GamesIndustry.biz: PS3 online concerns

By Games Industry.biz Published 3 November, 2006

Sony still has things to work on.

Published as part of our sister-site GamesIndustry.biz' widely-read weekly newsletter, the GamesIndustry.biz Editorial is a weekly dissection of one of the issues weighing on the minds of the people at the top of the games business. It appears on Eurogamer a day after it goes out to GI.biz newsletter subscribers.

Sony hasn't had a good year. The market leader has spent nearly twelve months watching Microsoft build a six million unit lead in the next-gen marketplace, while the embryonic PlayStation 3 has been dogged at every turn by delays and setbacks. Hostility has grown among both hardcore gamers and among the gaming press, a backlash of epic proportions against the company which has ruled the games industry for a full decade, fuelled by the remarkably high price of the console, the decision to drop rumble from the pad, the adoption of contentious Blu-Ray technology and the subsequent launch shortages, culminating in a hugely embarrassing delay into 2007 for the European launch.

None of this has been helped in the slightest by the arrogance of public statements from the father of PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi, or the head of SCEA, Kaz Hirai - who have turned into a double act whose pronouncements almost seem deliberately calculated to turn consumers against Sony and its products. However, in recent weeks, the tide has been turning for Sony, albeit slowly. Perhaps it's simply fatigue among the company's loudest detractors; more likely, it's the fact that since TGS, Sony has been much more focused on giving people hands-on time with the console and its software. The promise of PS3 is finally being delivered upon, at least to some extent, and it's natural that criticism will die down and the focus will shift from hardware to software as the launch draws near.

That isn't to say, though, that Sony is out of the woods yet - and the company is still entirely capable of dropping the ball in very dramatic ways. Perhaps the single most worrying factor remaining in the firm's plans for PS3 is its online service; this is an area where the company's previous efforts have been weak, to say the very least, and where Microsoft has built up five years of valuable experience and a massive degree of mind-share. Although we've seen the service up and running to some extent - network functionality is a key element of the Cross-Media Bar on the PS3, and the console's operating system has a built in buddy list, messaging system, voice chat and even video chat service, as well as the PlayStation Store e-distribution system - the word from developers so far has been that actually building online functions into games is currently a fraught process.

This week, some of our deepest fears about Sony's online service were confirmed when Insomniac's Ted Price revealed in an interview that one of the biggest launch titles for the console, Resistance: Fall of Man, is set to use its own buddy list, clan registry, in-game messaging and chat services, and so on. While the game sounds like it has a very extensive and comprehensive range of online gaming options, and it runs on Sony's international network of servers to guarantee a high standard of network performance for online play, the simple fact is that the last hurdle Sony needed to jump has been missed, at least for the launch titles. The central buddy list doesn't integrate into the game; you'll need to add all your friends again to play against them in Resistance.

The ball, in other words, has not so much been dropped; it has been hurled at the ground with alarming force. Sony has done the hard work - it has built a console operating system which can be updated over the network, which is always-on and network aware, which can handle multiple user profiles and friend lists, messaging and chat, and so on. It has built an infrastructure which can support multiplayer games running on remote servers with players all over the world taking part. Somehow, however, it has failed to take the final step - actually providing the single sign-in, single-ID, single profile service which lies at the core of a console multiplayer offering.

The reasons developers cite for this problem are simple; the libraries to do this were not available early enough. The speculation they offer for why that happened is intriguing, however; there is a strong suggestion that until relatively recently, Sony had planned on simply offering games a connection to the Internet and letting them get on with whatever buddy lists, profiles, match-making and so on they wanted, completely unaware of any other game on the system. This is how the PlayStation 2 worked online, much to the chagrin of users.

Someone, somewhere within Sony, wanted things to stay that way. It's an illustration of just how out of touch a company can be from what its consumers want or need to enjoy their experience of a console and its software, and thankfully it was overturned. PS3 will, eventually, sport a unified online interface - but the tragic thing is that whatever internal battle resulted in this decision was won far too late. PS3, at launch, will be crippled in an online sense by an admittedly promising service in the operating system which is not utilised by key, big-name online titles such as Resistance. As teething troubles go, it's an absolutely huge one - and Sony will have to work very hard to win back the confidence of gamers who had been drawn in by the promise of single sign-in online gaming on the platform. It may be forgiveable in launch titles - but if the second wave of PS3 games doesn't cement the vision of a unified online gaming service, the price Sony has to pay for this oversight may be one that's difficult for the company to stomach.

