This has been a bit of a quiet launch but the Sony Entertainment Network (aka. SEN) has now launched full bells & whistles, replacing the Playstation Network (aka. PSN) & Playstation Store.
(PS Vita, PS3, PSP)
I've been a diehard PS3 supporter from the start, but I won't deny that connecting with friends is definitely easier on XBL. SEN has some cool features, but even as someone who believes that Sony's offering is better all around, I can't just say that SEN is hands down better in every way than XBL. It just wouldn't be true. It can be a real pain to get a group of people together for a gaming session, especially one that spans several different games. Having to text chat half the time sucks (if they're in another game).
SEN is far from flawless. I love it, and will continue to support it, but there are other services that have it beat in some areas. Some pretty important areas too, to someone who plays online games a lot. I know PS4 will and Vita has improved on this... And I know that Sony will definitely come out swinging now that SEN is getting a "relaunch" so to speak, which is happening as a new console generation nears. By the time E3 passes, it very well may turn out that MS has a lot to worry about with XBL, but as it stands now XBL still offers features that a lot of online gamers really enjoy, and I can't fault them for that. I've found myself getting frustrated with PS3's communication system enough times to relate.
Each respective network has it's own advantage depending on what you want out of it.
However, as long as (lots of) people are willing to pay for the features XBL offers then Sony is still behind in some crucial area. As you said, the crown jewel of XBL is the foresight that socialness and communication is key to enjoyable online gaming.
Sony really needs to work on their user interface, which lags far behind MS (not that MS is perfect, they aren't even close).
I don't think Microsoft is worried though, I have a feeling all that money we've been pooling towards them for the last 7 years has been going to some good development for a total overhaul of XBL, much like a car in the auto industry:
XBL has seen it's UI improvements and such over the years, just like a model refresh in cars, and every 5-8 years, cars get totally new designs and tech, which I believe is logical for XBL now that Sony has a comparable/somewhat superior in terms of value offering.
BUT, Sony better get some god damn party chat/cross game chat figured out for PS4 because it's kinda terrible that they don't yet, as stated above, it makes things A LOT easier. Oh, and Sony should pack in a mic with every PS4
For a FREE service compared to a paid service, Sony's online offering is better. Add Plus and it wipes the floor with it. It's nice too that you don't get bombarded with ads.
PSN has Cross-game Party chat on PS Vita for FREE and up next on PS4.
THE ONLY REASON people pay for XBL is because they can't play online without it. Let's be honest about that. Everything else is trivial, most of which is already offered free of charge on PSN (i.e. Netflix).
One thing Sony constantly fails to do is market. Had this been XBL there would have been a good deal of marketing and advertising of this feature.
THey need to really work on the for the PS4, because that's one of the main reasons why the 360 has beat them so bad in the US. Hype does a lot for a console, even if it's PR talk.
This is mostly a name change, as Sony hasn't done much of anything (as far as I can tell). You want to provide a message, when there is something to tell.
its not even that, PSN is still the Name of the network store on the PS3 and the PSVita. SEN is the Holding company Name for Sony's network as a whole. the sen name did not replace The PSN name.
even after this update, its still PSN on your PS3, its just now your PSN account log in and PW. will also work on SEN!
People:
the "Playstation Network" is still called Playstation Network the name is not getting changed, who ever started spreading this rumor need's to stop spreading this information because they are wrong.
Xbox live is good, yes but with psn you get free online play. I've had the same connection problems on psn as I've had on XBL. XBL is more stable though. That said, that 50$ you speak of is coo but take that same 50$ to ps+ and you will get a free game collection... Plus they add more free games weekly.(over $300 worth of games a year) While with XBL you get... Online multiplayer ... Same 50$ you get just that. People see this and realize how much things would be better if XBL offered somethin more. Ill take 50$ free game-collection & free online multiplayer over $50 online multiplayer. But no judgment here, I didn't even disagree with you, if your satisfied with what you have then its worth it IMO.
I've actually had a worse experience over Live than I have over the PSN. (In terms of something coming up where I can't play with friends.) Sure, I or you could have been unlucky with things like that happening. The fact of the matter is though, if I'm going to pay for a service that's supposed to be about playing online with friends, I expect it to work. Why pay when I get the same experience out of something free?
IMO I don't think so. Both are great services but if Xbox Live Gold was free, it's obvious Live is the better service. A huge selling point is the party chat system which PS3 DOESN'T have.
Like I said, this is my opinion. I love both services. But tbh I don't care about the free games PSN+ offers, free themes/pics, sales, early access to betas. The huge reason I like Xbox Live service is because of party chat where I can talk to any of my friends all in one party. Everything else that I CARE ABOUT, is pretty much the same on both online services.
