"Sony may have been in the console race for longer than Microsoft has, but one thing is evident: Microsoft know how to create a strong online offering. They’ve been at it for the last ten years, who else could be doing a better job? Well, up until around a two years ago that may well have been the case, but now they’re no longer top dog when it comes to offering consumers value for money. For me, the tables began to turn on the Washington based giant thanks to the arrival of Sony’s PlayStation Plus."
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I do have to say, since you get everything LIVE has for free with PSN, minus a couple technical features like chatting, PS+ is a baller service for anyone who can afford the $50 a year to be in the club.
but what is disheartening to me is that netflix has really gone downhill since not reestablishing their deal with Starz.
Al i seem to see is all tv shows now on the new releases. A few newer movies but my interest in the service is really dropping.
I used to use my 360 for netflix streaming but I now use my lg bluray player. So that could be one reason for me to drop gold. Although i do enjoy some multiplayer now and then but not enough to keep the live...alive.
I just reupped my sub for another year. We will see how much i use it this year before I make my decision.
/s
Do what I do: get Netflix for one month, watch everything there is to watch, cancel for two, resin for one, cancel for two.
$32/year, still get to watch everything.
Play Beyond!
Make Believe!
Playstation!
what!!! that's just stupid. no, that's too far.
...far from cheap also.
At least the online-activity for more AAA games are equal, if not sometimes more (see:COD), on Xbox Live.
Agreed, all the times i've heard 'x is dead' or 'x is dying' yet you will find online communities for nearly any game that has ever had one still in effect.
MSG4 (MGO) is a good example of a game thats apparently dead, logged in the other day for a blast. 4 Years on and I still had no problems getting a game.
I don't even own an Xbox and i'm not naive enough to believe LIVE is dying, its quite a laughable statement really.
Considering the Metal Gear Online servers closed in June, I really doubt that.
I may have exagerated when I said the other day but people were saying it was dead within the first year.
4 years later and it still had an active community right up to the point where the servers closed.
From what I've read it seems much harder finding people to play with on PSN, sometimes even when it comes to exclusive games. That's something you rarely experience on Xbox Live.
Those are very high numbers on both consoles.
BOTH communities are large.
No one is saying that it's literally "dead".
I expect the Xbox community to distance itself further since alot of people like me, spent their money on Halo 4 this month and are dying to try out BO2 when i get some money between my hands next month. That and the fact the PS3 Version is to say it mildly, temporarily Fu... Up.
I nearly split my gut. LMAO.
""minus a couple technical features" ... "like chatting"
BAHAHAHA. Do you know how much I am in a Party-Chat? More than I game! (cause I enter one before I launch a game, or remain in one while changing games)
If I wanted to talk to a friend, who was in-game, on PSN - I'd have to call him!
Not saying PSN+ is inferior, but there are plenty here that mock Party chat and say it's not that great. To me and hundreds of thousands of others, it is. That's all I want to point out.
Honestly, that sounds like a nightmare to me. My background is mostly PC gaming and we use Teamspeak or Ventrilo which allows anyone to be doing anything while in chat but it always drove me nuts having someone not in the game or in a different game on comms. The idea that half my team can be in a chat with people talking about god knows what instead of coordinating in the game is something I want no part of and many clans I have seen have similar rules.
That's Cuz some ppl actually do want it while the rest of the gamers would be happy Cuz its a single blow to shut the mouth or fingers of the Xbox fanboys claiming a cross game chatting feature is worth the money.
Ps3 has cross game chat. Its text activated while Xbox live is voice activated.
Wtf? Psn has cross game chat? I must be nuts huh?
EDIT: if its just "party chat" ps3 has it in the form of both text and voice up to 16 ppl.
Seriously, you guys are trying too hard.
PS Vita offers Party-chat for free. Up next PS4.
It's time to stop claiming that party-chat is worth $60 every year.
Also whats up with everyone saying the games are on loan i have 4 games from ps+ and i only got them during the free time they gave me to try it and the games still work months on ??
Other people say getting up to change a disc is no bother.
Different Strokes for different folks.
To be honest I don't really use cross game chat especially playing online because it defeats the purpose. I think it's an overly hyped feature, like backwards compatibility, the majority will most likely not use it. Microsoft even removed that feature for Netflix without any complaints.
