Sony looking into premium PSN subscription service

[freeones_regina]

Looking at it from their view, it costs money to run servers. Considering what goes into the games/systems/etc, that's not all going to cover running the servers. There IS a logical reason that XBL performed better than PSN for MW2 online play... If you pay for the content [online experience], you pay for the servers to back it up. Think about this LOGICALLY, and calm down.

You're making one mistake here and that is that game publishers/developers host their own games, not Sony. Unless ofc it's a game developed by Sony but if it's not then it's not costing Sony money to keep the servers up and running.

 

[PornKhaos]

Yeah pretty much all games run on their own servers so if theres shitty online connection its usually the companys servers fault. With MW2 so many people came on at once that we couldn't connect to Sonys servers.

I'm with Lachemo where if Sony decide to make it pay-to-play, they better make it worth it, not just simply paying to play.

 

[lachemo]

Some more details being thrown around here about this according to IGN and I have to say,I like what Im hearing......

Heres the talk....Sony conducted a survey to gauge user interest in there ideas for content and cost in the subscription version of psn. The various price points thrown around are $4.99-$9.99 a month and annual prices of $29.99 to $69.99. The content includes free psone games,beta access to new games,cross game voice chat,free one hour trials of games and remote "cloud" storage,whatever that means....this will be along side the "free to play" model psn thats already there.

I have to say that I dig this content and would pay for this. No other online service has this kinda thing. Fuck demos, one hour trials of finished games would be huge in gauging whether or not to buy stuff or Gfly it,free psone games for those who like old school shit,beta access is nice since that kinda thing is always by invite and its good news that the free to play psn will still be there....Sony is doing this right!

 

[zell]

Some more details being thrown around here about this according to IGN and I have to say,I like what Im hearing......

Heres the talk....Sony conducted a survey to gauge user interest in there ideas for content and cost in the subscription version of psn. The various price points thrown around are $4.99-$9.99 a month and annual prices of $29.99 to $69.99. The content includes free psone games,beta access to new games,cross game voice chat,free one hour trials of games and remote "cloud" storage,whatever that means....this will be along side the "free to play" model psn thats already there.

I have to say that I dig this content and would pay for this. No other online service has this kinda thing. Fuck demos, one hour trials of finished games would be huge in gauging whether or not to buy stuff or Gfly it,free psone games for those who like old school shit,beta access is nice since that kinda thing is always by invite and its good news that the free to play psn will still be there....Sony is doing this right!

I don't know,it all sounds like a fucking money grab to me.

I haven't really had a chance to get into the online gaming aspect of my PS3,but this just sound like they are trying to figure out a way to subsidize the cost of the upkeep of their servers,and they are just trying to sweeten the pot so that people won't mind paying for their online service.

I think the only idea that sounds worth a damn is the 1 hour game trials.That's actually not a bad idea,the free ps1 games,I couldn't give a shit about,nor any of the other stuff that they are trying to entice us with.

I'm very curious to know how much stuff is people actually pay to download off of PSN,because from the sounds of it,it's way less than Sony would like.I mean,why would I pay $3 to watch a tv show from the PSN when I could watch it for free somewhere else online?

 

[lachemo]

I don't know,it all sounds like a fucking money grab to me.

I haven't really had a chance to get into the online gaming aspect of my PS3,but this just sound like they are trying to figure out a way to subsidize the cost of the upkeep of their servers,and they are just trying to sweeten the pot so that people won't mind paying for their online service.

I think the only idea that sounds worth a damn is the 1 hour game trials.That's actually not a bad idea,the free ps1 games,I couldn't give a shit about,nor any of the other stuff that they are trying to entice us with.

I'm very curious to know how much stuff is people actually pay to download off of PSN,because from the sounds of it,it's way less than Sony would like.I mean,why would I pay $3 to watch a tv show from the PSN when I could watch it for free somewhere else online?

