Sony To Hold Hour And A Half Investor/Analyst Meeting On November 19th

It depends if it is just cosmetic. If so, fine. Good luck to those willing to pay for a same gun with a different skin. ;)
 
How is this different from the various things we're already seeing, like retailer specific content, pre-order bonusses, and special edition content? GT PSP and Forza 3 are prime examples here, particularly Forza 3 with its VIP programme.

The same problems hold here as everywhere else: it's fine as long as the content is cosmetic or is otherwise obtainable.

But how is that member only? I'm not saying that it isn't a good idea though.

It depends if it is just cosmetic. If so, fine. Good luck to those willing to pay for a same gun with a different skin. ;)

There is nothing like buying a golden gun to make you stand out like a flare on the battlefield.
 
How is this different from the various things we're already seeing, like retailer specific content, pre-order bonusses, and special edition content? GT PSP and Forza 3 are prime examples here, particularly Forza 3 with its VIP programme.

The same problems hold here as everywhere else: it's fine as long as the content is cosmetic or is otherwise obtainable.

Its not much different. My objection would be just because I want it limited. Right now its like having bits and pieces of a game all over the place with all the dlc and preorder bonuses. Its hard to consider buying a single bluray or dvd game complete anymore, premium content would just be adding to the mess.

Trophy alerts was the funniest one there. That needs explaining.

A lot of the things there are OK as cornsnake said and I would think that they are compelling enough to bring in those willing to pay without including things that should be free. They would also put PSN over live in terms of features with subscription. Free game trials, free psone games etc...
 
Eastmen's link has descriptions..

oh, didn't notice. Seeing that then trophy alerts are the exact type of things i don't mind being premium only.

User-to-user Challenges
Unlock developer-created challenges while playing games. Compete with your friends to see who can be the first to complete these challenges. The PS3 will automatically offer and track challenges and winners and would post results. An example of a challenge is 'first to get 10 trophies' in a particular game.

Should be free.

Token Wagering
Get a fixed number of tokens per month you can wager with other players in competitive online games. These tokens could then be built up and redeemed for free PlayStation Network games and other content.

gambling? lol, almost sounds like it. This might be better off free so gamers more often buy the same games their friends own in order to compete.

Cross-game Voice Chat Access
Get exclusive member-only access to cross-game voice chat. This is the ability to use your headset to voice chat with friends on your PS3 regardless of what they are doing on the PS3.

This will piss the most ppl off if its not free.

Early Access to All Store Content
Get early access to select free and purchasable game related content on the PlayStation Store before it's available to everyone else. This includes games, add-ons, themes, avatars, as well as free game demos.

If non-premium members can buy these same games this would be dumb. Why prevent them from buying the same time as premium members? Holding back demos would be nothing more than making some ps3 owners second class citizens, same with betas.

Netflix Access Without Disc
Access the Netflix video streaming service on your PS3 without the need to insert a special disc into the drive each time to access the service. A separate Netflix subscription would also be needed to enjoy the service. Netflix offers over 17000 popular movies and TV shows for streaming on your laptop or a supported device such as a PS3.

This is another pointless one. It would be something the console is expected to do once it supports netflix, its like having to buy a remote for the first xbox just to play dvd movies that it already supported.

Automatic Downloads and Updates
Customize the types of updates you want your PS3 to download automatically. These include game updates (patches) for games that you own, firmware updates, and game demos downloaded on your PS3 without manually having to select them and wait for them to finish downloading. Your PS3 can be set to automatically turn on for updates and turn off after completion.

My ps3 can do that?!? :oops:

My fear right now is that they are indeed holding back features from the ps3 till they work out how they want to setup their subscription. Not allowing cross game chat for one till they know whether they are going to make us pay for it, and same with the netflix bit
 
Some of the options are also already available. Certainly VidZone is free in the EU. Not sure who in NA would vote to pay for that service. Likewise BBC iPlayer doesn't cost a penny. I don't know about the other British online channels whcih may require PC applications to view, but if the webbrowser were actually any good, it'd allow all the online services. It'd be cheap and sneaky to gimp Flash playback in the browser and then create an XMB Flash player to show subscription TV on!

For me, almost none of the listed features are worth anything. What I want is voice party chat and also a PC linkup. Live! is excellent in letting Messenger users still communicate. Whereas if I'm busy on PC while a friend is on PSN, I can't contact them to say 'I'll be online in 30 minutes, let's play U2.' Messenger integration is never going to happen, but a Windows Vista/7 gadget could do the job I think. Or the PSN website at a push.
 
The Engadget story is based on a Kotaku one & it has the pricing...

http://kotaku.com/5429592/sony-surv...ion-network-subscriptions-under-consideration

Kotaku said:
The chart below details four potential plans, with three costing $69.99 a year or $9.99 a month - more than an Xbox Live Gold subscription, and one running $4.99 a month and $29.99 a year.

Option 1 seems like one most like Live Gold + plus has a lot more. I like the idea of the extended warranty. Microsoft charges $30 for just a year of extended service. So with that said $70 wouldn't be so bad. I would probably pay for that.

Option 4 is a joke @ $70/year. I also wouldn't pay $70/year for option 2. Unless some of things it's missing compared to Option 1 is included for free. Option 3 is also a little too lean for $30/year. You basically just get Cross Game chat.


