Details on the PS3 Online Service 156
Eurogamer has details of Sony's online strategy for the PlayStation 3. Finally. The long article goes into the process by which you log into the service, some of the things you can expect to find online, the different aspects of user accounts, and finally some details about the PlayStation Store. From the article: "As to the content that will be available, Sony is still playing its cards close to its chest to some extent - but one thing the giant firm is clear on is that the PlayStation Store will grow to encompass more than just new game content and demos. Alongside the free and paid-for game content, the store will also play host to a wide range of new titles developed specifically for download (the first of which, fl0w, was shown off at TGS - dozens more PlayStation Store exclusive titles are being worked on around the world thanks to an initiative which Sony launched at GDC last year) - and as Ken Kutaragi revealed at TGS last month, it'll also be possible to buy PSone and PS2 classics you missed out on, as well as a selection of PSP games, from the PlayStation Store, and download them directly to your PS3." After all this time, it's nice just to know there is an online strategy.
shortsighted. (Score:3, Insightful)
I think he is kind of shortsighted by saying (strongly implying at least) that full games will never be web based.
I certainly can see (as broadband speeds increase) purchasing a game like halo, and you download the 30 mg level in a 30 seconds. Video clips are streamed in real-time instead of being played off the DVD.
Am I just off here, or was that author lacking vision.
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Shortsighted vs realistic (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Is cheap, reliable, FAST broadband available to the (gaming) masses? No. Its not unheard of to still meet people who surf the net or play online with dial-up.
2. Has anyone ever successfully streamed a DVD quality, full length video over the internet yet without hiccups? Not near the commerical level so that rules out Sony's dream of selling movies directly to customers.
3. Remember when Microsoft initially a
Video, or MPAA video? (Score:2)
Does your question also require that the movie have been published by a movie studio that is a member of the Music And Film Industry Associations [wikipedia.org]? If not, then yes. Remember that entry-level cable modem service is up to 6 Mbps, and DVD is 10 Mbps, and some DVDs don't use the full bitrate because a dual layer disc costs more to replicate, and some video codecs are twice as efficient as DVD's MPEG-2.
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True, but thats assuming you recieve the MAXIMUM amount of potential speed which is realisticly impossible since there's always going to be network congestion/bottlenecks/hardware can't keep up/server gets overloaded/ISP will put a cap on speeds.
The Details For The Lazy (Score:4, Insightful)
"Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store - all of the online services, from sign-up right through to voice and video chat, are free, as is normal multiplayer gaming"
"the only things you'll pay money for are paid-for downloadable content, or subscriptions to premium services like massively multiplayer games."
"Unlike Nintendo and Microsoft's offerings, Sony doesn't hide the price of items behind an arbitrary "points" scheme"
"it'll also be possible to buy PSone and PS2 classics you missed out on, as well as a selection of PSP games, from the PlayStation Store, and download them directly to your PS3."
"what we've seen is very promising. Account creation and management, buddy lists and various types of chat appear to be working just fine, the interface is simple and elegant, and the PlayStation Store"
Zonk: "After all this time, it's nice just to know there is an online strategy. "
Pathetic. Just pathetic.
The Wii and PS3 are only a month away and the Slashdot community is missing out on many major console gaming news due to the 'fucked in the head over Sony/PS3' Zonk. It's time for a change. It's not funny. It's not inflammatory. It's just fucking sad.
Zonk, go away. Deal with whatever the fuck issues you have with Sony on your own time. Slashdot is long overdue for a sane games editor.
Re:The Details For The Lazy (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, it's a pretty reasonable comment - and a sentiment that many PS3 developers share, which you'll have seen evidence of, if you've been following the PS3 news in the past couple of months.
Sony have shown time and time again that the one thing they are hopeless at is software, and an online service is all about the software, not forgetting of course the hardware/server farms, which I think Microsoft just might have more experience with.
Knowing Sony's MO, the fact that this service is free basically telegraphs to me that Sony don't think this service will be as good as Xbox Live. In other words, they can't compete on quality or value with the online system, so they've decided to compete on price.
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I think Sony is just doing the
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You don't need to pay for those functions on the 360 either. Marketplace is free to browse, and updates are for everyone that plugs it into the internet. Paying for the gold membership just gets you into online multiplayer.
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But doesn't Xbox 360 lose its big selling point when broadband is unavailable, leading to low console sales and low Live subscription rates in geographic areas where dial-up is still the norm?
