430°

The PlayStation Network is one big step ahead of Xbox Live

StickSkills said, "Brick-and-mortar stores won’t disappear overnight. I still love adding a new, clean box to my personal shelf of games. But like CDs and DVDs, physical copies of games will go out of style. Luckily for Sony, it already has a rock-solid service that caters to the needs of a download-dependant world."

Read Full Story >>
stickskills.com
JoGam4102d ago

I didnt see it at first just put faith in it day one however Playstation Plus is my hero. I saved so much money with all those games free and when they gave me Music Unlimited for $12 that alone blew my mind. Cant wait to see next gen Playstation Plus.

Lionheart3774102d ago

The strides Plus has made since it first appeared are truly impressive. It'll be fun to watch what it does next.

b163o14102d ago

I started out with the 3month sub, and after 2weeks I went ahead and got the year sub. It offers so much that I actually am running out of HD space. Now they have this 13 for $13 sale, which is giving games away for pennies on the dollar. Sony your the BEST!

PS Plus + NextGenPS= :DDDDD

blackbeld4102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

Yep,

The reason I bought PS3 is free online and a lot AAA exclusive games. With Plus you got even Free games.

Mortal Kombat 9
Mass Effect 2
LBP 1 & 2
Bulletstorm
Limbo
Infamous 2
Warhammer 40000
and a lot more..
and a lot more is coming...

MikeMyers4102d ago

If Sony can continue to fine-tune its service while keeping the core element free they will definitely have the upper hand. If Microsoft continues to gel the ability to play online with all the other services to force gamers to pay then they will continue to face an uphill battle. With the Steambox coming out and Nintendo improving its situation and Sony making online a priority Microsoft will look like the odd man out. It's not like 2002 anymore where the competition was severely lacking in this area.

HappyGaming4102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

Stop saying its free.
I love PS+ its amazing and sooo worth the money.
But it makes all those games extremely cheap but not free. You are still paying 50 quid a year for those games and OR a small charge for seriously discounted games.

My only fear is that I hope the PS + continues to offer such great value for money into the PS4 stage and that this isn't just a transition to turn PSN into Xbox live.

Of course online gaming is going to be free but I hope they don't limit features on the PS4 for people with no subscription and just keep PS+ as a free game and discount service!

That way we continue winning (Y)

Edit: I forgot to mention the lovely thing is that when you buy the discounted games for dirty cheap and your PS + runs out you can still play them. Love that feature :P

Temporary4101d ago

I signed up for PS+ this summer, and I'll never turn if off for as long as I own a playstation device.

All the free games, and yes they're free, compared to what you get with LIVE this is a dream come true.

Haters will continue to hate ... yeah if you quit paying your 50 per year, you lose some of the games. Well Im a gamer and I finish games that I play, I dont just let them sit there for a year and then get upset that i cant play it anymore if i decide to cancel PS+.

There's nothing bad anyone can say about the service, the negativity is biased and unustified.

pixelsword4101d ago (Edited 4101d ago )

Double post, Double post, boil and trouble post,

Clone like post turn into rubble!

pixelsword4101d ago

Although I don't dislike either XBL or Plus, I'm a huge net-neutrality supporter in that I don't think things should be charged for when they are normally free; also when they ram ads down your throat like how XBL charges to play on the internet you're already paying for, plus you get ads. That's like cable because of the concept of cable giving commercials on top of a paid service; you should be getting at least no commercials, if not a permanent live stream of every show and broadcast on television

I haven't got Plus yet, and I probably won't this gen, but I must admit that Plus is a very tempting offer in that for the service you GET games instead of nothing. That's not breaking any net-neutral concepts in that you don't normally get games for free. Heck, even Steam gives games for free cone to think about it.

So Plus/Steam is like a game rental service in that you don't get to keep the games, but you can play the crud out of them.

If I ever break my net-neutrality, self-imposed word; I'll break it on Plus first, Steam second, and, if my friends won't let me play my or their games on the 360, XBL last.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4101d ago
Dwalls11714102d ago

In my opinion playstation network has always been superior 2 Xbox Live... their is no competing with somthing that is free... and once playstation plus came in to existence it just added fuel to the fire

UnholyLight4101d ago

Id say this article is a little late to the ball. I will admit PS+ is a great alternative to XBL (I am an XBL subscriber). Better get these articles out of the way because it's all going to mean nothing soon haha.

