260°

PS4 for free: are subscriptions console gaming’s miracle?

"Microsoft revealed a subscription Xbox 360 yesterday, a move that has enormous implications for the HD console business. Monthly payments for hardware and services could change everything, says Patrick Garratt."

BrutallyBlunt4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

Just think back when the Playstation 3 came out and surprised many with its whopping $600 price tag. Imagine if Sony had the foresight to think of something like this and if Playstation Plus was available then too. Consumers could have had an OPTION (the reason I use caps if to show everyone how this is an option and need to react in the same manner) to offset the high price.

It never ceases to amaze me just how emotionally involved some people get on game forums about things, especially when they are options.

thehitman4370d ago

When I bought my ps3 for 600 over a 100-200 cheaper 360. The subscription fee was 1 of the many weighing factors I decided to go w/ a more expensive console at base price then be burned after 6-8 years for another 400 dollars about.

LOGICWINS4370d ago

So true. Many people buy through impulse and don't think about future added expenses.

grailly4370d ago

for a good service, I would gladly pay 50-60$ a month, but that would have to be a service letting me play anything I want. à la netflix of gaming. and if I could get a cheaper console out of it, well great.

ilikestuff4370d ago

that'd be awesome like sega channel way back when. doubt they'd give you that much though, cheaper console, all the games you want for 50, 60 a month.

Baka-akaB4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

Because it is never just an option . when that kind of stuff shows up , even as an option , it affects everyone else .

Dlc was an option , and in the end it permeated through everything and every publishers , in a way that withdraw and steal contents from those that didnt care for the option . And now all of them are constantly complaining about dlc tactics . Maybe if they thought about that earlier instead of going "hey man it's an option chill , you can just avoid it" , they wouldnt need to be feel constantly that angry .

So no i'm not looking forward to that kind of subs , when it easily directly lead to models like apple and its iphone/pad . i'll ignore it , and then if its successful , as usual i'll get affected by it unwillingly .

BrutallyBlunt4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

Then tell us, how will this trickle down to those who want to buy a new console and not pay monthly? The answer is it won't. You can speculate all you want about how the price of the hardware will be more but you will not have any proof on that. We have already seen high prices on consoles (Playstation 3, 3DO and NeoGeo come to mind). So use this new marketing as a scapegoat all you want, fear-mongering isn't going to get you anywhere.

To think consumers could only buy a console on a monthly plan is far-fetched but then again this is N4G, where a portion of the community seems to get-off making a mountain out of a molehill.

grailly4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

you've got a good point, I can only hope you're wrong.

EDIT: just out of curiosity, how many of you have a phone subscription?

Lior4370d ago

people buy phone for $700 dollars or 500 pound they dont complain

Fylus4370d ago

That's because some people are stupid:P

It's funny, America makes me ashamed to be American.

TheLyonKing4370d ago

@Lior not just americans I am from U.K and import tax is higher and people pay such stupid prices for phones.

I got a pretty decent working internet/multi media phone for about 100 quid none of this waiting in a queue for hours for the brand new iphone nonsense

DeadlyFire4370d ago

I think as an Option is a great idea, but as the only way of buying a console. I say no.

ATi_Elite4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

this all leads to one thing..........The imminent DEATH of consoles (except Nintendo)

SOny/MS cant keep selling you $500 consoles and $60 games on top of $50 yearly online subscriptions. That business model is DEAD and will be altered greatly next Gen.

SOny and MS are eventually gonna have to utilize the things that are in everyone's home already

A. The friggin TV connected to cable/Internet
B. The Personnel Computer connect to Internet

Like i have said before i see MS integrating Xbox through Windows and Sony could easily make a special hard drive and software for it's Playstation brand.

and it's all too easy to stream the video output from your PC to a Tv with no lag (I do it all the time and play online MP games like TERA).

MMO's and Micro-transactions are the things that are helping the PC make more revenue than PS3/360 combined (consoles win once you add in Nintendo) and next Gen the consoles will have the proper power to produce more MMO's and they will further exploit the Micro-transaction set-up!

