XBL's Greenberg on PS3 online

[Acert93]

I think someone should tell him PS3 has its own exclusive content aswel

1. There is episodic content for the 360 that won't be on the PS3. What he said in regards to exclusive episodic content is correct and a marketing point.

2. It is not his job to market PS3 games & features.

Next you will expect Nintendo will need to advertise Sixaxis when they mention the Wii-mote. You sound absolutely silly.

 

[Tap In]

...
Why is this important? Why do you want FFXIII to be online enabled? What do want from Blue Dragon and Trusty Bell?

read my post above on why all games should be enabled. :smile:

 

[one]

Is every game online enabled?

Well, the Xbox 360 title, 99 Nights was not online enabled

 

[slider]

I went to a Diwali party on Thursday. Some dude tried to dance with me

Forget the PR talk, I wanna know more about this story!

 

[patsu]

Originally posted by deathkiller
-Is every game online with voice chat integration?
Unknow at the moment, can be added in the future.
doubtful since Sony's system evidently is leaving in game online features up to developers as game specific features so it is doubtful that you can voice chat across games ever without it being part of the Os as Live is.

Is in-game voice chat worth the subscription fee to people in general ? I may only be interested in voice chat for people in the same game/team/clan. Even so, there are much cursing and swearing. We should remember that based on the numbers so far, only minority like to play online games in their current form. It may be more important to figure out what would draw more people online rather than just using XBL as a checklist of features.

-How are they handling safety, security, hacking, viruses, and parental controls?
They handle it the same way as MS.
how do you know that?

Probably not the same way per se, but PS3 has no known virii yet. Also security and anti-hacking are standard operating procedures in every network. I'm not sure why it's worth highlighting them.

-every game online enabled?
Yes.
it has already been confirmed that some PS3 games are not online enabled

Why go online if developers don't feel good about it ? It's a developer issue afterall. Doing trivial online may not justify the subscription fee.

 

[Tap In]

There's already notification in game of friends sending messages, which is intrinsic to the OS. It's only a ste up to take those notifications and turn them into opening a chat channel.

yet you (evidently) can not view nor reply to those while in game. I would assume the same to be true if it were converted to a chat cxhannel.

so out of the game, each of you at the "dashboard", then you can (if enabled in the future) speak to your friend. If you are in game, you can not (unless as I stated in post above)

I have spent several evenings chatting with a buddy across the country while he was playing one online game and I was offline or online playing another or watching a movie (for example)

 

[Tap In]

Why go online if developers don't feel good about it ? It's a developer issue afterall. Doing trivial online may not justify the subscription fee.

you missed the point of "enabled"... read above

 

[patsu]

you missed the point of "enabled"... read above

But why do I need to do it in game ? There is chat in XMB according to one of the screenshots ? Is voice chat available in XMB ?

 

[Tap In]

I'll just say (because I'm 5 hours past my bedtime... that you really need to have spent some time in the 360 version of live to appreciate all of the intricacies.

I could sit here all night trying to express the differences and most would minimize them anyway. You need to experience it to appreciate it IMO.

from what I'm hearing form Sony on this so far... I already know that I will not appreciate what will now appear to be a deficiency since I am used to a full featured set of tools.

 

[Tap In]

But why do I need to do it in game ? There is chat in XMB according to one of the screenshots ? Is voice chat available in XMB ?

you do not have to, but as you create a friends list of people that you enjoy or know from RL (and not the swearing bigoted jackasses) trust me... you would find it enjoyable to converse during a game.

several buddies and I routinely go to "Private chat" when we are both in the same online game together (another cool feature of live) and talk about our golf games or whatever including strategy to use between ourselves if the rest of the team is not participating well.

 

[patsu]

Sure but considering that B3D (and many other sites) are vibrant and free... It tells me that Sony (or Nintendo) can also build a successful online community without a fully integrated environment.

XBL seems to matter most to people who care for premium online experiences. From all account, this is not what Sony sets out to achieve.

If talking is a crucial part of a game (e.g., RPG), the devs would have put some in-game communication mechanism there.

 

[Tap In]

From all account, this is not what Sony sets out to achieve.

I agree.... there will be plenty of people that will find this system adequate for their needs.

...just not me or those who have become accustomed to the features already provided with XBL.

As I've said beofre, I'd also imagine Sony will try (need) to build on this experience with growth and change. I just hope the backbone of the feature set is capable of these types of upgrades (built into the OS? as XBL is)

If talking is a crucial part of a game (e.g., RPG), the devs would have put some in-game communication mechanism there.