Ok... Read last sentence again. I understood your opinion and don't disagree, I was simply implying why people think otherwise about XBL and its worth Compared to ps+...... Oh and what kind of gamer DOSE NOT like free games?!?!!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!!!!!?? !???!?!?!?!?!!???!?!???!!?!!!! . ........?!!?!????? That, my friend is the 1,000 dollar question.
I got rid of Live Gold about five years ago. Since then I have played completely online with my PS3 because I feel playing online should be free; no ifs, ands or buts.
With that said, I feel Live Gold ran better. I was never disconnected from it, while I have lost count of the number of times I have been disconnected from PSN to this day. The updates are also a pain on PSN.
Since becoming a PS+ member midway last year, I could not be happier with the amount of content I get access to for subscribing to the service. I know some will say it is not free. To that I ask, what does MS give to Gold members, access to features that should be free like Netflix? I'll wait.
Bottom line for me: Xbox 360 and Live Gold = Better Service for multiplayer on consoles. PS3 and PS+ = Best overall value in consoles.
Don't get it twisted. I completely support both my MS and Sony gaming products but I can clearly see that both have their positives and negatives.
just seeing that you have 4 more bubbles then you should have and that you have 4x more agrees then disagrees prove that this site is heavily Pro Sony.
And you've got two more bubbles than you should have.
It's a positive Sony article; should it be full of disagrees?
Would you be saying the same thing if it'd been the other way around and this was about a Microsoft service? Of course not.
Agree/disagree rates prove very little, except that people either agree or disagree with a given comment. You act like no pro-Microsoft comment on a pro-Microsoft article has ever resulted in a high number of agrees. Hell, pro-Microsoft comments on anti-Sony articles get high numbers of agrees.
And what exactly are you even in this article for? To find one particular comment you could single out and respond to? No intention of addressing the article itself?
It should've stayed PSN! SEN in short sounds stupid and most people say in short just like XBL. Either way it's SEN now so guess we gotta deal with it.
It's kind of weird that I first heard of the new store redesign and SEN replacing the PSN name was during the 24 days of the PSN being down! Finally seeing both of those things in action. Good, bad? We'll see.
coz i think sony is moving all the company in the gaming area and restart the business from the only one good market they still have....
but looking at how this gen end....Sony cant continue to do the arrogant trying to put down other company offering free services that need money to run.
While most of gamers think that sony BEING GOOD WITH US....i think sony used ps2 money thinkin to "cut the legs" to MS...in the war ps3 vs x360 offering web browser and online gaming for free
but we all know how it end....and this mean with 40+ millions of users paying for XBL making grow that service more than PSN could ...they tryed to fix something with PSN+ but the base was already used to HAVE THING FOR FREE.....so at the end they just lost their money...coz it didnt make any effect on the x360 market.
now the rivals r again here ...MS and Sony.....(sorry for the nintendo users eh...but still nintendo isnt an SERIOUS gaming machine yeah there r a lots of cooooool games...but r nothing compared to xbox an ps...we will see what happen with the wii U ..maybe they will fight on the same market and not with casual games vs no one ....if not the kinect in the end of the gen)
And i think (and ...HOPE) that sony dont do again the same mistake
A company need to make money...for this reason i laugh everytime i read ...ps surpass ms in sales.....sales in itself dosnt mean nothing.....Analyst look at sales coz most of the time for every sale is supposed to have a profit....not a loss for 4 or 5 years
but when u have a high price production cost....and a FREE online service to offer...and ur base ask for new IPs that must be exlusive! ( that is the sony brand MARK) so u need to buy and pay good devs to keep them under ur wings.....well all of this become hard..to sustain....
if u love ps.....u should ask for a good priced service...
i had ( i say had coz i sold the ps3 just osme week ago) both service and while i kept my x360 just for the apps on the xbl.....i gone online with the ps3 just 4 or 5 times in 2 year....and everyone with a brain over the head..should see clerly the difference between this two service....from the interface....to everything else......also the new browser of the xbox is spectacular (waiting that the streaming service go in html5!!!)
this isnt a trolling comment....
ps. i ended my bubble coz on here is hard to receive bubbles when u say something that ps fanboys dont like...so sorry ill no answer anymore in this convo :)
i dont give a damn what xblg has to offer.. SEN offers so much more & with nx gen, it will definitely be superior.. There may be differences & all but i know that sony now sees their errors with the limited memory on PS3 & how it effected everything... Vita is a handheld & its great with cross game chat n all.. What u think is gonna happen when PS4 gets here? lol ps plus with it? lol xbl is a joke.. user friendly & smoother overall but not enough to pay for & that will be short lived
PSN still exist, its what you call the network that your PS devices use for gaming. SEN is the over-all name for all of the networks (PSN, Music Unlimated, etc)
Why does EVERYONE think the PSN is no-more and is getting "replaced" by SEN? Doesn't ANY journalist do the slightest of research?
