When I first purchased my 360 back in 2006, live was a great addition, but since I got my PS3 there was always the thought in the back of my mind "It's free, why should I have to pay to play online?!" Well, that notion is still with me somehow but after my absense from Xbox Live for 6 months, I am whole heartedly greatful that XBL is available for gamers. It this moment in time the PSN is just no substitute. I've given PSN it's chance to prove itself but it's lacking in fundemental features that meld the online experience together. Here's my list of why Sony's PSN (Online Play) has not been cutting the mustard for me;
No headset included in the bundle
One of Sony's biggest mistakes was not launching its first party headset on the day of launch, or with any bundles. This may have changed if they had a SOCOM bundle but i'm not aware of one. Why is this such a big mistake? Well 90% of the time I play online, I don't hear anyone, I can't have a conversation..It totally detracts from atmosphere and the sense you are playing someone.
Bluetooth Headsets
Another issue the PS3 is the current third party bluetooth head sets that are available; i've tried many and the audio quality is inferior, the need to charge them up is ridiculous and I forgot the biggest downfall. I need to mute my TV to f*cking hear anyone. It's bloody stupid! All sony had to do was include a wired headset and I really, honestly think the difference between Live and PSN wouldn't be so great.
No Join Session In Progress
This is a common complaint by PS3 owners and with the amount of firmware updates we've had, we've still not been blessed with the convenient Join Session in Progress feature that Xbox Live has. Rumours are the way the XMB has been built and the amount of memory given to the XMB would make this impossible on its current framework, unless Sony revamps its consoles GUI.
No Private or Group Chat
For me, their is nothing better than doing your own thing...whilst at the same time being able to chat with one of your friends online. Exactly how hard is it to implement? when every messenger service on the internet can figure out how to make it possible!
No Voice Messages
I don't have the time to be writing an essay to a friend or reply to all my YouTube subscribers PM's on PSN. Why voice messages were not implemented baffles me, my only guess is Sony's current infrastructure cannot support it unless a complete overhaul of its GUI is made. Heckfire, i'd even take Skype afterall the PSP has Skype.
Yes the PSN is a free service, but if you are a keen online gamer or even like the social aspect of gaming these features are a must for fulfilling the online experience. Am I happy about having to shell out £15 for 3 months priviledge? Not entirely, but one things for sure. I'm having allot more fun gaming than I have done for the last 6 months and i'm even enjoying playing online which I wasn't too fussed about. I shall continue to have XBL Gold for the forseeable future, i've taken for granted just how good and enjoyable XBL Gold is...but feel that Microsoft shouldn't alienate Silver members when it comes to making them wait up to 5 days later for the latest demo's or free content...that's just completely anal.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
well I understand that PSN has it's share of problems, but sony will work on them. It may take some time but PSN will get there. For XBL, doesn't silver and gold get the same thing and be able to text, voice message and all that also. So if silver does that already all your paying for is the online service, which i think shouldnt be. thats why XBL should be free.
It is clear, it had a mute feature, a volume feature and its CLEAR !!
PSN is free and by now you should be able to see why, Many Ps3 games aren't pledged by Super Lag or not even working online for days to weeks.. Silver XBL doesn't use The Xbox servers for games so it's free,
The Headsets war is by far still better on the xbox 360, You can pick up to much from the background with Bluetooth, As work xbox you get mostly the user,
The official playstation headset is amazingly good, if they package that with the ps3 then we'll be sorted :D
Anyway, i'd complain about PSN if i actually used any of the extra features on xbox live, not to mention i much prefer the playstation store UI and the unique content, love the whole new UI's for account management and all, it is all starting to come together.
But like i said, till i start using the extra features i get on xbox live then i'll start complaining and wanting them on PSN - but for now, i play most online games online perfectly well on my ps3 so i'm happy.
http://www.gametrailers.com...
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