I understand that and it is exactly as it was in the first version of XBL (on XBOX1).

But...being able to have voice between games or while in different games... is what I'm talking about.

 

[Acert93]

Is in-game voice chat worth the subscription fee to people in general ?

For me and all my PC buddies? We wouldn't dare do online gaming without chat. There was a time w/o chat, but that died a long while ago. Online gaming to many is an extension of gaming with your pals in front of the TV. Now that you are grown up it is hard to all hang out at one home in the same city, but online gaming with voice chat is the next best thing. If I had to choose online gaming w/o or ~ $5/mo with ingame voice chat -- the later wins, hands down.

I have not followed the Wii and PS3 online services (going to wait until they are actually online and we KNOW what made it and what works before making an opinion) but voice chat, in game, is pretty important IMO. Being an online gamer (i.e. the initial targetted audiance) I would say this is a make or break feature for any online gaming service.

It may be more important to figure out what would draw more people online rather than just using XBL as a checklist of features.

Not being able to chat online ingame is a major hurdle to online gaming. The popularity of Ventrillo and Teamspeak speak volumes. And I don't think it is a coincidence that the migration of online gaming from the niché hardcore gaming segment to a popular (often expected) feature coincides with the advancement of technologies that allow more intuitive online communication.

Personal Expression and Communication is the pinnacle of social gaming.

You are not going to attract more people (based on features; install base is an entirely different issue) to a service by unchecking evolutionary bulletpoints proven in multiple markets and not providing more appealing alternatives, especially when those features are core to the social aspect of the medium. Its like taking the wheels off of a sports car but bullet pointing an air freshener.

 

[patsu]

If this is proven to be important, wouldn't it be easily solved by the developer supporting in-game voice chat (to compete with other similar games) ? It still may not require subscription fee for across-the-game voice chat ?

 

[Acert93]

If this is proven to be important

Question: How often do you play games online per week? What games?

 

[deathkiller]

The PS3 have voice chat as part of the OS, we don't know for sure if the in-game XMB will allow to use it the same way as the out-game full-featured XMB. It can be added in the future.

The only game with confirmed, integrated in his UI, voice-chat that I know is Ressistance.

If there is in-game notifications you can call every PS3 game "online enabled", if by online enabled you mean online gameplay neither PS3 or Xbox 360 offer that.

 

[patsu]

The only games I play online today are casual mini-games (Mahjong, Sudoku, ...), RTS (still Starcraft ! occassionally) and long time ago (Marathon on Macs between 2 offices).

In general, I prefer co-op.

Have never yearned for across-the-game voice chat. I prefer to be left alone while in-game (unless it's messages from my opponents).

 

[patsu]

The only game with confirmed, integrated in his UI, voice-chat that I know is Ressistance.

Ok, this is what I meant. If it improves the experiences, the games will have it built-in to compete better.

In most cases, I have people saying "Hurry up !"
If it's with friendly folks, then hanging out in chat room (private or public) is more fun... because people are there to chat. This is from my personal experiences... albeit with limited XBL exposure.

 

[pipo]

...that you really need to have spent some time in the 360 version of live to appreciate all of the intricacies.

That's the biggest issue IMHO.

Almost anyone I spoke was blown away - go figure - by the implementation and (online) features of the dashboard and Live. You can't appreciate that by looking at screenshots.

 

[bRoNx]

Why even compare a free service to a paid one? I think more people would care about getting something for free, than being able to "chat" with their buddy across different games! Sh*t, casual gamers probably won't play games that often to even justify the cost they pay for XBL. I know I don't. If I paid for an online service, then play my PS2 once a week, that's a waste of money in my view. 'Free' is the key!

Take the Socom franchise, for example. It enjoyed much success on the PS2 as it's poster child for online gaming, and I would attribute much (most?) of their success to the fact that it was free. The fun factor and growing fanbase helped as well. I know I never would've played it if it wasn't free, because for me, I don't care much for 'chat', 'gamerstat' etc., because I don't play often enough to get anywhere near what the top guys achieve.

Also, AFAICR, didn't M$ post big Live! sign ups when they included free memberships with a certain game? Again, further proof that 'free' is the key element in drawing people online -- not "you can chat across games!"

Anyways, quit these "because XBL has that feature" comparisons, because I think it's quite clear that the PlayStation contingency on these boards are very happy with SONY's new offering, especially since it's 'FREE'!