For more views on the industry and to keep up to date with news relevant to the games business, read GamesIndustry.biz. You can sign up to the newsletter and receive the GamesIndustry.biz Editorial directly each Thursday afternoon.

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Comments (71) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • boynash101 #1 5 years ago

    Sony really dont know what theyre doing. BIG TIME SCREW UP

  • Razzajazz #2 5 years ago

    Dear, oh dear! And they were almost looking like they were pulling it back together again....

  • morriss #3 5 years ago

    But it's free!

  • Steroyd #4 5 years ago

    And that's all that matter to me.

  • Iora #5 5 years ago

    I can understand what is being said here but i feel it's all a little melodramatic.
    This is not crippling by any stretch of the imagination.

    The software will be made available for those games that are yet to be released. I can't imagine anyone losing any sleep because they can't use a singular buddy system with an extremely limited set of games.

    PC gamers have had to put up with multiple buddy systems (often bugged to hell) for years now. It should have been implemented earlier in the consoles development but its a limited glitch and the not to mention free!

  • Blerk #6 5 years ago

    Not really good enough, is it?

    That said, most people couldn't give a shite about online play anyway. So... meh! :-D

  • Iora #7 5 years ago

    p.s. Who on earth will be playing resistance: fall of man anyway ;)

    these are launch titles afterall. lol people seem to forget what the X360 had on offer when it was released. King Kong anyone. It is only recently with Dead Rising and Gears of War that the console has become desirable.

    Way to much doom and gloom end of the world mentality going on. It will all come down to the games. how many, how good and how well there implimented.

  • kangarootoo #8 5 years ago

    I played Resistance last week and I was pleasantly surprised by the controls. Some of you will know how I can whine on about stick controls in console fps games never being as good as Halo, but R:FoM has a really nice aiming system at its core.

  • BartonFink #9 5 years ago

    This is at the very least a massive oversight on Sonys part. You could call it a massive cock up of epic proportions too. They go to all the trouble of doing all the other bits and bobs to make the flippin machine network aware and then don't bother to go the extra yard and give a centralised single sign-in integrated online service for games. Welcome to Central Station 1.5

    Not really good enough Sony.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 12:38

  • Steroyd #10 5 years ago

    I wouldn't mind a central station intergrated into the PS3... at least that's what i thought Sony would do at the very least.

  • kangarootoo #11 5 years ago

    @Wonga

    I think it is very important for the future though and I think Sony realise that. Its going to be increasing less a case of playing online or playing offline, and more a case of games just including online features in a much more seamless way (be that deathmatch, downloadable content, or whatever).

    Also, its hard to know whether the chicken or the egg came first with the PS2. Did poeple not play online because they didn't care about it? Or were they simply not catered for sufficiently well to bother?

  • Iora #12 5 years ago

    lol BartonFink.
    Again this is nothing as stated int he article it seems that games that were almost to be released missed out on the software changes to allow singular profiles and accounts. This means that all the games or at least most of them coming out in the near future will have had access to this updated software.

    Massive cock up of epic proportions lol. Melodramatic much.

    I think everyone can agree that online play is now an essential ingredient in todays consoles. I was never interested before hand but games like Street Fighter online [dam] id pay for that on its own.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 11:56

  • kangarootoo #13 5 years ago

    @BartonFink

    "and then don't bother to go the extra yard and give a centralised single sign-in integrated online service."

    Um, but that is exactly what they HAVE done. It just isn't getting used in this particular title.

  • Razzajazz #14 5 years ago

    TBH, I'm not really up with the complexities of the situation, but how easy is it going to be to completely repatch how the multiplayer works on games? I'm pretty sure someone on the forum with more knowledge than me will correct me, but it seems like the multiplayer would be an integral part of the game when it's created, and so will it be possible to make these sorts of changes without breaking the game?

