Yesterday, Sony finally showed its cards for the PlayStation 3's online network strategy. At a Gamers' Day press event in San Francisco, the electronics giant demonstrated a number of features for its PlayStation Network, from streaming video to the PlayStation Portable to downloading new titles and original PlayStation games straight to the PS3's hard drive.
As closely as gamers were watching the event, it's a safe bet the architects of Microsoft's Xbox Live service were just as interested. In July, Xbox Live group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg answered some questions for GameSpot at Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays premiere event. In the wake of Sony's event, GameSpot again went to Greenberg to get his reactions to the PS3 online service and see how much difference a few months can make.
GameSpot: What are your impressions of Sony's online initiative? What do you think it offers that Xbox Live doesn't, and vice versa?
Aaron Greenberg: We welcomed the same approach from Sony four years ago. We're proud that we've created a smash hit service that has prevailed over four years by growing to 4 million members during that time. And we're flattered that we've created a service that is breeding yet another knockoff. That said, it's still hard to comment in much depth around their online announcement since there are still a lot of details that haven't been made clear and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Is this a fully connected service with one identity across your entire gameplay experience? Is every game online with voice chat integration? Do they have Achievements and Gamerscore? How are they handling safety, security, hacking, viruses, and parental controls? While competition is always great, we feel confident in our leadership position in online, especially given our four-year and 4-million-member head start.
GS: With Sony's online service being free and apparently offering nearly everything that Xbox Live offers, how will Microsoft justify continuing to charge gamers for online play?
AG: There is so much more for gamers to experience on Xbox Live and so little new news in Sony's online announcements. We will compete with them in the same way we have for the last four years by out-innovating and focusing on community, value, and the content that gamers want. They offered basic free matchmaking on the PS2, and from what we can tell, their online story has not evolved much. Do they offer the ability to build your reputation across the network? Can you accumulate achievements and gamerscore? Do they have voice in every game? What about cross-game invites and communication? Is every game online enabled? Heck, do they have exclusive titles that can compete with Halo 3, Gears of War, Geometry Wars, Next Splinter Cell, Halo Wars, and exclusive episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV that you won't be playing on the PS3?
GS: What do you think of Sony's choice to use real-world currency instead of a points-based system for purchasing goods online?
AG: We were the first platform to offer a microtransaction model online for a console. With the Microsoft Points model, consumers are able to purchase items for as little as 25 cents all the way up to $15, without burdening the consumer with transaction fees or the need for a credit card. The adoption of Microsoft Points has exceeded our expectations with more than 2 billion Points consumed and over 70 million downloads from Xbox Live Marketplace to date.
GS: As someone who works very closely with an online marketplace, who do you think has a better online marketplace model from what you've seen so far--Nintendo or Sony?
AG: We've seen a lot of interest from both companies to get into the digital distribution space, similar to Xbox Live Marketplace. It is hard for us to comment specifically on their offerings, as a lot of those details have not yet been provided. But we believe that in order for the online service to be successful, it must be simple, safe and secure. In regards to simplicity, we believe you need one single digital identity and you need the service to be very consistent. For safety and security, you need tools to be able to manage your profile, provide feedback, and offer enhanced matchmaking. Consumers also want to know that their personal information is protected, so your payment methods must always all be secure. And finally, your privacy and family settings are extremely important, and we believe it is imperative to be able to regulate who you play with and who you invite into your community, no matter what your age is. And remember, Xbox Live has been delivering all of these components since we launched.
GS: Are many developers of downloadable games making their titles cross-platform? Or are most Arcade titles going to be console-exclusive?
AG: Our focus with Arcade is to bring both classic/retro arcade favorites, like Street Fighter, Dig Dug, and Doom, as well as provide a platform for independent game developers to bring new, innovative content to gamers. We believe that the majority of the content that you will find on Xbox Live Arcade will not be on any other console platform. And when you start to think about things like the XNA Game Studio Express, we are enabling anyone to create their own games that they can run this holiday on their Xbox 360. We think this will bring even more game creators and new concepts to this space, even allowing a couple of guys in a garage the opportunity to eventually make their own Xbox Live Arcade game.