The only other option is how Sony/MS tried to make PS3/360 entertainment hubs by offering netflix/hulu/espn etc. and other stuff through the console. Well they will need a lot more content to make that work and except for Netflix i don't think any other service was that good (correct me if I'm wrong but what was as good as Netflix).

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4370d ago
TopDudeMan4370d ago

I'd rather just buy it and be done with it.

grailly4370d ago

you would just have a console and no games. you anyway have to pay extra for games, what if the service provided all the games you wanted?

TopDudeMan4370d ago

That, plus all the games I don't want? Too good to be true, dood.

grailly4370d ago

I dunno, netflix sounded too good to be true, 5 years ago...

Boody-Bandit4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

Gaming's miracle?
Early adopters would end up spending more money over the life of the console than ever before. And what is with all the comparisons between smart phones and gaming consoles? They have nothing in common with one another and are entirely different demographics.

And again with the whole "a lot of us gamers" want to download everything through digital distribution. Uh no, I don't know many gamers that want to throw their money out the window and not have any resale value or all the hassles that come with DD. As I'm sure most net providers wont be too keen on it either. Not to mention the fact that broadband does not exist every where. There are still tons of areas throughout the world and in every country that don't have access to high speed internet.

Sorry but this whole article, although well written, comes off as

TopDudeMan4370d ago

Well, the comparison is because of the idea of this new pricing strategy. Essentially, you'd be signing a contract and paying monthly for your console, the way you do with mobile phones.

Boody-Bandit4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

You mean MS's new way to milk people dry even further and pretending with their smoke and mirrors that it is actually cost productive.

As long as there is an option to purchase the next consoles out right than all is good. If not, I will find a new way to spend my spare time. The gaming industry has become the epitome of being nickel and dimed to death and personally I am tired of it.

Pretty soon every game made is going to be subscription based. No matter how anyone spins this it's a bad thing for consumers and will ultimately be the demise / downfall of the industry.

BrutallyBlunt4370d ago

@Brutallyhonest

Well to be brutallyhonest, services like Steam make a ****load of revenue and its service is entirely digital. They also have millions of Steam members who seem perfectly happy.

I know many complain about PC gaming and how it can be costly, well a lay-away plan could help some people. The truth of the matter is having different options is EXACTLY what consumers want.

The price to build new hardware whether it be consoles or PC's or anything else for that matter is going to rise, not fall. This new option for consoles is nothing new when compared to other purchases like a car or even a cellphone. Consumers will still have an option to buy the product for less money.

Blastoise4370d ago

Nothing is ever free. Don't believe ondores lies

NAGNEWS4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

costs you sleeping ;) think again, nothing is free

TBM4370d ago

Id rather foot the upfront cost of the console/service then be raped for more money for the same service. besides paying to access my own online that im already paying my cable provider for is stupid as hell.

asmith23064370d ago

Its nice to have options though. Some people might not easily have $400+ at any given time so the extra expense in the long run is worth it if it means you can get a new console straight away rather than having to wait for it. As an example I might have about 800 to pay off my credit card but I sure as hell ain't gonna pay that off in one shot, i'll pay it over months. Even if the interest adds extra cost I can afford it month to month rather than the whole thing at once.

Fez4370d ago

If you can't afford it you shouldn't be buying it. It's such a simple rule of thumb that people don't seem to understand these days.

The options seem to be screwing the poor people over and letting the rich get richer...

TBM4370d ago (Edited 4370d ago )

I respect your opinion but i personally can't see myself giving away extra money i can use for something else on a hobby i enjoy to relax.

Like Fez said if i can't afford it i won't buy it.

i asked a bunch of friends of mine who can see the bigger picture here and not one among the bunch would go for this deal.

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140°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos18h ago(Edited 18h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers15h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos3m ago(Edited 2m ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken1h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g11h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing10h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H911h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola7h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66910h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle9h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 3h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 2h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola21h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies21d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken21d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga21d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken21d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6421d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long21d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197220d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
DivineHand12521d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91321d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer21d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91320d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit20d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
Christopher21d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit20d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher21d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken21d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197220d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2321d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218321d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder21d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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