Live! is excellent in letting Messenger users still communicate. Whereas if I'm busy on PC while a friend is on PSN, I can't contact them to say 'I'll be online in 30 minutes, let's play U2.' Messenger integration is never going to happen, but a Windows Vista/7 gadget could do the job I think. Or the PSN website at a push.

MSN Messenger is crap. I don't know any of my friends who have that. It needs to be dropped in favor of your choice of Facebook or Twitter. BTW, I will agree though that if you're on your PC being able to send text messages to your friends via Xbox.com or third party apps like XBLFriends(PC) or 360Live(iPhone) is really nice(provided you have Gold of course).

Tommy McClain
 
The survey looks somewhat like conjoint analysis.

...which can reduce all the different feature combos into a distinct few for users to choose (including pricing). This helps to reduce the survey size.

I can't remember the details anymore but it's pretty cool. If it's conjoint analysis, this means that the final package may be none of Option 1-4. That may also explain why Option 4 is a "joke", it's there to compete the mathematical analysis of your preferences.

In all analysis, the users still need a good grasp of what they are looking at. And yes, those terms need to be defined and experienced by user. I supposed -- if they want -- they can do it twice, once for users who don't know the details, and another time for people who experienced it. I'd say the second is more valid/important since many consumers will try to find out what they are paying for.
 
Some of that stuff would be nice to have, but I'm not going to pay $70 per year for half of it, or $30 for a few things. If they really need to charge that much just to support those things, then I doubt it'll be very successful. Just give us cross game chat for free Sony.
 
I agree Sony should focus on a minimal set of base services first, since most users are unlikely to pay for services they don't need. I think the survey is supposed to tell them what services are popular, and also what price to charge for different combo. Don't worry about the exact feature combo for Option 1-4.

I blew up on the survey news because the result will affect us all and yet it seems to be taken lightly. I am afraid they may learn the wrong things from the survey if it is not conducted properly. The second point is they need to put the integrated user experience ahead of all the individual features. The overall experience and benefits is what people pay for, definitely not the bullet items. They are not selling a toaster here.

On a different note:
http://www.siliconera.com/2009/12/20/qriocity-the-name-of-a-new-sony-handheld-or-online-service/

Sony, not Sony Computer Entertainment mind you, filed a “curious” trademark in USA for something called Qriocity.

...

I’m not sure what this will be used for, but two things caught my attention. Qriocity is registered for use with “portable gaming machines” and “game services provided on-line from a computer network.”
 
Will devs want to support it? Plus won't it have a negative effect on online gaming? If subscribers get better equipment, it'll create a two-tier gaming population. Otherwise the bonuses have to be gimped to not give subscribers a competitive edge, in which case why bother?



Personaly I've supported Live having three tiers. 1) Free online 2) Online with demos and other content early . 3) Dedicated servers price it as following free , $25 for the year and $50-75 for the year. Throw in a few extra goodies to the third tier also.

Make every dev program in dedicated servers.

Would be so sweet. Sony could do the same .
 
Yes, dedicated servers, that is something that adds a lot of value to online gaming. I always found it strange that CoD get so much praise for being 60 fps, making it a very responsive shooter. But in fact because of lag your only responding to delayed images. Both are needed for a truly responsive game.

But if your going with dedicated servers, you really can't make it optional. How would you play against someone who isn't paying for it?
 
On second thought, I would pay for Linux for PS3. How much does it cost to keep the movement going with proper h/w support ?

EDIT:
On a related news, Sony eReader to include more publishers. Both subscription and per-issue model are supported.
http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/12/21/sony-reader-experience-to-get-many-more-content-partners/

EDIT 2: Engadget reports on Sony Reader Daily Edition:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/22/sony-reader-daily-edition-starts-shipping-gets-more-newspapers/

Unfortunately, anyone that didn't pre-order the e-reader is out of luck for the time being, as it's now back-ordered with a new estimated ship date of January 15th. In related news, Sony has also announced that it's signed up an additional 16 publications that will be offering wirelessly-delivered subscriptions on the Daily Edition, including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Sun, and The Denver Post. None of those are exclusive to Sony, however, unlike the News Corp-owned publications that were announced last week.
 
Probably limited content relevant to console gaming too, although we may get a glimpse of more Motion stuff.
 
Good point in the 3D. That's their push. IMO even if not a viable product, they should be showing some awesome 3D OLED screens and building up the Sony brand as the quality high-tech innovators they once were.
 
I vote for Jack Black, but the entire presentation will be censored.

[size=-2]I think movie star presentation has been written off since the last great performance.[/size]
 
Sony patents Cloudsurf:
http://kotaku.com/5439795/sony-adds-cloudsurf-to-cloud-of-trademarks

Early last year, Sony filed a mark for PS Cloud. Specifically, Sony Computer Entertainment did, the folks responsible for the PlayStation part of the business.

The recent Cloudsurf, however, applies to more than just video games, also applying for the mark against cell phones, digital cameras, televisions and more.

2010 might be an explosive year. Apple is rumored to release a tablet computer on Jan 24th. Sony will have Gem in March. Nintendo will release the Vitality sensor around the same time (?). MS will have Natal by year end.
 
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