By fixed I mean implemented, meaning you can at least text-chat while you're in a game with people who are not in the same game. Other than the assumption that the march update might fix this, is there any real news on this? Being in a game and seeing a friend just sign on and not being able to invite him to a game, and not being able to answer a message when in a game, simply DOES NOT WORK. Why hasn't Sony been asked this question directly in a clear, concise manner?
When will PSN xmb in-game messaging be fixed?
- Thread starter Kittonwy
- Start date
From my understanding, soon.
http://www.innerbits.com/blog/2007/03/01/ps3-online-friends-and-cross-game-features/
http://www.innerbits.com/blog/2007/03/01/ps3-online-friends-and-cross-game-features/
Now this shouldn't be the case. The games should need to handle cross-game messaging or voice-chat. That should be handled by the multitasking OS. Likewise they shouldn't need to implement a UI interface. The OS should have it's own UI elements that it overlays on the game, irrespective of the game or application running.
This is what I'm expecting, and I'd like confirmation that it isn't possible, with implementation having to be on a title-by-title basis. If the OS can't manage this in 96 MBs RAM and a separate processor, it's a pretty lousy OS in terms of usefulness!
I think they are working on the XMB features that Home will get at the same time. Phil hinted on this in a couple interviews, everything seems WIP. But 1.6 firmware will add some functionality, specifically accessing friends list in-game.
People joke around when Phil said that the firmware will keep improving and change over time with "potential", but it really seems to be the case. I feel that the PS3 OS a few months from now won't be the same as the one we got back in november, in a good way.
I would expect that by the time Home (the final, not the beta) is available, game invites will be in the XMB. I talked about this a little in the Home thread.
I'm not sure about cross game video chat though. But I agree with you, this shouldn't be the case and these are things we should have gotten day one. They shouldn't be taxing the games if they reserve processing power and memory for the OS along. Seems like very poor planning imo. But as I said, I do think many of the problems will be fixed. And not just wishful thinking, there are hints and statements that seem to show they are working on these things as we speak.
Last edited by a moderator:
This is very very important?
Personally I just think it's annoying. Not really important, but should be fixed. I mean if your in a game, you see you get a message, it's kinda annoying not being able to reply to it unless you exit out of the game.
If I read that site correctly it should be fixed in the next update coming on the 23rd.
Game developers speak out, yet it sounds and reads like a Pro XBOX blog.
Sorry my mistake, i didn´t know it was a 360 developer blog, i mistook it for something more neutral. Obviously they don´t have to be objective.
You're playing an online game, you see a friend logging on, you can't message him, he messages you, but you can't see what he's saying, you log off and try to reply to his message but now he's in a different game and he can't reply to you. So are you telling me that this isn't very very important?
If it's an XB360 developer blog, what they're saying makes even less sense! XB360's network services are run on the OS, and the developers don't need to integrate it into their software after than a few hooks. Why then claim that more needs to be requesitioned from the game on a PS3, when the resources have obviously already been allocated to the OS?
Is the blogger confused, or am I, or is this just plain FUD?
raoulsernine
Newcomer
Hello, I'm one of the posters on InnerBits
We're not an xbox360 blog, but I can see how you might think so. We have been posting quite a few articles recently focusing on the PS3. We do aim to be objective, but objectively speaking, the PS3 is still more a pain in the ass for developers. Things are improving, so we'll see.
Shifty Geezer, I think you might be slightly confused. On the 360, you don't need to make anymore memory allocations to the OS, other than the amount that's already been reserved for the OS. On the PS3, you also have an amount of memory reserved for the OS. However, games still need to make extra resources available to the OS (on top of what's been already reserved) to use certain functionalities (things like voice chat, camera support, on-screen keyboard, the improved friends list, etc).
I hope that clears things up.
We're not an xbox360 blog, but I can see how you might think so. We have been posting quite a few articles recently focusing on the PS3. We do aim to be objective, but objectively speaking, the PS3 is still more a pain in the ass for developers. Things are improving, so we'll see.
Shifty Geezer, I think you might be slightly confused. On the 360, you don't need to make anymore memory allocations to the OS, other than the amount that's already been reserved for the OS. On the PS3, you also have an amount of memory reserved for the OS. However, games still need to make extra resources available to the OS (on top of what's been already reserved) to use certain functionalities (things like voice chat, camera support, on-screen keyboard, the improved friends list, etc).
I hope that clears things up.
Cool ! I have a lingering question for the innerbits series:
The Playstation Store is a Java servlet application (I know because I saw an error message generated by the server in the early days). So I always thought the PSN client is some sort of embedded browser application (e.g., Playstation TV is already selling short clips in Japan over the PSP web browser)
Perhaps the "always on" requirement is for the actual downloading of the content: It may take time to download a large game title over PSP's WiFi connection. This may not be practical for a (any) mobile device today.
To solve this problem, one possible solution is to implement/embed an auto-resume FTP client (with one-time password). Alternatively, users can just download the PSP software on PS3 or a PC and then sync it to the PSP. Is this assessment accurate ?
