like a disaster to me. After all the problems I have gotten with online PC games in the past, the seamlessness of xbox Live was such a relief.

So when you can't connect to any of the servers for a specific game, who do you call, SOE or the game dev? Sounds like a headache to me. I can hear them now "we're sorry, but you'll have to call the support line for the game". And then when you call the game support line, they'll say "we think Sony's network is experiencing some problems... blah blah blah blah...".

[Sl1pstream]

The combat system was crap. Race to an enemy, make sure your character wanted to hit the creature to claim it. If you didn't claim it, you couldn't even help the other player. All you could do was either wait for the other player to die, or spend the next hour looking for another enemy. The small amount of creatures was pretty stupid too.

[zangster]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of getting FFXI for the 360 (since I like FFXI and it seemed a good match for how I'm gaming these days - ie, On the 360 instead of the PC.), but now I'm not so sure since it doesn't look like the Xbox 360 version contains the last expansion pack or the newly announced expansion pack.
I got the demo with a copy of OXM in February. It does take several hours to install with updates (approximately three) so be prepared to watch tv while it's running in the background. I'd recommend getting a keyboard to use with the controller. I like the controller for targeting and moving, but the keyboard is so very useful for logging in and chatting as well as using macros. Be prepared to spend a fair amount of time killing low level creatures and then kneeling to heal until you get a little higher in rank. As a free beta it was alright but I think I'm done dipping my toe into the MMORPG ppol.

[Paranoia]

Maybe MS will steal the thunder by announcing that Xbox Live will be FREE.

[diggable]

ever heard of commercials/advertisements, there will be a 30 second spot before you play your game. lol!

you definitely get what you pay for.

[King Drewsky]

Maybe MS will steal the thunder by announcing that Xbox Live will be FREE.

I would rather they continue to charge for it in order to keep some of the riffraff out.

[TrackZero]

Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?

Prehaps the subscription fee is to remove the suck (Gamespy + SOE...heh).

[TrackZero]

On the upside, I suppose having this honeypot gaming network (it being free and all) will remove many of the kiddies off of Live.

[Morratut]

I can't believe i'm gonna say this but I want them to keep charging for Xbox Live. £39 is a bargain for hassle free online gaming. I feel as though i'm paying towards the upkeep for the infrastructure with all these Xbox live centers dotted around the world. I can play friends in the US over europe with no hassle whatsoever.

At this moment I don't like what I hear from Sony and this approach with a partner like Gamespy doesn't suprise me at all. In fact it's what I was fearing. Come on Sony do it all in house like MS.

[thecrazyd]

Say what you will about SOE, but you cannot fault their netcode. Gamespy is horrible, however.

[bKangy]

How the hell can Sony afford this right now if they're aiming to make a tasty profit on the PS3 eventually? Datacentres etc don't come cheap, and considering EVERY console will have it enabled from the get-go (and seeing as it's free, nearly every user will probably be using it if they can at some point) that's going to cost them quite a bit.

Also, Gamespy? Why the fuck would you even do that?

[see colon]

i'm sure the server browser could be worse. it could be made by dice.

i still think it's too early to judge sony's online service. up untill now nintendo has shown more promise (with the wifi connection) than sony has (with PS2), and i will say i'm enjoying my experience with Live. in fact, untill i got a 360 (and a free month) i never even considered it, even though i have a stack of (now expired) 2 month free cards from buying various xbox games. it was Live Arcade, and demos that got me into it, then i started dabbling in fight night... played the Outfit demo... ect...

if sony can match my Live experience and make it free, i'll be impressed. if sony can match my NWC experience it'll be basicly what i expected.

[BenN1ce]

All I know is Sony can have dedicated servers. That is a huge advantage IMO. Hypothetically better connects and more people. Not dumbed down like COD2 8 player garbage.

[Kelegacy]

I would rather they continue to charge for it in order to keep some of the riffraff out.
Yeah, because 5 bucks a month will keep the kids who can afford 60 dollar games away.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Um, doesn't Live use people's individual Xbox's as game servers? I'm pretty sure MS doesn't run servers themselves for the games. A few posters are badmouthing Sony's decision to let developers run their own servers and saying that MS' dedicated servers are better, but I thought that MS didn't have dedicated servers for games and instead used the individual players' machines and bandwith?



So does everyone now understand why Nintendo is so secretive? They tell people about downloadable games for the Revolution, and now Sony announces that PSOne games will be downloadable over their network. It's also rumored that Microsoft will be offering Xbox games for download onto the 360 soon. Now obviously Nintendo didn't invent downloadable games, but it's safe to say that Sony and MS are responding to Nintendo's announcement about the virtual console at last year's E3.

