"Stand down, soldiers. SCEE's just sent us a Kaz Hirai quote from the Sony business meeting is was confirmed PSN was getting subscriptions today, which confirms that online PSN gameplay is to remain free."
Don't tell me they'll start charging people before you can enter PSStore. That would be one of the most stupidest things Sony could do. Why limit the sales of digital content and games by limiting the numbers of customers they could achieve? Makes no sense.
As for premium content and services, i think Qore is in mind there when he said that and something similiar for the EU.
I swear, if any of the PSN services online right now, apart from Qore, gets subscription based payments it'll be the downfall of PSN.
Many people are just now realizing that Microsoft is charging them only so customers can give them more money later by buying games and stuff. And alot of people from Live are converting.
They said themselves that they rather you spend that money on games. They are just giving you the option get something more and their is nothing wrong with that.
Sony is doing every PS3 owner a great service by allowing us to play freely online, while offering (in most cases) dedicated servers. If Sony can discover more venues to keep that service available indefinitely, then I encourage them. As several have stated elsewhere, I would love to see:
PSN Video Rental subscription PSN Game Rental subscription Comic/Magazine/eBook subscriptions for PS3/PSP
All of which, I would most likely support. One of the things that turned me off the 360 was having to pay to play online. For the year I had my console, I had a 13 month Gold subscription card (gift from my brother when I got my system) I never used. I just didn't see a point in paying for it.
Edit: Sony considering an App store? Makes sense to me. Keep game-related aspects free while charging for new applications to be used on the PS3/PSP like Apple's iPod.
So they give you everything MS do FOR FREE and then charge you for the extra stuff?? So if you pay a sub for PS3 its actually better? There is only one winner here folks. Free online play is always gonna be the winner. I mean 360's main selling point is online play but if you gotta pay for it whats the point? I always say.
So Microsoft rapes you on the front end while Sony rapes you on the back end; you're still getting raped but fanboys don't see it that way. They'd like to be wined and dined and date raped rather than forcibly held down and raped. Apparently, there is a difference.
Edit @ z-hayden
Oh no, I understand what he means; as PSN has grown they've identified ways of generating revenue from the growing number of users and that's understandable. It's business. Rather than expanding a service with features that expand the community, you create features that take advantage of the growing community. No, I get it.
a long time ago sony had a survey to users asking them would they like to pay a monthly subscription for PSN that would automaticly give them free content...similar to Qore but not exactly the same...The subsriction would give you dedicated points or Money to buy items such as PSN DL games, themes, DLC, Movies, etc...
So lets say you pay $10 a month...you would get 2 free DL games or DLC, and 2 free movies with that subscription...the more you pay...the more items you get per month...
I beleive sony started the beta for this subscription service in Japan and it must be doing well for them to decide to go full blow with this idea...
We can't get Netflix here anyway, but looking over the video store today, there's a lot of stuff there I'd watch, but not pay their current prices for.
A subscription based rental service would be great as long as they stick to the current download model. I've used Netflix on my 360 before, and the image quality changes drastically depending on network conditions.
I'd much rather be able to download the entire movie to the hard drive and watch it from there. I'm sure with a slight tweak of their DRM, they could make an unlimited rental service feasible without any major changes to the way movies are distributed on PSN.
Ahhh... That's a great idea. I find myself looking at the video store and never wanting to spend a giant amount of money, but a subscription-based rental service?
superior.....blinded and clueless....sorry I have been a charter Gold member since day one and Live is NOT superior... gameplay is gameplay.....creature features are creature features...