    I mean, Neversoft aren't even bothering to put online play in the PS3 version of Project 8. Is that because they can't be bothered, or is it because it would be too hard to add it in later on as a patch?

    Someone help me, I'm confused! :)

  • asphaltcowboy #15 5 years ago

    "Um, but that is exactly what they HAVE done. It just isn't getting used in this particular title."

    But surely that's a problem when this is the first, biggest online game the PS3 is going to have?

  • BartonFink #16 5 years ago

    @kanga - Yea a bit melodramatic alright I know they have done it and it's available but you would have thought they would have made sure that their first major online title would implement it. That really does not bode well for the service. Sorry but it's a huge cock up and will do nothing to shake the perception people have built up of Sonys online efforts. An oppertunity missed and again it's a good thing we are not getting it till March at the earliest.

  • Iora #17 5 years ago

    Utilising the Central Buddy system would be a relatively easy piece of programming. However it would be a rare event if the developers took extra time to create code to do so. It does all depend obviously on how the game is programmed to use its own system.

    I would say that for those LIMITED games that this will effect the developers will not bother with any sort of patch, you simply have to get over the fact that your gonna have to add the 'few' friends youll have that play the same title seperately.

    My god it truly is a disaster, lol. This 'glitch' will be fixed for the next batch of games released.

    And although it is a shame that sony never bothered to fix it earlier, its hardly a damning indication of how things will go. Even the small fact that the service is free will have many times many more players jumping in to see what its all about. Sony may screw up on a regular basis but when it smells money and opportunity it will jump.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 12:22

  • kangarootoo #18 5 years ago

    "and will do nothing to shake the perception people have built up of Sonys online efforts"

    I agree on that, first impressions are crucial and all that. Its early days though.

  • SeesThroughAll #19 5 years ago

    Sony are just more interested about the PlayStation Store than games.

  • BartonFink #20 5 years ago

    You might very well have a point there STA.

  • CrumpledPaper #21 5 years ago

    Just to be totally clear, the login and identity IS universal. Buddy lists currently, are not. When you add a friend in your buddy list in Resistance, you're adding their PNP universal nickname - you do not register again separately for Resistance. It's odd, it's the product of a rush as the article points out, but it is something that can be rectified.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 12:33

  • Zomoniac #22 5 years ago

    these are launch titles afterall. lol people seem to forget what the X360 had on offer when it was released. King Kong anyone. It is only recently with Dead Rising and Gears of War that the console has become desirable.

    And PGR3, COD2, PDZ, Condemned, Geometry Wars, MS:R and that lot. And, more importantly, I only needed to add my friends once to play them on any of those games. In fact, scrap that, I didn't have to add them even once, because it remembered my friends from the last console. 5 years on from the original Xbox Live, and a generation later, and Sony still haven't fathomed out the basics...

  • CrumpledPaper #23 5 years ago

    "5 years on from the original Xbox Live, and a generation later, and Sony still haven't fathomed out the basics..."

    Actually, the way it is now it's quite similar to the original Live. It didn't have a universal buddy list.

    But the article explains that their decision to go with "unified everything" was pretty recent, so they obviously were not working on this for the last 5 years. Hence why the first titles aren't taking advantage of universal buddy lists..it's all still coming up to speed precisely because it hasn't been 5 years of work for them. Which sucks, and is stupid, but at least they did finally decide to go this route, even if it was a late decision and results in the first games not being as fully integrated as they might have been. Hopefully Sony will gets it act together here quickly, and existing games will be patched.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 13:05

  • jack_klugman #24 5 years ago

    The console could really have done with that little bit more time.

  • moggsy #25 5 years ago

    Wonga is completely correct here. Xbox live is not an 'add-on' - it's an integral part of the Xbox 360 and it's all the better for it. The achievements system is a good example of this which was there on day one (yes, even in King Kong ;-) ) and is an excellent idea which really does create competition between you and your mates and gives games an extra dimension.

    The PS3 solution sounds half baked and I very much doubt they'll do anything fundamental to improve it which is a real shame. Such a forward thinking console but with no real online aspirations - very strange.