OT - Hell no XBL isn't dead. That's just stupid. Yet another classic N4G headline that's designed to get hits. I wish people would do what I do and refuse to play along with this crap. If it didn't work to get hits it would go away or at least become much less frequent.
Okay? Maybe it's a nightmare for you but it's a blessing for me.
It's the games fault if they don't require you to exit party chat to talk to teammates. CS GO requires you exit party chat to play, so does Dark Souls and certain COD playlists. If people wanna stay in party chat and not talk to you in game then they aren't as serious about the match as you anyway and it never mattered to begin with.
You don't need to communicate while playing single player madden or FFA halo 4 anyway so why not join a party chat with someone dicking around in AC3 and talk about how michael bay is F-ing up TMNT?
The bigger question is if PSN get it free on PS4 (as Vita has it now) then don't you think MS should stop charging?
Also if Sony can offer it for free then don't you think MS should not be charging right now as well?
They are using their new moneys to support it.
http://www.egmnow.com/artic...
Next gen I will be a psn & still be a steam user. great times.
MS is the closest to being like apple out of the three companies. imo.
Hell they compete with apple also.
lol I wish steam tried to charge for multi-player. lol it would have one user per day, 80 petitions and would get hacked in the same day.
Xbox users are a weird bunch.
How the heck does PSN people schedule a game?
On XBL, I jump in to the party and when a spot opens up or my friends finish a game, they let me know and I jump in. That makes online gaming with friends sooo much easier.
Can't do that on PSN, so I think most people on par feature wise while PSN gives better value really doesn't use XBL for online gaming *with* their friends.
Is that like a feature??
IDK , don't own Xox but I typically just PM them or invite them to a group chat (works in-game).
If I pick up any random old launch title - and I have a friend who has it too, and we want to play online together - no worries. A game of ChromeHounds anyone (a 3rd party game that came out 6 years ago)? Not a problem. A game of Motorstorm Pacific Rift (a 1st party game that came out 4 years ago) - out of luck, grab a black texta and cross that "online multiplayer" checkpoint off the back of the case.
That's another network maintenance/infrastructure thing that makes the $5 a month worth it to me. And as someone with widely varied taste in games, who is prone to nostalgia on occassion - it suits me.
Not to say PS+ isn't a great service - just putting it out there.
Also, last time I checked, Ms didn't have many genres the ps3 does. Compete with LBP? Nope. Compete with god of war? Nope. Compete with mod nation racers? Nope. So you must have a very small diverse taste in games. Or do you mean you have a widely varied taste in shooters? Cause that's was sells the most and releases the most on the 360.
Also, a lot of the old classic games from the past, can also be bought on the ps3. Yeah Xbox has some exclusive oldies, but so does the ps3.
So to end this, I'm not saying the 360/XBL is a bad service, but just putting it out there.
I've got kart racers and platformers. Those genres aren't exclusive to Sony man.
I believe Sony has more first party shooters than MS anyway this gen.
That being said, online gaming isn't the same without party chat. I went almost a year without a PS3 (it broke, wasn't paying $150 to fix it). It was only after I returned to PSN that I realized how critical Live is to any multiplayer .
Let me give this example. I don't have facebook, I use Live as a social networking tool. I was playing through Fallout: NV a few months back for the 2nd time and spent nearly 2hrs one night playing and catching up with a friend from high school who now lives 9 hours away. I had laready played through the game and didn't need to pay attention to listen to every conversation. I could NEVER picture myself doing this over PSN, where it seems like SONY forces you to stay away from multiplayer.
PS+ is better in terms of value, but Xbox Live is far and away the better service.
Blah hah ha hha hah ha ha funniest thing I heard all year!!!!
Xbox Live is FREE MONEY for Microsoft! It will NEVER DIE!!!
.......and guess what? Next Gen You Sony Lovers will have to pay a Fee too just to play online!
Sony is losing money from it's other business ventures and watching MS make all that FREE Money from Xbox Live has got to have Sony Execs scratching their heads!
Even with the Fee Xbox Gamers were online more than PS3 owners! Xbox Live = FREE Money for MS!
