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Why is XBL still the superior online service...
- Thread starter Speedymanic
- Start date
billy beane
Banned
PSN is a fine service, but if I've to choose which version to buy my multiplayer games on, it's the Xbox 360 version. It just does so many things right in terms of the ease of connecting me with my friends. It's so easy.
Anytime I try to play a game online on PSN with friends, it's much more a hassle than XBL. It's fine when I'm lone wolfing it, but trying to get a party going just doesn't work like it does on XBL. I guess if you only own a PlayStation 3, you're fine with it, in fact if I only owned a PlayStation 3 I would be too, but when you have both options, you usually lean towards the Xbox 360.
Anytime I try to play a game online on PSN with friends, it's much more a hassle than XBL. It's fine when I'm lone wolfing it, but trying to get a party going just doesn't work like it does on XBL. I guess if you only own a PlayStation 3, you're fine with it, in fact if I only owned a PlayStation 3 I would be too, but when you have both options, you usually lean towards the Xbox 360.
Schobeleth
Member
It did go down, or maybe up and down, for nearly two weeks and they even offered a free game to compensate for it. That previous article was at the tail end of it saying people were reporting connection issues.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/04/microsoft-hooks-up-xbox-live-subs-with-free-arcade-title/
Still the fact that it did happen and it wasn't the result of an attack like the PSN had, was pretty embarassing:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/04/debunk-xbox-live-was-down-but-not-due-to-ddos-attack/
All buls**t, the online service of the XBL is a NO service.
A game has a server (BF3)?
You play on a server on XBL and PSN.
A game use the P2P (CoD)?
You play in the same way on XBL and PSN.
The only difference is that M$ pretend money for use your fu**ing internet connection... in few word, the Gold is an "extortion".
A game has a server (BF3)?
You play on a server on XBL and PSN.
A game use the P2P (CoD)?
You play in the same way on XBL and PSN.
The only difference is that M$ pretend money for use your fu**ing internet connection... in few word, the Gold is an "extortion".
Can of worms!
Interface differences aside, for me the Private Chat on xbl has always been fantastic, I've always lived being able to kick back , play a game and have a chat with a friend, party chat expanded on that too.
In game friends list and background downloads* became the norm for me this generation, I was kind of taken back when I bought my ps3 and it couldn't do these things.
The ps3 was massively behind the times for ages. Having to quit my game and go to the XMB to read a message was awful.
Sony have really tried hard to patch in the things that were missing and has caught up massively, but Ps3 is never going to match Live, feature for feature this late on.
Vita shows sign of promise, but even then it's perhaps a little worrying that even on day 1 it is still someone backwards compared to live.
I'd not seen any changes happen to the Wii as I got rid of mine long ago, but the almost totally lack of communication I couldn't make with my friends made it awkward to use.
Obviously the Mii characters moving between friends was a classic Nintendo touch and you can see why Microsoft went that way. Despite much protesting I think most people are probably quite fond of their 360 avatars.
I've been disappointed that you still need the 2 way friends code entry on the 3DS, although I can see that is to protect Children and Nintendo from the dreaded "Paedophile befriending my kid through their DS" situation that would most likely occur.
Whatever you think about the services, they can only get better.
Interface differences aside, for me the Private Chat on xbl has always been fantastic, I've always lived being able to kick back , play a game and have a chat with a friend, party chat expanded on that too.
In game friends list and background downloads* became the norm for me this generation, I was kind of taken back when I bought my ps3 and it couldn't do these things.
The ps3 was massively behind the times for ages. Having to quit my game and go to the XMB to read a message was awful.
Sony have really tried hard to patch in the things that were missing and has caught up massively, but Ps3 is never going to match Live, feature for feature this late on.
Vita shows sign of promise, but even then it's perhaps a little worrying that even on day 1 it is still someone backwards compared to live.
I'd not seen any changes happen to the Wii as I got rid of mine long ago, but the almost totally lack of communication I couldn't make with my friends made it awkward to use.