  • Xerx3s #26 5 years ago

    My feeling is that Sony sold 100 million PS2's, only 5% of those users played games online, And Sony seriously don't see it as such a huge thing. More like it's something that their competitors try to make sound important... And they are probably right.. the majority of people who have been buying PS2 games couldn't give a toss about internet gaming.

    But then you could ask WHY ppl don't use the online service when XBL is so well used. I think that the answer to that one is quite clear.

  • Rusta #27 5 years ago

    The PS3 is not even out yet, wil reserve judgment until it's been out and tested for a bit

  • Iora #28 5 years ago

    @Rusta
    Never a wiser comment made.

  • belziah #29 5 years ago

    Just because some Live users are a loud minority, they seem to believe that the future of any console's life rests on its online capabilities.

    Its simply not true.

    The Gamecube sold almost as much a the Xbox with no sort of online system.

    aprox 120 million console owners(nintendo, microsoft and sony - you've got to assume some people are on their 2nd or 3rd machine)

    approx. 10 million online users(Live, Live 360 - not including silver, ps2 carbunckle)

    The figures just dont add up. I'm not saying that online is not important but, the fact that less than 10%(and growing but,not quickly) or your potential audience choose to take up the option says more to me than X is gonna die without a complete online package.



  • Gamemaker #30 5 years ago

    Trying to recall when I last played a launch title more than a few months after its release...

  • moggsy #31 5 years ago

    The Gamecube sold almost as much a the Xbox with no sort of online system.

    Nobody had broadband at the time but a good percentage of the population do now (even my ma and pa - never thought I'd see the day). So you've got this 2/8/10/16 Mbps link there just being used for surfing the net. People want to do more with this facility and plugging your games console in to add to the experience is a really good fit.

    Just look at the Nintendo Wii...

  • kangarootoo #32 5 years ago

    Some PS3 web browser, photo browser, movie viewer stuff.

    [link url=http://uk.gizmodo.com/2006/11/03/ps3_web_browser _first_look.html
    ]http://uk .gizmodo.com/2006/11/03/ps3_web...[/link]

    [link url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/clips-ps3-picture- browser-212013.php
    ]http://ko taku.com/gaming/ps3/clips-ps3-p...[/link]

    http://ww w.kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clips...

  • JetSetWilly #33 5 years ago

    After reading the article I couldn't help but feel that its whole point was massively overstated. Almost as if the more dramatic the language used the more true it must be and that if I don't care (which I don't) then I jolly well should.

    If online mattered to people that much surely Xbox would be far and away the market leader rather than being outsold in all three territories by the PS2 and its inferior online experience.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 15:20

  • Garulon #34 5 years ago

    "Actually, the way it is now it's quite similar to the original Live. It didn't have a universal buddy list. "

    It bloody DID. AND cross-game invites. Voice Messages and the live "dashboard" were added in 2004, and recent players, gamerscore,acheivements, rep, cross-game chat, text+video messaging, picture messaging, complaints, prefer/avoid players, TrueSkill matching, gamer pictures (etc. etc.) were added with the 360.

    It's with a bit of relief that this article came out. Given the past few weeks (and the still-terrifying DoubleSpeech stuff) I was coming to the conclusion that EG was bought and payed for by Sony.

  • Steroyd #35 5 years ago

    It bloody DID. AND cross-game invites. Voice Messages and the live "dashboard" were added in 2004, and recent players,

    i think that was his point.

  • Gurgeh #36 5 years ago

    There's no such thing as a Free Lunch. Somewhere along the line you will be paying for online services, because it isn't free for Sony to provide them. I'm guessing they expect the revenue from their online store (which was the main point of putting the Ps3 online after all from Sony's point of view, hence the lack of gaming options) to subsidise the service.

  • hdazza #37 5 years ago

    Typical Sony arrogance. If you believe for 1 second that this service will be free then you are all silly.

    Sony just offer the basic tools to the developer/publishers. Their offer is free the usage of the online won't be.. Publishers will find a way to derive $$$ from the users in the same way the M/Soft has done. It's not free to set up a network system for your game so who pays for that?

