Sony may start charging for PSN

Fannymcslap

Looks like bad news. Not for me though, I have a 360!

http://megagames.com/news/html/console/sonymaystartchargingforplaystationnetwork.shtml

NeitherJohn

Hmm.. avast popped up a malware warning on that page!

Relating to the post, Sony will have to up the quality of the PSN to justify the cost certainly.

brian plank

Fannymcslap wrote: »

Looks like bad news. Not for me though, I have a 360!

"In the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services"

i know its not explained very well :rolleyes: but they are planning on adding more services which you have to pay for. you will still be able to play online for free, something you can't do on the 360.

Creamy Goodness

most definite a troll, but in case not i love the way you think you're exempt from paying to use online on console because you have a 360, which is funny because you have to pay for xbox live to get anything decent from it.

Tintee

It`s not bad news for you because your already paying?
I too have a 360, i also have a ps3.I don`t use my 360 online because i`m used to not paying for my gaming service as i`m a 90% pc gamer.If a charge comes in for ps3 gaming then i simply wont play online ps3.Tis as simple as that.If anyone doesn`t like it don`t pay!
However personally i dont think it will happen as this is a huge part of the reason for buying the ps3 in the first place.Besides, megagames is only good for one thing and that isn`t ground breaking stories.Most of their "stories" are thinly desguised troll posts to get the chat going and wind people up.;)

adrianj

Yeah it appears they will keep the free version, but might add premium services. Which I for one wouldn't opt for. The games on 360 are better anyway. Despite the fact I don't have neither of the consoles :P

Sisko

Not being charged money for something that should be free is one of the main reasons I went with a PS3 over a 360.

I hope they don't do this, it'll be a slippery slope after 360 owners showed their willingness to pay for something that's been free on PC since the start.

Nick_oliveri

Sisko wrote: »

I hope they don't do this, it'll be a slippery slope after 360 owners showed their willingness to pay for something that's been free on PC since the start.

Read post #3 on this thread.

Antar Bolaeisk

I think the key thing is enough people would pay.

I've always found the xBox system to be a bit of a con though as people are paying to host online games on their own machines (or at least that's my understanding of it but I am open to correction with regards to this). It would be interesting to see what services Sony will actually provide outside of the standard gaming services, I for one would like to see a true on-demand tv-show service where I can watch what shows I want to watch when I want to watch them. A service I would gladly pay for.

Of course, online PC gaming isnt' entirely free either but it's damn close. There are fees related to those who rent/own dedicated servers but the vast majority of gamers rarely have to worry about such things.

adrianj

Yeah it appears they will keep the free version, but might add premium services. Which I for one wouldn't opt for. The games on 360 are better anyway. Despite the fact I don't have neither of the consoles :P

Fnz

Antar Bolaeisk wrote: »

I've always found the xBox system to be a bit of a con though as people are paying to host online games on their own machines (or at least that's my understanding of it but I am open to correction with regards to this).

You're right, for the most part. Afaik, only some titles have dedicated servers.

Also pretty much spot on about it being a con.

Sisko

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

Read post #3 on this thread.

I did, hence the slippery slope comment. If they all of a sudden starting charging for everything full stop, there would be a lot of cursing in my post.

Or come to think of it I probably wouldn't believe it as it'd be a crazy thing to do out of thin air. They'd need to do it step by step. Which it looks like they might be doing.


For example on PSN I should be able to chat with my mates using voice chat no matter what game I'm playing if any. Currently me and my mates actually use our PC's to voice chat when arranging a game on ps3...

Well I can now see Sony trying to get people to pay for such a feature that should be standard.

Burning Eclipse

I had a 360 before I had a PS3, so perhaps that influences my opinions on this (it almost certainly does really).

I don't see how this is a big deal. I'd happily pay for an improved service. The biggest stand out issue I have with PSN is the lack of playable demos. I'd love to try out Pixeljunk Shooter. But I can't without paying for it, and that isn't an isolated incident. On the 360, if a game is released on XBLA, there must be a demo.

It seems relatively but I guarantee Sony would make more money if they required digitally distributed games to have a demo.

lol at the OP by the way. Poor post and a link to a dodgy virus infested site.

Zombrex

Christ at the moment you would have to pay me to use PSN it is such a poor online service.

If Sony introduce subscription like LIVE Gold they better do so with a completely revamped and improved online service otherwise they will get no subscriptions.

WolfForager

Here's the survey that Sony released, now in all fairness to Sony some of those options are pretty damn good. I'd pay for it anyway.

Sisko

Oh my fking god I knew it. They're holding off adding cross game voice chat cause they want people to pay for it. Unbelievable. This is basic stuff people , basic standard stuff that should be there already for free.

People don't know any better cause they never played online games on PC and think this stuff is shiny amazing stuff that we should be paying for.

Its sickening.

i_am_dogboy

I have no objection to them charging for the service as long as it gets a whole lot better, as it is I never use my ps3 for online stuff, I think the last time I did was to buy flower.

The survey has some nice features mentioned, I like full title demo for one. But there are too many completely disjointed options, I'd struggle to pick one of those, would probably opt out, because I can't get a single package that gives me what I want. But to be fair it is just a survey, and they could have a simple approach like silver/gold on the xbox in the end.