Obviously the Mii characters moving between friends was a classic Nintendo touch and you can see why Microsoft went that way. Despite much protesting I think most people are probably quite fond of their 360 avatars.
I've been disappointed that you still need the 2 way friends code entry on the 3DS, although I can see that is to protect Children and Nintendo from the dreaded "Paedophile befriending my kid through their DS" situation that would most likely occur.
Whatever you think about the services, they can only get better.
R_thanatos
Member
OP , XBL might be superior to you , but it has been long since sony catched up with features while staying free for the basic online services
Sony improves every year and stay ad free unless it's a joint - game specific promotion ( uncharted 2 - 3 /motorstorm Rc for example )
Why should i have to pay for online ? Why should i pay when i can't even have dedicated servers ?(unless it's 3rd party ? )
As for me , cross game voice chat is an useless feature ( since i don't need to talk to a friend when i'm ALREADY talking to my teammates in games ) XBL is a Good service but certainly not teh supérior service.. In fact Competitors have show constant improvements while XBL didn't do much ..
Sony improves every year and stay ad free unless it's a joint - game specific promotion ( uncharted 2 - 3 /motorstorm Rc for example )
Why should i have to pay for online ? Why should i pay when i can't even have dedicated servers ?(unless it's 3rd party ? )
As for me , cross game voice chat is an useless feature ( since i don't need to talk to a friend when i'm ALREADY talking to my teammates in games ) XBL is a Good service but certainly not teh supérior service.. In fact Competitors have show constant improvements while XBL didn't do much ..
but then we wouldnt have got this:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=37590968&postcount=103
OverHeat
« generous god »
....for friendlist, invites and chat you use the guide button and everything is there.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
You underestimate the capabilities of party chat!
Old Gimlet Eyes
Member
Party chat is huge for a game like BF3. With XBL party chat two full squads (8 people) can coordinate and work together. This just isn't possible on PSN and you are only able to communicate with your squad through the in game voice. Yeah it is just one game, but for me, that is a big, BIG deal. I couldn't imagine not being able to communicate with my teammates, XBL needs to take it a step further and do up to 16 person party chat (they did it on OG xbox!).
R_thanatos
Member
i'm sorry i don't need voice chat with friend WHEN i'm already playing another game ...
thank god i have a regular phone when my friends have to tell me something
Is there really a need for 2*8 people chatting together ? How many team based games need this ? If you really need teamwork , it should be in the game and in 99.9% cases it already is ...
if you want to argue big numbers MAG ( PSN ) does pretty much this on a grander scale.
i remember playing 32 online games ( 16 vs 16 ) in killzone without any problem on any side .. and i don't recall any problem doings THE SAME THING for voice chat in game with COD4 ( MW1 )
kidfresh718
Member
i see alot of you like the vita interface.. sony should just make controller friendly livearea interface and add it to ps3 its not hard it simple sony should have did that already.. all ps3?ps4 needs is party chat and the ability to change ur psn id and ill be happy.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
If I was on psn Id probably be saying the same thing.
murderofMonkey
Banned
the pings are pretty much the same on both systems, so i would say that both are equal in this.
the plus in xlive is that you can visit the gamercard of sb. while checking the scoreboard and crossgamechat is a big plus.
however the stores of both system are unclearly, while the psn store offers more special deals like darksiders for 8 euros and psn is generally free and the accountmanagement is far costumer-friendlier than xboxlive.
i don't think that xlive is better, but its more popular
the plus in xlive is that you can visit the gamercard of sb. while checking the scoreboard and crossgamechat is a big plus.
however the stores of both system are unclearly, while the psn store offers more special deals like darksiders for 8 euros and psn is generally free and the accountmanagement is far costumer-friendlier than xboxlive.
i don't think that xlive is better, but its more popular
This thread starts by assuming we think Xbox live is the best online service. Well, I really don't think that paying for online play is good service. I prefer PSN or anything else in the world really since Xbox Live is the exception here and not the norm. The cross game chat argument would probably come out but still, is this the one and only thing that makes a service superior? lol It's a completely useless and uninteresting feature to me anyways.