PSN (PlayStation Network) is STILL the name of the gaming network, SEN (Sony Entertainment Network) is Sony's main "single-password" service, it allows users to use only one password for All of Sony's services, almost like an Apple ID!!
Services like Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, The PlayStation Store, and yes, PlayStation Network are ALL part of the single-password "Sony Entertainment Network" - PSN is STILL ACTIVE and is STILL NAMED PSN! I DON'T GET what's so hard to understand about that!!
Network wise, depends on your connection. Where you live as well.
Don't have much probs with PSN, and neither with live when I had it.
I do hope the UI on the PS4 is totally different from PS3.
Needs to be more user friendly, and options closed down and only open when you want them in view etc. Trophies could be displayed all the time on right side. Crosschat should be on PS4.
I'd be very surprised if that was the case - I think more that they're trying to integrate things across the board. The Playstation brand is pretty well-known and very valuable.
I notice that too after i tried going to my PSN account it went and changes too SEC SONY ENTERTAINMENT. I guess their trying to merge all their division into one so u don't have to create a secondary account which is good. cause i have a SONY WALKMAN Z android mp3 player and planing on buying the XPERIA Z when it comes out
i have plus and for me its a waste of 50 bucks they give u a bunch of games u either beat already or never wanna play and i think it is still bs u have to have plus just to get ur trophies to sink up daily.. i mainly play on ps3 but plus for me is trash. but only good thing is when it expires atleast im not paying to play online
Free is always because that money can go to better things. (Game releated)Like gamefly,new headsets,controllers,HDD. Used laptop for game stuff. You get the point.
0°
10°
30°
0°
Ad 
10°
Hey, all I have is Playstation hardware. It's an actual fact for me what @Batzi wrote.
I realize I am being purely subjective, but Playstation as a service and product has treated me well. That's all I know.
@Batzi No you didn't? Why people always feel the need to start something?
I for one prefer SEN/PSN, but I respect your opinion if you like XBL more.
SEN is far from flawless. I love it, and will continue to support it, but there are other services that have it beat in some areas. Some pretty important areas too, to someone who plays online games a lot. I know PS4 will and Vita has improved on this... And I know that Sony will definitely come out swinging now that SEN is getting a "relaunch" so to speak, which is happening as a new console generation nears. By the time E3 passes, it very well may turn out that MS has a lot to worry about with XBL, but as it stands now XBL still offers features that a lot of online gamers really enjoy, and I can't fault them for that. I've found myself getting frustrated with PS3's communication system enough times to relate.
However, as long as (lots of) people are willing to pay for the features XBL offers then Sony is still behind in some crucial area. As you said, the crown jewel of XBL is the foresight that socialness and communication is key to enjoyable online gaming.
Sony really needs to work on their user interface, which lags far behind MS (not that MS is perfect, they aren't even close).
XBL has seen it's UI improvements and such over the years, just like a model refresh in cars, and every 5-8 years, cars get totally new designs and tech, which I believe is logical for XBL now that Sony has a comparable/somewhat superior in terms of value offering.
BUT, Sony better get some god damn party chat/cross game chat figured out for PS4 because it's kinda terrible that they don't yet, as stated above, it makes things A LOT easier. Oh, and Sony should pack in a mic with every PS4
Psn guy here but can't argue with your comment
+bubble
on PS Vita for FREE and up next on PS4.
THE ONLY REASON people pay for XBL is because they can't play online without it. Let's be honest about that.
Everything else is trivial, most of which is already offered free of charge on PSN (i.e. Netflix).
THey need to really work on the for the PS4, because that's one of the main reasons why the 360 has beat them so bad in the US. Hype does a lot for a console, even if it's PR talk.
This is mostly a name change, as Sony hasn't done much of anything (as far as I can tell). You want to provide a message, when there is something to tell.
"This is mostly a name change,"
its not even that, PSN is still the Name of the network store on the PS3 and the PSVita. SEN is the Holding company Name for Sony's network as a whole. the sen name did not replace The PSN name.
even after this update, its still PSN on your PS3, its just now your PSN account log in and PW. will also work on SEN!
People:
the "Playstation Network" is still called Playstation Network the name is not getting changed, who ever started spreading this rumor need's to stop spreading this information because they are wrong.
Every time I've played a game on PSN something always "comes up " or isn't working properly.
It's expected and it doesn't suck, but xbox live is worth the $50.
It's the price of 1 game you will buy over 365 days.
