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Xbox Live vs PSN

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You knew it was coming, now that we have had the official announcement of Firmware 2.40 and the long awaited in game XMB we have to relook at the Xbox Live vs PSN comparison.

Previously the PSN always fell short but things have changed.. or will be changing when it gets released.

A site by the name of reelgamers.com have put together a quick comparison between the two and asks the big question… can Microsoft continue to charge hundreds of Rands per year to offer a similar service to the PSN which is free?

Reelgamers feel that the PSN is now the top offering and while I agree with a lot of their points I have to disagree with them giving the PSN a point for the continuous firmware updates. I think that’s a personal choice really as I prefer the larger big bang approach of Microsoft to the faster iterative approach of Sony.

However having said that we didn’t see the expected Spring release and Xbox Live is starting to look dated now… It’s becoming a theme now, Microsoft needs to do something… fast.

ReelGamers.com – Games. Movies. TV. You.

Last Updated: July 1, 2008

20 Comments

  1. Rudolph

    July 1, 2008 at 14:44

    I reckon this is a very good time for gamers, now that the competition is on, with PSN finally doing something interesting (albeit features that XBL has had from the start) MS is no longer the definite leader in this space, and they will have to do something about it!

    Personally I don’t mind paying for XBL as you are assured or excellent quality of service.They will however have to throw something new in there to keep me in this state of mind.

    Reply

  2. ManesanZA

    July 1, 2008 at 14:53

    Will it have a unified friends list across all games once the new firmware is released?

    Reply

  3. Vg2

    July 1, 2008 at 14:58

    Wasn’t there a rumour of an xbox update with avatars similar to the Wii’s Miis? Or has that rumour already been thrown out?

    Reply

  4. koldFU5iON

    July 1, 2008 at 15:04

    well personally I feel the same, paying for the service gives me some ground to bitch and moan on so I don’t mind 🙂 I think MS held back the last update to see the final installment of what Sony had to offer, I think it’s safe to say that MS will come out with some “stellar” updates for XBL when the next update does hit.

    Reply

  5. RE: Gamer

    July 1, 2008 at 15:58

    ^Die hard 360 fans.
    Yeah, lets not try and bullshit ourselves about it, Sony have now upgraded the service in line with (or better, depending) with Xbox Live. PSN is free. Microsoft are playing catch egg with butter fingers in my opinion. 360 users are now paying for something that the opposition offers for free – for a 360 user THERE IS NO WAY TO SPIN THAT FACT INTO A GOOD THING.

    I can’t see a company like MS resting on their laurels but the longer they take to expose the bunny from the hat the more it looks like that the bunny relocated to Sony HQ.

    RE: Gamer’s last blog post..Kojima Jnr disappointed with Metal Gear Solid 4

    Reply

  6. evilredzombie

    July 1, 2008 at 16:38

    This is just another step for sony on the way up. I loved Xbox live, apart for the fact that there was no local support ( which PSN has) and that you had to pay for it ( PSN free ) so MS better act fast

    evilredzombie’s last blog post..Play the double agent

    Reply

  7. scotty777

    July 1, 2008 at 17:11

    well… i must say that sony have really stepped up to the challenge here, and I think that MS better pull out something quick before people start catching on to the idea that sony’s service is better.

    Well… lets hope that sony keeps the pressure on! I mean, this is great for us 😛

    Reply

  8. abe

    July 1, 2008 at 17:44

    Well for now anyway
    PSN>LIVE

    Reply

  9. doobiwan

    July 1, 2008 at 17:47

    You’re right, but it’s not a case or “react fast”. Microsoft’s had 2 years to prepare their response to “in-game XMB”+ Home etc. The response is already done, it’s just a case of waiting for the right to to reveal it, which is almost 99% going to ge the 14th- their E3 keynote.

