PS4 vs Xbox One: Online Features

CVG takes a look at the online services for both the PS4 and the Xbox one, leaving you to decide which machine has the edge.

[Ksar]

Is there any difference between PS3 and PS4 for the playstation+ ? If we have to pay to play online now, i hope they put a lot of innovation like dedicated servers or smart matchmaking...

[iamnsuperman]

No but the instant collection has been a worth while investment. I think the testament to that service's value is people choose to pay for it when they didn't need to. It is a good service. Yes dedicated serves would be good but getting Battlefield 3, Spec ops and so on was also very cool. Not exactly small games

[Ksar]

So, it's exactly the same service but now, online gaming is no longer free.

Man, that sucks. At least, I hope we won't have another psngate...

[iamnsuperman]

@Ksar but it doesn't cost any more. It is just forcing those who didn't buy the PSN plus in the first place to get it. To these people there is that added value of getting games in the instant collection with the PSN Plus. The people who got it in the first place had online for for free as well as the service for the same price as it is now. There is no difference included the online component.

So there is no "sucks" about it

Also "Psngate". Microsoft's live wasn't exactly safe either. Remember the Fifa incident with people stealing money through outlook. And you paid for that. Michael Pachter had money stolen from his account. Microsoft gave him the equivalent back but it was stolen again so he just gave up http://www.neogaf.com/forum... . That issue was never addressed properly.

Remember no service is safe.

[JokesOnYou]

Yeah Ksar it's exactly the same service but now, online gaming is no longer free. Of course those apologist will tell you its OK now, after years of saying it wasn't right to force you to pay for the other half of your game. Hopefully now though they will see that although everybody wants something for free at least you can expect a premium service to add more value with other services and seamless updates to the UI.

I've enjoyed gaming online without dedicated servers so not having dedicated servers is not a deal breaker for me but its awesome that X1 offers dedicated servers to devs now, this means no more host advantage and it will also help fix some of the occasional lag issues.

There are other nice things about XBL I'm looking forward to checking out like, Better Matchmaking, Enhanced Reputation Enforcement
New Achievements and using Snap Mode to switch to youtube or whatever while waiting in the matchmaking lobby. I like how Microsoft is always finding ways to improve the online atmosphere.

[UnHoly_One]

iamnsuperman, comparing a few users getting their accounts taken over to an entire network being breached, exposing user's passwords and credit card info in the process is a bit of stretch, don't you think?

I know you're a PS fanboy and all, but c'mon... really?

[HammadTheBeast]

The fact that major things like 15 minute recording, cross-game chat, apps, Netflix, etc, aren't locked behind pay walls is enough for me.

@Unholy One, do some research please, no credit card info was taken, only the network was hacked.

I think it's pathetic now that "dedicated servers" and "matchmaking" is innovation.

Did you miss Wipeout, Warhawk, Star hawk, Killzone, etc all with dedicated servers?

[UnHoly_One]

Hammad, if no credit card info was accessed in the breach, then why did they give everyone a free subscription to an Identity Theft Protection service?

[iamnsuperman]

@unholy_one
it wasnt a few and clearly a breach of a kind was there as it only happened on Live. Credit card details were not compramised but they could have been (which is bad) No-one has come forward saying they have suspicious paymeny made on their accounts.

My point was no online service is secure no matter how much you pay which is evident by those two examples. Please leave fanboy accusations at the door and stop seeing what you want to see. I was responding to ksar's comment referencing the psn hack

I feel people should read the comments and the context on this site before replying

[mewhy32]

Well I wish the online was free, that's for sure. However, I can understand that the maintenance costs, overhead, etc., made that a business model that just couldn't be maintained. But even with that the PSN+ is a better deal that Live because of the instant games collection. Even with the free account you can do party chat and get non gaming app access. Not like micro$oft that wants to milk the sheep for everything they can get by requiring a gold account to access anything.

[UnHoly_One]

There are no "fanboy" comments being made here, Superman.

I'm simply stating that the two incidents are quite simply not on the same level.

I'm not saying XBL is perfect and incapable of being breached because quite honestly there is no such thing. XBL might be getting hacked right now for all I know, I'm just going on what we know from the past.

