Posted this in the gamer section, so i thought i'd post it here too..

People keep thinking about features when comparing online experience.

Dedicated servers vs P2P ?
i rather game on dedicated server then P2P anyday. Sony offers that on alot of first-party games n i greatly appreciate it.
People just keep comparing features..

feature wise LIVE wins no doubt.
But, having no dedicated server when i game.. .makes those 50bucks seem worthless. On the other hand PSN gives me dedicated servers for free.

I dont play 'features' of consoles.. i play games on them. So if your gonna tell me that LIVE is 'without doubt' superior. I call BS.

It's a matter of what you want out of a online experience.

@1.3 lol. I'm in a clan and quite frankly find your post hilarious. Never had a problem when I was jumping games or matches within a game. It is easier on LIVE wid the party system, but in no way is it bad as you make it sound.

When it comes to features the hardcore gamers care about, XBL still has the edge. When it comes to a gamer who thinks with his money and not necessarily his experience, PSN has the edge. Will both be equal eventually? I think so.

There are a ton of things that you would have to factor in when thinking about it, though:

Best, Most Unique & Biggest Downloadable Games (PSN)
Most DLC (XBL)
Cheapest (PSN)
Most (Hardcore) Gamer-Related Features (XBL)
More Casual-Like Experience (PSN)

And the list goes on...

@HDGamer: What am I full of? I'm sorry, I thought I was comparing XBL to PSN and not Steam. I don't even know what service you're trying to defend...

Another vs. article?

Didn't see THAT one coming...

Can I next get... I dunno... Cloud's Hair vs the Socialist Movement of the early 1900s?

I like the fact that the PS3 has a built-in wifi adaptor for those who don't want to bother with stringing up massive amounts of ethernet cable, and the fact that PSN is completely free to use; but I also like the fact that XBOX Live has a lot of features that PSN doesn't -- even though not all of them are gaming-related. The "watch a movie with a party" is pretty cool, IMO.

Depends what you want. I personally feel that such a service should NOT require fees, but that's just my opinion. Therefore, PSN is my choice.

only an idiot would pay 50$ for cross game chat

Enjoying xbl....will be enjoying psn soon.

Why pay for lag when you get a lot more stable online play with PSN for free?

how is security and community better on the 360? everybody is a arsehole and its stupidly easy to hack a 360 if you know what your doing so they arnt better at that

xbl is p2p. Some games have their own dedicated servers however, but hardly any.

psncrap is also p2p but more developers supply there own dedicated servers on psncrap compared to the 360.

Cross-game chat isnt avaiable on the psncrap. (lmafao!)

psncrap is free but not have dowloads of demos (only in qore signed have acess for demos, lmafao )

XBL feels more complete. (owned)

xbl wins again imo...;)

360 is ok if you want to be called a Ni**er every five seconds on Halo 3 by a 15 year old.

360 because i know more 360 owners and its funnier
i use ps3 for mostly single player games

Since when did the PS3 not have this??? My 1st game for PS3 was Ridge Racer 7 and it had Cross Game Invites since day1, I have a launch 60gb which i upgraded to 160 after 3 months of having it. Most if not all PS3 game have the ablilty to invite someone to your game that you're playing. Anf yes you can invite them no matter what game they are playing. And for the record Sony is working on cross game chat atm.

I can speak about my experience with the PS3.

Normaly I leave my mic turned off but I had lots of great moments playing games such Resistance 1&2 and Killzone 2 with minor lag problems or dificulty to find a match to join.

on the other hand to I totally did not like Socom Confrontation but after many months with patching I heard it is a good game now but I totally lost the interest on it now.

I am still waiting for some MMoRPGs... if I remember right the game AION was supposed to also come to the PS3 but it seems that it will be a PC only game.

Playing online multiplataform games such Resident Evil 5 was not good to me, too much lag and boring disconnections all the time.

Multiplayer deathmatch seems to have almost the same number of games on both consoles but seems that the Xbox360 still have an advantage of having more online games with cooperative modes then the PS3 .

I hope that with Uncharted2 and GT5 I can play more online with friends in a cooperative way.
On that matter I really envy the xbox360 with games coop online such Left4D, halo3, GoW172 and etc.

if your talking games that are offered online its PSN all day! The only games played on XBL online are Halo Gears and COD

I've played online with both. The only real difference in the experience for me is that there are fewer people on PSN with voice. The actual experience is pretty much the same once you're in-game.