This is the model I was hoping Live would go to, BUT they know if they gave online gamplay for free like PSN...they would lose paying subscribers.... PSN is doing the smart thang...if you want features pay for it, but gamming is free...thats the way to do it..
and the usual sony fanturds line up for the attack and bubble raping, you could do a check-list of the usual suspect turd-fanboys that come to the defense of sony time and time again.
i have both, 360 and ps3. and although i think the psn is a decent service, i think that live is better...and by alot! i use both consoles on-line, but i couldn't imagine giving up live.
and all this dedicated server lag-free bs is just a figment of overactive imaginations of know-nothing fanboys. coz i've experienced lag and latency problems on both killzone and r2! and i've experienced lag and latency on the dedicated server games that can be found on live aswell....perhaps it's my 18meg down 1meg up connection that's at fault ey???
having a dedicated server doesn't mean that it can over come the laws of physics. if you live in the EU, try playing on a server in the US or vice-versa then tel me what you experience? or try playing on an asian server?
i know it's hard to face reality when you want to stick your head in the ar8e of a sony executive or make love to your ps3, but the mighty psn and even it's super-duper-able-to-break-the- laws-of-physics servers aren't what you make them out to be. dont get me wrong, i think killzone2 is one of the best on-line shooters to ever grace a console, and i thought the MAG beta showed just how great that game is going to be...and the ps3 is without doubt a superb console.
i just hate reading the same sh!t wrote by the same idiotic sony defenders dat in day out. i seriously struggle to understand what goes into making a pathetic no-life fanturd....does someone want to explain??
Well, Gotosa, you're very entitled to that opinion but I don't sahre it at all. Thios week, for the first time, I decided NOT to renew my Live subs. I don't play enough on it anyway and when I do it's no better performance wise-plus many of the games I play on PSN have dedicated servers while they didn't on Live. Had Gears2 had dedicated servers it would have been a much better game, had fewer problems and I MIGHT even have considered staying where I was but, it didn't and paying that price(which is a game a year or over the course of me paying another PS3 if I wanted)became really unjustifiable to me.
PSN has almost the same level of fearues(and I HATE vross game chat for the cheating and the distraction it causes) plus it isn't always great that everyone has a headset, really it isn't.
Then there's the Avatar they force me to have which makes me, as a dad of three, feel like a little girl given a gimpy wee soll to dress up. I don't like it, I'm always forced to see it and I don't know, for one minute, why they thought everyone would like to have one. It's just not my thing and it puts me off the 360. It might seem a little thing but it REALLY winds me up that they won't allow me another character to stomp it to death and banish it forever. Or giver me the choice not to have one!
Whatever, I can understand people preferring Live but not saying it's worth the price difference. MS should allow some online play for Silver memevers, though, and then make more of premium services. Looking to me as if Sony Europe are talking Qore here and not much more than that-unless it's something about a planned Vid Store rental service in future-plus getting Qore is cool for Vetas-it's a true premium service with a point whereas the bog standard Silver on Live may as well not exist, imo. Whatever, I feel silly now I've left Live Gold for paying for so long.
i think ur taking n4g waaaaaay to seriously but even though ive said that kudos for calling out both sides.......are you a wii fanboy??;)
ill oblige you with a brief explanation
when the ps3 was lunched there were MANY doom n gloom articles about everything ps3 related from blu ray to graphics to games to whatever. At that period the 360 fanboys were rife and outnumbered the ps3 fans 3 to 1 maybe. Long story short is the tables have turned and two wrongs dont make a right but this is what some may call karma now the 360 fanboys are in the minority as everything they used to say has been packed up their fudge holes buy their former whippin boys. Round and round goes the cycle but if you want proof just check the comments from 2 + years ago. Yes we can live in harmony but this is N4G. Hope that clears things up
EDIT
nah nah, not really calling you a wii fanboy at all cause they dont exist. I wouldnt of replied like this had i thought you were but you have to know n4g's past to understand whats happening now (sounds waaaaay to serious i know)
Also this site NEEDS flame bait articles and has used them AND the fanboys to get where it is today...sad but true. The forums are a lot more civil
no, i'm a fanboy of games not consoles. if it's a good game then it's a good game no matter what console it's on imo. i own them all, and will continue to own them all until arthiritus stops me from holding a pad..lol
lol @ taking n4g to seriously. how can you take this site seriously? are think you are confusing me with the guy who posted below me. check out his past comments to see what i mean.
i just a little fed up with the community on here, and leech sites that write blogs just continue the nerd war that is raging on here now.
If I play on EU servers (I live in Finland) I have virtually no lag at all and there is no host advantage. Additionally I won't be thrown into a game against people from far away (Americans for example) unless I want to.