Both Microsoft and Sony I expect to see a HUGE revamping of services. Personally I can see Microsoft especially making a huge restructuring due to the fact that standard PSN is at parity with XBL for the most part. No doubts in my mind that all the money I have spent plus the millions of other people who paid for XBL contributed to some HUGE changes come next gen. That's what makes me feel alright about paying.

4102d ago
showtimefolks4101d ago

i signed up after e3 last year and has been worth ir more than anything else gaming wise. i just used my plus membership to get some games from 13/13 dead and saved in process $20 bucks

i believe xblive should be free service and there should be benefits for paying like sony has with plus

when psn gets cross game chat with ps4 than what does xblive has that psn doesn't?

atleast for me its a big turnoff when it comes to xbox brand that i have to pay to play on top of sometimes paying $10 for online passes too

miDnIghtEr20C_SfF4101d ago

LMAO, how can the games be free if you have to keep paying to keep them? So if you stop paying for PSN+, you keep your games?

No. You are RENTING games for a monthly fee.

It's incredible how the die hard Sony fanboys don't see it. Ya, sure, PSN+ is fine and dandy, but jesus, how can people keep pretending to themselves that they are getting free games when they are paying a monthly fee?

It's kooky. It's like me saying I'm playing online my games for free, but I pay a monthly fee for Live. I get rid of paying for Live, I don't game online anymore. I get rid of my PSN+ subscription, and I don't have those "free" games to play anymore.

=/=

Temporary4101d ago (Edited 4101d ago )

lol midnight, youre an idiot...

360, you pay to use online portion of your games, you get no kickbacks at all.

PS+ You automatically add over 24 games to your collection, yeah you're "renting" some of them, but for 50 a year who the fuck cares. Ive saved over 400 dollars if you tally up all the free games i've beaten from PS+. And I just downloaded Street Fighter 4 and Bioshock 2...2 more games I can play unlimitedly for as long as im paying my 50 dollars a year.

That's VALUE for the dollar, not like with LIVE where youre FORCED to pay just to play online.

Get out of here with that nonsense...PS+ is the shit...and it kills you inside. lol

Edit: If I pay 50 dollars a year for 3 meals a day, everyday of the year. When I make the payment Jan 1st, the rest of that year I'll be saying "I eat for free", cause you dont have to worry about food anymore. With PS+ I dont have to worry about games.

5eriously4101d ago (Edited 4101d ago )

@miDnIghtEr20C_SfF: ... What a stupid way to reason? Lets do a calc. Minus (-) what I payed for PS+, plus (+) the value I downloaded for free from PSN then add a value to all the other benefits I got like online multiplayer for free, betas in advance, trials, demo's, discounts and just too much to mention, then memorize that figure,(Tip: it's realy a positive (+) (plus) value in $$$ just in case you maybe made a small but obviously deliberate calculation error), then do the same calculation for eXBox + Live then lets see who are in the $$$'s saving and who are in the naughts 000's. Problem is that fans like you love enriching M$ for what? A console that should have been much cheaper than it's been through it's generation due to its bloated and inflated true value. M$ conned you all and you paid much more for the console and the live service than what's it's really worth. Proof of that is the many times M$ could drop the price of their console in a failed attempt to stunt the Sony PS3's growth (take note M$ failed), yet whilst M$ still maintaining a healthy profit margin without altering anything in the hardware manufacturing to save costs. That means it was really overpriced before the actual price drop. Mostly Sony had a price drop because they reduced manufacturing costs by introducing changes.
eXBox fans just cannot manage to fathom that or think straight with a small little bit of logic added. Fathom that if you can.

Quiescent4101d ago

Look at your one bubble. You only get one.

shutUpAndTakeMyMoney4101d ago (Edited 4101d ago )

PlayStation support is one big step ahead of Xbox support. Ps3 only console with new AAA games coming and xbox has gears 4.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4101d ago
Chaostar4102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

Both services have their strengths and weaknesses but as PSN evolves into something spectacular I find myself wondering how Microsoft are going to justify a cost for their service next gen. Cross-game chat will come to PS4, of this I'm 99.999% sure, where then will the XBL zealots turn to in an argument in favour of paying for their service?