[CrysDark]

I'll step in a little to defend final fantasy XI.

First, it's not WoW if you are expecting WoW go and play WoW. This is a completley different game.

This game is also not for those people that expect instant gratification. The rewards are spread out over the course of the game.

FFXI has the best quest/story system of all the genre's. While the level-up system is hard, it just makes gaining that next level all the more rewarding.

I don't want to go to much into it, but I needed to say something to all you WoW lovers are in here bashing the game.

Also it was announced that the X-360 retial version will ship with the two older exansions and the New expansion comming up.

Also someone said sony designed Playonline, that was Square who did that, sony did the CS when the game first came out for about 2 months.

[Wonka]

Yes and no.

MS DOES indeed have servers to do all the matchmaking, coordination of friends requests etc and etc.. But its also true that MOST games use the individual Xbox hardware to host and run the separate individual matches. Some games also use servers that are maintained by the publisher for the game sessions. So for some Xbox live games there can theoretically be as many as two-three different servers involved in game at once... (depending on how they set things up)

[Wonka]

I liked FFXI.

And yes it DOES take over an hour to install, and yes it ALSO DOES look pretty dated.

But I have probably spent more time playing that than any other game the past few months. The game is something of a grind, but it IS fun. The job system and quests are really well done. Also that guy who was complaining about the system for how you cannot help people, that is just how FFXI deals with kill stealing. Like it or hate it, it does in fact work... Oh and you CAN heal someone to help them, you just cannot hit the monster they are attacking... If you really want to help someone you have to group with them 1st...

The ability to voice chat via the Xbox dashboard really adds A LOT to a game type where there is so much sitting around... I would buy this game if the dashboard was upgraded to let me chat with more than one person at a time (effectively upgrading all games of this type).

Bu as it is, I plan to abandon it soon for the newer flashier stuff that is releasing now (GRAW, Burnout and Oblivion). Group voice chat would have made the game next gen enough for me. But alas, the 360 is still stuck with "single person at a time" private chat system. If they fix that, then I will buy this game. Otherwise I plan not too.

[Wonka]

Strangely enough COD2 seems to actually USE ATVI servers when running from the 360... This appears to be one of those cases where they are not just hosting everything locally...

Make no mistake, right now COD2 is an unplayable piece of gak on the 360. But from where I am sitting it does not appear that this is the fault of the MS online service...

Other games run beautifully on the same service...

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Yes and no.

MS DOES indeed have servers to do all the matchmaking, coordination of friends requests etc and etc.. But its also true that MOST games use the individual Xbox hardware to host and run the separate individual matches. Some games also use servers that are maintained by the publisher for the game sessions. So for some Xbox live games there can theoretically be as many as two-three different servers involved in game at once... (depending on how they set things up)



Thanks for clearing that up. It sounds like Sony's service will be similar then. I don't understand the people who are criticizing Sony's decision to let developers run their own servers when Xbox Live works in much the same way. Sometimes the bias just goes too far.

[Meatgortex]

i'm sure the server browser could be worse. it could be made by dice.

DICE and BF2 used gamespy, just like the Sony online network will.

[Roc Ingersol]

All I know is Sony can have dedicated servers. That is a huge advantage IMO.
can.

So can XBL.
They did it for UT back when it first came out, to handle the bigger matches.

Guess how many publishers opt for that kinda support?

[Sl1pstream]

Modern Combat has dedicated servers...

[Dirty Harry]

I FUCKIN KNEW IT MAN, I FUCKING KNEW IT BEFORE IT HAPPENS, SONY TEAMING UP WITH GAMESPY, HA HA, too easy sony, what else can i predict ;).

[Grimmjow]

What's that saying about you get what you pay for? I'm fine with paying the Xbox Live subscription fee for continued support of all the features I enjoy. Xbox Live is clean and streamlined, easy to navigate. Have you tried the Sony Playonline Viewer that comes with the Beta of FFXI? Terrible.

why does eveyone thinks thats sony's? its not sonys its squaresoft's.

[Roc Ingersol]

Modern Combat has dedicated servers...
That's the only other game I've played that has.
2 games out of how many?

All I'm saying is that just because they network supports something, doesn't tell us crap about how well it'll be implemented or utilized.

[QueeG-Servo]

Dedicated servers = Boatloads of $$$$$$$$$

For a free service, we're not getting dedicated servers.

[GunnyMo]

What's that saying about you get what you pay for? I'm fine with paying the Xbox Live subscription fee for continued support of all the features I enjoy. Xbox Live is clean and streamlined, easy to navigate. Have you tried the Sony Playonline Viewer that comes with the Beta of FFXI? Terrible.