As for the comment that "PSP is not guaranteed to have persistent storage", I think you meant many PSPs may not have memory stick large enough to hold the title transfer and unpacking. Is that correct ? It will be strange if the user does not have a memory stick and insist on buying digital goods from PSN. More than likely, the default 32Mb memory stick is too small. As long as people buy a larger memory stick (e.g., 1Gb and above), this problem should go away ?
EDIT: Are you guys going to do a follow-up since more is known about Playstation's online venture today ?
Innerbits said:
The Playstation Store is a Java servlet application (I know because I saw an error message generated by the server in the early days). So I always thought the PSN client is some sort of embedded browser application (e.g., Playstation TV is already selling short clips in Japan over the PSP web browser)
Perhaps the "always on" requirement is for the actual downloading of the content: It may take time to download a large game title over PSP's WiFi connection. This may not be practical for a (any) mobile device today.
To solve this problem, one possible solution is to implement/embed an auto-resume FTP client (with one-time password). Alternatively, users can just download the PSP software on PS3 or a PC and then sync it to the PSP. Is this assessment accurate ?
As for the comment that "PSP is not guaranteed to have persistent storage", I think you meant many PSPs may not have memory stick large enough to hold the title transfer and unpacking. Is that correct ? It will be strange if the user does not have a memory stick and insist on buying digital goods from PSN. More than likely, the default 32Mb memory stick is too small. As long as people buy a larger memory stick (e.g., 1Gb and above), this problem should go away ?
EDIT: Are you guys going to do a follow-up since more is known about Playstation's online venture today ?
Last edited by a moderator:
So as well as the OS doing very little, the few features it does have actually require RAM from the non-OS pool?
That's...um...just plain...crap!
Ok, i got the impression from the PS3 developers that Frequent this board that it´s not a pain in the ass as such but it´s a challenge if you want to play to it´s strenghts. Thanks for the insight into the OS thingy, i guess it´s safe to asume that the OS will take over most if not all those things that are handled by the game now, and there is a great chance that the Supposedly 96MB OS could be slimmed down.
And about your rant on Downloading in the background (from your site), with a SPU and 96MB (or less) i don´t see how it should be a problem to implement that. And if Sony changes the requirments for games and builds the unified stuff into the OS i don´t see how that would be a problem. Yes only future games would support it, but old games should still work with whatever they used, and it´s possible to patch all games on a PS3 thanks to the default Harddrive.
In my perfect PS3 the SPU would be free to use for the games (for the most part) and would only handle lightweight stuff like voice,chat and maybe background downloading when i was playing. If i needed the OS i would press the pause button, the game would swap out the needed mem for the OS (16megs should be enough?) and load the OS from the harddrive. I think it´s a waste to use resources on stuff like background loading and nifty UI´s. I would rather have as much as possible of the resources dedicatied to ... games!
raoulsernine
Newcomer
Yeah, they should be able to find a software solution which would allow the psp to reconnect (and continue a download) when a network is available. And yes, you will be able to download PSP software to your PS3 (they have plans for the PC too), and then transfer it across to your PSP. That functionality is forthcoming, I just don't know when.patsu said:
I mean, technically, you could remove the memory stick from your PSP. You also used to be able to buy a PSP (and I think you still can). So, unlike the PS3 (which will always have a hard drive), the PSP may or may not contain storage to download a piece of software to. I don't think it's really a big deal, they just need to make it clear to end-users that it's a requirement, but I think they worry about segmenting their userbase. I'm not really sure.patsu said:
And are you talking about the new info about Playstation Home? We may do a bit on that. We've got a few pieces on GDC coming in the next few days (once we've finished catching up on our lack of sleep).
The overwhelming majority of PSP owners should have memory sticks because without one you can't save game progress. A 32Mb memory stick is bundled with the value pack anyway.
Now that I think more about it... downloading large titles on PSP is probably not a good idea. Besides the slow network link, even 4Gb memory stick may not hold that much since a user may already have existing music/video/picture/game demos on such a mobile device. It's easier to buy content on a PS3/PC and then sync it to PSP a la iPod.
I reckon only a handful will try direct commerce on PSP (for large titles).
Can't wait.
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't need to be contacted in the middle of a game.
There's AIM, there's the phone.
And if worse comes to worse, just have the IM forwarded to email.
Or saved until you're back out of the game.
The Zone and MPlayer did that like 10 years ago.
So do you really need to be bothered if you're in a game?
Oh and I'm not likely to drop out of a game to play someone else.
There's AIM, there's the phone.
And if worse comes to worse, just have the IM forwarded to email.
Or saved until you're back out of the game.
The Zone and MPlayer did that like 10 years ago.
So do you really need to be bothered if you're in a game?
Oh and I'm not likely to drop out of a game to play someone else.
This is not a solution. This has been asked for by gamers since the PS3's release, and something 360 gamers will tell you is a great feature.
Nice that you don't need it, but it certainly looks like most people want it.
Cheers
