PS3 Online: How It Works Comments by Rob Fahey

FIRST!!!

Now to read th article, I just didn't want to miss this chance.

Second!! get in!

Good article!

Down to the details: So, if you can't respond to messages ingame, this presumably means that cross-game invites aren't possible? Or cross-game voice chat?

That isn't true about the Xbox being the 1st broadband enabled console is it?

Didn't the Dreamcast have an optional Broadband modem? Not sure if it was available over here though...

Please confirm.

EDIT: My mistake...it was actually referring to Xbox Live rather than Broadband capabilities....doh!

3rd! Yay!

(Most likely 47th, but still...).

With Sony's music and film studio ownership they stand a good chance of stuffing the PS3 with great stuff to download. I often look at the 360 entertainment and film trailers in the vain hope of something new...but alas.

It works???!

Who on earth wants to view websites on their TV?

We had this with the Dreamcast and it just didn't work.

"PS3 Online for gaming sounds good. Using the PS3 to browse the internet is of no interest to me, although i'm sure the PS3 web browser software has been well designed. "

I hope the keyboard system is a lot better than the PSP's, that got pretty annoying.

"Certainly, it had more users than Xbox Live did last generation..."

I'm sorry but that is completely incorrect. I'll think you'll find that the footprint of people using PS2 online is negligible. This seems to be left over from when Sony said more people were playing SOCOM than all the people playing Xbox live put together. That may have been true at the time, but Halo2 hadn't launched at that point and as Bungie stat's show that game got more unique player per day than SOCOM.

That was a bit unexpected. Cool.

Who on earth wants to view websites on their TV?

We had this with the Dreamcast and it just didn't work.

Viewing the websites on a HD capable TV is a big plus to me, means I don't have to walk upstairs to the PC if I want to have a quick surf of the net.

Who on earth wants to view websites on their TV?

Actually, speaking personally, I view websites on the screen in my living room loads. Handy when you want to drunkenly show someone something on YouTube, or prove a point on Wikipedia, or whatever :)

That's sorta beside the point, though. I think what's more important is that having a web browser built in means that Sony can build actually attractive, functional interfaces for things like the PlayStation Store, or for sign-ups for various bits and pieces, and so on. It's one thing the 360 really lacks - Marketplace has great content, but the interface for finding any of it is a shambles.

/bombshell.

5pm on friday...

This'll be going on all weekend

One other thing ... no mention of how this actually works in relation to games...

I'll think you'll find that the footprint of people using PS2 online is negligible.

Worldwide, they had something like 6 million unique users on the service, as I recall. Bear in mind how many people played stuff like FFXI on the PS2. Certainly, no one PS2 game hit the concurrency numbers that Halo 2 managed, but overall more people used the service.

Xbox Live usage in the last generation never even touched 2 million users. It was MUCH better than PS2 Online in terms of percentages, though (and in terms of just about everything else, which I think is rather more important to this discussion).

no mention of how this actually works in relation to games...

I'm not sure what you want to know on that front. I've been sorta confused by that question on a few occasions, to be honest. Games will either be peer to peer, or run on publisher-provided services, same as they do on Xbox Live, but you'll have a centralised buddy list and messaging functions and so on.

I'll grant, this isn't a comprehensive feature set yet - I confess that I honestly don't know if you can do in-game invites, which someone else asked about, but it's something that I absolutely will find out at the next possible opportunity.

I'm curious as to what defines using the service though Shinji.

When I lived in the States plenty of stores were practically forcing people to buy broadband adapters ( i.e. giving them away free with the console ). If a user constitutes just signing up once for a free system as opposed to actually playing games online more than once then its not really a fair comparison.

"PSP users will be right at home on the PS3"... For some reason that line filled me with dread.

I hope they get this right. Hell, they have to.

Six million uniques? You're out of your tree.

If most games are free to play online, then that's a huge advantage and system seller over XBL. Big enough to make the PS3 the online platform of choice, though performance will have to be good too.

The fact that prices are in real money rather than some arbitrary points system is a good thing too.