    Whether it’s going to blow anyone’s socks off remains to be seen. For me #1 on the agenda has to be some form of free online play.

    doobiwan’s last blog post..The Games that made the consoles

    Reply

  10. Fox1

    July 1, 2008 at 21:01

    I haven’t being on Live simply because I think it’s too expensive and it doesn’t fit my budget as a student 🙁

    Reply

  11. David

    July 1, 2008 at 22:37

    Man that really sucks, why can’t MS let us play against our friend for free dammit on Xbox live

    Reply

  12. abe

    July 2, 2008 at 11:32

    The fact that MS charges for live has always been my biggest reason for not wanting an xbox!

    Reply

  13. RE: Gamer

    July 2, 2008 at 13:08

    It hasn’t been a problem up until now. PSN was a brain dead service up until 2.40 and millions of 360 users were paying to not be a part of it.
    The rules of the game have now been changed. But lets not knock Live! for the sake of it – it was and always has been worth the money – it’s only know that it cannot justify the cost.

    RE: Gamer’s last blog post..Kojima Jnr disappointed with Metal Gear Solid 4

    Reply

  14. abe

    July 2, 2008 at 13:13

    For me it not so much the actual monetary value but rather the shclep involved!

    Reply

  15. SlippyMadFrog

    July 2, 2008 at 14:36

    Can you elaborate?

    Reply

  16. kabraal

    July 2, 2008 at 14:59

    Well it’s the idea for “paying to play on the internet.” Hell I’ve never had to pay to play an online game except WoW. Which I can understand as the game receives new game content with every patch. I don’t see why I should pay MS to play a shooter game which Epic developed. I’ll understand if I have to pay Epic for a content patch, although it’s a bit hard to stomach.

    Look $5 isn’t much. So one can let it go. And I really don’t see the big ruckus with this in game xmb or trophies. Correct me if I’m wrong, but did those two insignificant (IMO so don’t flame me about that) changes to PSN just own the whole of live?

    Because if it did then I really still don’t understand what was so great about live in the first place? This “integrated thing” got thrown around quite a lot. I.e “Yeah live is integrated, so it way better than yours.” Is PSN also “integrated” now with 2.4? I’m seriously confused about that word.

    OR

    Do you pay MS $5 a month because their console has the ability to minimize to the dashboard while playing a game and to have a gamercard?

    As for the schlep, I won’t say it’s a schlep. Although I remember having to contact my bank to have them forcibly block MS to help themselves to 5 dolla per month after I called the xbox hotline 10 trillion times to request that they cancel my live gold subscription.

    Ah well.

    Reply

  17. SlippyMadFrog

    July 2, 2008 at 16:26

    The integrated thing is difficult to explain. I see XBL as middleware platform which all on-line game activities plug in to. XBL runs the show like an operating system runs applications. This enables gamers to send invites cross-game, form private chat groups while playing different games, ect.
    PSN is more like just a comunications platform, it doesn’t handle the applications like XBL does. The applications function independantly and just use the PSN to send information between the console and the server. This means that the different applications can’t communicate between each other. (2.40 fixed this)
    I realy have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s all opinion 😛

    I just think if you can justify paying for WoW, you can justify paying $5 for XBL, it’s not much for what you getting. The problem is that the PSN is starting to offer the same for free. I’m waiting on Msoft’s response to this.

    About the schlep thing, I’m sure people experience dificulties with Sony support as well. Getting connected to XBL is fairly easy as well, you just give a US or UK address, how difficult can it be?

    Reply

  18. kabraal

    July 2, 2008 at 16:46

    Fair enough

    Reply

  19. Syph1n

    July 3, 2008 at 00:38

    I have to bring up a point here. Maybe im mistaken but does the ps3 have a profile recovery system? on xbox if ur console gets stolen hence u dnt lose ur gamerscore right. what happens if ur ps3 get stolen or breaks. then what? You basically lose everything u work for so whats the point? Im not sure about this im asking more than making a statement

    Reply

  20. luay

    July 26, 2009 at 12:21

    just keep the consoles that you have got the ps3 is good online but not as good as xbl but because it is free there is a question of do you want the best of the best but you have to pay or do you want 2nd best but for free? personally ive got a ps3 but im buying an xbox 360 elite for its online but i think everyone should just wait for the next consoles because then you will know which console is superior but im sure xbl with cut down there prices

    Reply

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