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Will Sony Ever Stop Playing Catch Up with the Playstation 3?

Started by Devindra Hardawar · 10 months ago

digg_url='http://digg.com/playstation/Will_Sony_Ever_Stop_Playing_Catch_Up_With_the_Playstation_3';




Today Sony announced that they would be selling and renting video content over the Playstation Store, and I suppose if this was a year ago, that news would ... Continue reading »

6 comments

  • ChaOS

    11 months ago

    Well, Sony's service is free.

    A year's worth of netflix and XBL would run you hundreds of dollars. I suppose if you used it a ton it would pay off, but its unlikely. Also consider that Netflix's watch it now isn't in HD, its actually lower quality than a standard DVD. Sony is on the right track offering HD content.

    It may not be a perfect solution, but I don't think MS had quite pegged it yet either.

    I also don't get why he says Sony has yet to "imitate" the 360's universal dashboard. Update 2.40/2.41 gave us ingame XMB with music etc. Sony now has trophies, and pretty much everything XBL offers, only its free! I'd say Sony is actually ahead in this area (even though they did have to "catch up" to pull ahead)

    I'm pretty sure whoever wrote this doesn't own a PS3, as they don't really seem to know what they are talking about.
    reply
  • Devindra

    11 months ago

    Both MS and Sony have HD content for purchase and rental, so there's not a big difference there. The Netflix streaming quality is comparable to a low-quality DVD, and of course that will only be improved upon over time.

    You're right to mention XMB update 2.4/2.41, but it's still not a perfect solution when it comes to a global friends list. It's a developer option to implement the friends system and custom soundtrack, whereas that's all standard on the 360 end.

    (And yes, it's still an example of them playing catch up :P)

    While Sony's service is free, it's still nowhere near the level of what the 360 offers. Personally, I'd rather pay $50 a year for Sony's service if it offered the same sort of multiplayer options.

    And I do plan to get a PS3 soon, mainly because it seems that's the only way I'll get one with actual backwards compatibility ;)
    reply
  • ChaOS

    11 months ago

    "You’re right to mention XMB update 2.4/2.41, but it’s still not a perfect solution when it comes to a global friends list. It’s a developer option to implement the friends system and custom soundtrack, whereas that’s all standard on the 360 end."

    Um, I can play my music in the background of any game I choose, its not up to the developer. All I have to do is turn down the BG music in the game, bring up the XMB and play something. No biggie.

    I have both a PS3 and a 360 (and a Wii), and honestly, I feel depressed when I have to pay that yearly fee for XBL knowing full well Sony is providing it to me for free. This is a major factor in which console I pick up any given title for (non exclusives obviously).

    That being said, even if Sony is behind (I don't see it that way), they are quickly dropping new features on us, and not charging for it along the way.

    I still feel Sony is ahead of the curve in many areas, and the store is one of them. You can't purchase/rent anything on XBL from your PC, with the PS Store you can.

    O well, its been a fun discussion. Ta!
    reply
  • si|ver|ight

    11 months ago

    I also own a 360 and a PS3, and I gotta say, I think the article is right on the money. The comments by Chaos were pretty thinly disguised fanboisms ("well, I don't see it that way" is usually a dead giveaway).

    I mostly use my PS3 for Blu-Ray. XBox Live is easily worth $7/mo for a superior service that does a great job keeping me connected to all of my friends. The fact of the matter is that XBox Live is the reason that multiplayer support on 360 games is the de facto standard, not an optional feature these days.

    Anyone who's trying to make the argument that Sony is ahead in online support because they can "purchase/rent things from the PS Store on their PC" is off their rocker. That's a useless fluff feature and you know it.
    reply
  • Free PS3

    7 months ago

    I also own a 360 and a PS3, and I gotta say, I think the article is right on the money. The comments by Chaos were pretty thinly disguised fanboisms
    reply
  • John Moore

    6 months ago

    Sony is a lumbering dinosaur, and the funny thing is that they have had their head handed to them by the least nimble, biggest dinosaur of them all, Microsoft.

    I just have to wonder, is sony that bad? Or is it that the xbox division of Microsoft has enough independence that it is free to out maneuver Sony so handily.

    Maybe a combination of the Xbox didvision being nimble and having the cash power of M$ behind them.
    reply

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