Just don't buy one game this year and there is your $50.
How can people spend $300 on games....and complain about $50 for GOOD internet for a full 12 months ?
Like I said, this is my opinion. I love both services. But tbh I don't care about the free games PSN+ offers, free themes/pics, sales, early access to betas. The huge reason I like Xbox Live service is because of party chat where I can talk to any of my friends all in one party. Everything else that I CARE ABOUT, is pretty much the same on both online services.
That, my friend is the 1,000 dollar question.
I got rid of Live Gold about five years ago. Since then I have played completely online with my PS3 because I feel playing online should be free; no ifs, ands or buts.
With that said, I feel Live Gold ran better. I was never disconnected from it, while I have lost count of the number of times I have been disconnected from PSN to this day. The updates are also a pain on PSN.
Since becoming a PS+ member midway last year, I could not be happier with the amount of content I get access to for subscribing to the service. I know some will say it is not free. To that I ask, what does MS give to Gold members, access to features that should be free like Netflix? I'll wait.
Bottom line for me:
Xbox 360 and Live Gold = Better Service for multiplayer on consoles.
PS3 and PS+ = Best overall value in consoles.
Don't get it twisted. I completely support both my MS and Sony gaming products but I can clearly see that both have their positives and negatives.
edit: for the record i didn't agree or disagree with either of you.
It's a positive Sony article; should it be full of disagrees?
Would you be saying the same thing if it'd been the other way around and this was about a Microsoft service? Of course not.
Agree/disagree rates prove very little, except that people either agree or disagree with a given comment. You act like no pro-Microsoft comment on a pro-Microsoft article has ever resulted in a high number of agrees. Hell, pro-Microsoft comments on anti-Sony articles get high numbers of agrees.
And what exactly are you even in this article for? To find one particular comment you could single out and respond to? No intention of addressing the article itself?
No real surprise, there.
Oh wait :P
most people don't get that.
but looking at how this gen end....Sony cant continue to do the arrogant trying to put down other company offering free services that need money to run.
While most of gamers think that sony BEING GOOD WITH US....i think sony used ps2 money thinkin to "cut the legs" to MS...in the war ps3 vs x360 offering web browser and online gaming for free
but we all know how it end....and this mean with 40+ millions of users paying for XBL making grow that service more than PSN could ...they tryed to fix something with PSN+ but the base was already used to HAVE THING FOR FREE.....so at the end they just lost their money...coz it didnt make any effect on the x360 market.
now the rivals r again here ...MS and Sony.....(sorry for the nintendo users eh...but still nintendo isnt an SERIOUS gaming machine yeah there r a lots of cooooool games...but r nothing compared to xbox an ps...we will see what happen with the wii U ..maybe they will fight on the same market and not with casual games vs no one ....if not the kinect in the end of the gen)
And i think (and ...HOPE) that sony dont do again the same mistake
A company need to make money...for this reason i laugh everytime i read ...ps surpass ms in sales.....sales in itself dosnt mean nothing.....Analyst look at sales coz most of the time for every sale is supposed to have a profit....not a loss for 4 or 5 years
but when u have a high price production cost....and a FREE online service to offer...and ur base ask for new IPs that must be exlusive! ( that is the sony brand MARK) so u need to buy and pay good devs to keep them under ur wings.....well all of this become hard..to sustain....
if u love ps.....u should ask for a good priced service...
i had ( i say had coz i sold the ps3 just osme week ago) both service and while i kept my x360 just for the apps on the xbl.....i gone online with the ps3 just 4 or 5 times in 2 year....and everyone with a brain over the head..should see clerly the difference between this two service....from the interface....to everything else......also the new browser of the xbox is spectacular (waiting that the streaming service go in html5!!!)
this isnt a trolling comment....
ps. i ended my bubble coz on here is hard to receive bubbles when u say something that ps fanboys dont like...so sorry ill no answer anymore in this convo :)
pss. sorry for my english
http://www.sonyentertainmen...
PSN (PlayStation Network) is STILL the name of the gaming network, SEN (Sony Entertainment Network) is Sony's main "single-password" service, it allows users to use only one password for All of Sony's services, almost like an Apple ID!!
Services like Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, The PlayStation Store, and yes, PlayStation Network are ALL part of the single-password "Sony Entertainment Network" - PSN is STILL ACTIVE and is STILL NAMED PSN! I DON'T GET what's so hard to understand about that!!
Don't have much probs with PSN, and neither with live when I had it.
I do hope the UI on the PS4 is totally different from PS3.
Needs to be more user friendly, and options closed down and only open when you want them in view etc. Trophies could be displayed all the time on right side. Crosschat should be on PS4.
Soooo disappointed.