    Wether it's a monthly subscription or paying extra for PS3 titles you will pay for the networking services of Ps3, just to the publishers and not via a middleman.

    What does this mean in the long term.... It means your online games will vary in performance and your buddy lists etc may not work across all games, maybe just from that publsher/developer.

    Once again Sony looks at it's model and doesn't care about the consumer just the bottom line..

    Sad but true

  • viperfoxbat #38 5 years ago

    Sony will never catch Microsoft online infrastructure. Sony has also been loosing exclusives. GTA 4 will be on the 360 the day it launches. They lost Alen Wake and Bioshock to name a few. There will be no Dead Rising or Lost Planet on the PS3. There will be no new Banjo Kazzoi on the PS3. It goes on and on. Who would buy a PS3 in it's early life? I think patients in buying the system would pay off when more games are available, the price has dropped to $299.99 and the bugs have been worked out.

  • kangarootoo #39 5 years ago

    "Once again Sony looks at it's model and doesn't care about the consumer just the bottom line.. "

    Jesus, this old myth again. Here be the truth.

    Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, Dixons Group, GAME Store, Amazon, etc all care about their share price more than they care about your gaming fun. FACT.

    Thats what they do, its why they exist. Can we please stop perpetuating this idea that whilst some huge corporations care about money, there are others in games that have a giant heart.

    I'm not saying they don't care at all about your gaming fun, but money is right there at the top of the list in every case.

  • MadMirko #40 5 years ago

    I'm not saying they don't care at all about your gaming fun, but money is right there at the top of the list in every case.

    What you are overlooking is the fact that money comes from customers, and only from those who feel good about the respective company.

    So, if there is one that evokes the feeling of providing you with fun games and awesome innovative experiences, and another one providing you with fun games and the most expensive console along with only those features that are designed to part you from your money, which do you like better, which gets your money?

    Consumers are emotional beasts, it's their perception that counts. So, a company after money needs to project an image that customers agree with. Sony currently fails to do so, Microsoft and Nintendo do not.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 18:11

  • AOFanboi #41 5 years ago

    <em>But surely that's a problem when this is the first, biggest online game the PS3 is going to have?</em>

    Yes, it's a problem the same way it's a problem for Microsoft that World of Warcraft doesn't use Microsoft Passport. That is, it's not a problem at all.

    (Asheron's Call started out using Passport, but they, too, have abandoned it.)

  • skillian #42 5 years ago

    This isn't flamebait, but if I had a choice between free online gaming, or paid for online gaming with a buddy list, I'd take the freebie every time. I'm pretty sure most other people would too.

    If it turns out not to be free, that's another matter, but we'll have to wait and see about that.

  • Scimarad #43 5 years ago

    I'm among those people who couldn't really care less about online play but it still doesn't inspire confidence that they would bugger up this element of the console.

    I'm not sure how easy it would be to fix this later - In theory I suppose they could just add updates...

    Anyway, I'm with Blerk on this one; Meh!

  • Steroyd #44 5 years ago

    The overriding point is that this is not 2004, and Sony are in a different position in regards to their competition than MS were. When MS added that stuff, their competition had none of it.

    Still doesn't deny the fact that MS added all their features later, like Sony can do.

    @MadMirko lovely speach and all but that doesn't stop the pile of steaming crap EA dish out year in year out and still ends up top sellers in the charts.

  • moggsy #45 5 years ago

    I am also one of those that 'couldn't really care less about online play' - playing against other people (especially strangers) can quite often be a disappointing experience. However the first time I loaded up Forza on my Xbox and found after I'd finished a single player race I got a world ranking, I was more than a little impressed. The Xbox 360 has taken this type of thing even further with you being able to compare your laps etc against the world or just your friends in any game. You don't have to be playing against other people to still have a great online experience.

    Microsoft and Nintendo get this. Sony haven't yet - it remains to be seen if they ever will. It doesn't bode well when a basic feature like a friends list is added on at the last minute.

  • JediMasterMalik #46 5 years ago

    Nintendo get this? Are you kidding? None of Nintendos launch titles are online, how do you think they "get" online? Nintendo are currently the worst for online gaming, Sony in at second, and MS way ahead at first. Though that couold change in the coming year or so.
    Edited by 1 at 04/11/06 @ 01:34

  • Lex_Luthor #47 5 years ago

    "Nintendo get this? Are you kidding?"