Look i'm a psn lover just like the next person but i honestly think "after the 3.0 update" that LIVE is still king.
1. Easier to communicate with friends
That's the one and only reason i think LIVE is better for gaming experience. Everything revolves around doing it with your buddies. That's why co-op is turning into a necessity rather then an luxury.
That fact that my dear Sony chose to ignore our outcry for cross game voice chat and a real party system make me feel alienated.

Foot Note: I guess if they did use cross game voice chat then the text keyboard add-on would become absolute.

the machine along with that games gives it the edge! Sorry but cross game chat and invites mean jack sh!t when ALL games have a party system built in already!
and as far as cross game chat..... text chet is available and allows you to keep talking with the ppl your INGAME with
btw i didnt read this
i just know what Halo players are like and i know what Warhawk/Socom players are like
PSN hands down!

That's all you need to Know

But LIVE revolves not just around you, but you and your friends. It makes you feel like you're still having those gamer nights where you don't leave until 3am. That's what it's all about man. Sony would dominate if they only get that simple fact in their heads.

PSN of course.

No need to even discuss this anymore. PSN will be out of Beta with the launch of the PS4 in 2012/2013 with cross game chat, cross game invite and custom music in every game.

The question in this article is: Which offers a better online experience?

The thing I hear PS3 fandroids say: PSN is free, doesn't change anything to the answer. Which is the better online experience? XBL is, without a doubt.

And all those saying PSN is, should get their head checked.

EDIT

@ the one below

You're saying it yourself, cross game chat, cross game invites. Its on XBL and not on PSN. SO they're not equal already. Thanks for the confirmation. XBL does more and does better then PSN.

Then you skipped the also important:

Custom music ingame in EVERY game
Gamerpoints (Trophies) in ALL games
A party system like XBL has

No dude. You're wrong on all points. And yes, 50 bucks are a great investment if it makes EVERY game that has online better.

Not only that, I can still pop in and play Halo 2 online, or any other old game that has an online option. Can you still play MGS3 online on your PS2 or PS3?

Another one: how many great co-op games (online) do you have on the PS3 through story mode or even otherwise? Another great implementation based on the unified XBL and the jump in/out option for friends that boosts that game option on the 360 and not so much on the PS3.

IMO its the PS3 only because NO LAG with more players and it FREE
but i do play the 360 more online because of halo 3

Why would any body in their right mind pay for an internet connection and then waste money to have to pay online when it should be free any way? Stupid and just down right ignorance. Should be free for any system. Thank you bots very much for giving the psn high standards to go by. It's because of your $50/year that the psn keeps improving. Enjoy paying extra for a connection you already pay for any way. Suckers (I guess we all should call it bots for now on), theres one born every minute.

i never expierenced xbox live myself, i know they have alot of features, i can see where a xbox user would hate psn, im use to less features on psn, well simply because i never expierence live, i don't know the difference between a p2p and dedicated not a big computer jig, but for me i have all the games on ps3, gears look cool, but im socom fan, so my special reason behind sticking with sony is because of the socom series, psn is fum, barely any kids, except those british kids on fifa 09, who keeps calling me yank lol!!! anywho!! psn is nicE!!

but butt box live users pay $50 a year.*xbl looser assumes the position shuts eyes and clenches teeth*

YOUR PAYING YOUR INTERNET BILL!!

YOUR PAYING 60 BUCKS FOR VIDEO GAME

YOUR PAYING 50 DOLLARS TO PLAY ONLINE- WITH YOU HAVING TO PAYING YOUR ISP BILL......

WHY XBOX USERS WHY? CROSS GAME CHAT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?

Hey this is only the 1000th time this type of article has been posted. :(

but when it comes to straight online play i believe dedicated servers is better then p2p.

but to each his own i guess.

Whats the point of even asking this? Everyone is going to have there own opinion!

Why do people keep bringing this sh!t up?

Basically the PS3 is the better hardware and has the most potential. But the 360 is a better online experience for now.
There used to be a big difference in the amount of decent games that used to be in the 360's favor but now its roughly even with the PS3 pulling ahead steadily.

