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Xbox Live vs PSN vs Nintendo Wifi - a civil discussion
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The million-dollar question (both figuratively and literally, perhaps) will be whether or not enough people will care enough to do that. There are plenty of MMOs (mostly in Asia) that have banked on this microtransaction model. Some have succeeded, many have failed. It depends largely on how popular the service is, and whether or not people care about the items themselves. For example, if most people just care about getting into games and not socializing in a virtual space, or if the default/free items are good enough, then Home may end up being a big financial disappointment. Or it might be the Next Big Thing.
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Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Home itself is free, there are parts to home that is Free (bowling, pool, etc), there are areas to "purchase" stuff (kinda like PS Store) ... It’s basically a 3D version of PSN and PS Store. Chat room = Apartment with a twist. If you don't care to "pimp" out your apt/avatar, you'll still be able to show off your trophies (aka: Achievements), best times, scores, records. If you #1 at MotorStorm for time trial, you'll be able to share your replay with people. I personally don't see myself getting way excited over home, or worrying about having the "coolest apt." (I'd rather spend money on pimping out my real apt
The option? Will they actually use it? Does it apply to all games?
So in short. Yes. Yes. And yes, except EA games.
PSN = Wicker86 ________ Gamertag = Wicker86
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Then they'll raise the price even more.
As mentioned in this thread, the cost goes mainly to the continued development of live(manpower and resources)
I also find it odd that Sony can continue development of PSN without needing to charge it's customers.
I'm honestly not sure where my Live fee goes, I'd really appreciate it if someone could break down all the costs involved that are exclusive to Gold users.
PSN = Wicker86 ________ Gamertag = Wicker86
Honestly I am sure the silver accounts are considered a loss leader. It is a way to get people into the store. It seems to have worked there is no doubting that there are more people on live both paying and not this generation.
I'm not positive this is true. Resistance is done completely through dedicated servers, and I'm not positive they could make it work any other way. (I mean, the game does 40 player matches, not really something p2p games can do at this point)
Err, you've got that backwards. Yes, the cost goes to continued developed of LIVE (manpower and resources). And because of that, you would get new features for free. Remember all the stuff that just launched recently? (Divx support, Friends of Friends, etc.) All free. Same would happen for things like dedicated servers and other future updates.
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Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
They will never raise the price of Live because as soon as they do, I bet you they would lose alot of gold members and it would be one of the stupidest things they have ever done.
They should have Dedicated Servers for games though not all of them of course but the most popular ones.
I can't really comprehend how you would think they would raise the price of Live if they were to add dedicated servers.
That's not quite true... while they were obviously very different experiences to what we have today, Nintendo have been dabbling in online services for years. The NES had the Famicom Network in Japan, and plans for a similar service in the US would have dwarfed Prodigy, which at the time with 1.3 million subscribers was the biggest network in the country. The SNES had Satellaview and to a lesser extent XBAND, the N64 had RandNET, and even the GameCube had network and Internet capability, although unlike the previous consoles, it had no singular network.
Nintendo's experiences with online services have so far been pretty much peer-to-peer only, but the Wii is certainly a step forward in the right direction. The online experience is constantly improving and with Wii Ware, it can only get better. It'll be interesting to see what the console will be capable of at the end of it's life, but it's successor will no doubt benefit from Nintendo's experience witht he Wii.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Heck the matchmaking in general rarely gets a worthy mention...
Few people even know that your "Gamerzone" effects what kinds of people you are matched with for online play. For example if you choose "Underground" you are more likely to play with folks who have negative 'trash talk' feedback. If you choose "Pro" you are more likely to play against someone better than you according to TrueSkill.
This is matchmaking that happens behind the scenes... game developers can do even more with this data (like in Halo 3).
Also I love the ability to feedback people and even file a complaint if needed. Most of the folks who complain about other people online don't even bother to feedback/complain. When I'm playing PC games I sure wish this was an option.
Seriously? I've never heard of this before -- interesting. What does the Recreation zone do?
Well all zones are more likely to be grouped with that same zone first of all. But you are less likely to be grouped with someone with "trash talk" feedback.
Think of the descriptions on this page as "people I will likely be grouped with should I choose this zone"
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/guide/gamerzone.htm
as an example... if you picked Underground... and wonder why you play with retards in Halo 3... this may be why:
The zones are actually self-selecting. You can switch them via your profile. The idea is that people that want to do a lot of trash-talking should stick to "Underground". Gamers that are pretty serious and competitive, may want to stick to "Pro". Those that are more casual about their game playing should choose "Recreation". That said, there's nothing preventing an asshat from joining Recreation and trash talking everyone, although that would also open him up for negative comments/ratings/complaints.
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Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
Just wanted to add some more info people might not know about the PS3's interface. Subtle things.
"The XMB's default background color changes depending on the current month of the year, and it changes brightness depending on the time of day. A major color change occurs on the 15th and 25th of each month, the color gradually changes between those dates, but the major change is during the three days before those dates in each month."
- taken from Wikipedia
Those screenshots in the thread were obviously taken at night, because the background is black. ;-)
During the day, the color is more vibrant, but somehow the text is always visible no matter what the color is.
The background is so beautiful that I am reluctant to install any other custom theme. I wanted to make sure everyone knew that the 'smoke' is animated and constantly changing, so a screenshot doesn't really do it justice.
It will be interesting when you can create your own animated backgrounds.
Seriously... ive downloaded themes and wallpapers, but none of them lasted long... i just love the default theme.