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I don't believe you'd have a pleasurable gaming experience on any console with dialup.
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Not if the system does some sort of connection speed test and will not allow registering an account on dial-up or IDSL [wikipedia.org], which is often the fastest connection available to residential customers in places where housing is affordable.
I understand for online Smash Bros., but how does chess or Tetris need high bandwidt
Actually, not (Score:2)
What are you talking about? I follow game news pretty rigorously (for all systems, including the PS3) and there's not that much of a hint developers are all that in the dark regading online play. Some have said they are a little unclear about the sales of extra material online, but the core seems pretty fixed in
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http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/9
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/25/sony-still-hasn
Same thing (Score:2)
Just because one developer does not have all the online libraries does not mean others do not as well or Sony has not planned out what they are going to have. You are basically zonking yourself here with a misconception based on piss-poor reporting - like reading game news from Ars Techni
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Actually, they're not the same thing. The reason I posted the second link was because it also mentioned difficulties with Virtua Tennis 3. I was in a hurry to provide some links to refute your notion that everything is going smoothly in Sony's online endeavor, but I came up short. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time on my hands to dig up articles I read a couple of weeks ago.
You're right though, just because one or two developers aren't in the loop doesn't necessarily mean Sony doesn't have their s*
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Besides, it's not as if Nintendo have fully disclos
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Wikipedia: comedy gold! (Score:1)
Sony rolled a PS2 online adapter in late 2002 to compete with Microsoft, with several online first party titles released alongside it, such as SOCOM US Navy SEALS to show its active support for Internet play. Sony also advertised heavily, and its online model had the advantage of being supported by Electronic Arts.
Uhm...
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Yes, apparently EA has pulled the plug on some of their older Live titles. However, if I have underst
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How much will it cost? (Score:2, Insightful)
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As far as the cost, we will have to see what game publishers charge for a monthly subscription before we can determine how comparable the two systems are in TCO. Right now I can pay $40/year for Xbox Gold and play any online game I own until my thumbs fall off. That's a
Re:How much will it cost? (Score:4, Insightful)
From the article:
Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store - all of the online services, from sign-up right through to voice and video chat, are free, as is normal multiplayer gaming. There's no equivalent of the Xbox Live Gold account, where you're expected to pay extra for a further tier of services - the only things you'll pay money for are paid-for downloadable content, or subscriptions to premium services like massively multiplayer games.
If Only.... (Score:2, Interesting)
360+wii = 60
360+wii+ps3 = 90
where all seper
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360 = 40
360 + PS3 = 40
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It seems like PS3 users will be able to chat with the PC community through Xfire. May not seem much compared to your idea, but it's a start.
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Its also worth noting that the Wii will not be sold for a loss - unlike M$ and $ony, the big N will be making profit from every console sold from da
Dial-up? (Score:2)
But do they work with dial-up? In the United States, broadband can cost $25 per month more than dial-up, and I can imagine that a lot of families, especially those who choose a Wii over a PS3 on price, don't want to have to spend $300 (billed as $25 per month over a minimum commitment of 12 months) on an upgrade from dial-up to DSL just to buy one game. File sizes aren't an issue in this case, given that the largest NES game in North Amer
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Dial-up is correlated with lower disposable incomes, and so is Wii. The thinking is that families who have dial-up are more likely to buy a Wii at $250 than to buy a PS3 at $500 or an Xbox at $400; therefore, there is more demand for dial-up compatibility on Wii than on the more expensive systems.
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I highly doubt the average Joe family that buys the Wii over the PS3 on price, wouldn't even consider hooking it up to the internet anyway. To said average Joe family, the internet is that phone cable thingy (or fat phone cable thingy if they have broadband) that plugs into the PC and magically gives them the awesome power of AOL. I live in a fairly small (population wise) area of Canada where everyone and their dog has broadband, I can imagine if we're in that state here, it must be around the same adoptio
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Using ¥ and € signs to spell Nintendo (Score:2)
A lot of people say Nint¥ or Nin¥endo or Nint£ndo or Nint€ndo. But the $ in M$ could just be a throwback to Microsoft's history as a provider of BASIC interpreters dating to its first product [wikipedia.org], as all string variable names in line-numbered BASIC end in the $ sigil [wikipedia.org].
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Sales tax is applied after the advertised price in Japan and North America but before in Europe and Latin America.
