PS3 online stuffs announced

[raggedjimmi]

It's to be free! 1 up to Sony.

Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi has stated that while the company expects to earn healthy revenues from the sale of downloadable content for the PS3, there will be no charge for basic online services.
Thats very very good. Though it does bring up interesting questions. They're losing money with the PS3 hardware sale, they're either going to overcharge for online downloads or games. Hey, they gotta make profit somewhere.

Kutaragi said: "You can't charge money for network matching and other basic services. These things are just taken for granted on the PC."

Thank you Kutaragi. You have thinking just like everyone other than MS are thinking.

According to Kutaragi, the PS3 will make use of network services "from launch day", and consumers will embrace the idea of digitally delivered content within one to two years. Eventually optical drives will be obsolete, he believes - as indeed might hard drives.
that bit made me spit cheese all over my monitor. So... Sony are charging more than 2 consoles for a system being pumped as THE HD system with a "super fantasmo disk format"... even though optical drives are to be obsolete in "2 or 3 years"... what?!?!?! well eff that. I think I'll wait for my optical-drive-less PS3 for a fraction of the cost in 2 or 2 years then.


look. he stops being nice and starts chatting out of his bum.
"I expect even the hard disk to disappear eventually," Kutaragi said.
Yes. because the whole world has internet connections fast enough to power that. because you're servers can handle constant downloading of gigabytes worth of graphics, music and video to millions of homes 24/7. no hdd=no caching=looooad times. riiiight.
I'll donate my dearest mother to charity if that happens within the PS3's lifetime.

the whole thing is here. http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=17618

[ManchesterTrix]

It's to be free! 1 up to Sony.


Last I read, they were very vague about what "Basic" entailed and most people speculated that it would be equivilant to X-box Live Silver which is also free.

[x86]

"I expect even the hard disk to disappear eventually," Kutaragi said.

I find this very interesting, I mean, Sony would like nothing more than their customers to have zero control over their content. So streaming games would be ideal for them... It won't happen though, I'm just saying...

[FleurDuMal]

It really looks like this PS3 business is falling apart.

Of course this is the opinion of someone who knows almost nothing about games consoles. All I know is that me like Nintendo.

[XNine]

People are reading too much into his words.

He didn't say that Optical Drives will be obsolete and useless in two to three years, he said "eventually." Which he's right. Someday, probably in the next 10 years optical drives won't be needed, not in their current incarnations, anyway.

And yes, HDD's will eventually be obsolete technology as well, as the demand and the performance of flash memory is pushed to its limits every year, eventually all of your memory will be flash based. It's not fiction, it's fact. People are working on prototypes of data storage that is actually 3D. Think of a cylindar with multiple layers based on flash memory. This makes data storage much smaller for larger quantities of data.

[saunders45]

People are reading too much into his words.

He didn't say that Optical Drives will be obsolete and useless in two to three years, he said "eventually." Which he's right. Someday, probably in the next 10 years optical drives won't be needed, not in their current incarnations, anyway.

And yes, HDD's will eventually be obsolete technology as well, as the demand and the performance of flash memory is pushed to its limits every year, eventually all of your memory will be flash based. It's not fiction, it's fact. People are working on prototypes of data storage that is actually 3D. Think of a cylindar with multiple layers based on flash memory. This makes data storage much smaller for larger quantities of data.

Solid state storage perhaps? A steel cube, or the inside casing of your computer is used to store data.

[cycocelica]

I can just see the online content costing way too much. Plus this just opens the gates to little kids and others. By this I mean that a paid subscription keeps those who only really want to play online there. Thats why I like Live. Yes there are little kids, people who hack, and people who just plain suck. But I believe that if it was free, this would be far more of a problem.

[Haoshiro]

It's to be free! 1 up to Sony.

Thats very very good. Though it does bring up interesting questions. They're losing money with the PS3 hardware sale, they're either going to overcharge for online downloads or games. Hey, they gotta make profit somewhere.

Thank you Kutaragi. You have thinking just like everyone other than MS are thinking.

Actually, he did not say that Online Play hosted on their own servers (ala 360) will be free. He said "network matching" and "basic services", both quite vague.

Not to say it won't be, just pointing out that it is far from specific here.

that bit made me spit cheese all over my monitor. So... Sony are charging more than 2 consoles for a system being pumped as THE HD system with a "super fantasmo disk format"... even though optical drives are to be obsolete in "2 or 3 years"... what?!?!?! well eff that. I think I'll wait for my optical-drive-less PS3 for a fraction of the cost in 2 or 2 years then.