As for digital download services, Sony's aquisition of Gaikai (did I spell it right?) does seem to give them a leg-up in that department, however, afaik, we haven't seen or heard anything from MS regarding streaming games (yet?).

Ezz20134102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

i agree with every thing else you said

but what i love about psn+ is the games i get to download for "Free"

i would take that any day over paying for live to get voice chat

plus if i don't want to pay i still go online to pretty much every thing for free

while you still have to pay for that on live like it or not

sony give you the option while MS don't

CommonSenseGamer4102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

I purchase most of my games second hand as its more cost effective. However, since Sony introduced on-line passes its been cheaper for me to buy them for the 360. Pure and simple because a 12 month sub for gold is less expensive than buying 4 online passes (assuming I only buy 4 second hand multiplayer games over that same 12 months).

PS+ on the other hand is a fantastic subscription service and MS could def learn from this.

Ezz20134102d ago

@commonsensegamer

well, i don't share your opinion but i have to respect it

fucadastates4102d ago

@CommonSenseGamer alot of my second hand games on xbox.... has.. onlinepass..

princeofthabay4102d ago

@commonsensegamer what mulitplat game on ps3 has an online pass that 360 doesn't?

HorrorGod4102d ago

@CommonSenseGamer

The "online pass" was not created/introduced by Sony. Both PS3 and XBOX have it on select games. Now please change your N4G ID...

Hicken4101d ago

Another failed comment by CommonSenseGamer.

Any game with an online pass on PS3 has one on 360. Your example is stupid, because you'd have to pay for the online passes for ALL those games AND 12 months of Live.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4101d ago
Neko_Mega4102d ago

Sorry but I have to say you are kind of wrong, XBL is has more weakness then PS+.

Mostly do to you needing it to: Play online, use Netflix or anything like it and the cost.

The bad thing about PS+ is once it ends you lose the free stuff if you don't rejoin (Which kind of sucks, but it was smart on their part to do that).

AmkOwns4102d ago

And the good thing about that is they dontt get deleted out of your hd so no need to re download and plus once you purchase a "free" game u keep it forever after a month later that free game expired or its not free anymore but its still in your hands as free to download that's why I purchased the free vita games incase I ever buy a vita :)

Ps+ <3

kma2k4102d ago

I currently have both services & honestly i feel like at this point my live is a waste. The only problem I have currently is my netflix on ps3 never goes over medium hd when streaming ive had two ps3's now & they both due this, but i get better hd on my netflix streaming from xbox so it has to be a ps3 thing. Having said that though the free games you get from ps+ are the reason when it comes time to renew ill probably go with ps+

Conzul4102d ago

Weird.
I was watching BSG on my PS3 from Netflix and it was all in FHD. Gorgeous really. Wonder what's up on your end....
(comcast 25mbps)

kma2k4102d ago

yea i dont know what it is, my conspiracy theory side of my brain says its some att thing but that wouldnt make since since im ok on the xbox side.

Att uverse 15mbps average speed.

hennessey864102d ago

I'm sick to death of these articals, PSN is not as good as live. PS pus has nothing to do with the PSN vs Xbox live argument as its an additional service. PSN has improved ten fold but it is still no where near as stream lined as live, I can go straight to my friends list and join a multiplayer game from there, or join a party from my friends list. I can search for a film using bing and it will tell me if I have it as part of my love film or Netflix subscription. It's not just party chat that makes it better, Xbox live is so much faster than psn its laughable. Any way bring on the disagrees it doesn't bother me. I use both services daily and I no which one is better, I don't let brand loyalty blind me.

PirateThom4102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

Xbox Live Gold is also an additional service....

So, if we remove the "additional services" bit, what are we left with?