[ShinMaster]

Xbox One still keeps features like party chat, video share and media apps like Netflix behind a paywall while they're free on PS4 including F2P games.
Also there are new features added to PSN overall

Not to mention you fanboys are purposely ignoring the value in PS Plus alone. http://www.destructoid.com/...
$50 for $1000+ worth of content including, not just free games, but also discounts, exclusive content and other features.
http://www.ign.com/articles...
http://www.ign.com/articles...
PS Plus simply offers more and it's cheaper.

[JokesOnYou]

Hammad nobody said its innovation, those things are just some of the reasons WHY Live is BETTER, well unless you are buying the console to not game online so you cant get free Netflix. lol

[MizTv]

There are ps3 games right now with dedicated servers

[NegativeCreepWA]

The difference is MS is giving all devs the option to use dedicated servers, Sony only supported their own titles, and it was only a few of them. As far as I know Sony doesn't even offer matchmaking servers for devs, while MS always has.

This is the one area MS has always been ahead in, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[DA_SHREDDER]

Even if what you said is true, the difference in lag is hardly noticable to most people, and only a vocal minority of gamers will throw a fit about it. It hasn't stopped gamers from playing online so far, and for me, sure it would be nice to have dedicated servers, but im not gonna whine and cry like a baby when its not a game breaker.

[Brix90]

@NegativeCreep
Ps4 has cloud service too the Gakai even though we still don't know what both services will actually do till we get our hands on new consoles. The point I'm making is PS4 will have similar service

[NegativeCreepWA]

Sorry, but that's pure speculation. And until Sony lays out their online plans that's all it is.

[AxeCain]

I am pretty certain that the majority of games on the PS4 will run on dedicated servers. Driveclub, Killzone, Battlefield 4 - I have read will.
I think there is a major misconception over Microsoft's "dedicated servers"

[GodGinrai]

"I think there is a major misconception over Microsoft's "dedicated servers""

Really? would you care to explain?

[cozomel]

ksar

Stop trolling please, it very obvious you're just a hater. PSN now has party chat (on PSvita and PS4) basically putting PSN on parity with XBLive in that regard. And PS3 has had way more games with dedicated servers this gen then MS has had by far and these are facts, not no fanboy opinions. And you get WAYYY more value for your money with Plus than you do with Live. With Live are just paying for the right to play online. 360/X1 games should come with a version of the come that doesn't have the online component and is cheaper, otherwise you are paying full price for the game but only getting half the game til you pay MS for the right to play the other half of the game you payed full price for

[cozomel]

How do you know you cant do half those things on the PS4? Also, i thought this way such a pro Sony website, so why are all the pro MS guys getting way more agrees and all the Sony guys getting more disagrees?

[cozomel]

I guest MS fanboys cant handle the truth, sad really

[jaelegend]

yes they have servers now plus gaming streaming later in 2014

[Majin-vegeta]

@Ksar oh you mean M$ is playing catch up to Sony again with Dedi servers on the xbone??lol

[OpieWinston]

Playing Catch up? Do you know anything about Microsoft?

Oh and "M$" what are you 12 years old?

They're both MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR CORPORATIONS, they both want your money. If you think that Sony is any different when it comes to their goals then you my friend are retarded.

[blackstrr411]

No contest in online gaming. Ms all the way.

[Bluepowerzz]

but why cant this fish head explain why and i bet if he does he will mention a bunch of deluded bs i have both and ps3 online is better overall my 360 is in a river now . vvv smh

[pacostacos]

its a personal preference i prefer xbox live cause of party chat and stuff its really an awesome feature when gaming with buddies others prefer psn because of its free or psn + because of the games you get and stuff... its all personal preference! but when it comes down to it your comparing paid versus free (not counting ps+) and it shows in the quality of the service this is why sony is going the paid route this time to improve the psn service their words not mine

[mcstorm]

@Bluepowerzz pacostacos is spot on. Xbox live is not better than PSN just like PSN is not better than xbox live. They are services that are offered to us and you should go for the one that fits you best not what someone tells you what is best. For me xbox live works better as I can cross chat with my friends not matter what im doing on my console and no matter what they are doing. I also use Smart Glass a lot for music as I have a xbox music pass and being able to change the album/song using my tablet or phone from a different room is good for me. This is my needs and it is not everyone's needs I opted not to get PS+ as it did not really fit into what I wanted from the service as I am happy to buy a game as soon as it comes out rather than wait for it to come on PS+ plus the Sony Music dose not work with my music devices but like I said this will fit other peoples lives better.

