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Sony Wants You to Buy Games, Not Xbox Live

February 12, 2009 in News comments 30

During CES Sony talked about how the ps3 is a great deal, and they made a statement that is quite interesting. Sony said they would rather have you spend your 50 dollars on actual game content or arcade games then to just get online with Xbox Live.

Microsoft's online service costs $50 a year, if you don't find a card on sale, and Sony wants to show you what you could be buying with that money if you were online with your PS3. You have to give it to them: $50 on the PlayStation Network gets you some pretty great stuff.

"Rather than paying a $50 subscription fee that competitors charge for on-line services, PlayStation Network users could put that money towards a variety of content," the company claims. What could you get?
Sayyed via arstechnica.com »
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  • 1
    Darknet* Feb 12, 09
    Well I'm buying more MS games than Sony games. So yeah...I'm doing what Sony wants?
    • 0
      Onvacation Feb 12, 09
      I think Sony's point is, That you COULD spend more on actual games if you didn't have to pay for Xbox live?
      • 2
        Darknet* Feb 12, 09
        Okay. So should I spend my new found money on Qore (only way to get some demos) or should I spend a lot of my money on new clothes and furniture for my Home character?
        • 0
          Onvacation Feb 12, 09
          I think that's essentially what their getting at, Don't give MS money, for pointless services, Give it to Sony!
        • 0
          GTA_Fanatic Feb 13, 09
          Pssh. Get PixelJunk Monsters. That game's great for $10.
        • 1
          Gutter_Tech Feb 13, 09
          @ darknet well that or full versions of games..... there are tons of classic games for 4.99. plus new games created for psn.
        • 0
          SS4Gogeta Feb 13, 09
          quote Darknet
          Okay. So should I spend my new found money on Qore (only way to get some demos) or should I spend a lot of my money on new clothes and furniture for my Home character?
          Yeah! No shirt! Why the hell did I ever buy Qore? And why would I spend money on my Home character?
        • 1
          HisServant77 Feb 13, 09
          Darknet, you must not have a PS3, because Quore is NOT the only way to get some demos. About 90% of demos are in the PS Store for free. Then the 10% or so of the Quore Demos usually are available a few weeks later in the store like all the others.

          You also, like others mentioned, are forgetting the other content. You know, the 98% of the rest of the store's paid content such as: games.
        • 1
          Darknet* Feb 13, 09
          I actually have a PS3. It's just gathering dust. None of the exclusives interest me and I get all multiplatform games on the 360 cause of the achievements and friends.
        • 1
          HisServant77 Feb 14, 09
          Well there you go, you don't use your PS3. Which explains why you were mistaken about the things I mentioned.
  • 0
    ShadowJ Feb 12, 09
    quote Source
    Even with an expensive system, this is a good talking point. Why not buy games instead of a service?
    Because with all due respect, you are paying for an actual decent service. Other than demos, I hardly touch anything else on PSN. Fair do's there are some that play games like PAIN and Elefunk but if I actually did like the 360 or more to the point couldn't get the games on PC...then I wouldn't mind forking out the money for the decent service that is XBL...well ok the squeaky kids are annoying but nothing a virtual bullet repeatedly lodged within their character's skull couldn't fix.

    Out of the examples given, there was only the Dark Knight I would spend money on and even then I already got it downstairs from a promotion on release day. If I didn't then I could rent the blu-ray version which virtually costs next to nothing except a monthly payment that allows me to have 3 discs at once for as long as I want with no late fees or return dates...so meh

    Obviously I am only 1 in a million but just because something has the word FREE next to it, doesn't mean it is better...better for your pocket maybe but not all the time. Personally my online experience has been crap and although most times I blamed it on my internet, since I switched providers it has been exactly the same...I think the only time I had a decent experience was within GTA IV. Again could have just been one of those "It's your turn to have a bad moment" things but meh
  • 1
    FinalFantasyFanaticc Feb 12, 09
    Hmmmm would i rather spend money on a game which will last me about a month, or money on a years worth of the best online gaming service?

    Obviously the gaming service, this is just another try at marketing, which is a crap try.

    Its like when Miyamoto tried to promote Wii Music. Fail.
    • 2
      Onvacation Feb 13, 09
      If you only had an xbox and $50 dollars for a good while, Would you buy a game, or live? Somehow i can see the answer here, and what sony is getting at is here is that you can spend the money on the actul thing you brought the console for rather then a service to play them with~
      • 1
        ShadowJ Feb 13, 09
        quote On Vacation
        If you only had an xbox and $50 dollars for a good while, Would you buy a game, or live? Somehow i can see the answer here, and what sony is getting at is here is that you can spend the money on the actul thing you brought the console for rather then a service to play them with~
        If what you're getting at is "you only have the 360 console, do you buy XBL or a game?" then yes you are correct, you would buy a game first since it would be $50 down the pan until you bought a game (or downloaded games from XBL)

        However considering how cheap 360 bundles are these days which have a console and more than 1 game, that does leave that $50 open for XBL unless the bundle doesn't have the game you really wanted and so you buy that.