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Import tariffs? (Score:2)
I would imagine that in Europe, tax on goods produced by a foreign country and imported into the European Union tends to be higher than tax on goods produced in Europe and sold to a European end user.
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It was quite nice to not have to mentally track the percent tax and add it to every price. And quite annoying when I got back home.
The Xbox 360 Just Became Massively Overpriced (Score:1, Insightful)
This amazing and free online network
1080p games - already at least seven 1080p games - and 1080p looks like it will be the standard rez for most PS3 games
Full backwards compatibility with the entire Playstation and PS2 library of games
1080p BluRay movies
HDMI
20 gig harddrive that can be upgraded to any size from any computer store
The ability to buy old PS1 and PS2 games from the online network
The tilt controller
A full Linux distro right on the harddrive of every PS3 system
A
Re:The Xbox 360 Just Became Massively Overpriced (Score:5, Insightful)
You compare:to As others have stated, the Xbox Live does have a free service as well, and I saw nothing in the article describing free online multiplayer gaming (which is mostly what you pay for on Live).
You compare: toThe Xbox 360 is supporting 1080p [slashdot.org] following the fall 2006 update, which I believe is scheduled to be distributed prior to the PS3 launch. If that's a result of the competition from the PS3, great. But it really isn't a selling point right now. Also, the Xbox 360 does support digital surround sound audio. You don't make it clear what is better about the PS3's audio.
- You are correct that the Xbox 360 doesn't have an HDMI connector, but I believe it's $600 for a PS3 with one.
You compare: to The article doesn't say the hard drive is upgradeable. Are you making it up? I remember not putting my PS2 online because I had to pay $50 for a special 10/100 network adapter that fit the PS3, when a generic one cost $10. I'm not convinced there will be an easy way to upgrade the hard drive without buying proprietary hardware. This is Sony after all. (BetaMax, MiniDisc, MemoryStick, BluRay) etc. And are you sure opening the box won't void your warranty?
Are you claiming that the PS3's peripherals will be dirt cheap? (See comment above about $50 PS2 network adapter.)
How is anyone modding this "Insightful"?
it's free (Score:3, Informative)
Playing online is free on Sony's PS3 network, just like it is on PS2. PS3 online gameing: free. Playing on Live costs money.
You are correct that the Xbox 360 doesn't have an HDMI connector, but I believe it's $600 for a PS3 with one.
$500 in US. $430 in Japan. All PS3s have HDMI connectors, not just the expensive one (was
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But can I use USB joysticks? (Score:2)
But will first-person shooters for PS3 recognize a standard USB keyboard and a standard USB mouse as game controllers, or does Sony require that the keyboard and mouse controllers be ignored during game play? And can players connect and use any old USB HID joysticks as a wired game controller, or does it have to be a Sony brand joystick?
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As for joysticks, I doubt any joystick would work, the signals have to be comprehensible to the PS3, but there are always 3rd party controllers available. I'm guessing that the old PS2 and PS1 controllers will work, but any til
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Those generic ones are $10 because they're produced in enormous quantities for completely generic machines. After all, everything has a PCI slot, so the buyer market is huge. $50 for a custom adapter for a specific machine is really not in the realm of "overpriced".
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What was the original MS attitude towards 1080p support in games? Well, their initial take on the 1080p support is "basically impossible", see Xbox exec on PS3: "1080p... will be basically impossible" [joystiq.com]. As late as Aug 17, 2006, they were still saying No 1080p games fo [gamesindustry.biz]
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I'm starting to think I'm the only person that buys a game console to play games, not to watch movies or cook breakfast with...
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If you cast your mind back a few years, back to when DVD players were actually a costly purchase, a lot of people bought the PS2 specifically because it had DVD support. Granted, the jump between DVD and Blu-Ray isn't perhaps as significant as the jump between VHS and DVD, but it's
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MS, update the HD for gods sake (Score:2)
allow 3rd parties the permission to do it if some dick at MS thinks theres not a big enough market for it.
Is it really that much to ask for MS to allow any HD to be plugged in, just replace and 'reinstall' from
a dvd.
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Even with a four-year degree, how do I get a job that pays $25 per hour and compete with the offshore outsourcing providers who pay their workers $5 per hour? Monster and CareerBuilder have not been helpful. It's hard to find even minimum wage work in some parts of the United States.