GS: Any word on when the fall update will arrive or what changes it will include?
AG: It is still on track to release soon, and we can't wait to talk about even more enhancements to the service, but we haven't been able to provide any details yet. You will be hearing from us soon!
GS: Can we expect any more backward-compatibility updates?
AG: We have around 300 titles supporting backwards compatibility today, and we are continuing to add to this list, but at this time, we don't have any new information to share.
GS: In the last few months, we've found out about major content upgrades for Xbox 360 games that will be released exclusively over Xbox Live Marketplace, specifically the Oblivion expansion and the episodic Grand Theft Auto IV add-ons, both of which sound like products retailers would love to stock. How are your retail partners responding to these deals?
AG: Our model has not changed. We continue to heavily support the retail channel for all retail software, console hardware, and accessories, including Xbox Live subscriptions, Microsoft Points, etc. We see the digital distribution model as complementary to this. We have Xbox Live Arcade games selling for as little as 400 Points ($5). The economics could not support those games to be distributed at retail. However, we did recently release the Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged retail SKU, and early sales have been very strong and exceeded our initial forecast. We will continue to work closely with and support our retail partners to look for opportunities like this in the future.
GS: Are there any plans for any sort of Web browsing functionality on the 360? Nintendo and Sony are going in that direction. Do you think gamers will want to surf the Internet on their consoles?
AG: There have been a lot of different product offerings like this over the years--even our own WebTV, which we brought out 10 years ago--and none of these products have had much consumer appeal and adoption. People want to browse the Web with their keyboard and mouse on their PC, and we've talked to gamers who told us the same thing. You also potentially expose your platform to security risks by opening up access to browsing the internet.
GS: 20GB can be filled up pretty quickly when you're downloading 1GB demos. How soon can we expect to see larger 360 hard drives, and will memory cards be the only way to transfer content from one to the other?
AG: Our research today indicates that the 20GB hard drive provides sufficient storage for the large majority of consumers, and we haven't announced any plans to release a larger hard drive at this time. The console design is modular so this does allow flexibility, but again, currently we haven't announced any plans for a bigger hard drive.
GS: A few months ago Microsoft said we would get 50 Xbox Live Arcade games by the end of the year. Even with a new game every Wednesday from now until the end of the year, we'd still wind up well short of that. Will you fall short of 50? If so, by how much and why?
AG: Our focus is really putting out the best possible games for our community, and we have a commitment to bringing as many quality titles to Xbox Live Arcade as we can by the end of the calendar year. We have 33 titles on the service today with many more great games to come. I don't have the final projection for how many Arcade titles will be available by December 30, but I know each and every one will offer a great gaming experience for all kinds of gamers.
GS: The Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays program has provided more consistency to the release of Live Arcade games, but there's still not much in the way of warning. You announced Lumines Live, Dig Dug, Doom, and TotemBall each just hours before they went up on the Marketplace. Why can't we get a schedule that looks a few weeks out, like we did with the original Xbox Live Arcade lineup?
AG: The response from publishers and consumers to Xbox Live Arcade continues to amaze us, and our goal is to always give advance notice whenever possible, but with the short development process and the way the title certification works, sometimes we are unable to give as much notice as we would like.
GS: The Xbox Live Marketplace has been criticized for the way it arranges its content. Is there an overhaul for the Marketplace in the works?
AG: As you know, we continually listen to customers and work to evolve the service in response. There are some changes planned for Marketplace this fall, but at this point we are not able to talk about any details. Stay tuned.
