Sony: No charge for PSN until we have justifying features

Rumors have run wild that Sony will be offering premium services for PSN, with many guessing that cross game chat will come at that price. At GDC 2010, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton addressed these rumors, saying that Sony is 'really proud' with what they currently offer, and won't start charging for PSN until they have features that would justify that cost.

[EasilyTheBest]

It wont be long then before we are all paying for PSN..

[blitz0623]

Just like your XBL right? It doesn't even have justifying features, it just wants your money.

[ExPresident]

Sony has already said you'll never have to pay for the things you currently enjoy, ie playing multiplayer free over PSN. If you want anything they may offer in the future then yes, those things may come at a price, but standard PSN use to play games will always be free.

[awesomeperson]

No its OPTIONAL.

The same service now will still exist, but it will be OPTIONAL to pay for extras.... You can still play online for free and stuff.

[arny]

Isnt this supposed to be good news???

[despair]

definitely sounds like good news but what qualifies as justified features worth charging?

[blitz0623]

Well this is good enough for me.

[El_Colombiano]

I love how they consider playing online with millions upon millions of other people across the planet a "not justifying feature" to charge for.

GO SONY! =)

[pixelsword]

What they have is all I need.

I could care less about chatting with friends while I play anymore. I used to because it's efficient on my cousin's XBL to coordinate gaming, but I don't really care about that anymore since I can send messages.

But if/when Sony starts to charge for cross-game chat, they will have justified Microsoft for charging.

[blasian]

ya believe hes just stating everything we have now will stay the same but anything we want extra will cost a fee which is understandable. Some people do not want cross game chat and all the other features so they still wont have to pay anything.

[presto717]

Pay to play online. Hahaha!! After paying full price for the game and paying internet bill. What a joke.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

It only does Free Online Play.

and

It only charge for Justifying Features.

[smittyjerkins]

I did a little bit of searching on Kotaku because I remember a survey that SCE was having about PSN a while back. Just check out the link and I think it will give everyone a better idea about what Sony is looking into to make a paid service http://kotaku.com/5429592/s...

[SeanRL]

What does that mean? I think he basically just told everyone that we will have to pay soon.

[RememberThe357]

http://www.n4g.com/News-431...

[ReservoirDog316]

He's basically just talking about that premium service right? Makes sense to me. I probably won't get it but it's cool if it's worth it.

[Rockox]

It only does Free Online Play...For Now.

[PaLaK-]

If you think about xbox live, a subscription is $30, so if for 2007, 2008 and 2009 around 11 million people got xbox live Microsoft have got $1billion dollars just from live! And those figures are probably way lower than the actual figures! Sony have saved us ps3 gamers about $1billion dollars over the past few years, and MS have had this extra money yet still Sony is the one pumping out the new IPs, the AAA exclusives and quality. Therefore, I'd support a sony premium service as long as it wasn't costing more than xbox live and sony havent disappointed me so I'm sure they're features will justify the cost - and about xgame chat, I would save a lot of mins by just talking to friends rather than ringing them!

[vhero]

MS should take a leaf out of their book.

[gauntletpython]

I just want to know what they consider 'justifying features'. Hopefully it isn't just cross game chat.

[butterfinger]

myself. Cross game chat alone does not justify charging for a service, but I am interested to see what else Sony has in mind.

[El_Colombiano]

Uploading your game saves to a server for access on any PS3? I would love that

[AutoCad]

So when they release Cross game voice chat and Party chat, they are going to stat charging.?

[talltony]

What's free now will always be free. New features will be their for prescriptions to add to what's free now.

[spunnups]

You can answer your own question by READING THE ARTICLE!!

[Immortal321]

ok

[spunnups]

They wouldn't dare charge for Cross Game Chat after we have screamed about it since launch.....would they?!?!?!??!?!

[JustTheFactsMr]

replied wrong thread. ignore

[tatotiburon]

sony knows that psn doesn't have enough features like Xbox Live

[wicko]

Please list the features you are apparently so proud of..

[JustTheFactsMr]

Go troll somewhere else. They both have features the other one doesn't.