    I lolled too :)

    You may want to lose that '$' there though, asking for trouble ;)

  • JediMasterMalik #48 5 years ago

    It's instinctive now, sorry. :(

  • Yeevle #49 5 years ago

    Sony really are losing it.

  • moggsy #50 5 years ago

    So Lex and JediMasterMalik - glad you read and understood my post - not!

    I was saying that online 'gaming' is not the be all and end all of connecting a console to the internet. The Wii and 360 are designed around online connectivity, it's sounds like the PS3 isn't. That was my point.

  • moggsy #51 5 years ago

    Wii Message Board

    Forget hand-scrawled notes tacked to the refrigerator door. Users can leave messages for other family members on a calendar-based message board. They also can use WiiConnect24 to send messages to people outside the home as well. Even better, people can trade photos and text messages with cell phone users. The service also allows for incoming messages targeted at software, such as a new map or weapon for a game. Games can constantly be updated, thereby extending their playability.

    Microsoft is king at online but I think that Nintendo have put some thought into online connectivity with the Wii and tried to innovate. Sony seem to have looked at what Microsoft have and then tried to copy this and bolt it on at the last minute. Puzzling to say the least, and disappointing for such an expensive piece of equipment.
    Edited by 1 at 04/11/06 @ 18:05

  • Xerx3s #52 5 years ago

    Sony really are losing it.

    Yeah, that's some really good criticism. It really adds to this discussion.

    /sarcasm off

    Forget hand-scrawled notes tacked to the refrigerator door. Users can leave messages for other family members on a calendar-based message board. (So you really think that your computer phobic house mates are actually going to bother with all the hassle when they can just scribble it down on the calendar in the kitchen?) They also can use WiiConnect24 to send messages to people outside the home as well.(possible on both live and psonline) Even better, people can trade photos and text messages with cell phone users.(considering the crappy state of all the mms stuff on mobile networks after trying to stuff it down our throats, how well do you think that this is going to work?) The service also allows for incoming messages targeted at software, such as a new map or weapon for a game.(So it allows updates through messages(?!)) Games can constantly be updated, thereby extending their playability.(also available on psonline and xbl)

  • Xerx3s #53 5 years ago

    Btw, do the wii and ps3 come with a standard headset in the box? Pic's of how they look?

  • Steroyd #54 5 years ago

    PS3 can use a standard Blutooth Headset. :)

    Wii on the other hand I highly doubt they's allow headsets on the their service, especially how their online service is setup with the friend codes.

  • moggsy #55 5 years ago

    @ Xerx3s

    The truth is we don't know the full extent of the facilities WiiConnect24 will offer in games. But it's got potential and sounds like a far more interesting idea than anything Sony have so far come up with. But then the Wii has the potential to be the most innovative thing to happen to gaming in a long time, as was Xbox Live which I am personally a big fan of.

    What are Sony doing with regards to online connectivity that hasn't been done before? Just for the record, I'm not a Sony hater. I owned a PS1 and still own a PS2 and a PSP but in my opinion they have made fundamental mistakes with the PS3. So yeh, Sony really are losing it.... ;-)

  • Xerx3s #56 5 years ago

    PS3 can use a standard Blutooth Headset. :)

    In the box?

  • JediMasterMalik #57 5 years ago

    No, it doesn't come with one.

  • Steroyd #58 5 years ago

    Oh no not in the box but why would they add one in the box If I already have one for my phone ;)

    @mogsy

    that was a bit dramatic all Insomiac havn't done is merge their buddy list with the one built into the PS3 and all of a sudden it's the PS2's online service and Nintendo have done better even though it'll be exactly like the DS plus virtual console shop. :/

    yeeaah -_-

  • moggsy #59 5 years ago

    @ Steroyd

    Yep you're right, which means that Sony haven't even managed to get the basics right in time, never mind anything that pushes boundaries. Not as if they haven't had plenty of time either so it doesn't bode well for the future of the PS3 and online connectivity.