I own all 3 Next gens... Wii, 360, and PS3... and i must admit te PS3 is better
The problem with the PS3 online server is that it's a bit similar to the PC's online capability in terms of being able to play a game in an online mode at all. What I mean is that gamers that buy games with multiplayer capability would usually have to wait for the said developer to complete a dedicated server patch for a few months before it's released onto the Net for downloading & to play an online game mode on a dedicated server. Now I wonder if the PS3 will allow the ability to download the dedicated server patch into the PS3's HDD, coz if it had to be inside with the game data on the BD then that'd take much longer for the game to be completed before it's ready to be gold-mastered & sold.
yeh xbox is ok but ps2+ps3 is free u already have to pay your online service to like aol or other companies so its the perfect system if you like to play on loine like almost every day so xbox has no chance in "knocking out ps3" xbox live is the real knockoff
Well if I can get the same service as xboxlive for free...then cool. Disappointed with it except for demos and a few retro games. Online punks talking ridiculus trash and crappy servers ruins it. I'll take a PC over Xbox Live anyday.
I just dont see sony taking on XBL for free. what do you think MS maintains all those servers for a few dollars. Servers are very expensive, so is programmers. MS charges money so you can enjoy an awesome online experience at the cost of a mere $50 a month. Trust me paying $50 so I can play Halo whenever I want, and know their is someone at my skill level that will give a run for my money is worth every penny.
Amen.
i think microsoft fears so much. ps3 is coming. return of the king
Lol at m$ fanboys. We are all knockoffs of the 2600, if thats how people think
BTW. Sony = 1.7 Billion in the red. Nuff said.
FANBOYZ! XBOX360=the SEXZORZ! i would rather pay $50 a year for a service that has been tested extensively and i know what i'm getting rather than a free service that will surely be bug-ridden and not work properly at first. also, i saved $200 by gettin a 360 rather than buying a $600 "machine". i can buy 4 years of xbox live with the difference or i can buy 3 years and HALO 3! haha MG is worthless and all used up. i laugh at sony fanboyz. i'm sure they all cry themselves to sleep at night because of no halo, hahahahahahahhahahahahhhhahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
. . . and yet PS2s online games are still more popular that xbox online games and PS2's online service has never been hit with viruses and nothing of the sort... o but wait!! XBL puts a Fall update and many 360's are non-playable ahh wat a damn shame looks like Sony wins, yet again
sonys online service will b pethetic and succumb to viruses from web browsing i will laugh to see how bad it is
who cares what M$ thinks.. ps3 online free! M$ xbox live.. hmm.. free. nope... 50 bux.. yep.. for 1 year.. and then 50 for another year.. and so on.. and on a similar note.. hate the xbox controller.. it just doesnt feel right.. so in conclusion.. FREE!
He's be absolutely correct in saying that it's a knockoff of XBL, just like the sixaxis is a poor knockoff of the Wii controller. Anyone who is too blind to see that is just a Sony fanboy. However, I would like to quote one of my friends, vgmkyle, who made a good point on the topic of stealing ideas from other consoles/manufacturers: "[S]tealing has been a thing developers have done for years. Sega got ideas from the PC to use disks for games and just like Sony having the idea to make a handheld gaming system. Sony is not really stealing at all there just using hardware features that are open for use. In the end it only matters who uses these features better and that we will find out soon enough." In all honesty though, I think the sixaxis came out bad, and I think their online service is going o be crap in comparison to XBL. I do think that the use of Blu-Ray was a bold move though and applaud that, as well as the PS3's cell processing scheme.
this dude avoids the question being asked and improvised with . . . "will they have this? that? and this?" "XBL has it, yea, so there" buddy . . . no1 likes paying for ur crappy online service. no1 cares about ur "o we hav this! and this! but Sony doesn't" your responses just prove to us how greatly versatile u are as u avade the questions. Sony has excellent service, don't bash because they will surpass you. nuff said... who cares if every game is online? u hav to draw the line at some point, for i don't want every game i own to b online compatible. it's too crazy. ask yourself this question Greenberg, "How were past games from NES through N64/PS1 a great success?" work off of this method, for u hav already applied it to HALO which is the greatest game ur system has to offer... keep making games like these (try to stay away from the over-populated 1st persons though) and i gaurentee probable success i could name a couple SNES game that surpass XBL games to this date...