Except PSN doesn't charge hundreds EVERY year for me and my kids to use them.

[butterfinger]

I'm all on board with getting this troll out of here, but let's not get carried away. Hundreds every year to use XBOX Live?! A one year subscription is $49.99, and you can usually find them for less. That is STILL about the cost of a game versus the PS3's free service, so there's no need to inflate the numbers. :)

[Persistantthug]

I wanted to play Modern Warfare 2 on my nephews XBOX, and I wanted to make and use my own new profile, kinda like I had him do on my PS3 when he wanted to play FAT PRINCESS. Guess what? in order to do this, Microsoft wanted us to pay another 40 or 50 bucks to do this. This was the most greediest BS I had ever seen....Charging the same XBOX for another LIVE account.

I think that's in line with that JustTheFactsMr is referencing.

[LittleBigSackBoy]

He did say for him AND his kids, so wouldn't he need more than 1 subscription a year?

[JustTheFactsMr]

I'm not inflating anything :). I just don't think you have a family situation.

Myself plus our 4 kids is $49 each. Otherwise everyone is playing under one gamertag and then everyone has to use the same friends list and achievements scores etc.

I don't know about you but that's like your kids sharing the same mail, facebook or twitter account. Including my own. Just not realistic in the real world. Maybe MS marketing world :)

Every time someone voice chats they are potentially going to get a different person for the same gamertag.

Each person needs/wants their own identity on-line in the real world and just like any other service.

So the real world means hundreds every year for us. And that's every year.

Cool?

Edit: As far as discounts I'm not in the U.S. where discounts seem to be more readily available. Regardless even a 20% discount is still hundreds.

[butterfinger]

but I would force my kids to share a gamertag if I could only afford one console. I don't understand why you would feel the need for each kid to have their individual names, really. I mean, if you are the parent, you're the one that says what goes. I would have 1 GT for me and 1 for my kids. Of course, if you have multiple consoles that is a different issue, but you probably have enough money not to worry about it. You can always make your kids do chores for the privilege as well.

[Killjoy3000]

Or, MS could just make to so that once you fork over the fifty bucks, you can create as many accounts as you want?

Actually, scrap that. Why don't they just make Xbox Live free like PSN? They can even strip it down so that you don't have access to the market place, Inside Xbox, etc.

The fact that you should have to accommodate your lifestyle preferences towards a multi-billion dollar company that is consistently nickel and dimming every consumer that buys their product is just laughable. Chores for XBL? I think I'd rather do chores for money towards a PS3 with free online play and the ability to create as many accounts as I like :)

[JustTheFactsMr]

"I don't understand why you would feel the need for each kid to have their individual names. I would have 1 GT for me and 1 for my kids"

Because they are individuals. It's not a problem with other consoles. They seem to recognize that consoles are for families as well.

1 GT doesn't work any better for them. They all still share, add, delete friends. What about game saves and people continuing on someone else's game. Arguments etc. Real world here. I'm betting you don't have kids :)

"Of course, if you have multiple consoles that is a different issue,"

I don't understand this. Are you also telling me your gamertag can only be associated with one main console? And that the second one needs another Live account? And a 3rd console would need a 3rd etc?.

Because we picked up another PS3 when the slim was released and all accounts work across both of them.

So if that's true then Live is even worse than I imagined on the multiple console front. Right now we can share our PSN downloads across multiple consoles for everyone in the family. Are you saying that wouldn't be possible with Live and we would have to buy the game multiple times instead? As well as the yearly fees for each GT.

"You can always make your kids do chores for the privilege as well"

Our kids already do chores for the "privilege" of helping and supporting their family, self-discipline and learning things they need to learn in life.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

But butters you don't have any kids. You are 13 years old and have yet to finish the process of puberty. But excuse me for I am only going by YOUR xbox live bio which states as much.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

The premium Service have more Features and better than Live.

So don't worry, tatotiburon. Go look at the Google and search Premium Service for PSN.

[Oner]

So Assassyn360 what you are trying to imply is that just because he may be young it must mean he has no valid point then? Wow...that is oh sooo very mature of you. /rollseyes /sarcasm

[ASSASSYN 36o]

"But butters you don't have any kids. You are 13 years old and have yet to finish the process of puberty."

