Sony' Xbox live service umm.....yeah.....

[p2501]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060511/...MwBHNlYwM3Mzg-. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sony Corp. (6758.T) has revealed little about its upcoming PlayStation 3 online service to rival Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Xbox Live, but an upcoming offering from the Japanese giant's online game division may hint at its direction Sony Online Entertainment in July will debut a service, known by its working title "Station Launcher," which provides users access to several of its online PC games. Station Launcher, which ties together several programs already offered by Sony, will also consolidate lists of players' friends from a variety of the company's games, support chat and provide downloads of new game content and trinkets. Also, it will offer a single point where players can manage payments and link to other Sony-run sites carrying player rankings and information. "It's not going to stop at the PC," said Nathan Pearce, a creative director at Sony Online Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Digital. At the debut, Station Launcher will connect users to Sony's "EverQuest," "The Matrix Online," "Star Wars Galaxies," "PlanetSide" and "EverQuest II." Unlimited play of all five games through a Sony Station Access subscription plan costs $24.99 a month. Sony also will add "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes" to the Station Launcher lineup this winter, Pearce said. Games on Station Launcher will constantly update to computers with live online connections so subscribers can go straight into play rather than waiting for new information to download every time they boot up. The service uses technology from Microsoft that transfers files using leftover bandwidth, ensuring uninterrupted computer use. Microsoft has had unexpected success with Xbox Live, which connects through its Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles and allows players to compete, download content, chat and build an online profile. The community-oriented features behind Xbox Live's popularity are nothing new to many PC gamers who have been chatting, competing, trading and building virtual characters inside individual games for years. They have also helped to drive the success of upstarts like MySpace.com as well as major online companies like eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY - news) Sony, which aims to retain its dominance in the $30 billion global video game market with the PS3, has vaguely outlined its plan to offer features that will match Xbox Live. $24.99 a month? I've added a base sales tax of 5% on to my calculation but that comes out to $315 per year. where as XBL is $55 a year. sony = Pwned.

[Danny]

man i just loved how the theeads called sonys xbox live service, itll neve rbe as good as live, AND its stealing the Wi's motion sensor from the nunchauk controller and there back catalogue idea, how can microsoft adn ninty not have sued them in bankrupcy yet?

[Tullaryx]

And still they haven't said anything if they're going to start something that will be a centralized system that will allow not just Sony-published games but also those of third-party. That was the problem with the PS2 on-line system. With Sony games like SOCOM it worked fine, but EA, Ubisoft and third-party games were a pain to deal with. This was due to the fact that Sony either didn't have a centralized system set-up to handle all the games in its library that had on-line play or just told third-party developers to set-up their own system. I've heard that with the new system for the PS3 they will give third-party developers a choice. Either set-up their own system or sign-up for the Sony system. Does the latter mean these third-party developers and publishers have to pay Sony to use their system? I could be and if that's the case then of course they'll just do their own and thus the cycle continues from the Ps2 to the PS3. I think Sony just hasn't figured out that the one glaring weakness they have in terms of the console business is their inexperience with software. Microsoft has been in the on-line business for years and with their headstart with Live, soon to be expanded with Live Anywhere (Xbox Live, Vista Live, Mobile Live), they continue to update and refine their system while Sony is still trying to figure things out. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft ends up dumping the Gold Account system and just make Live subscription a free-service. I think they can make up the lost revenues through the microtransaction through Live.

[p2501]

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft ends up dumping the Gold Account system and just make Live subscription a free-service. I think they can make up the lost revenues through the microtransaction through Live. give it time. MS has been very cool about giving away free time and content to the non-gold users so i think given time XBL may be rendered free. My feeling is with GTA 4 and epsodic content they're going to be offering, this is their intenful standrad. So alot more by way of add on packs, and content on XBL will be coming.

[Tullaryx]

Exactly. Look sta Oblivion. People were up in arms over the Horse Armor pack costing so much for little bang, but it still sold well enough that Bethesda and Microsoft probably made more on that dumb-ass download content than it took to produce it. I think you're right in giving it time. The microtransactions will take a few more months for publishers and Microsoft to find the threshold of what Live subscribers are willing to pay for. If they can find the ideal pricing that most would accept (yes free transactions is the ideal, but only the most naive gamer would ever think that would ever happen) then they can calculate just how much they can gain in addition to losing revenues from turning Live permanently free.

[Danny]

give it time. MS has been very cool about giving away free time and content to the non-gold users so i think given time XBL may be rendered free. i agree its such a great service, with such a hassle and glitch free launch that its not gonna get any competition from the lamestation 3 (sorry couldnt help) but yeah, i seriously think it'll be free by like 09 or something. but god damn to this forum the ps3 is the tom cruise of games consoles

[Tullaryx]

Well the Tom Cruise of consoles is abit much. They're not that crazy yet, though Kutaragi may be. I do believe that the market is ready for another shake-up as to who dominates the industry. Nintendo was on top of the console world for a decade or more then Sony took over. While it's not a guarantee that Microsoft will be the next, it is a lock to say that Microsoft will not go away and has now established itself as one of the major powers in the industry. Sony's reliance o brand-name recognition and fan loyalty is a mistake in my opinion. A company that remains a success never uses consumer loyalty to be part of its business practice. Apple did that and to an extent still continues to rely on it alittle, but they saw that having a small, but rabid loyal fanbase is great but it doesn't always translate to company profits. Sony is hedging on two things: 1. Their Blu-Ray system installed in every PS3 will move units of consoles. This despite the fact that the market hasn't decided whether it'll be Blu-Ray or HD-DVD that becomes the standard. 2. Thehuge numbers of people owning PS2s will translate to most of them buying a PS3. This would be perfect in an ideal world, but I think Sony is stupid to ignore the fact that some people who own PS2s also have an Xbox, if not a 360 already, and a Gamecube.

[Danny]

blu-ray sucks, people know the brand dvd so they know its easy to copy and reliable . ive onwed almost every console released after the NES but i have little to no desire to get a ps3, maybe if they DO get that baby george grill periferal, then ill think about it.