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On average, how many applications does it take to get such a job, or even an interview? Is it considered typical to put in fifty applications and not get one interview?
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Its either full or none, which is it (Score:2)
printf in assembly?
Either you can 'send code' to the SPE and run it, or the linux OS wont allow you to do it, but will allow you to use built in
libraries that use the SPE to do common functions/opperations, kind of like having 200 macros/apis with enough flexibility
that you wont be needing to make your own SPE code.
So go read the SPE assembly d
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Just to clarify your SPE put down. (Score:2)
The instruction set doc is at http://cell.scei.co.jp/pdf/SPU_ISA_v11.pdf [scei.co.jp]
If you know what instructions from 68k to intel to ppc are, then reading should show you its more than a simple FPU, its
has full power of a normal processor (sans fancy pipelines etc..) but its still powerfull dude. If your not
a programmer, then its beyond your comprehension.
Oh and a linux emu on that site too btw, inc gcc.
Pretty obvious really (Score:4, Insightful)
How well it does these things remain to be seen, but Sony has far more ways of making money than either MS or Nintendo do with their systems. The other consoles have their online systems, but all their other revenues must come from games. Perhaps that is why the PS3 sometimes appears to be a "kitchen-sink" system to catch all those revenues.
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So all the games they sell (online) are extra.
Sony needs to sell a lot of movies/games before they are even on level because they are selling at a loss.
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Is online gaming the future? Of course. And online services are essential for future consoles. But if its any company that I do NOT trust when they say the service is "free", its Sony. They WILL recoup that cost in some way, most likely through scraping content and forcing yo
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I think your talking about microsoft, who are currently profitting from
Regardless of hardware & companies, it's 99% about the games, and if the games are not good, the system will not be either. Sony recently let me down with the PSP, which on pape
Lots of assumptions there (Score:4, Insightful)
With few exceptions, Sony's lineup has nothing on Nintendo's all-star launch and Microsoft "our system is already out so show up or shut up."
Peripherals (like bluetooth TV remotes, headsets, controllers, keyboards / mice (?) etc.
Which are directly tied into the system's success. Peripherals don't sell systems, systems sell peripherals.
Monthly subs from "premium" online services, whatever they happen to be
They just promised not to have monthly subs. And "premium" services are likely to be one-time purchases, not exactly a cash cow system.
Online games, movies & music promote to buy, rent & (sell?)
Unless Sony has some kind of PS3 Online Arcade system in the works, I'm not seeing this happen anytime soon.
Lots of licence fees if Blu-Ray wins the HD TV format war
General concensus is: Don't hold your breath.
Blu-Ray movies.
Thats assuming Blu-Ray takes off in the first place.
Increased sales of HD televisions.
Sony is not a major seller of HD-TVs these days. They don't own the patents either. Sharp is destroying Sony (and the rest of the market) in marketshare as well.
Increase sales of LocationFree wireless room-to-room / internet streaming devices.
The only people who would probably benefit from this would be companies like Netgear. People don't exactly think Sony when they buy a wireless router.
Some big assumptions yourself (Score:2)
Are you joking? Besides the absolutely enormous back library of PS1 and PS2 titles, I don't see any shortage of big games for this launch. Hell, it looks a lot better than the PS2's initial launch lineup.
Which are directly tied int
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What sort of lame comment is that? Sony will be gathering revenues through the entire life of the console, not just at the beginning. Wikipedia already lists 100 or so titles in the works, and there are 20 or so at launch.
Which are directly tied into the system's success. Peripherals don't sell systems, systems sell peripherals.
And? They're still revenue. Sony wi
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"In the works". I'm not buying a system just to wait a year or two to play a game that might end up being cancelled.
And? They're still revenue. Sony will make a tidy sum from people buying bluetooth remote controls, headsets and the like.
Peripherals are pocket change when you consider the costs involved, the competition from 3rd manufacturers and the fact that THEY DON'T SELL if the system itself doesn't sell.
Doesn't
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Then you're not buying any console of any kind. Whether its 20, 100 or more likely 1000s of games over its lifetime, the Sony will make revenues from all of them. Which was the original point that you twisted out of all recognition..
Peripherals are pocket change when you consider the costs involved, the competition from 3rd manufacturers and the fact that THEY DON'T SELL if the system itse
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Otherwise I don't know how much cross over exists for Sony or Nintendo respectively. You might perhaps be able to copy file saves, or have some
Zonk's philosophy (Score:5, Insightful)
When Sony is secretive about its product: "Christ, what the hell is taking them so long to give us information about the PS3? Obviously the only reason they aren't talking is because they have no clue what they're doing."