        Don't get me wrong, I do think the online services for consoles should be free and it would be awesome if the PSN had the same quality as XBL or even surpassing it while staying free but if I had the choice then I would pay for the better service

        but yeah FFF hit the nail on the head
        • 1
          Onvacation Feb 13, 09
          Even so, If i brought a PS3 bundle, (i have xbox myself) I'd be happy to spend the extra money myself, while playing online for free (by when i played many of my friends ps3 games i didn't see one problem with any of the services, so i can't vouch for problems much), and downloading demos, and with the party chat soon coming i don't see that many more areas of improvement

          Besides, games dont last a month, I'll buy one new one, sure, but through trade ins at GAME and cex i'll be able to get at least 5 more when im done with each one
  • 0
    Tiger of Wu Feb 13, 09
    Wow. Sony don't want people paying for Xbox Live. Shocking.
  • 2
    Red 9* Feb 13, 09
    Well, Sony is providing a pretty impressive and moderately comparable online service free of charge. So I can see what they're getting at.
  • 1
    HisServant77 Feb 13, 09
    I agree with Sony here. I much prefer my online gaming service FREE and not paid. I have a LIVE account too, but I tell you . . . they need to make it free. There's not much more they're giving for $50. I just wish Sony would get with things and add better online features such as that of live . . . well the ones they have left to duplicate, which is becoming fewer and fewer.
    • 1
      Red 9* Feb 13, 09
      quote HisServant77
      I agree with Sony here. I much prefer my online gaming service FREE and not paid. I have a LIVE account too, but I tell you . . . they need to make it free. There's not much more they're giving for $50. I just wish Sony would get with things and add better online features such as that of live . . . well the ones they have left to duplicate, which is becoming fewer and fewer.
      And there's nothing wrong with essentially 'duplicating' the features, or at least anything short of copyright infringement. If Sony can provide all the features XBL has, and keeps the service free, people will be far less inclined to pay for Live. Even if it is a petty $50 a year.
      • 1
        HisServant77 Feb 13, 09
        Exactly. Nothing wrong with it at all. I do like for them to have the features, but do them in their way though so it's not an exact copy. There was an interview a good long time ago with the head honcho of the PSN and he mentioned he liked many LIVE features and was hoping to be able to implement them into the PSN, but in their own style and way of doing it so that it wasn't identical.
        • 0
          Slumpy monkey Feb 14, 09
          Yeah that's BS, companies just don't want to say "Yeah were stealing this idea, and we don't give a shit unless you sue us"

          They always go "We admire XXXXXX and we think we could benefit from having theses features or whatever in our service to increase the experience for all of our customers while providing a better service etc etc"
        • 1
          HisServant77 Feb 14, 09
          That's not BS. I mean, they wouldn't "steal" features unless they liked them and thought "XXXXXX" had a good idea, and that they thought their customers would like the features.

          That's telling the truth. I mean, if you want to get into the whole stealing thing, then everyone has been stealing for a LONG time, since original ideas ran out QUITE a long time ago.
        • 0
          Slumpy monkey Feb 14, 09
          Exactly, that's what I meant. Companies always steal but they just don't state it for obvious reasons.
        • 0
          ShadowJ Feb 14, 09
          every feature within the games industry will at some point be stolen or recycled, however if sony literally ripped the coding or feature from microsoft then they would be breaching the copyright law and could be sued for millions.

          So how do companies go about stealing ideas and reusing them? Simple they give them a makeover and recode them from scratch.

          For example: Beth Soft made Morrowind and Oblivion, yet modders can't directly port one game into another due to copyright laws. However they can make the models from scratch.

          The same goes for online features. So yes there is something wrong with exactly duplicating features but there is nothing wrong with taking an idea and changing it to suit your needs. Also it's not just the games industry that do it...it's most visible in the music industry
        • 0
          Slumpy monkey Feb 14, 09
          Thanks for that Shadow J.

          But were not talking about stealing code, were talking about stealing IDEAS.
  • 3
    Tank Feb 13, 09
    I COULD spend more money on games if I didn't have bills to pay but nope can't see that happening.
    • 0
      HisServant77 Feb 15, 09
      Haha, yup, now is the time to figure out what's more important: Games, or electricity? Games, or food? Games, or a house? (Of course, if you choose games for either one of those, then you might end up with a problem because you'll either have no electricity, no house, or . . . be dead, and games would be useless to you wouldn't they?
  • 0
    streetcarp81 Feb 13, 09
    For those that have both a PS3 and a XBOX360 (as i do) which console do u play more online games on? which console do u download more arcade games or DLC? for me its the 360. I rarely have a problem online with Live and its just a better set up. the xbox marketplace is laid out in a way that is inviting and easy to navigate, as to PSN; which has gotten better but still not as good as live. when playing games like Halo 3, GoW, CoD4 or WaW i get quick matches and just about everyone has a headset. On my PS3 when i play Cod4 (i haven't in while) there is not that many people with headsets and its just not as smooth.

    and to those of u who pay $50usd a year for live you are getting ripped off. U can get a 12+1 card online from many sites for as low as $30usd. the most i pay for my 12+1 is $38.98 from buy.com w/free shipping. when u pay for live u get a great experience, thats just how i feel. would i want xbox live to be free? hell yes, but i dont want to lose the quality experience that may follow if live is free for all. The one thing i love about the PSN is that they allow u to purchase certain movies to keep on your hard drive where xbox does not. And yes PSN is getting better every month but its still not up to par with Live.

    Xbox has netflix streaming movies. so if u have netflix it makes your gold sub that much better. And for those that diss qore dont. Xbox is now releasing timed demos for gold members while silver members must wait to play them. not really the same thing but comparable. But when PSN does equal Live, M$ better do something because alot of live subscribers will not reup.
    • 0
      HisServant77 Feb 15, 09
      Well I personally use the PSN more than Live. I just prefer the online games for it most of the time, and know more friendly faces on the PSN than I do on live.
  • 0
    Blaze Feb 13, 09
    Haha, *bleep* microsoft.

    I have wii, but go SOny!

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