PS3 Firmware 2.7 announced
- Thread starter patsu
- Start date
The Penny Arcade crew probably does not have a cellphone. They also got it backwards. New services like instant messaging, Email and SMS/MMS/Texting complement the voice service. They do not replace it. Many "old-fashioned" people think that typing on the tiny cellphone keypad is awkward too. But neither does voice replaces text.
The best thing about the text chat system is the room concept. It pulls people together. A voice messaging system does not do that. It can be layered on top of the room system though.
People who don't see the need for text communications probably have a straightforward need (just quick party comms). Hopefully Sony can tend to them asap. It's been solved partially by in-game voice systems for the most part. The only missing piece is cross-game + in-game voice exchange (There is already a standalone voice + video chat).
Don't forget all these services are free.
The best thing about the text chat system is the room concept. It pulls people together. A voice messaging system does not do that. It can be layered on top of the room system though.
People who don't see the need for text communications probably have a straightforward need (just quick party comms). Hopefully Sony can tend to them asap. It's been solved partially by in-game voice systems for the most part. The only missing piece is cross-game + in-game voice exchange (There is already a standalone voice + video chat).
Don't forget all these services are free.
Considering most other things implemented in the XMB, they may want a solution that isn't pointless (like making it so cross-game chat only works if the developers add explicit support in their games).
I don't have their numbers, so I can't say anything definitively.
If you look at Playstation Home voice chat, which overloaded their servers/network during the beta launch phase (with fewer than 4 million users). The harder problem may be to optimize and fund the voice infrastructure in a free (and good quality) manner. The technical work is tough but may not be as difficult as sustaining the business operation.
Of course once they figured it out, it's a win-win for all.
EDIT: The "figuring out" part generally entails observing revenue streams (income sources) for a few months to test what and where they can get money from realistically. It may change due to new services rolled out by Sony along the way.
If you look at Playstation Home voice chat, which overloaded their servers/network during the beta launch phase (with fewer than 4 million users). The harder problem may be to optimize and fund the voice infrastructure in a free (and good quality) manner. The technical work is tough but may not be as difficult as sustaining the business operation.
Of course once they figured it out, it's a win-win for all.
EDIT: The "figuring out" part generally entails observing revenue streams (income sources) for a few months to test what and where they can get money from realistically. It may change due to new services rolled out by Sony along the way.
There are definitely different services from the different chat methods. Something like a 16 way chat wouldn't work so well for voice comms, and the existing system is good. As I found with the chat room, the limited sized lines is due to the text appearing in-game as a notification, so you can keep listening in to large parties without your game being drowned out by chatter. The large number of steps to post something and return to your game is too awkward though. At the moment chat seems more a case of talking between doing things, like Home without the interface. You can't use it to communicate in game effectively, such as discussing tactics in Booty who's voice-chat doesn't exist. I'd like to see the PS button drop you straight into the open chatroom from the game and then back out.
Voice chat is more for gameplay talk, or as a phone conversation with friends. An open communication system would allow players of games to talk about how long they'll be, what they'll play, and then tactics and smack-talking in game, in the most natural way.
I've just thought though, there's an interesting exploit here for multiplayer games with a spectator mode. In KZ2, one member could sit in a chatroom viewing the opposition and reporting on movements. That's somewhere you wouldn't want ease of chat within a game. You'd need a way to block people within a chatroom from playing spectator mode on a game other chatroom members are in.
Evil minds think alike !
I was just thinking about a new soldier class in KZ2 (The Strategist).
Doesn't MS have a patent on tons of these features? I'd be willing to wager they are trying to work out a way around that, and to get past certain technical hurdles.
I doubt it's because they are "misguided" or running around with their heads cut off.
But if you really want to do that, you can anyway. You can connect to a vent server and play KZ2. Or stay connected in IRC.
The usefulness of private and group chat far outweighs any of the negatives.
It's nice to have the option, but I'm one of those people who doesn't like audio chat outside of a game so it doesn't do much for me. I like text chat better, but I don't think this new thing is the second coming either. It's just freaking text chat, and it's sorta weird for Sony to tout it as a big deal. That's probably what the PA strip was about -- this is essentially IRC, and IRC is 20 years old.
Thanks for inviting me to the B3D chat room, Patsu.
Now I need to find my USB dongle for my wireless keyboard. I hear they fixed some of the bugs in the os that made typing on a keyboard an exercise in frustration as it would 'miss' keys occasionally, at least with USB keyboards.
Now I need to find my USB dongle for my wireless keyboard. I hear they fixed some of the bugs in the os that made typing on a keyboard an exercise in frustration as it would 'miss' keys occasionally, at least with USB keyboards.
Hm.. I think the keyboard input lag problem was patched before (deepbrown had some issues earlier).
It may look like "only" a text chat but the infrastructure may be more sophisticated (i.e., a generic communications platform). e.g., If you play with Jabber comms server, they have similar feature set as the PSN chat room (e.g., text notification, persistent chat room and log, address book/friends list, presence, ...). The same platform also has gateways to MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, and voice + VoIP services.
Not saying we will definitely see these features on PSN, but if it's based on Jabber, the technical solutions are already out there. And it can be bigger than a text chat.
It may look like "only" a text chat but the infrastructure may be more sophisticated (i.e., a generic communications platform). e.g., If you play with Jabber comms server, they have similar feature set as the PSN chat room (e.g., text notification, persistent chat room and log, address book/friends list, presence, ...). The same platform also has gateways to MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, and voice + VoIP services.
Not saying we will definitely see these features on PSN, but if it's based on Jabber, the technical solutions are already out there. And it can be bigger than a text chat.
I don't think so either. I just think it's a weird feature to release. I find it really hard to go from Xbox Live which seems to be a very social service to PSN, which is very isolating. This text chat is better than nothing, but it isn't really what a lot of people were waiting for.
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RenegadeRocks
Legend
The chat is cool ! We are running a dedicated chat channel for B3d, one for Gaming Indians, and so on.
Its cool , Its like a forum for each group on PSN !
The only thing that is weird is the limit on how many characters u can enter in one go, its too less
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Its cool , Its like a forum for each group on PSN !
The only thing that is weird is the limit on how many characters u can enter in one go, its too less
.Right, with the same enthusiasm as stuff like the revamped PSN store, as trophies/in-game xmb.
To patsu, it doesn't really matter what technology is behind it, it's still a very limited form of IRC. Personally, I hope to god it's not based on Jabber.
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