PSN and XBL all have + and - points its just up to the user of who it fits better.

[jaelegend]

not this gen my friend

[walkincarpet]

I have both but only online game on xbox because it really is no contest and the gap will widen next gen.

[PositiveEmotions]

It seems that the ps4's psn/ps+ beats xblg

[Bluepowerzz]

oh is there someone who actually knows what hes talking about :) nice

[Saddam_hussein]

I'm not 100%,
But I think you might have some issues bud

[TheRealHeisenberg]

LiveGold = better service.
PS+ = way better value.

Just my two cents.

[True_Samurai]

I agree on that. Xbl do have better services. In my theory I believe the reason Sony bought gakai was to bring over to the ps4 side so they could use the PS+ value on there.

[JBSleek]

Very fair assessment.

[Kayant]

Live= More things behind a paywall - party chat, certain apps, F2p games but it seems like a richer online experience( Smart match, Dedi servers)

PSN= Only online play lock behind a paywall.

But I think it's still early days to really compare them and after pay live for some time now I appreciate value more.

[nukeitall]

I think this is key. We don't know until we get hands on.

On the surface, PSN as it is now *seems* similar to Xbox Live, but once you use it, you realize the differences.

Xbox Live is far easier to use, more people talk online, and there is party chat/cross game chat, revamped dashboards with new featurs and so on, but this comes at a fee while PSN is completely free.

You will have to wait and see, get some real hands on time before you know.

It's like eating at a restaurant, they all serve steak, but the flavor and quality ain't the same!

[GodGinrai]

"LiveGold = better service.
PS+ = way better value. "

I agree with this. MS dont give as much freebies as they should considering how muchbmoney they make on live. XBL rewards was ok but it takes too long to amass a descent amount of MSP. At least they are doing this 2 free games a month thing but, they should have their own "instant collection". This is why I think they should port over the XBLA games. tonnes of stuff they can give away for free on there. It only need be 20 XBLA games and a few AA/AAA games.

EDIT:sorry had to change "their" to "there". lol

[Kayant]

Yep exactly.... And the Games for gold thing is just an offer until around the time the Xbox one comes out.

That's the problem I have with live the value is just so low and add to that that we get non-gaming ads for a *premium* service is just sad.

[GodGinrai]

@Kayant

The ads I can live with. They are just little unobstrusive tiles on some of the menus. They dont even make a sound unless you click on them.

I agree with you though.they should do more to reward customers. more specifically customers who have been paying for the service for a long time. Like when they gave out special edition 360s to all the people that have been on XBL for ten years. I been on XBL for around 7. I own 137 arcade games (many of which i bought in XBL sales to be honest) I have bought DLC of all kinds. On account of that they should be rewarding people that make that kind of investment in their service.

What I would like to know on the PSN side of things is, if the PSN Instant game collection transfers over to PS4, given that is is different hardware? or will they give you that collection VIA Gaikai?

[MYSTERIO360]

Im guessing the PS4's spectator mode, online streaming of games and its ability for friends to play your game won't fall behind the PS+ pay wall. Nice

[jaren92]

Does anyone know if there is cross platform chat from the Xbox 360 to a X1 ?

[jaelegend]

they haven't said anything on that

[UnHoly_One]

I would think it to be HIGHLY unlikely, but they haven't said anything about it yet.

[WeAreLegion]

We haven't experienced the PS4's online gameplay yet. We don't know if there are dedicated servers. All launch titles are running on dedicated servers though. We know that. However, we don't know anything about the experience. Let's wait until launch to decide which service is "better". Right now, it looks like the two are about the same.

[AgentSmithPS4]

Microsoft has been taking $50 and then $60 per year from millions of people for years so they can play games online, so of course they have a head start when it comes to dedicated servers. As long as the PS4 BF4 servers run well I'll be satisfied, for now.

When my 360 was still alive and I was in a Xbox live party chat people would be disconnected more often than I'd like. Sometimes most of the people in the party would disappear at the same time and then the auto rejoin would fail.

Console gamers will all benefit from the server quality battle that will happen in the near future, be sure to complain loudly and often so that both companies will respond quickly and make things even better.