Don't read too much into what I said. Reading is fundamental. Learn to read and accept what you see not what you want to see before you come at me.

[Oner]

Seeing how reading IS fundamental but reading comprehension is the crucially key importance, I will again re-iterate . So what he's young. Does that make his point any less valid in what he is discussing? No. YOU are the one who seems more immature than him because all that you are doing is attacking him for his age and making baseless assumptions (here and below). Nothing else. That is what you fail to address in my question. I.E. Clear avoidance. Simple as that.

[Varodor]

looooong ago they say that only new services will be charged
and news as this keep coming....It direct to thoughts

[Skynetone]

.

[user858621]

Basically sony said if you buy games on the ps3 you can play all of it, not restricted to single player because you havn't paid your subscription

[Captain Tuttle]

"Justifying features" confirmed.

[washingmachine]

next console then

[butterfinger]

If they start charging for a premium service, Qore better be included. I don't want to pay $50 for a year of PSN Premium then another $25 on top of that.

[Oner]

I have had Qore since day one and if it is included then cool...if not no biggie ~ cancel Qore and go for the PSN Premium IF it has items/features of interest to me. If not then I would probably just drop Qore and stay with Free PSN. Remember it's ALL optional and I don't lose ANYTHING I already have (outside of me choosing to drop Qore). Simple ;)

[ASSASSYN 36o]

You mean your parents will pay butters. You are a kid with no money.

[keysy420]

would justify a investment from me

[belal]

playing online will ALLWAYS be free ;)!!!!!!

[zeddy]

i dont mind paying as long as they dont make it compulsary and people can play online for free and it contributes to psn titles like flower and wipeout.

[Biggest]

I know the 360 boys are BEGGING for a premium PSN service. I can hear it now "HAHAHAHA! Now you guys are brainless fools that pay twice for internet usage, too!"

[palaeomerus]

No. I prefer playing big multiplatform games on my 360(so far) and I'd much MUCH MUCH rather things go the other way where Xbox Live gold (at least the multiplayer aspects) becomes free or ad supported. If Sony starts charging for online then we can all expect prices to go up almost once a year like the cable bill because charging will be "normal" instead of how one console did it.

By the way I have a Wii and PS3 too. I mainly buy exclusives on the PS3 and occasionally buy a PS3 version when a game controls better on the PS3 (like Mirror's Edge) or is just available for really cheap on the PS3 first (like Lego Batman or an Amazon lightning deal I got for Need For Speed: Shift). Otherwise I usually get the 360 version of game because I generally like the 360 controller more for most things and I have friends with 360's and we lend each other games sometimes. Other than the guy next door I don't know anyone with a PS3 anymore and that guy mostly plays Madden and NCAA Football games.

I don't have Xbox live Gold now BTW. I let my comp from when I bought the system run out. I have still have a card for a free month from when I had to get my 360 replaced but I live in an apartment and my "free" broadband is pretty terrible for online play so it's really not worth using.

[maniacf40]

.

[AliTheBrit19]

WOW..

So what they are basically saying is..

We know we don't have enough good features to justify charging you right now, so its free, but the second its on par with other online services (i.e. xbox live) we will go ahead and start charging you.

[hazardman]

That sounds about right!! Honestly tho even if they charged whatever. At the end of the day I'm a gamer, so if I have to pay for PSN/XBL(already do).so be it.

[ironmonkey]

there is gonna be two services one is free and the other isnt which comes with more features of course such as cross chat or automatic beta testers for demoes and such but hey ive had my console since launch if your a late bloomer to the next gen well thats ur fault its been free for me ever since so if they decide to charge im for it. people payed for live since launch, add that money up and see how much you've waisted. you pay for 1 yr but most people dont play weeks.