Very well said. I have no problem paying for Live. Sony always claimed people preferred to play PS2 online because it was free. Hah! PS2 online is garbage. The only way PS3 will be successful is if they copy the XB Live model and, oh guess what, it looks like they are. They will never admit it, of course. As BA said earlier, the messaging is worth it alone. The private chat across whatever you are doing on Live (single or multi) is also fantastic. I can see Silver gaining more features to match whatever Sony might try to one up them on but for the most part Live is the king of online.

[eatme]

Oooh, "free to run their own servers"! What a nice way to put it. I was thinking more along the lines of, "Every publisher will have to maintain their own servers, meaning they'll be unreliable, and shut down as soon as the game becomes unpopular."

[thecrazyd]

Five bucks says that people will bitch about any good news Sony gives... oh wait. I already won.

Those fuckers FORCING a console on me that does not even give me blow jobs. Mother FUCKERS.

[Phanto]

I hope I don't offend anyone with what I'm about to said:

Ewww.... Gamespy Networks

[maharahaj]

The reason I dig Live as a pay service is because it keeps SOME of the vermin away. Once you open it up to anyone without any cost, the system becomes total free reign. I mean, you think people are complaining now about whiny kids...if it becomes open it'll be disgusting.

quoted as truth

[Dr Quincy]

All EA games use their own servers as part of the special agreement between EA and Microsoft.

[Zeal]

Is this network broadband only? If not, it isn't going to be much of a network.

[thecrazyd]

Is this network broadband only? If not, it isn't going to be much of a network.
You are really grasping. This is by far your weakest attempt at trolling yet.

[Zeal]

How the fuck is that trolling, dumbass? It's a valid question. A gaming network that allows 56k support also limits the games themselves. It's a bandwith issue, and even though Live does not support dedicated servers, Microsoft at least had the foresight to make it broadband exclusive.

Look at the lag issues even with a highspeed network. What do you think the ping is gonna be like when you throw broadband and 56k users in together?

Is this guy kidding or what.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Apparently some people still don't get it - most Live games do not have dedicated servers. Therefore PS3 games having dedicated servers would be a step up. Some people are making this out to be worse somehow. What's up with that?

[pomeroy]

Because we HATE FUCKING SONY. DIE BITCHES.

Or something.

I'll be interested in the PS3 when they announce some titles I'm interested in, show some actual footage of said titles running on actual hardware, and I hear how their online service ACTUALLY works.

*goes back to playing his PS2, offline (as always)*

[Hemalin]

Here's a picture of Sony Live's interface (http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i264/Hemalin/39.jpg).

[Achilles]

Uh Oh Microsoft. Now what do you do? If Sony really is going to offer free online play and matchmaking, how can you justify the $4.25 a month cost? And what exactly IS Sony going to charge for in their subscription?[/i]Well let's see if:
1) They actually have something solid to show when the console ships.
2) If it will have the same features and work as well as Live.

If those two things are true than MS has been 1-up'ed. If not, then you continue to get what you pay for.

[Kelegacy]

E3 should be a goddamn good time this year.

[Sensei-X]

You know reading the article paints a different picture, it says the free version of their service will allow online play, then states all the features that the service will support. Never does it clearly state what parts of it will be free beyond online play. It also indicates there will be premium download content and will support micropayments, chances are bare-bones online play will be free but everything else might come at a premium.

[Heretic Machine]

Here's a picture of Sony Live's interface (http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i264/Hemalin/39.jpg).

OMFG! Rare defected!

[zangster]

All EA games use their own servers as part of the special agreement between EA and Microsoft.
And we saw how well that worked out when BF2:MC launched when people were constantly losing medals and rank. Eventually they got it worked out...eventually. It cost a lot of good will though. Oh, and let's all share a moment of silence for those Steel Battalion players who can no longer play online since Capcom shut down those servers.

[Dr Quincy]

Didn't Gamespy host the BF2:MC servers? Or just supply the stat. tracking code? I don't know how their involvement ever works. Surely Burnout 3 was the most well reported cock up with regards EA servers.

[mister_slim]

How the fuck is that trolling, dumbass? It's a valid question. A gaming network that allows 56k support also limits the games themselves. It's a bandwith issue, and even though Live does not support dedicated servers, Microsoft at least had the foresight to make it broadband exclusive.

Look at the lag issues even with a highspeed network. What do you think the ping is gonna be like when you throw broadband and 56k users in together?

Is this guy kidding or what.
Maybe you should look at the PS2 network then? Most games only support broadband.