PlayStation Plus.

[obonicus]

Undoubtedly. You won't see the same rate of adoption as XBL Gold, but then it's not reasonable to expect that. It'll probably go a good way towards helping SCE out of the red.

Whether Sony 'can make a product that excites people' or not isn't really germane to this discussion -- this is a premium service for your video-game console. Excluding the people who would get excited about anything Sony puts out, how amazingly good would it have to be to actually get people excited?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I think PS+ has the potential to eventually approach Xbox Live Gold membership ratios (with regards to install base), but it's growth is obviously going to be a lot slower as there is no one killer feature (yet) that will appeal to a very broad base of owners.

It's growth will be closely tied to how quickly and how well they can integrate additional PS+ features thus driving the value proposition up. How quickly they integrate new features is going to depend on how much of a loss they are willing to take initially in hopes of driving up the number of subscribers.

Regards,
SB

 

[Squilliam]

I think PS+ has the potential to eventually approach Xbox Live Gold membership ratios (with regards to install base), but it's growth is obviously going to be a lot slower as there is no one killer feature (yet) that will appeal to a very broad base of owners.

It's growth will be closely tied to how quickly and how well they can integrate additional PS+ features thus driving the value proposition up. How quickly they integrate new features is going to depend on how much of a loss they are willing to take initially in hopes of driving up the number of subscribers.

Regards,
SB

But it doesn't have the killer unifying application which is multiplayer to draw from. Until that time they'll have to offer more expensive content incentives which I might add has some interesting implications for purchasing habits of PSN+ members which limits their potential profitability and take up rate at the same time. The most commonly used Gold feature is of course multi-player and they already give that away for free!

 

[BadTB25]

But it doesn't have the killer unifying application which is multiplayer to draw from. Until that time they'll have to offer more expensive content incentives which I might add has some interesting implications for purchasing habits of PSN+ members which limits their potential profitability and take up rate at the same time. The most commonly used Gold feature is of course multi-player and they already give that away for free!

Sony could offer a limited per month online MP for free, say 10-20 hours, with unlimited on-line for PSN+.

I am not upgrading because I rarely play on-line on my PS3 and most of the games I buy for it tends to be single player experiences.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I don't disagree that lack of multiplayer is going to always limit the adoption of PS+, but just as Xbox Live Gold continues to draw in new users though things such as Netflix integration, social networking website integration, ESPN, etc... PS+ will have that same ability.

Also why I mentioned it'll approach Xbox Live Gold. The implication being that it'll never match or surpass it. But I do think with enough added services, that it could get fairly close. Especially if Cross game/Universal chat is exclusive to PS+.

And yes, I'm expecting PS+ to operate at a loss if they add services quickly in order to expand the subscription base. And PSN will probably continue to be a loss generator until PS+ has a certain number of subscribers.

Regards,
SB

 

[Squilliam]

Sony could offer a limited per month online MP for free, say 10-20 hours, with unlimited on-line for PSN+.

I am not upgrading because I rarely play on-line on my PS3 and most of the games I buy for it tends to be single player experiences.

The issue there is that they could lose some of their userbase who were drawn in by the fact that its free. If they charge money and yet offer an inferior service then they reduce the incentive for people to remain loyal, don't they?

I don't disagree that lack of multiplayer is going to always limit the adoption of PS+, but just as Xbox Live Gold continues to draw in new users though things such as Netflix integration, social networking website integration, ESPN, etc... PS+ will have that same ability.

Also why I mentioned it'll approach Xbox Live Gold. The implication being that it'll never match or surpass it. But I do think with enough added services, that it could get fairly close. Especially if Cross game/Universal chat is exclusive to PS+.

And yes, I'm expecting PS+ to operate at a loss if they add services quickly in order to expand the subscription base. And PSN will probably continue to be a loss generator until PS+ has a certain number of subscribers.

Regards,
SB

The problem with adding these services after Microsoft is that people will adopt the Xbox 360 with the express desire to use many of the services offered whereas the audience they grab on the PS3 has in some ways already partially rejected/placed other priorities higher in deciding which console to purchase. This means that the Xbox 360 audience is already better predisposed to using the additional Live services as they may have influenced them at the time of purchase.

Being first mover with the Xbox 360 was an advantage, and so was being a first mover on these additional online features. Because of this Sony may remain behind for the remainder of the generation and they have a handicap which Microsoft doesn't face in attempting to spur adoption. I don't see them even approaching the same adoption rate because I cannot see a good reason why even 50% of connected PS3s would justify PSN+ which is still fewer than 2/3rds the Live Gold adoption rate.

 

[BadTB25]

The issue there is that they could lose some of their userbase who were drawn in by the fact that its free. If they charge money and yet offer an inferior service then they reduce the incentive for people to remain loyal, don't they?

They would need to find the right balance of what to offer for free and what the hardcore would be willing to pay for---it's all hypothetical, but it would be a factor that clearly distinguishes why to pay for one over the other.

The gamers that are probably most interested in PSN+ would probably be more of the hardcore gamer that plays a lot on-line.

 

[obonicus]

In that survey on what would end up as PSN+, was dedicated servers part of the options?

 

[BadTB25]

In that survey on what would end up as PSN+, was dedicated servers part of the options?

I'm not sure, but wouldn't dedicated servers for PSN+ vs p2p PSN break on-line MP. Unless it would be dedicated servers for PSN+ only, which would fracture the on-line community.

Either way, it would be a slippery slope.

 

[patsu]

Arwin, your plus sign is back.

I see jonabbey subscribed too, and playing FatPrincess ! :-/
I'll probably subscribe when I buy the new FP DLC. The giants are very powerful/useful in FP. >8^(

 

[eloic]

Now, where's the "Plus badge" for Beyond 3d forum users that joined the exclusive-classy-VIP world of PlayStation Plus? .............¿¬_¬

 

[patsu]

You need to have them on your friends list first.

 

[eloic]

You need to have them on your friends list first.

Well, I meant here.

 

[patsu]

B3D used to show PSN and XBL tags but not anymore. I wonder if the PSN Portable ID will show a plus badge.

Btw, if someone from Sony is reading this, the PSN single sign-on system doesn't work. Very often, I'm prompted to sign in again when I enter a different PSN site. The second sign in will always fail. I have to restart the browser to sign in again.

 

[Arwin]

Is that with all browser versions?

 

[jonabbey]

Arwin, your plus sign is back.

I see jonabbey subscribed too, and playing FatPrincess ! :-/
I'll probably subscribe when I buy the new FP DLC. The giants are very powerful/useful in FP. >8^(

Heh, yeah, I just signed up this evening. I'm such a Sony whore.

 

[patsu]

PS+ gotten. You should see a plus sign beside my nick by tomorrow.

Bought the discounted FatPrincess DLC too. I'll see you in cake country, jonabbey. Fear me !

Also downloaded the free Wipeout HD as part of PS+, I didn't buy it since I don't like racing games in general. Played it once on a 3DTV yesterday, guess it's alright.

 

[Arwin]

If you don't like racing games then play zone mode, detonator mode and battle/eliminator ... I like those, they are almost Rez like.

 

[slider]

Played it once on a 3DTV yesterday, guess it's alright.

Step outside, now...

Have you tried it non-3D? As Arwin suggested try Zone mode. It's "feels" quite different to anything I've ever experienced in a normal racing game.

 

[patsu]

Step outside, now...

>:^/ 8-<
That's me standing with my two fists ready (They are not boobs !)


I'll check it out someday ! I really want to try out Resonance of Fate (and finish up inFamous 1). Family is away now... wahahaha !