[Redgehammer]

play at least 30 hours a week on XBL (sometimes 70) and I have never had a problem paying for XBL. I use subscriptions and MS points as rewards and motivations for my 4 sons. I thouroughly enjoy my XBL experience and so do my kids and all the neighborhood kids as well. I do not have a point of reference for PSN since while not opposed to a PS3, I would never game on it due to the symetrical controller design, but does that mean i would not get children one? No it does not, but none of my sons age 9-19 have ever asked for one. It all boils down to perceived value for your money, and I certainly get the most out of my money with XBL, and if my PS3 counterparts ever have to pay for PSN; I hope they feel toward it as I do towards XBL.

[ExPresident]

Sony has already said PSN as it stands now will always be free so your points about when they add something we'll all be paying is bogus. Yes, when they add new features there will probably be a subscription service but you won't have to pay for it if you don't want. The key here being OPTIONS.

The service you have now will remain free, they've said it repeatedly.

[Enigma_2099]

... are 360 owners.

Ironic, isn't it?

[Captain Tuttle]

You have 4 kids and sometimes play 70 hours/week? I think you need to take a break from gaming.

[divideby0]

so basically talk and say absolutely nothing

[Homicide]

So they basically admitted they don't have many good features compared to its competitors.

[LittleBigSackBoy]

Or they think XBL doesn't have any features worth paying for. So until they add something on PSN worth paying for, they'll keep it free.

[supremacy]

i guess its all up to the individual...the only difference i see between the services are just a few features and the infrastructure..

me personally im not big into xbox or its controllers which are in my opinion designed primarily for first person shooters. and i am a guy who plays all sorts of games, from fighting to rpgs ect.

now as far as features go ill be honest and say yes xbox live is that much bigger and certainly has more to offer.

i mean things like multiple logging IDS on one unit, cross voice chat, voice messaging, universal game invites, universal custom soundtracks, auto installs, universal party system, profiles like actual profiles compared to whats currently being offered on the PlayStation network, continuing downloads while on stand by? and these are just some of the basics, which mean there quite a few features i forgot to mention.

Now that's rich if you ask me. And worth the price of admission until Sony can match those sets of features, for free or at a lower price.

but like many good things, Sony's PlayStation share is out now and up and running so we'll see what happens in the near future.

[Snoogins]

This must be why they have PS.Blog.Share now, to find reasons to charge.

[Kemicalbeliefs]

You know I was on PSN today playing some music on Vidzone and with all the music thats on there now, it hit me, this is free?
I'd say Sony are building up a case for charging but if its adverts and no fee rather than the Microsoft model I'll stick with it.

The addition of firstplay the e-zine is the beginning of chargeable extras but at least we're given a choice.

[Philaroni]

You guys do know that things like cross game chat cost Sony a lot of $$ for VOIP servers? Unlike MS who already has the framework of servers set up thanks to windows. Sony has to buy data centers or bid on them. I think it is funny at those of you who say you don't want it and will never use it. Just wait till you friends want to chat with you in a game and you have to reply saying. "Ya.. I don't have that."

Anyway JT is right, being we are so far in the game, any kind of Pay service would have to be something very attractive for there consumers. Unlike XBL you wont have to -Pay to play- your games which is the thing that annoys people about XBL. I know there are people out there who might not play games that much and the once and a blue moon time they want to play online it would suck to have to play for that.

I'd honestly be surprised if Sony charges only 50$ a year and not something like $79.99 thats one advantage MS has is they had all this stuff in place years before the Xbox was even put on paper.

[Lirky]

doesn't matter if psn charges im going to go back to the 90s era of gaming where single-player gaming ruled the world :D.

[roguewarrior]

Dedicated servers for all games,game saves on Sony Servers (like Trophies do now),maybe a few S.C.E. PSN games a year. That would be worth $30 a year to me. Don't give a crap about X-game chat, party chat. Its annoying enough muting the guy in my game playing music, now I got to hear my friend yelling at his girl, while he plays some other game. No thanx, i got a cell phone.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

Dedicated Servers from a Multiplatform Game, I doubt it.

About the Game Saves in the servers, I've heard that feature coming. But not sure, is not confirmed.

[Bullseye]

initially at least,more about getting gamers USED to the idea of paying, rather than the particular features we will pay for. Typical marketing strategy.