I hate to break it to you guys but everyone or I will say 90% of the people that posted are the exception to the rule not the standard. Everyone complains that their harddrive is to small but I believe M$ is right. The average gamer is not us, we are the avid/pro gamers. For God's sake look at your names and avatars. The average player which M$ references isn't buying anything on day one but in the shopping season and is over 20. Also they aren't filling up half their hard-drives but is playing and deleting.
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I'll tell you how they'll catch up. No online fee, that's how they'll catch up. Pwned.
way to go it is a knock off
yay hes right!
Bahahahaah this guy doesnt know anything
VegetaMaelstrom - While we don't know exactly when each company 'devised' the idea for the controller, we do know that Nintendo announced (and showed a working model) it's motion controller LONG before Sony did. Heck, Nintendo showed a working model before Sony even announced they were working on a motion controller. The fact that Sony is hitting the marketplace 2 days before Nintendo has not one thing to do with who copied who's idea.
bobbleninja00, nothing on PC allows such an intergrated easy to use system as Xbox live, there is no unified PC gamerspace were you can pop in a game and be able to have a friendslist that is resonably connected to everyone else. No, the PC space has not been doing the same thing for years, dont even tell me that Xfire and such even count as a unified network, because they dont.
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Console wars.... yep. I love it! I have a 360, and I will be buying a Wii this year because of its price and because of Nintendo's first party games, such as Smash Bros. Brawl, Zelda, and Metroid Prime 3. I will buy a PS3 in a year or two -- whenever the price drops to around $300-400 dollars. I don't care for Blue-Ray, and I don't watch movies on my console, so I will not pay the extra money for something I won't use. I will buy a PS3 for the RPG's just like I did for my PS2. And also, because Sony has a lot of support from game developers. But the price is rediculously high for things I will not use, or don't even want. I will not by an HD-DVD for the 360 because I don't want it. I'm all about games, and online play. And Nintendo has a good thing going with their Virtual Console thing. That's just cool. So, the Wii, and Xbox Live has my money now. Sony will wait until a price drop. If that don't happen, then I won't have a PS3. I have a good job and I'm able to afford all three consoles, but I don't believe in wasting money, and so far, at least to me, the PS3 is a waste of money. Until they drop the Blue-Ray roll, and concentrate on games like they did with the PS1/PS2, I will not give them my money.
PerfectDark0Fan: "Sony online is copy off from Microsoft. It seems that coping is all Sony can do with the moving controller from Nintendo, online from Microsoft. " Let me get this straight. Sony's PS3 is releasing on Nov. 17 while Nintendo's Wii is coming out on Nov. 19. The PS3 is available first so unless my logic is totally screwed up that would indicate that Nintendo is copying Sony, not the other way around. Just having an idea about a motion sensing controller isn't enough. Nobody owns a concept, not Nintendo nor Sony. You have to build something out of that idea and Sony has beaten Nintendo to the punch. Therefore anything similar that comes out after will be a knockoff but that isn't a bad thing. This whole industry is built upon companies copying and improving eachothers ideas. And I hope it always stays that way.
****IN JULY**** Xbox Live group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg answered some questions for GameSpot. In the wake of Sony's event, GameSpot ****AGAIN**** (WHICH MEANS A SECOND TIME) went to Greenberg to get his reactions to the PS3 online service and see how much difference a few months can make. Yea, its not Gamespot's news, its the people who can't read it. And Tomagreen, I completely agree with you, but remember, this is Microsoft, they are trained professionals when it comes to responding, but not answering a question, which is why many people don't like them.
REVENGEofSITH "Yuck_Foo, nice pick up. I didn't pick up that detail when I first read the article. So they did the interview back in July and waited until Sony announced their online plans at their "gamer" event to put out the "counter" Microsoft article? wtf? " You guys didn't read the opening paragraph close enough. They said they interviewed him in July, and then interviewed him AGAIN recently after Sony's conference.
this guy does nothing but dodge questions
Their better not hope to compete with them in the same way. Because their getting their butt kicked doing so lol. Microsoft needed to change something to get out of the ditch their in. And so far they have not.