Laws of physics apply for sure don't be silly but the advantages are GREAT!
I believe the reason for the current fanboy war is payback. This is exactly what we said that would happen even back in the day when the PS3 was launched. We knew the ps3 would take off when the price was right. It's just sweet to see the people you've had to listen all the crap from all these early years eating their words. The media too.
Whatever happened to "the ps3 has no games" and "we don't want to pay extra for all the bells and whistles"...? Oh right they are "oh noez teh saleeeez" and "zupeerior zervice" today I forgot. It's just like whatching a chameleon changing it's colours to protect himself. If you're proven wrong just change your tone and shout harder. "I'm sure there's some way we can win". It's f*cking hilarious.
And to think how many times this has happened already. HDMI, 1080p, Blu-Ray, standard HDD, PS3 has the best games (according to metacritic), we get same features but don't pay for them on psn.
It's an onslaught for the x360 fanboys so there's bound to be an uproar of some kind. The best of all they have only themselves to blame for this. We tried to tell them though.
Something tells me that things like cross game chat and other similar things PS3 owners have wanted are going to magically become "premium" services. That's screwed up if it happens.
I actually was thinking about that possibility. I woudn't be surprised if they introduce cross-game chat and party features as "premium services" for a fee. If they charged $20 to $25 dollars a year, it would still be a good value compared to the competition, especially since they still offer online play for free. I think it would be bad image-wise for them though, because it would appear to people as a back-door charge. I would rather they keep it completely free, and i don't play online often enough to pay for any part of it.
I would like to see a subscription video service for under $10/month. PSN has several TV shows that I would like to catch up on, but I can't bring myself to pay $2 to $3 per episode. Although, i bet i could just sign up for Netflix and watch the same shows on Blu-ray (with surround sound) for the same price. The one movie I rented from PSN had only stereo sound and no extras.
I doubt a party system and cross-game chat would become premium (paid for) services. They are features making the online experience easier and more stream-lined, but not enough to warrant an extra free as these are a matter of convenience, not necessity. Of course, this is my opinion and I am not an insider, so I speak on pure speculation. There are plenty of undiscovered venues for Sony to find profitability and leave their current offerings as-is. The rental subscriptions and the untapped potential of Home just two examples. The bandwidth fee for developers selling wares through PSN also helps aleviate some of the costs.
What's screwed up about it? Anyone that loves LIVE mostly loves this feature and they always say they're happy to pay for it.
If you do have to pay for cross game chat it won't degreade the MP experience of games, you'll still play online for free and be able to chat with other players in the game you're playing.
That isn't what they'll do though, not at all. They're on about introducing a Qore type thing to SCEE and the possibility of other premium services. Think of things you usually pay a sub for like video or game rentals like Gamefly or Netflix. Introducing two levels of gaming would be problematic-some clan memebers would have x game chat(one thing I HATE about Live anyway which killed TF2 stone dead for me when it arrived)and others wouldn't, same wih inbites. No, things like that have to go with the online play package or not be there at all, imo, and I doubt VERY much that Sony would do that-not at the stage they'e at with so many happy with PSN and it's free status. Thhey also know Sony users won't meekly accept something like that-paying more for more/ yes. Splitting the gaming options? No.
Paying for Qore in the EU is only what you get in the US though and noone moans as they aren't forced to get it to play online like anyone else. If they made certain features paid for they'd be in for a pain in the ass and a big unhappy community that won't see why you have pay to us some features but not others-trust me the online gaming will be kept free with all the updates it gets being free also whether that's x game chat or invites or whatever. Paid for will be stuff we don't get yet that doesn't affect online gaming as it is now or with a few more features. Doesn't make sense.
seems like a good plan tbh. let every1 game online for free but for ppl that want extra's, give them the option to pay for them. seems fair. i mean my main problem with live is ppl bang on about all the great features, yes it does have loads of great features... but all i wanna do is play online!!!
i've used x game chat once, never used netflix, never used msn on the 360, won't bother with facebook/twitter.