Ezz20134102d ago (Edited 4102d ago )

you pay for live and you pay for psn + ..
so how psn+ is just an additional service ?!!
it offer what live offer plus the free games
that alone justify why you would pay for psn+

the free psn is more of the additional service...because here sony give an option
while MS give you no option ..you have to pay for it

but the funny thing is even the free psn offer most the services live offer ..but for free

live is just a ripoff IMO

USEYOURFIST4102d ago

A clear example of why you only have one bubble

scott1824102d ago

using Bing as part of your argument made me laugh.

Mr Blings4102d ago

The reason I jumped to broadband internet. Let my gold account die on 1/14/13. It is a different world from when live turned on 10 years ago. Personally I am at the point in my life where I am not hanging out with friends online all that much. All the apps are free elsewhere. Half of the content on HAlo4 and other titles is boarded off from me b/c I let gold expire. Sorry but that is some bullsh*t. The only real thing I can see people preaching live over psn or wii U is cross party chat. Fine add features like that and bundle into a pay scheme for those that truly need those features. Give multi-player, netflix access etc... for free like your competition.

Going into next gen I know I will not own all systems as I have this and past generations. With xbox live still charging for multi-player next gen all but seals the deal I will not buy the next xbox. multi-player is part of the game disc purchase, it is something that should be included not an extra charge. I am done buying xbox games period. will play my single player backlog of games then done with the xbox brand unless they change their live agenda.

P.S. purchased a psn+ subscription and loving it. Have easily 10 games for ps3 and vita I otherwise would not.

fourOeightshark4102d ago

"I can go straight to my friends list and join a multiplayer game from there, or join a party from my friends list."

You obviously don't own a PS3 since you said that -_- I can search for any film or tv show on movie2k using the PS3 browser and watch it from there all for free.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4102d ago
DivineAssault 4102d ago

love ps plus.. Its a great investment & ill continue renewing my subscription EVERY year because i cant see myself w/o it.. $50/yr for all this?? No brainer & ill NEVER get XBLG again unless they step it up value wise.. MS needs more IPs too

rainslacker4101d ago (Edited 4101d ago )

What's nice is that if you pay attention sometimes you can find free month codes around the net or through special offers in games. I was due to renew next month, but somehow it got extended to July just because of games I brought or free offers I found.

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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
ChasterMies13d 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_looken13d ago

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

Cacabunga13d ago

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

just_looken13d 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-6413d 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_Long13d 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.

Einhander197213d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic13d 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 13d ago
DivineHand12513d 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.

Joe91313d 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_Observer13d 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.

S2Killinit13d ago (Edited 13d 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.

Joe91312d 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.

S2Killinit12d 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 12d ago
Christopher13d 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.

CrimsonWing6912d ago (Edited 12d 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.

S2Killinit12d 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_Mal13d ago (Edited 13d 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.

Christopher13d 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_looken13d 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

Einhander197213d ago (Edited 13d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic13d 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.

romulus2313d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218313d 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.

S2Killinit12d ago (Edited 12d 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.

mastershredder13d 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.

crazyCoconuts13d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

Show all comments (43)
80°

Sony May Soon Let You Decide How Much NPCs Talk In Games

Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.

blackblades19d ago

Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.

just_looken19d ago

Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.

blackblades19d ago

I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.

just_looken19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...

monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...

Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...

Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...

Oh all the above last 12 months

I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.

Kaii19d ago

Will we get dialogue options that won't spoil puzzles in a matter of seconds? :p

280°

Judge rules in PlayStation's favour in $500m patent infringement lawsuit

Genuine Enabling Technology was seeking damages, claiming the tech allowing PlayStation consoles and controllers to communicate infringes its rights.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
S2Killinit21d ago

Big victory for Sony. And a long time coming.

DarXyde21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Crazy to think the savings from this lawsuit allows them to develop one AAA game.

Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.

21d ago
Profchaos21d ago

Sounds like patent trolling they tried the same thing against Nintendo with the same pattern.

Motion and control input traversing over higher and lower frequencies seperate from each other allowing the controller to do both

Pyrofire9521d ago

Patents suck. Most of them are complete garbage.

Knightofelemia21d ago

So to recoup the money Genuine is going to take on Nintendo or Microsoft next. I hate patent lawyers they are some of the worst bottom feeders out there.

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