"Yuck_Foo "In July, Xbox Live group marketing manager Aaron Greenberg answered some questions for GameSpot at Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays premiere event" In July????? This interview is 3 months old. Seriously GS is $#!+ for news " Yuck_Foo, nice pick up. I didn't pick up that detail when I first read the article. So they did the interview back in July and waited until Sony announced their online plans at their "gamer" event to put out the "counter" Microsoft article? wtf?
its funny how he calls PS3s move a knockoff when the PC industry has been doing it for even longer than XBox... and yeah 20g is not enough... there is always something that can fill that extra space
"fairy_killer "What a load of crap, the guy sounds like a machine. "Our research today indicates that the 20GB hard drive provides sufficient storage for the large majority of consumers" This is flipping crap i've almost filled my hard drive and say i did get a new one how the hell am i supposed to transfer files stored on it. i dont fancy having to buy a memory card just to do this, i thought the whole point of having HDD was that you didn't need memory cards. And what the hell about the files bigger than the memory card? " I totally agree with the "fairy killer". Who are these "consumers" that they are getting their info from? Other Microsoft employees? Given that you really only get 13GB on that HD, this really isn't enough if you want to keep demos, levels, etc. on your HD. You basically have to decide what to delete before you can go off and add anything.
did he jus say 20gb is enough? thas crazy dude...it's not!!
Sony online is copy off from Microsoft. It seems that coping is all Sony can do with the moving controller from Nintendo, online from Microsoft.
well sony did state it would be similar to xbox live so of course after that statement you know they were pretty much copying it.its no biggie playstation fans need a good online service too.
OMG I just realised the Xbox was made after the PS2, the Xbox is a knock off! :o
(Yes I know that most games aren't made by the companies who make the system, with that said, read on.) I'm an Xbox fan. Sony has gone down hill drastically pushing out as many games as possible. Nintendo makes some awesome games, when they make them, which usually takes about 2 years and are few and far between these days. Of course, its about the games, not the hardware most of the time. We have yet to see the PS3 or the Wii. I highly doubt they will be any more advanced hardware wise then the Xbox 360. But daym if I don't call bull for this guy. Every word out of his mouth is slandering Sony. When he gets a question about Nintendo he completely avoids it. Nintendo won't go far online. Its not what they do. Instead they'll make great games that you'll have people come over to your house to play. Sony will try having some online games, but those games will have monthly fees which will deter gamers. Did you buy or will you buy an Xbox 360 for its arcade? I'd rather be whooping butt in Halo then playing Tetris on the arcade.
Man, these marketing guys. All they do is spin.
xbox live does seem better to me
neoand12 somebody is jelious of the PS3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not as "jelious" as I am of your spelling.
I dont understand guys, Sony is offering a free online service (for the most part) which after shelling $599 and an additional $59.99 is not a bad thing. What is with the MS fanboys vs. Sony fanboy rhetoric. U know u guys are going to buy it anyway. I love videogames period. and when I get the chance Im gonna buy an Xbox, PS3 and Wii, just all not at the same time..........., cause that would be one hell of a bill. ;)
in a couple of years you will hear tht sony copied nintendo & m$ by using bluray.................
Sony sucks, everything they do is a knockoff.
lol... but Sony's doesn't have Gamerscore. They've repelled any accusations of "knock-offery" by offering just a little bit less than their competition. Way to differentiate yourselves, @$$e$!
i think u misundertood that Jakster4u the 360 will have cost them billions it hasnt put them in debt and if it was billions in debt MS wouldnt exist anymore
that's why your paying for XBL, oh and the billion or more dollars that the 360 has put Microsoft in debt.
He's the most generic looking person ever, no offence he looks like the ideal American dad, what a complete idiot. And he's interview he never answered a ton of questions, I'm ashamed that I'm paying for XBL because of him.
XBL is great not, you can play kalleria online and old CPS1/2 games for FREE CAPCOM classics like Hyper fighting , Alpha 3 , final fight , king of fighters and xbl have "Doom " coming to a shop near you more like BORING.
:( somebody is jelious of the PS3