Yep its been confirmed starting next year some sort of premium pay service will be added to PSN. However all current features of PSN will remain free. So your Facebook, Netflix, and most important online play will still be free of charge. With Sony keeping online free I am wondering what they can possibly give to make anyone even think of upgrading. I mean that is how MS gets people to buy Gold (the ability to play online). So I'll have to wait and see on this but I have a weird feeling that cross game chat and party groups will be a part of this premium service. However as long as they give me the current PSN for free and don't blow my mind with anything great to pay for I'll stay where I'm at. For some reason I am seeing another epic fail with this like Home. Just so long as I can play online for free I am happy, I'd hate to have to pay an extra $50 (or some deal) besides Live to game online. Plus I'd really have to pay for PSN since I game online almost exclusively on the PS3 but I could get rid of Live which I plan on doing anyway. Anyway enough about my rant of this here's the article: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6240938.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;4
Yeah everything that is free now is to stay free so demos etc. is supposed to be included. However Sony retracts on what it says a lot. Like you know when the PS3 started PS2 BC was a huge thing they wanted to offer and now no one wants to play PS2 games on the PS3 is their argument. Eventually this will evolve into a total pay service even if it happens with the PS4 is what I believe. For me though I love my PS3 so I would pay to play online with it no matter what...my 360 not so much. Still for some reason unless they do a cross game chat or something else with this it will fail just like Home and Qore IMO. There is no real incentive to upgrade.
I may be in the minority but I have no problem paying for a live type gaming service if it works well. $50 a year for live (or 30 on sale) is a small price to pay for the hours and hours of online gaming I get. But yeah, Sony has made such a big deal about PSN being free thats its going to be hard for them to change it. If the speculation about limiting voice chat to paid subscribers is correct then IMO its an epic, epic fail. Good players will pay because they understand that you cant play a multi player shooter effectively without team communication, and they will continually get stuck in rooms with people who cant talk. Frustrating as hell.
Well I am purely speculating about the cross game chat and no one else has brought it up. Still cross game chat is not the same as being able to use a mic in game that will still be included. Cross game chat is like what Live has with where you can chat with buddies while they play Madden and you play GTA. If you are playing a multiplayer game like say COD you can still talk in game with a mic. So they aren't taking away any features they currently have...I am speculating they could make you pay for the ability to chat across different games. Yet again that's speculation and regular mic support will remain the same. Really, like I said before, I don't see why paying is needed at this point if everything I can currently do in PSN will remain free. Also I don't really mind paying for online gaming but I prefer it if its free. As far as my rant about paying for Live I just simply don't use my 360 enough to warrant paying for Live. I do all my online gaming on the PS3 since its my system of choice. Paying overall is fine. Live is worth $50 a year ($4 a month) plus you can get all sorts of deals for it.
to a point, I only have my headset in when I play with my friends, if I'm on alone I take out the headset so I don't have to listen to rando kids curse all match
Well no one has a mic on PSN anyway or so I've seen. Either way as I said PSN will still have mic support for free as it is and gamers can use it just as they do now.
IDK man, if they do indeed introduce a two tiered service my guess would be that they would limit the free version to just being able to play games and maybe a few fringe features while putting voice communication and other stuff on the paid side.
According to what Kaz Hirai said (the big Sony muckity muck) that the current PSN will remain free and the new features are what you'll have to subscribe for. Still who knows what features will be free or paid...we'll just have to wait.
And I think you just like arguing with me. You still want to argue that the PS3 not selling well wasn't due to the high price.
I'd say it wasn't selling well because of the high price, so... I'd also say that the price (even at $400 or more) was almost always a very good price for the system at the time when talking about value.
Oh I know, I just dont trust them to stick to that. If they honestly keep everything free that is free at the moment then no one will pay for the second tier service unless they come up with some new mind blowing features that we know nothing about yet.... Doubt anything like thats in the works. And as already pointed out Sony (like Microsoft and just about any other corperation) is perfectly willing to backtrack if they feel they need to. If I am right they will come out with a press release where you will be able to play games online but have no voice chat and probably no facebook, netflix, or just about anything else without paying for it. They will spin it as "Unlike X Box live its free to play on PSN, but since our users have clamored for better features, quicker downloads, and a more immersive experience we have decided to give them what they want with a second tier of paid service that gives you everything you could want in an online gaming experience!" And honestly, I would have no problem with it. Its stupid how long it takes to download system updates to the PS3, and PSN has always been well behind live overall.... Which is understandable IMO when one is being offered free from a company that wasnt making money on its console in the first place and the other is a paid service that millions subscribe to. Not trying to knock Sony here at all as I actually think they have done a hell of a job with PSN given its all been out of pocket, but in the end I think its better to charge people a little cash and make a better product for something as large and potentially expensive as a worldwide gaming network/social network/movie download center etc. Microsoft has probably forced them into this to some degree by constantly pushing the boundaries of live beyond just gaming and into the facebook, netflix, movie rental, game download, and radio arenas. All that stuff takes server space and a massive amount of bandwith. My guess is that Sony sat down and said "look, Live is getting bigger and bigger by doing stuff outside of just matchmaking. If we continue to try and match them its going to cost X amount of money and right now we are only making Y amount.... So either we have 3 options 1-Keep PSN free while trying to match everything Microsoft is offering on Live meaning we make little/no money or possibly lose money. (Not a good option for a company that is trying to get back to profitability) 2-Keep PSN free, but offer only basic services which lets them make some money but gives Microsoft the advantage of pimping all the stuff that live can do that PSN cant 3-Make people pay so they can invest the cash in PSN to let it rival live without losing a bunch of money. Sounds to me like they took a little of option 2 and some of 3, which is smart from an advertising perspective. It would let them still talk about being able to game on PSN for free but making you pay to do anything more.
Great Post. See now for me I am in a small minority who actually thinks Live and PSN are comparable...hence why I probably won't renew Live if PSN stays intact. However you make a great point about price just look at the PSN and Live Facebook...the PSN version is sad and you can tell its free. I also agree that Sony very well could backtrack on this I just hope they don't.
Well new details are starting to come out about what may be in the premium service as well as prices (rumors of $20-$60 per year). Of course these are all rumors but chances are they have some fact behind them so don't take this as 100% fact folks. All of these features are detailed in the link below so please read it to see what each thing means. Link: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/19/possible-psn-premium-services-detailed-in-leaked-survey/ Some of these feature look pretty darn great whereas others are not so great or should be free to everyone (cross game chat). All in all if some of the stuff they are promising happens I will probably drop the cash. Also remember current PSN remains intact so online gaming will still be free. These are just extras you can purchase whereas you can game online for free.
Pretty much but I think some of the things listed here are better than what is currently available on XBL however. Such as being able to share a demo of a game you bought with a friend, free PSN content every now and then, music and video service, etc. Of course this is Sony they'll give you maybe two of these things that nobody wants then it won't work.
