Playstation Live Service Will Support PS3 & PSP

[wraggster]

Source CVG

One of Microsoft's key advantages in both current and next gen is its impressive and rather slick online service Live, which offers a seamless interface to the (sometimes) wonderful world of online gaming. With online one of the key battlegrounds in the next gen, it's something Sony has probably always looked at enviously, but officially seemed less inclined to follow.
Well, all that might be about to change with the arrival of the PS3, if the latest word from the Official US PlayStation Magazine is to be believed. Despite past assurances that Sony would leave multiplayer matchmaking to game developers and in the remit of individual titles, it now seems like a centralised Live-style service is almost certainly in the works.

PSM reports that Sony wants much, much more than a simple matchmaking and ranking lists service, and developers in possession of the PS3 dev kits will have to meet with Sony's online compliance team to make sure their titles will work with the projected PlayStation Network.
Unnamed sources quoted by the magazine say Sony plans to develop a full PlayStation Network type service to compete head on with the current version of Live. They also say that the service will integrate the PlayStation Portable, which we've always speculated may act as a controller for the PS3 - and now as a portable connection to the online service. The magazine suggests Sony has been plotting this service since just after the delivery of the PS2 Network adaptor.

If OPM's reports are true - and we have to say they're given a boost by the appearance of that recent online questionnaire - it signals a seismic shift in Sony's thinking, but a vital one if it's to compete with Microsoft's perceived online advantage.

Live has already shown that it can be used for much more than multiplayer gaming, with the delivery of movie trailers, music and additional content - key targets and battlegrounds for Sony as it looks to establish Blu-ray and return all divisions of the troubled company to profitability. So it increasingly looks as if PS3 will have an online network to truly compete with Live and push Sony's multimedia content to every PS3 and PSP owner. We'll be following developments on this one closely, though we have to say, it'll have to get the PS3 out of the door first.

But what would you want from a Sony online service, and can Sony compete in the one area where it has always trailed Microsoft? Let us know what you think in our forum below.

[Privateer]

What deters me is the monthly payments. If Sony didn't have any, then it would win nomatter what in my book.

[Kaiser]

Sony Live huh? Sounds good to me. People have always said that the extra fifteen bucks they pay for there Xbox live is completely worth it. I've always felt PS2 online was less then stellar. Prety much all the games have little to no support anymore from the developers and it seems the servers are just rotting.

[grieverxiii]

If sony didn't charge monthly they wouldn't be able to provide the same level of service MS does with Xbox Live so to me $15-20 a month is well worth it if Sony does indeed decide to copy Live. Otherwise, their online system with the PS2 was terrible and the PS3 will inherit all the problems of the previous generation. Really, as terribly as Sony trashed the Xbox, the one subject they never dared to challenge MS in was online gaming. Remember how everyone said hey free online play...PS2 Online >Xbox Live. The PS2 never came close to Live's popularity or quality.

And Nintendo...seriously...you're not always right. I don't want you to tell me that online isn't necessary for fun, I want you to make a worthwhile online answer to Live or hell even something that's as remotely successful as Sony's plan. Nice to know you don't think online is as important as waving a TV remote around to play games...now if you actually knew what was right for gamers as you claim to we'd have 75% of the Revolution titles playable online and you'd be #1 instead of #3 out of 3. Yes, Nintendo's #3 and I love it to death but the argument that XB360 will be a failure without Japanese support is bogus - how many more turn based RPGs do we need? Madden, GTA, Halo...basically every FPS ever made = all western developed. Japan doesn't have a stranglehold on game development anymore and western devs love them their online modes.

[MaxSMoke]

Wasn't the best thing about the PS2's online support that it was free? You could buy a game and never have to pitch in money for it again. I think this is a terrible idea and alot of people can't afford, or don't want to pay, an extra service fee on top of what they already paid for the overpriced game. It's just a lame way to milk the end consumer for more money.

Maybe you guys have money to burn. Maybe some of you LIKE being robbed of $15 a month just for online game play that was *PROMISED* right on the box. But if you have to pay another $15 a month just to play a game online, when the game box says online gameplay is suppose to be included, then you're being ROBBED!

And as far as the "extra" stuff that Xbox live does, who needs it? Do you think I care of my PS2 can download movie trailers?? What useless junk! Most of Xbox Live's function is to spy on people's Xbox's to make sure they haven't been hacked! I can't believe some of you think this is ok! If you pay for a game, it should include free online support. Otherwise they shouldn't say it can be played online at all. They should be upfront and say it'll only play online if you pay up the butt for a monthly service. Ya, that's right, I want the gamebox to say, "Up the Butt". Maybe some of you don't mind bending over for The MAN, but I personally think software companies that take your money should be on the receiving end, not the giving end. The customer should come first!