I'd like to remind Zonk and the other anti-Sony fanboys that most of the important details for the Wii's Virtual Console were only revealed a month ago.
Rob
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Back at E3 in 2005 Nintendo announced that the Virtual Console would give you the opportunity to download and play games from the NES, SNES and N64 (later adding the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and Turbographix 16); in one sentence the core idea of the virtual console was described. Certainly, there are dozens of questions people wanted
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Rob
RTFA (Score:2, Informative)
"Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store."
"So, once you add friends, what can you do with them? Obviously enough, you can check their status and see if they're online; you can see if you have any new messages from them, and send them messages. Sending emails through the system uses the same peculiar text messaging
PS3sstrategy sounds like a lot of "hopefully" (Score:2)
Remember that this is the same company who releases patches for the PSP over and over, yet does it actually improve the PSP? not exactly. They are just tempting people away from home brew and hacks and keep getting broken.
I'm all for a robust online experience, but from the sounds of it this is going to be the SAME online that Xbox has. Though with one difference. Xbox Live is a pay service which pays for the servers. the PS3, will not be paying f
"fully upgradeable operating system" (Score:1)
PSP emulation? (Score:2)
Does that imply that the PS3 will have PSP emulation? That's would be very interesting, since there are a couple of PSP games I want to play, but I don't want to buy one, and none of them are really "handheld" material, they would all be better on a console in my opinion. Or is this a PS3-based PSP game store? (I didn't know you c
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I personally don't think XBox Live is the type of service Microsoft is trying to compete on price with; they seem to be more focused on quality of service and increased functionality. By having a charge, Microsoft will be able to provide services that would not be cost effective on a free service; much of this functionality may be of questionable value (gamer-scores and what
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Re:Will this force XBox Live to become free? (Score:5, Informative)
Thats the big advantage of XBox lives subscription services...if all you want is profiles and shopping, MS already has that for free its called Xbox Live Silver.
Re:Will this force XBox Live to become free? (Score:5, Informative)
Past the initial setup, Xbox Live access has been completely transparent with my 360. I start the console, I'm immediately logged in, any game I insert checks for updates and has multiplayer ready to go when I select the appropriate mentu options. The most I ever have to think about is how many XBL points I have when I'm looking at perhaps downloading something.
Maybe Sony will have similar functionality that allows the third-party online services to utilize Sony's login, but we haven't seen any evidence of that, yet. The bottom line is that if Sony's online complexity varies on a game-by-game basis, then it will continue to suffer in comparison to Xbox Live.
PS- I should note that XBL multiplayer is by no means perfect across all games. Lag is reported as an issue in some games while being a virtual non-factor (except on a connection-by-connection basis) in others, so obviously there is still code that depends on the developer. MS and developers still have some work to do in this area, but as far as convenience and ease of use they seem to have things down pat.
Mod parent :) (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not only an excellent point, it's the point. I can't see Sony getting their online service right for another year- they need a unifying framework that all of their game developers can use to provide one login, one matchmaking service and one game update platform.
Microsoft had it 80% sussed with the Xbox (there was no tangible dashboard, but the basic core was there) and are doing extremely well with the 360's service; sony have, it seems, only reached the 30% mark
RTFA, it's single sign-on. (Score:2)
RTFA, it's single sign-on. It's in the page one.
Also, what about entitlements? (Score:2)
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Troll.
<sarcasm> Heck, games are just pushing pixels onto a screen and handling user input, what's so hard about that? For online games you just sprinkle some packet handling in there. Should take you like half an hour to do all that.
I mean, operating systems just use standard hardware (e.g., paging and protection) and some standard protocols (e.g., SATA, USB), and what's so hard about them? Compilers? I wrote three last week, and didn't even stoop to use a parser generator. This afternoon I thi
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I've had to reinstall it about 5 times. I've fought with it to get it to recognize games I have installed. For someone without limitless free time, auto updating (especially without knowing how long it's going to take) just cuts into what little gaming time I have. I hate having to shut down my net connection just to run Steam if I want to enjoy my 30 minute gaming window instead of spending 10 minutes updating.
It's stopped working, lost games, and yes, it ha