Yeah I hear ya,I could care less about ps1 titles too,but keep in mind that theres actually a good fanbase for ps1 games. FF7 did well when it hit psn store and they were selling that for $10,which to me is alot of money for an ancient game. FF8 just hit psn store and I bet that will do good too. I think the beta's,cross game chat and 1 hour trials are worth the price of admission alone and its like hey,if you dont like the substance than keep doing the free to play thing. Cant really say Sony is nickel and diming people to death when they give you a choice to stay with the current psn,cost free....

xbox live on the other hand should be shot on sight for some of the shit they charge for on there.......

 

[JimmyDook]

i figured sony would eventually charge users.

they can't help but see the shitload of money that microsoft is making off xbox live ...sony would be stupid not to try and dig their nails into something like this.

if they plan on keeping the current version of psn free, then i can't see anyone 'upgrading' to a premium service for $50+ a year ...unless there's some huge, and i mean, huge reason to do so.

i wont be paying for it anyway ...that is unless they have a service that it better than xbox live, which i don't see happening.

i sure as hell am not paying for two online services.

 

[shayd]

Some more details being thrown around here about this according to IGN and I have to say,I like what Im hearing......

Heres the talk....Sony conducted a survey to gauge user interest in there ideas for content and cost in the subscription version of psn. The various price points thrown around are $4.99-$9.99 a month and annual prices of $29.99 to $69.99. The content includes free psone games,beta access to new games,cross game voice chat,free one hour trials of games and remote "cloud" storage,whatever that means....this will be along side the "free to play" model psn thats already there.

I have to say that I dig this content and would pay for this. No other online service has this kinda thing. Fuck demos, one hour trials of finished games would be huge in gauging whether or not to buy stuff or Gfly it,free psone games for those who like old school shit,beta access is nice since that kinda thing is always by invite and its good news that the free to play psn will still be there....Sony is doing this right!

I have to say, I'm not sure why they're thinking about charging for the service. Seems to me all of that stuff is demand based, so why not make it on demand? Cloud storage is a novel idea for Sony, but would probably negate any need for a hard-drive (FYI cloud storage is storing your files, in this case save info, trophies etc... to a remote server so if your PS3 fails or something gets messed up, you always have access).

To be honest, if Sony really wants to implement a pay system, they may as well charge for the right to play, because otherwise there's really no reason for it. Say what you will about the ethics of charging for online play, but one thing has been made very clear about it: it's profitable. Looking at it purely logistically, having people pay for play would allow Sony to spend more on maintaining and updating game servers, something that the PSN desperately needs. Additionally, the money raised could be used by Sony to subsidize the losses they take with each console sold.

While I see why there is a great deal of resistance to paying for play, there is a precedent, and it does work.

 

[power-san]

A few bucks won't stop me from playing MW2 online.
I actually think the current PSN is sweet. I have no complaints.

 

[dokkin]

I love my Xbox 360 and I love online.. $50 a year for live access I do not really sweat it. I also like my ps3 and being able to play online. But one thing that ps3 lacks is the *party chat *private chat *overall chat feature. I know it has these but its just not up to par with xbox live.
On ps3 it seems that no one talks and it is hard as hell to chat with a friend while playing. Yes there is advantages to this eg. Not having to listen to 15yr olds thug it up but I feel that the ps3 is really lacking in the chat department overall. Other than that I love my ps3 and my 360

 

[PornKhaos]

I love my Xbox 360 and I love online.. $50 a year for live access I do not really sweat it. I also like my ps3 and being able to play online. But one thing that ps3 lacks is the *party chat *private chat *overall chat feature. I know it has these but its just not up to par with xbox live.
On ps3 it seems that no one talks and it is hard as hell to chat with a friend while playing. Yes there is advantages to this eg. Not having to listen to 15yr olds thug it up but I feel that the ps3 is really lacking in the chat department overall. Other than that I love my ps3 and my 360

I hear people talking shit down their mic all the time. Theres also chatrooms for you to chat with your friends.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Fuck this. I want backwards capability back.