It may be free, but Sony is taking a huge risk. They're going to lose a hell of a lot of money and may start charging for the online services some time in the future.

sounds quite promising actually.

Razorus: You funny.

In the words of Bill Gates.

Content is King.

Sell that content, make loads of money. No need to charge for the service, the service is like the internet except there is only one shop. YOUR shop.

Actually, it sounds very cool. I've not used XBL before - I didn't know you could only have one profile per account. That wouldn't be good for me.

Sounds like Sony and Nintendo are concentrating on presentation and accessibility whereas Microsoft are piling up content. XBL will become a 'geek only' service if Microsoft let the other two take the lead.

sounds like a xbox silver account actually.

DCrider360: Except that you can actually play games on the Internet with the PS3 service. Playing games is sort of what you want to do and since that's free I'd say the service is not at all similar.

It may be free, but Sony is taking a huge risk. They're going to lose a hell of a lot of money and may start charging for the online services some time in the future.

Little Phil has already carefully (for a change) stated in an interview that not even online multiplayer is guaranteed to be free. For some games, such as launch titles like Resistance, it's expected to be free, but not for most games. And it looks like downloadable shiny horse armor will still cost 2 euros in a PS3. :D

Nice article, but I wonder if he's a 360 user...

"Yes, this is old hat if you're an Xbox 360 user, but the PS3 will support multiple user profiles on the console - so when you turn it on, you select your own profile, and you're instantly logged into your own PlayStation Network account as well as activating all your own settings for the system. If you share a console with multiple different people, or if friends come around to play often, this is an incredibly useful feature."

Huh?? The 360 Live does that too. I already have 5 profiles on my 360, that can be switched without rebooting.

I'm in the minority, that like the idea of the web browser. I might use it when I'm too lazy to boot my laptop.

"the only things you'll pay money for are paid-for downloadable content, or subscriptions to premium services like massively multiplayer games."

Umm, not so fast. Each publisher makes their own decisions here. Sony is charging for demos, so expect money will be going from your wallet to someones elses very soon. :-)

"At present, however, there's no system for actually reading or responding to messages while you're still in the game, as the operating system doesn't take resources away from games in order to do that - however, according to Harrison, that functionality may well appear in an OS update, presumably based on whether users actually express a desire for it or not."

That one is very useful on the 360. I'm chatting, messaging etc, a lot in lobbies to friends in another game. That's how I know, I should leave the game to join them...

The store could be excellent with all of Sony's potential content. And I prefer money to points.

All in all it looks promising. I'll enjoy the content, as that's a bonus, but the online multiplayer connectivity/lag issues and/or how many games will offer multiplayer is the most important for me.

However, for many who want online for reasons other than multiplayer, this could work fine.

This all sounds good. For me, the ability to access the Internet on my TV would be very useful as I currently don't have a PC linked to the screen.

How do you navigate the web pages without a mouse though? I assume this is done via the controller, using the joystick.

It would be cool if you could use the sixaxxis functionality to have a psuedo-3D mouse...

That's sorta beside the point, though. I think what's more important is that having a web browser built in means that Sony can build actually attractive, functional interfaces for things like the PlayStation Store, or for sign-ups for various bits and pieces, and so on. It's one thing the 360 really lacks - Marketplace has great content, but the interface for finding any of it is a shambles.
Very good pouint and I totally agree with you. As much as I like the service trying to find stuff in there is at times a right nightmare.

LeDilettante: The Xfire addon for Untold Legends is separate for their game, as they described it on next-gen.biz you would log in to your x-fire account as you launched the game. So the game would store those login details.

The interface didn't actually debut on the PSP, it was on that piece of shit PSX first.

I actually loathe the interface personally. Too many options all given equal weighting.

Two questions:

How do you buy anything from the store if you don't have a credit card to put money in your "wallet"?

Having seen it first hand on a no doubt huge "full-HD" monitor, do you think any part of the interface will work on a normal sized standard def TV? On every screenshot I've seen so far, the text is tiny.

if you can plug in a USB keyboard, or hard drive, etc, im sure you can plug in a usb mouse if you want.

@SeesThroughAll:

"Little phil" has said that because Sony leaves the model up to the publishers.