The vita is out, it has crossgamechat, guess how much you have to pay... Zero.
The other day I downloaded Chronosphere and Uncharted on my Vita. Plus ever since I got plus I have a collection of over 10 PS3 games for free.
Xbox live might be better in some aspects but plus provides a lot more value with the extra content. Like Kaz said PlayStation plus was created with the gamers in mind.
Motorola RAZR i
Motorola RAZR i
Sony is also making free money of off Ps Home, but you blind individuals declare that "dead" then add in Ps+ etc..
Although PSN+ is a superior service than XBL (Gold) I wouldnt say XBL is dead since the fanbase is still astronomical.
Just those two features alone make it XBL>SEN.
Just those two features alone make it XBL>SEN."
What? You can't be serious. I think you forgot the /s when you said "stable connection" and "no maintenance."
Yeah, that must be it.
PS+
-----
There is no Playstation Network Plus
There is no PSN+
Not saying either is better I refuse to pay for both but ps+ is a bunch of false advertisement.
Not saying either is better I refuse to pay for both but ps+ is a bunch of false advertisement."
Yeah, stop paying for the Xbox Live Subscription and see how fast your multiplayer gets taken away for the game you rightfully PAID for. I've been with Xbox for 7 years, but I woke the **** up and got tired of paying for access to my multiplayer games that I paid full price for.
You don't understand that there are a lot of naive people out there, not just hardcore gamers that don't know any better, and purchase the Xbox thinking they get Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc once they unpack the system and set it up. Then they get pissed off when they see they have to pay another fee to access all of that when they're already have a subscription to each service.
But that's just like how when you stop paying for Netflix, you don't get to keep watching videos on it.
LOL
Or maybe stop paying for your cable or satellite. I bet you can't watch your tv shows anymore. I bet ya. haha
Gotta love these ''service wars''.
what is going to be the goty?
is far cry really good?
is ps3 dead?
is psn dead? is this or that dead?
why this sucks
why so and so in the gaming industry is stupid.
ect
ect
but then again you get your reviews all in one convenient place here on n4g amongst all of (imo) the bs around here.
-1 for this site.
Maybe something like: "psn+ extends reach and appeal over former crowned opponent live." - something like that but shorter..
Also i find live a better online experience than psn. Yes paying £40 a year for free rent of games is a good idea but for me this dont work as i buy games i want on day one.
We are all different and have different needs. For me live fits my needs better than psn so thats the one i pay for.
I do expect ms to change live alittle when the next xbox comes along but i also expect sony to change psn next gen to.
But if they bundled it INTO THE SERVICE they would raise the price of PS+ which would instantly make them look bad, instead offering discounts on linked services, is a better option I mean thats $1 per month of Music Unlimited! SERIOUSLY
Have never had an issue paying for live or ever questioned myself for doing so.will never do either & will continue to enjoy my choice. ( now to prepare for the disagrees for the use of Free Will)
Note that I am also a ps+ member and I enjoy this service a lot, but there are some issues with it too (games in NA are usually not as good as in EU, I own most of the games that are offered, the games are just rented, not bought, the author says that we are getting 63 full games a year when in fact, they are not always full games or even ps3 games (like starhawk, which only had the campaign but no mp, some are psone and arcade games), etc.) And downloading games takes FOREVER! and when you think you can finally play the game after waiting for 4 hours, you realize that you have to wait another 2 hours to install the game!
I feel it's unfair to compare both because you are not paying for the same thing - great (and convivial) social networking capabilities vs game rental.
I'm no fanboy, but my habits speak for themselves - I will usually buy my multiplatform games on xbox and only use my ps3 for first party games. Of course, my decision is mostly motivated by the facts that most of my friends own a 360, not a ps3...
And yes, that title is totally misleading.
Yeah, when I saw crackle get an app for the 360 before the ps3 I was mystified, as that is a Sony thing. lol
Either way I like how you nitpick PS+ for issues that are clearly non issues outside of a minorities personal preference/experiance while only showing praise towards Xbox Live. But no, you're not showing even the slightest signs of fanboyism.
Have been a live consumer & fan for 5 years now.