Both consoles are good and have their pro's and con's, about a year ago you would have been better off owning a 360. Now I'd say it's about equal, and pretty soon I think the PS3 will be the better one to own.

It's all pretty straightforward stuff for anyone who isn't a fanboy of either console and who has a reasonable level of intelligence and some degree of objectivity!

It isn't even debatable.

I mean what is the point really. One thing is to talk about the features of each particular machine but to pit them against each other has no other purpose but to cause baseless and opinionated arguments.

Think about it if you like MS you will point out all the great features of live and vice versa with PSN.

The people that own both might have a less biased point of view but it's still going to be skewed to the console they tend to lean the most.

If you are satisfied with what your console covers on their online community then the winner is you. If you bought one and you don't like it, then I guess you lost.

No point in giving my opinion because in the end I'm not going to persuade the opposition and vice versa.

Really good article. Like he said, It all depends in your preference. Some people dont care about extra features online, so PSN is right for them. I have both consoles, and personally prefer Xbox Live. I feel alot better and secure playing online in Xbox Live knowing that I can report any jerks easily by using the fast report system.

Which console can die while playing online?

ps3 online service is absolutely FREEEEEEEEEE!!!
REGARDLESS WHAT GAME IS ON OR NOT ON FACT IS ITS FREE.

360 all the way...u get wat u pay for

have too in xbl:

More players (halo 3 and gears 2 proves this)

ps3crapfanboys have multiple accounts in psncrap (lmaofao) ms only include accounts that have been active.

in terms of visual,organization,and contents xbl wins against psncrap.( owned)

+1 for xbl

-signed: bill gates the boss of ms

well? to be honest with you guys, im a ps3 fan at heart, but i guess this is where i have to say the ps3 suffers a great deal, this is in my opinion the only area that needs fixing.

with that said xbox live is clearly better in every aspect imaginable.

just the ability to stay in constant contact with your buddies at all times is what makes xbox live that much greater in my opinion.

cross voice chat? voice messaging? 8 way party chats without having to leave or cancel any running applications? universal game invites?

shoot that alone is what makes live so great to me.

netflix, facebook or even twitter dont mean squat to me, but everything i just listed above is what an online community should be like and feel like.

seriously think about it for a second here, if the ps3 were to get all those features, than the 360 would simply lose its value given what the ps3 already offers under the hood.

its all im sayin and hey im being honest about live, its just that good really it is.

Isn't competition suppose to bring down cost?
xboxlive (YOU) is whats paying for them to be in the console business. Its not the games or the hardware.

why the hates...????

Personally I go for PSN lately with it I don't have to listen to annoying 12yr olds or get kicked from a game cause I don't want to use my headset tonight.

XBl got more services hands down , but that's not the problem between me and pro 360 fanboys .

The problems are the constant lies and claims that XBL runs better or that much better .
It's cute when it's two morons fighting each over over a console on a forum , but not so anymore wehnso many lie , and it affects gullible people's purchases .

The PSN network is very rarely offline , and almost never without a notice of some sort about maintenance . Pretty much every games play lag free , unless it's the game's fault , like more recently king of fighter XII .

And let's talk about that one btw ... even on usually serious fighting game forums you could see and read crap like " kof XII wont lag on 360 unlike the ps3 " And in the end , the naked truth was the awfully optimized online , only recently (partially) fixed for both consoles .

sc4 , sc4 or blazblue arent really more fluid either on a console compared to the other .

All things considered it's pretty much the same often great experience .
The only difference being the obvious extra services on 360 the ps3 doesnt have yet or might never get .
And that's the only thing that matters here if you were to choose between the two based on online difference . Can you live without cross chat and voice , knowing that you can still voice chat in every game so long as it's the same party or lobby ? IF yes you can deal with the ps3 ... if not definitely get a 360 .

The only awful and crappy online experience out there , is definitely the Wii

if you guys think im wrong but i think xbox live and psn are both good to be honest they are both great services and psn might be a little better because it is free and it has playstation home but xbox live has cross game chat already but psn does not have it but i hope it does get cross game chat soon like xbox live i think it should also get voice messages that can last about over 30 seconds and it should get video messaging and xbox live should get text chat

How can people seriously think PSN is a better online experience?