I don't know exactly how they'll be able to make sure people don't go all-crazy with their nicknames and keep it totally kid-friendly. However, I do know that it can be done, and it has to be, if they want to remain relevant when it comes to online. (Maybe canned nickname creation? User chooses a combination of pre-selected words to come up with a unique identity that's much easier to remember, yet still "safe")
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Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
I think their motivation would be to continue to innovate. After all, gamers didn't think that touch/stylus or motion controls would be that interesting in games, but Nintendo convinced us otherwise. Many didn't care about all the LIVE features being shown when the 360 was first launched, yet nowadays tons of people love their gamertag, achievements, etc. Actually in this case, Nintendo would first be playing catch-up. Then there would be the potential for them to take the online experience further and mold it to their vision.
But yeah, it's nice to want things. That's why I said it was a bold prediction. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it didn't happen, but I want to look like a genius if it did. :P
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I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
For me, I play online games mainly with my friends. It's probably the closest I can get to the good old days of getting a bunch of people around tv and gaming all night long. And being able to talk and bs with my friends has a lot to do with this.
Without this I don't think I'll play much online on the wii. Even the prospect of Smash doesn't excite me much without being able to talk to my friends.
Sooner the better ;-)
The quote I think was:
From ps3.thegamereviews.com:
So no planned time yet.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
True, but as far as features for the ps3 sony's has been preaty quick about anouncing something new and then delivering. Think the longest they've taken was a month in a half for divx/xvid.
Software is a whole other catagory of infinate delays.
With regards to the XMB, I love the default theme too but have recently switched to an Etcha-sketch theme, which other than the big watermark on the bottom right, I really love
It probably won't stay on for long, but I have a few to play around with!
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
I started Xbox Live basically on day one. And over the years I have come up with the conclusion that, especially with the 360, it can be looked at like a giant balancing board. When you receive one or two personal upgrades that you may enjoy one or two are taken away.
For example, back in the day of Ghost Recon and Crimson Skies had all free downloadable content. Sometimes it wasn't the best but it added another 3 - 6 months of enjoyment from a game that would have just been put away. Now downloadable content is like a four leaf clover, nice when you first receive it and an improvement over the old free stuff but really, at the end, not worth the trouble.
Overall, I'll still keep my Gold Membership and I'm happy with it in the overall picture. Marketplace is nice but cumbersome. The idea of demoing a game before play is great but if you demo an Arcade Live game it shows up in your Achievements and Gamer Tag. That I don't like. Once again it's a balancing board. You just have to find the right weight to stay even.
Now with PS3, I just don't know. I haven't made that leap and from the two friends that I do have who do own both they still prefer the 360. The idea of remote play interreges me but I don't want to repurchase all my old PS1 games just to do so. My online PSP experience is also limited but I do see the same problems about Friends List's that people experience with the PS3.
Wii, on the other hand, like everyone say is behind the times. I know why and I except it but it doesn't mean I like it. I consider the Wii the same way I considered the whole old cross platform wars between the oXbox and the PS2. I would always buy the oXbox because it would have some sort of Xbox Live experience 90% of the time and was kind of seamless. So if a game was to be offered on both the 360 and the Wii (ie GH3), I would buy it on the 360 no questions asked.
The DS can go in the same category as the Wii and with a complaint. One game not mentioned throughout the thread is Animal Crossing DS. It too is WiFi with the cumbersome friend code. So if a friend wants to visit your town you must have your gates open, which can limit your game play and you obvious, must know this person personally to know that your gates are open. Game play is real laggy and personal chat is nice but again cumbersome.
So when people ask I always ask what kind of gamer they are. If your hardcore 24/7 online I would say 360, if your so-so PS3, and if you say what's online I say Wii.
My $0.02 and I appricate this thread.
LIZ: Different.
VOICE-OVER: It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life.
If you had friends that solely owned a PS3 and were able to devote their time and attention to it, I think their opinion would be more positive towards it. Problem is, people only have so many hours in a day to devote to video games. If all your friends are using console A, you will probably spend most of your gaming time with console A, even though you also happen to have the 'less popular' one, as well. I personally only have a PS3, and I don't have many friends that play video games, so I think the PS3 is simply the bee's knees and couldn't ask for anything more.
I have a feeling remote play will be expanded beyond popping a PS1 disc into the drive and playing it remotely. I hope there will be some interesting, original content that makes use of the feature in the future. Playing Lair through remote play was a real eye-opener for me. The potential is there.
Agreed but your comment almost confirms my last comment:
But at the same token is I have played online with my PS3 friends with such games at Mortal Kombat Armegeddon. Even on my oXbox.
LIZ: Different.
VOICE-OVER: It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life.
This whole setup sounds amazingly cool, and is seriously something I'd consider spending money for.
Why is it that whenever I've asked 'what makes Live worth paying for' this hasn't been brought up?
Free stuff is bad?
I actually get annoyed when I'm playing a team-oriented game, but most of my teammates don't have a headset. It makes it much harder (impossible?) to coordinate any type of strategy. Sure, douchebags with a mic = awful, but that's what the mute button is for.
For PS3 games, since the system doesn't come with a headset and not that many people own Bluetooth ones, does that mean multiplayer games are pretty quiet? I think that would irritate me more than be a good thing.
Anyways, I predict that whatever company can figure out a way to make it so that I can play with strangers but ensure I'll always have a good experience with mature people ... will make a fortune. This doesn't have to be limited to just Sony or Microsoft though, but with any on-line service/game. I'd love to have the same thing in an MMO or RTS.
My guess is that it would have to employ something similar to what Facebook does (profile is private to everyone except your friends and people in your network). I can elaborate more if people are interested in my idea ...
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Steam: JC_Rooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JiunweiC
I work on this: http://www.xbox.com
The downside is that a lot of genuine people don't have a headset and it makes some games pretty silent.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
The 360 doesnt come with a headset in Australia and I can tell you now that doesn't stop fuck asses.