Have never had an issue paying for live or ever questioned myself for doing so.will never do either & will continue to enjoy my choice. ( now to prepare for the disagrees for the use of Free Will)
Also why is that people who refuse or don't want something ,think that other people who are willing to pay for it assume those people are clueless to what their doing or dare question their actions.
I will tell you that IMO i am NOT getting ripped off as I am paying for a service that I feel is worth my money (since I have enough money to pay for XBL)that has features NOT found on other consoles.
Who are you to tell me how much features are worth to me?
I also pay for quality HD channels from my cable company. Am I being ripped off because I pay extra for channels that are available in SD?
I am getting something of higher quality from MS then what Sony or Nintendo is offering me on an online standpoint. Simple as that. Because it's of higher quality, then I am willing to pay a certain fee to obtain the rights to use it.
At under $5 a month, I can tell you I am not being ripped off. If you think getting certain online features that are not found on other consoles at a price under $5 a month is getting "ripped off", then you either:
- have LITTLE money
- Never had an XBL gold account
People buy a single $5 coffee from Starbucks
People pay $3 service charges from withdrawing cash from a bank machine each time they do it
People pay $10 on a taxi just to go 3 blocks to work instead of paying $3 for the bus....
$5 a month for the most robust online gaming service on any home console which has MORE features then any other home consoles online service available is NOTHING. It's not even worth arguing about and certainly NOT a "rip off".
So in MY opinion, XBL is certainly MUCH better then PSN.
Even if PS+ offers some great things, and it does, Xbox Live has over 200,000 years worth of time spent on it.
No XBLG no multi player!
Is the PSN that bad that people would rather pay MS than to use Sony free servies.
The one big thing that I see is this, the 360 came out first soooooooo, a lot of people bought it.
Hell, even I have one even though I rarely use it.
But, if most if not all of your friends bought a 360 and are on XBLG, then you're most likely going to gravitate towards that system. I use to think that it was the best online service for consoles until, Sony improved PSN and PS+!!
Now, I refuse to pay just to play MP with my friends when I can do it for free on my PC, PS3, and PSV!
Ps everyone that wants to bring up game chat as the sole reason for paying to play online can stfu
only reason ps3 doesn't have it is system ram limitation.
Personally I have always liked Xbox Live because of its ease of use and infrastructure. PSN+ offers games on loan, which is great, but the + didn't really change anything else on PSN, its the same setup now as when it launched, and I understand they cant offer Party Chart due to memory limitations, but what about sending voice messages or single 1on1 chat?
I think for me personally its about ease of use, the layout is really nice to look at, friends are easy to find, it's really set up like a social network and that is what I think a lot of gamers want.
To each their own, but comparing PSN+ to XBL is apples to oranges.
I'm not "dissing" your mother, just stating my opinion on the subject. I owned a PS3 for a long time, and there is a lot of games on the console that I really enjoy, but the online portion wasn't something I looked forward to or enjoyed, as far as single player games and exclusives they are great though.
Xbox Live is becoming for me more than just a way to play games.
I watched UFC 154 GSP vs Condit on Xbox Live and it worked perfectly, in HD and for $38 instead of the $60 I normally pay for UFC fights.
With their deals with Fox, The UFC, and Hulu, Xbox Live is stronger than ever. The story is almost laughable.
Also for a long time PS owner you don't seem to know much about it. Your lack of knowledge regarding the system and PS+ makes me wonder why you even bothered commenting...
Xbox Live Gold members get a lot of early content, DLC, Demos and beta's that others don't get or get at a later date. You can choose to download items while your console is off as well, I'm not sure its me that hasn't done homework on the subject.
I didn't say PSN was terrible, I said it wasn't user friendly and I prefer Xbox Live. Nothing more, nothing less.
MGO has been gone for a while now, how is it possible to check if people are still playing?
@born2live ur just being a troll dont act like ur not based on ur post i fin it hard to believe u have a ps3 at all
People, if you wanna pay for Live, go right ahead. There's nobody who can force you not to(unless it's actually your parents who are paying for it and they decide not to).
But I seriously find it hard to believe that all these people wouldn't rather have SOME part of Live be free, or rather not have to pay at all. I think PS+ is worth it, but if I didn't have to spend a penny to get it, I'd much rather do that.