As Onizuka said, he said that downloading content would be embraced in 2 - 3 years, not BD/HDD. He said "eventually" there would be no need for optical drives - not in 2-3 years.

look. he stops being nice and starts chatting out of his bum.

That's the truth. I very much doubt HDDs will ever be phased out, at least not in terms of local data storage (perhaps a new tech would replace "Hard Disc Drives" such as large Flash drives, etc). There will always be a need for local data storage. Even games, even if speeds were fast enough to digitally deliver the content every time you wanted to play... a network outage would cause you to not be able to play ANYTHING, that would be stupid! heh.

[GFLPraxis]

I applaud Sony on the free online bit. People keep telling me that there's no way PS3 online will be free because it costs too much to run the servers. Which is strange, because I've never payed for an online game and I've been playing online for well over six years with my PC without paying a dime (other than for the connection). Nintendo said it'd be free and everyone told me they'd gouge you on something else to make up for it.

Sony's confirming that Microsoft just charges because they're jerks.

that bit made me spit cheese all over my monitor. So... Sony are charging more than 2 consoles for a system being pumped as THE HD system with a "super fantasmo disk format"... even though optical drives are to be obsolete in "2 or 3 years"... what?!?!?! well eff that. I think I'll wait for my optical-drive-less PS3 for a fraction of the cost in 2 or 2 years then.

Bill Gates has been saying stupid crap about how optical drives are going to disappear for years. He thinks HD-DVD is going to be the last physical drive format (because he's quite obviously anti-Blu-ray).


Thats very very good. Though it does bring up interesting questions. They're losing money with the PS3 hardware sale, they're either going to overcharge for online downloads or games. Hey, they gotta make profit somewhere.

Blu-ray perhaps?

[ManchesterTrix]

I applaud Sony on the free online bit. People keep telling me that there's no way PS3 online will be free because it costs too much to run the servers.

I'll have to track down the link but Online Play was conspiciously absent from the list of free online services that Sony was going to provide. X-box offers the same free online services that Sony seems to be touting.

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Last I read, they were very vague about what "Basic" entailed and most people speculated that it would be equivilant to X-box Live Silver which is also free.

Yeah...

...I just picked up an XBOX 360 premium for my dad (father's day's coming up!!!), and I thought that the box said XBOX Live Silver was free and XBOX Live Gold cost money...

...with Silver, I think you can download and purchase content and other stuff in some kind of 'Online Marketplace' - this sounds a lot like the stuff this PS3 Sony guy is describing...

...with Gold, on the other hand, you can play games over the network - right??? That, however, didn't seem included in the PS3 Sony Guy's description.

It sounds like both companies are offering the same damn service. Or am I lost??? :confused:

[GFLPraxis]

I'll have to track down the link but Online Play was conspiciously absent from the list of free online services that Sony was going to provide. X-box offers the same free online services that Sony seems to be touting.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/ps3-online-is-like-really-really-free-174650.php

[Haoshiro]

I applaud Sony on the free online bit. People keep telling me that there's no way PS3 online will be free because it costs too much to run the servers. Which is strange, because I've never payed for an online game and I've been playing online for well over six years with my PC without paying a dime (other than for the connection). Nintendo said it'd be free and everyone told me they'd gouge you on something else to make up for it.

Sony's confirming that Microsoft just charges because they're jerks.

Sure you have, on unmanaged or controlled P2P servers as well. PunkBuster has helped curb the cheaters, too. But is it a controlled, unified, environment? Nope, it sure isn't. I've played PC gaming online for years myself, and owning a 360 I can vouch for the fact that it, in general, is much better, not to mention easier and more consistent.

If I were to buy a PS3, I'd prefer not to have the PC online experience and gladly pay for something near to what is Live. Especially at the great price of $5/mo (or less).

I don't see the online interfaces and experience of most PC games as suited for the general public, but to each their own, though.

[saunders45]

What are you guys talking about????? Playing with rampant cheaters is fun!!!!!!:confused:

[GFLPraxis]

Strangely, I've never encountered a cheater.

If I have, I was able to kill him anyway, I suppose :D

I have been accused of cheating for multiple headshots within a few seconds though. Multiple times.

[2nyRiggz]

Alwyas knew these guys would not charge but if they did then oh well...1 up sony indeed.


Bless

[raggedjimmi]

I've never played a cheater either. all my public online games run through Steam anyways, no cheaters there! All private games, like the old Starcraft, Worms etc would never be public.
never played a cheater on DS either :)

but like what Praxis said - if i did play a cheater then he wasn't obvious and I beat him/her :D

[greatdevourer]

I'll donate my dearest mother to charity if that happens within the PS3's lifetime. What happens to the others ;)