Now I will definitely admit in terms of games PS3 has some stellar triple AAAs and I'd say they probably win the exclusives war, but if you think the ps3 SERIOUSLY has a better online experience, you are simply twisting words to fit your own bias.

I'm sorry, how is this even a comparison?

WASTE, YOU GOT TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE INCLUDING THE FEATURES, NOT A STEP BY STEP BREAKDOWN

ID RATHER PAY 299 FOR PS3 THEN 299 FOR XBOX ELITE

PS3 = VALUE ADDED PRODUCT TO ITS CORE with less than 5% defect
XBOX = MINIMAL VALUE ADDED PRODUCT WITH 67% DEFECTS (sweet eh...)

But, Im going to have to say, Xbox offers a better online experience, I'm removing the "required payment" amount to have to play xbox, if were just talking about playing online, cross talk has got to be the edge for the 360....there are days I dont wanna talk at all, but there are days i just wanna run my trap forever....

Im a playstation fan hands down, but If and when They get cross talk the edge will be to sony for sure, ATM xbox live has that one feature that puts it on top.

psn needs allot of improvements to even come close to xbox live and thats the truth .

Saying PSN is equal or better than XBL is like saying that the 360's hardware is superior to that of the PS3's. It's really foolish. When the PS3 gets all of this.

*Cross-game invites - This means that you can send a request to a friend to join your game, even when they're playing a completely different game.

*Group Chat - On Xbox 360, you and any other gold members can form a party and chat, even if the members of the group are watching different video content or playing different games.

*Voice Messages - While this option seems almost expected, the PlayStation 3 does not offer the and ability to send a member a voice message. The Xbox 360 does.

*While both online experiences offer a friends list, the details of what your friends are playing, and how your gaming skills compares to theirs, is much more detailed on the Xbox 360.

*Xbox 360 also has better online integration with leaderboards. Even if you're not competing directly with one of your friends in an online game, you can still try to best their scores on a leaderboard.

Then, we can start comparing the 2 on more equal terms. But even then Sony still needs to make their whole experience more seamless by doing away some sync or minor load times.

psn can handle 256 players online in 1 room at once, xbox max is what again? no lag on ps3, free service

peace

LMAO! man your a crazy clown!

BD 1080p versus DVD9 512p upscaled? LMAO

FREE FREE ONLINE GAMING.

I only own a PS3, and never used live, however, based on some comments I've read on this site it seems live offers more connectivity. While cross game chat and invite are definitely cool, I am happy with the PSN so if these features come then good, but so far I can play online for free and with little to no lag, so im happy. Really, it is up to the user, if those features are essential for your enjoyment then yes, live is better, but if you only care about playing online and chat with the people in the game then PSN is fine.

Hit me up for some Killzone 2. PSN ID: Melvin10

Whatever helps you guys sleep at night lol!

with my 5th xbox360, each time it take 1 month on a repair. i think when i have nothing to play because of the failure rate. I don't have a online experience at all. since I bought a ps3 now I have a experience and I am going to sell my xbox360.

Every time I read one of these articles there's a glaring omission.
A feature that Microsoft has had since Halo 2.
The TrueSkill ranking system.
On the PS3 developers have to use their own ranking systems which vary from developer and in most cases vary from game to game, never having any consistency and is almost always some variation of the ELO ranking system carried over from Chess.
Gaming is a much more complex beast and therefore requires a much more robust method of ranking similarly skilled players. Microsoft own's the patent to the Trueskill ranking system which is a huge step up from the ELO system, you can read about it for yourself:
http://research.microsoft.c...

So unless you didn't bother reading about it or you just want to play ignorant fanboy, you now realize the implications this ranking system has on an online multi-player environment and it's precision ability to match players of similar skill level's.

Just pointing out another detail about Sony's online experience that is lacking .. dont hate.

this site fuking sucks bad...... really really bad you should be ashamed of yourselves n4g along with all the fanboys that bother to post on stupid articles like these....

there both good

Let's see, if we have to compare then we know both have something to offer. Now which one offer's it for free?

I'd take dedicated servers over party chat any day.

No lag on PSN. Maybe because there is noone actually on it.

Halo 3 states : 100K+ on at any one time

KZ2: 2-3K Max

all the games i've played online were smoother on the PS3 but i like the party/chat/crossgame thing more on the 360.

this site must be filled with kids that don't have an income?