What I hear from Live supporters, though, is that they're HAPPY to pay. Doesn't matter to them that they could and SHOULD be getting at least something like gaming online for free. Doesn't matter that, despite paying, they're subjected to ads(where they are or how big they are is irrelevant; the simple fact that you PAY and they're still there is an insult- and no, the newspaper/magazine analogy doesn't work).
It's almost as if they say they want to pay out of spite.
Well, go ahead and waste your money, if that's the case.
I just wish the less ignorant among Live subscribers would at LEAST see that, yes, there ARE things you shouldn't be paying for.
Not that I expect that acknowledgement out of too many around here...
The problem is not that we don't think that cross-game chat is worth $60 per year. It's the fact that you are forced by Microsoft to pay it each year and have been for years. The main reason people pay for XBL is not because of XGC but because they want to connect and play online on their console of choice, and the only way they can do that is to pay Microsoft.
That is the problem, and THAT is not worth the entry fee alone, nor is it a valid charge for a consumer. Steam is free, PSN is free, and PS Vita gives you cross-game chat for free and so will PS4. There's little to no doubt there. Every other company is flexible and reasonable with their pricing models. Steam is much, MUCH more flexible and an all round better service than XBL and Valve give it you for free, and throw in incredible sales several times a year, every year.
You can try and justify it all you want, but the fact is, Microsoft are unreasonable and give you absolutely no choice. Never have done, probably never will and it's saddening that a multi-billion dollar company cannot be reasonable with its customers especially when it's as simple as opening up am avenue of choice. Xbox Live is a gold mine (excuse the pun), and Microsoft will not sacrifice that, at least not whilst their customers are so willing to pay for things other services give you for free.
When PS4 comes out and (because it will have the RAM to perform these background tasks as well as game), you will see how ridiculous it is for MS to charge even for basic connection to half the games you own. Remember, I have no problem with Microsoft giving you the option to pay for these "certain features" (nor do I have a problem with Sony adding similar features to PS+), but charging a premium price for basic connectivity to your games is inherently wrong, and one of the main reasons I don't subscribe to Microsoft.
an xbox doom article?!?
1. Xbox gamers completely abandoning the next Xbox altogether. Seen as Live is such an essential part of the Xbox experience gamers will need to forget about the next Xbox totally.
2. If the PS4 online service is vastly superior to live next gen gamers will likely choose the PS4 over Xbox 720 killing Xbox live.
That's a big if. I don't see it happening because Live is such a huge part of the whole xbox experience. Sony will probably never be able to out do MS on that part because both services are software based and we all know MS does software very well. They invest more in that sort of thing. No doubt the next gen PSN will be an improvement but I don't see MS giving away any ground to Sony or Nintendo in that arena. They lead the way with xbox live and I don't see it changing any time soon.
Also if you look back at the past 5 years MS online offering remains relatively unchanged(except for a new internet browser). It seems MS are comfortable with their online offerings/structure to not want to change leading to next gen(especially since its Live service is worth a 1 billion). MS's online service fee seems to be working with consumers and with demand comes supply with MS not needing to change anything.
Sony know that their online service was one of the key factors for their dismal sales at launch. This makes it likely they will try everything in order to put their service on par with MS. Significant steps Sony have taken to show this have been in the Vita service(i.e. cross game chat and sleeker presentation)and in them acquiring Gaikai. And with the likelihood of these features being free and MS service being paid there is a slight possibility that PS4 online service could be better then Live next gen.
I think, however, that what is not being sufficiently considered is the inroads that Xbox Live has made into other media.
For Example, I watched UFC 154 on Xbox Live instead of my Dish Network PPV, for the first time and had no problem, and intend to watch every UFC PPC event on Xbox Live after this "test".
Xbox Live has Deals with the UFC, Fox and Hulu just to name a few.
With all due respect to Sony, Xbox Live is leaps and bounds ahead of PSN.
No one plays Online for free. Whether you are a PC gamer or PS3 gamer. You might think it is but in reality you still have to pay for that internet connection to get online.
I pay $50 a year for Live so that my service isn't down for MONTHS.
PSN- Hazardman79
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