So far only the MMO publishers have asked for a monthly fee, which is reasonable, given the cost of keeping such a system running and supplied with content. The only reason you DO pay for online pvp on the Xbox 360, is because Microsoft COULD. They are the only ones in town at the moment, so they have no competition and can ask you what they want.

Sony will not ask for a fee for playing online, and the publishers will not in most cases, just like they didn't ask for an extra fee on the 360. Like Disc said, their revenue model is through the shop, and Sony want to be the new Itunes (with games, audio, video, connectivity).

Expect Microsoft to make gold membership free soon after the PS3 launches... :)

Glad there are no points, just Olde money prices.

Interesting read.

Will you be able to download things onto the PS3 from the internet? Like, can I come to Eurogamer from my PS3 and download a video? That would be pretty cool. Otherwise, I don't see why I'd want to use my video game controller to navigate the web. What a pain that sounds like.

@disc: "No need to charge for the service, the service is like the internet except there is only one shop. YOUR shop. "

don't quite get that - please explain...

Does'nt sound like its offering anything new at the moment. But just having a decent online service will be good for PS3 owners (theres nothing like online gaming, I love it). Also, I do like the fact that money will be shown in simple region currencies (£,$, etc)... I don't like the gamerpoints that Microsoft insist on using.

I'm still waiting for some killer online feature that the PS3 will offer over its competitors. It is free apparently (although for the initial console price, it damn well should be), but what 'free' actually ends up meaning I'll wait and see. Hopefully there is no catches, then maybe Microsoft will scratch my Gold subscription cost :)

Game pricing will be up to the publishers, and as 3rd party publishers will get charged somewhere along the line for running servers / networking, that will get passed on to the end user, unless they allow Ps3s to host games or Sony generously allows bandwidth and servers for free.

"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"

From Sony's point of view the games will be the minor point of the Store. They want you to buy music and movies direct from them, bypassing stores, pirated copies and especially the internet along the way.

"Who on earth wants to view websites on their TV"

That would be the thousands out there with media centre PCs and mini macs connected to their TVs. You're welcome.

sport: If you have a machine in your living room that can download movies with the click of a button why would you ever go out and rent a movie ever again?

If you have a machine connected to your surround sound system and you can buy your favourite new music on it immediately after it is released, why would you ever go out and buy an album ever again?


Sure there are several different issues here to consider, people say they want the physical media and the physical box. But if the choice is there and if it's there at the click of a button on your 'TV', why wouldn't you try it out?

@Razorus

"They're going to lose a hell of a lot of money and may start charging for the online services some time in the future."

I'm sure they have thought of a business plan that stretches more than a few months. And almost certainly a business plan that doesn't involve doing what you suggest.

publishers will be able to charge what they want for content and so we'll end up paying wildly differing amounts for essentially the same thing from title to title. Hmm... spose it makes sense for MMOs though and other in-game micro-payment stuff.

I know its bloody cocking expensive to start with but with free online gaming, a good size Hard drive (60gig) and the need to not have to buy an extra wireless adapter, and play and charge kit a la 360, make it a little bit easier to swallow.

Sounds good to me. like the idea of being able to plug my keyboard in and browse the web on my TV. I think someone already mentioned it will be handy for showing friends web stuff like you tube when they come round.

"if you can plug in a USB keyboard, or hard drive, etc, im sure you can plug in a usb mouse if you want."

I believe PS3 will support standard bluetooth peripherals too. So you can use a bluetooth keyboard or your blutooth mobile phone headset.

"so we'll end up paying wildly differing amounts for essentially the same thing from title to title"

Normal market mechanics will even things out. If one game charges shit loads and another doesn't, people won't buy the expensive content and their prices will have to drop in response. Other markets don't have some pricing overseer and they work themselves out just fine.

This is a good thread. Comments, questions, discussion. This is the way it should always be.

I'm sure it will be f*cked in an hour.

Very nice. A few things remain to be seen, but paying for Gold 12 months a year over 5 years looks pretty bad right now. "Choice and bargain bla-bla". Sorry for that. I'm sick of this nonsense.