I dont think they are gonna make crossgame chat something only the subs get i think it has most likely to do with psn games and the video store avatars and themes and dynamic themes. Like premium users get free dynamic themes and avatars 2-3 psn games and 2-3 movies or something like that which i wouldnt mind paying for.
So basically they want people to pay for stuff to be able to pay for stuff ? At least the Silver members can access the Marketplace freely. I would NOT pay just to be able to buy a PSN Game
Nowhere does it say anything about a charge to get PS Store content, he's talking about a sub for premium content and service with the current model still being free.
..And the content is right I will pay for the service, but as it is the current PSN is more than good enough for PS3 owners, so if Sony is talking about premium PSN service then it will be leaps and bounds over the current PSN. Not a bad idea, and they are a company that is dedicated to innovating technology, keeping consumers entertained, and first and foremost making money, as evil as that might sound it's their right to make money.
If they charge $1-$5 a month and 1/3-1/4 of PS3 owners apply then Sony will never sink into red again. Very smart move.
Now when the Ps3 fans pull out their soap boxes and curse XBL as the devil, they may have to say "PS3, it only does everything except remain completely free". Ps3 fan don't get upset I am just pulling your chains. All companies want to make money and it does seem like the PSN has the potential to be worth paying for. Just remember paying for something in no way translates to "evil" I have nothing against sony or fans of Sony products its just doesn't work for me.
This is what Sony needed all along. They need an income for PSN, and a subscription based one sounds fine. However this means it can end up live XBL were key features are charged for based on a sub, but the fact that you can play online regardless still makes it a better financial choice over XBL.
...This also means something like features like Cross Game Chat are only available for paying customers... or maybe they'd allow premium avatars, etc, all those neat little things.
I wonder how things will turn out. It's funny now, because PS3 fans hate on 360 for the thought of paying for LIVE and now Sony may do the same, even though Sony's will still be better for being completely free to play online.
In all honesty, if MS did the same, they could totally crush Sony Online. Being free is the biggest draw for PSN, but MS is scooping out as much money with LIVE as possible.
Not sure what you mean by that and also not sure what you mean by "Sony may do the same", and then go on to acknowledge that Sony's service for playing online will remain the same.
Maybe I'm just tired from staring at a screen all day but that part of your post confuses me a little lol.
I was in my lecture class when I wrote this, so it was hard trying to pay attention and write this out lol.
What I was saying was that it's funny how some PS3 fans bash LIVE/MS for charging you money for services (how dare they!/sarcasm), but now Sony plans on doing the same. The difference is that Sony promises to stay free to play while MS still charges you to play online.
MS can use LIVE to totally crush PSN by making LIVE free to play online but they are just raking in the cash at this point.
I see what you're getting at but you're a little bit off the mark I think.
The reason a lot of PS3 fans (or fanboys) bash MS/Live is because they charge you to play online, rather than the features such as cross game chat. At least that's my issue with the subscription fee for LIVE and why I criticise the fee. The way I see it is if you provide cool features that are worth while, people will pay for them, but the ability to game online should remain free...ESPECIALLY since with the majority of console games it's all peer 2 peer networking anyway.
bots, it's over.ps3 best hardware,best games,psn free with facebook and in the next weeks cross chat,31 million users subscriptions,sales up 70%.console war is a marathon not a 100 meters dash.and ps3 is going to win.
Yeah , i think if there is going to be any subscription on PSN it's probably for the MMO's that are coming, it makes sense to charge one subscription to play MMO's like DC universe, the agency, final fantasy 14 maybe even Everquest. if that is the case, then am in. i would pay for the MMO experience of this games. who knows if these MMO's prove to work on consoles then maybe more will follow.
This is Sony, not MS and they get their money the right way, offering worthy products in exchange. Look at all they have been doing for free the last 3 years while MS has screw every 360 owner with their fees and more fees
I have been craving for a premium service with subscription (not for online gaming and netflix, that is not premium). Rumor has it they will offer access to PSN games without the need to buy them (details remain to be seen). Im all for it, Premium content should be sweet, while all that is free today, well stays free!