  • Steroyd #60 5 years ago

    So even though Sony achieved a universal log on, video chat, voice chat, a marketplace etc etc.

    And just because Insomiac didn't get the library in time to integrate the buddy list it's an uproar?

    There might as well be as such an uproar with Nintendo having no third party online enabled titles until 2007.

  • moggsy #61 5 years ago

    It's very revealing that Insomniac didn't get the library in time though no? Indicates a rush job on Sony's part, which is a real shame.

    So is this catastrophic for the PS3? Probably not but it's another reason to be disappointed.

  • mattigan #62 5 years ago

    If it turns out not to be free, that's another matter, but we'll have to wait and see about that.

    I think anyone with half a brain realises that the service is not going to be properly free, as nothing worth having ever is. It just remains to be seen where Sony decide to recover the costs from, my bet is on a premium price for games, and DLC that actually gives you an ingame advantage and is thus desirable content to have (faster cars, better guns etc...). Their only problem is balancing the price finely enough so the consumer doesn't feel ripped off, or at least too ripped off.

    Charge too much and you run the risk of not only alienating your consumer base, but also putting off future consumers and winding up with no money to pay for the service, pitch it too low and you don't recover the costs or (heaven forbid) make a profit.

    I also wouldn't put it past them to charge for demos, just a few pence mind, but like they say "every little helps"
    Edited by 1 at 05/11/06 @ 14:42

  • JediMasterMalik #63 5 years ago

    Mattigan, they have already said that DLC is there way of making there money back. Which is fine for me because I won't be buying any horse armour from the Sony Store, yet enough people will to sustain the service.

  • mattigan #64 5 years ago

    But they will have to give users an incentive to buy the stuff, horse armour alone will not sustain the service.

    My worry is that they release DLC that gives the player an advantage against the opposition if they buy it as an incentive to spend their money. It would be a great incentive but would give those that spend more money an unfair advantage, this is all theory but the thing is I wouldn't put it past Sony to do it, as they desparately need to get the cash flowing to pay for their free service

  • Steroyd #65 5 years ago

    Desperately?

    I think your over analysing the situation Sony's treating this as the start of something not something that will gain instant results...

  • Cueil #66 5 years ago

    I think people don't understand the concept or Xbox 360 online and PS3 online. Xbox 360 online is part of the fundemental core of the system and is implemented in every single aspect of the system and games even if it's a single player epic RPG. Sony doesn't understand they think that what we PC gamers have put up with for years is good enough and by simply having some of their games have a single login and buddy system it makes it as good as Live. Everyone says it's FREE... and that makes it good, but tell me would you rather pay for a stake or get free mystery meat? PS3 has some good games comming up and all you can really do is look at what could be... just remember even single player games have an online presence just look at the forums and web pages and to not have that be part of the game is sad. And while Sony can change things to catch up with Microsoft on some of their games Microsoft has figured it out... if they change something in Live it is reflected in all their games and not just some. I said it before the Xbox 360 launch and I'll say it again PS3's online will be more like Xbox Live 1.0 than what's on the 360. Now that I'm done with my rant I really want to play MGS4...

  • kangarootoo #67 5 years ago

    @MadMirko

    "What you are overlooking is the fact that money comes from customers, and only from those who feel good about the respective company."

    I'm not overlooking that. I don't see the connection with the post I was responding to. My point is that all companies want to make money. People that entertain the idea that company X cares more about gamers than cash are deluding themselves.

    Sure a company has to appear to care, thats just PR. I suppose what I am winging about it people falling for the PR.

  • agparrot #68 5 years ago

    So this will all be sorted by March 2007?

  • mkreku #69 5 years ago

    As much as Sony are fumbling the ball, I'm almost glad we Europeans get it last. I mean, by March 2007, I'm sure they'll have figured out buddy lists..

  • wired009 #70 5 years ago

    It's just a buddy list. Chill out.

  • LOLLERS #71 5 years ago

    sorry, bit late here. It's not just a buddy list, it means that seamless coop play like in Gears of War is impossible, for a while at least. That means any titles that could have taken advantage of it for about the next year won't be able to. That sucks.