My gosh ,all I see is "IT'S FREE".

Since when was regular tv or anything free was better than pay per-(enter name like movies,p0rn etc)

The live service is not perfect but it is better than PSN, granted that Sony is trying their best to give those gamer the most for free.

Oh my , a whole 50$ a year... how am I ever going to manage that into my budget, I don't know but I guess I guess I can't go and have take out now =/

When I use PSN it is obvious that the only way I can communicate will not be via party chat or even private chat, but you get used to the text chat. If Free is such a BIG deal, then I understand but the end users on here make it sound as though they are cheap and broke (-_-)

PlayStation Network is like a PC online experience on a TV console, while XBOX Live is a total TV console experience (very much like a cell phone company handling their products). In simple terms if you hate PC online games you'll hate the PS3 online experience, if you love the total TV console experience you'll love the XBOX 360.

PC/PSN network disadvantage:

- Ping numbers, that can control the kind of experience you have online.

PC/PSN network advantage:

- Each game is handled individually by their creators, allowing more freedom like mods, special features, or unique updates specific to their games.

XBOX Live advantage/disadvantage:

- It's handled by one company allowing more games to have online, but adds fees, each game effects each other, no passwords to prevent stealing online nicknames, or paying for online on top of MMOs.

PlayStation Network is only free because of the network topology is very similar to the PC, but only difference is that PlayStation Network has universal nicknames like the XBOX Live service (hence, the combination of the two online experiences in one). In general TV consoles should be more like cell phone companies, how each company handles their own network/phones instead of having each cell phone provider handling their own cell phone's network under another company's name, lol (if that makes sense to anyone).

for me i know i didn't use any of the "premium features" of XBL when i had it all i do is play online with friends and download occasional demos i could care less about facebook/twitter aps, or the NXE and it's avatars(find home pointless too) so for me i much rather like PSN cause i can play with friends for free however XBL would be worth it to those who actually use the features i guess

1 extra G of coke per year yay

LAG FEAST IN XBOX LIVE I'm telling you! Gears of lag with only 8multiplayers, Truth need to heard! Yet I played R2 with 60multiplayers with no lag!

Correct me if I am wrong, but is there a web browser built into the 360? I can go online with my PS3, bookmark my favorite sites, listen to podcasts, all of that. Since I can do that, and play online for free, with the wireless adapter built in, not to mention in game XMB, a slick interface, remote play from anywhere in the world with a PSP, HOME, and excellent reliability (I've never been kicked off a game,) PSN is simply better. It all comes down to where most of your friends are playing, though.

I like both system's online capabilities. I wont talk about the pricing, because that not the important part of the issue. It's about which online service delivers the best, and for me....it's a tie.

Both systems deliver arcade type downloading, some backwards compatibilities, and online gaming fun. MS is better with it's ability do deliver voice chat over any gaming situation, and althoug I don't care about using it...the Netflicks is cool. Sony has PS Home (Althohug it's not really finished yet.), the store, and getting online is pretty easy.

All in all, they both are high quality.

my friend will buy ps3 bec of free online service. he hate to pay for online service on 360. ouch! PS3 wins period!

Live is by far better but Psn is coming along slowly there are many things i wish i could do on psn that you can do on live , the new update to xmb was nice i hate the friends list tho but it didn't change anything for me its just a new look, Where are the new features Sony!!! i really hope there's another update this year with more features.

If you buy the 13 month card for 50 dollars, that is around 3.8 dollars a month. Xbox Live is worth far more than that. Now, I don't have a PS3, so I am not saying which is better, but I can say I love Live. I don't know how it is on PSN, but Xbox Live feels like what online play should be on a console. The integration into all other parts of the system, the great party/friend system and very enjoyable online play. I'm not saying its perfect. I would love some dedicated servers and for it to be free. Or, if its not free, take off the ads at the very least. I do dislike having hosts because its a b!tch when the host leaves. But overall, I love live and it is well worth the money for me.

..................

You get what you pay for :)

PSN is fine, if you only have a PS3 your not going to avoid online because of it, But XBL is better, like so much.

Agreed. PSN is a GREAT service and it's FREE. But, I think Xbox Live is more feature-rich and community based.

for me PSN

-no bad mouthed little kids

-no lag

-and best of all it's free