I just assumed their subscription plan would be for free access to certain PSN and PS1 titles after paying a monthly or annual subscription fee. Qore already throws some PS1 and PSN titles at subscribers for free every now and then, maybe it's some kind of extension of that. I'm sure it'd include access to premium and dynamic themes without having to buy them, and they'll probably have another plan that includes some type of video subscription for the video store. They should definitely offer a game rental program.. some games would be impossible, it'd be way too much of a pain in the ass to download 25gb of Uncharted 2, but there's plenty they could offer on that front and it's a smart way to one-up MS games on demand service.
But they're not dumb enough to charge for online play. That's a massive selling point for them, aided by the fact that they've gone from vastly inferior to Live to clawing at the heels of Live in the past 3 years.
FW feature like party, and cross game chat, invite. Honestly i think sony is thinking of doing it for there video store, or some download subscription like pay this month/yearly and get the dl games for free with a limit or pay this much month/yearly and download as many as you want for free. i would be willing to pay 30-50 bucks a year if it included downloading games for free.
Then no problem, if it's something I think justifies payment I'm happy to pay for what I want. As long as gaming online and everything else I can do now remains free, that is the important thing.
I'm actually just curious to see what kind of features/services/content they have in store.
... this just means they have to make it worth buying. And as long as they do that, every XBox Live owner should just be silent. You know... the service they always say is "worth paying for..."
I did find it funny how trolls were about to come out with guns blazing but already they been put to rest. They didnt even have enough time to make their post.
PSN will remain as it is now. A free open service. The subscription part will no doubt deal with movie/episode content and possibly the upcoming MMO's such as Final Fantasy 14 ect.
I can see it now, "party chat and cross game chat only $19.95 per week" It would be a shame to make it a pay service when it's not even worth paying for, considering the stage its in compared to xbox live
This seems completely reasonable. If I can play online for free, PSN can do whatever the hell they want...as long as I don't have to pay for it. Hopefully Xbox Live goes down this road sometime, then maybe I'll have a reason to turn the poor thing on again.
Veronica Belmont is the cutest thing going, but Qore isn’t worth $3.00. For the amount of content it provides, it is more economical to get my information from an issue of Gameinformer or PLAY. They need at least twice the amount of content it has now, or it needs to come out every two weeks. Being scarce on content, it is too easy for me to pass on the yearly subscription or the occasional episode that doesn’t cover a game I’m interested in. Beef up Qore.
Qore should only be just that…the core of the offerings. Sony should be able to provide more game/non-game content than what they are doing now. “The Tester” seems to be a small step in the right direction, but it isn’t going to cut it. They need a number of shows - monthly and quarterly episodes - to cover many interests outside gaming (e.g., anime, comics, extreme sports, conventions, animated films, etc.).
Give me an ala carte system or download credits to choose which ones I want, and I’ll gladly pay $12 a month or upwards to $75 for a year for downloadable episodes. Throw in some free downloadable games, exclusive DLC, and beta invites to make me get my wallet out now.
that i'd love to play with my friends on xbl, but no way i am paying 50bucks per year when i have a ps3 as well. that fifty bucks that micro is pocketing, it is almost ridiculous. if you have owned your xbox 360 for 3 years....150 bucks you gave micro for p2p servers.
you could easily pic up a ps3 and play your games online for free. you don't, and choose to ridicule owners of the ps3 whom are not paying any money to play game online for free. go and pay your 50 to micro...h3ll, i actually typed this post on my ps3 net browser.
But Thoreau? Seriously, just because you read about him or read his books in a 19th Century American Literature class doesn't mean you should use his stuff for an avatar!
You are in no way paying homage to the great Transcendentalist.
why are ps3 owners so f ing jaded?? Sony is a company not your friend, just like MS and Nintendo. and if they don't make money you will never see a ps4, a new xbox or a new nintedo
PSN reamain free for online Play? No problem...
nice to hear.
At the right price, I could be tempted by a "rental sub" for the video store.
Thought PSN was about to become pay-to-play like the Xbox 360? I thinks not.
PS3 Head and Shoulders Above FLOPBOX 360.