I however think that XboxLive Arcade is a specific feature that is superior to anything else on the market right now. Having indy games in there is fantastic and on the arcade side, there's more than 1 interesting game per season...
I however think that XboxLive Arcade is a specific feature that is superior to anything else on the market right now. Having indy games in there is fantastic and on the arcade side, there's more than 1 interesting game per season...
Considering how big voice can be on the pc or psn I say why not go up to the best be it console or pc. The current xbl limit is garbage and as someone pointed out is a reduction from the first xbox xbl generation.
I see nintendo as far behind sony and ms, but I see both both behind pc in various fronts and not really catching up ever.
Old Gimlet Eyes
Member
For me, yes there is a need. Quite often I am playing with large groups of friends in BF3 and with a limited 8 person chat, some people are left out. Having a full 16 would ensure that all of my friends would be able to talk together. Whether it is through party chat or through in game voice chat, I just want to be able to speak with more people.
If I really need teamwork, it should be in the game? I am not sure what that is supposed to mean exactly but there is no substitute for proper voice communication and coordination.
bigdaddygamebot
Member
Well...PSN is still pretty damn cumbersome to move around in and find things. This might just be me and only me but I feel as though if I have to use the SEARCH function to find what I'm looking for every time...well..they're doing it wrong.
For just "browsing"...PSN is garbage.
With that said, the gap between XBL and PSN has gotten smaller and smaller. Not because of improvements that Sony has made but due to XBL getting worse and worse with it's interface.
Mad as a hatter.
Cross game chat is great and I'm as anti-social as they come.
Syphon Filter
Member
nm
16 people talking at the same time, and that works?
btw. Killzone 2 has so called squads and proximity voicechat. Which means if you are part of a squad, you will get linked together with voicechat. And that worked pretty well. Otherwise it's going proximity-based. 16 players at the same time during a team match, well, i would have muted everyone in that case - wouldn't work at all in that game.
Then you need local multiplayer-capable games first and most of the time games on HD consoles are online multiplayer only. Also how is this supposed to work. Say I'm playing a game that requires 1000 kills with weapon X. Assuming I got 995 kills on my own console - can I go to a friend's house, play local multiplayer with him and get the 5 remaining kills there? Or say I'm level 49 in game Y. Can I go to a friends house and continue my level or does it depend on the game having servers up that track my level (some games track levels etc. via saved games). If not, then it's kinda pointless / specific to a few games and achievements. It would need cloud-based save states that would transfer between consoles as well instantly transfering over my whole progress within a game.
PSN is still a long way behind. It's missing a bunch of features such as cross-game chat, party mode, private voice chat channels, voice messaging and what have you, the web-based stuff through a browser is pretty much non-existent compared to what MS offers, and a lot of other features (multiple-user logins, cross-game invites, and even basic shit like muting a player) are down to the devs to implement, rather than being standard features in every game. The 360 supports up to 4 gamertag logins completely independently of games, so each player can always log in and earn achievements, 4 headsets are supported online simultaneously, and you know that every game you buy will have features X, Y and Z. When a new XBLA or indie game comes out, you know you'll always be able to try before you buy. Downloads seem faster. Achievements auto-sync. Patches are tiny. It's just a FAR better thought out system.
Anyone that's used both services for a decent length of time and is being honest simply cannot claim that the other console services are as good if they're being objective. Of course, the "good enough for me" argument applies, but you could say that about the Wii's online service and it doesn't make it "just the same as Live" overall, as some people here seem to want to imply.
As for pricing, here in the UK, the price of content works out like this most of the time: -
400 MSP (£3.40) is £3.99 on PSN
800 MSP (£6.80) is £7.99 on PSN
1,200 MSP (£10.20) is either £9.99 or £11.99 on PSN
Plus MSP cards are more heavily discounted than PSN cards too, making Live even cheaper.
Anyone that's used both services for a decent length of time and is being honest simply cannot claim that the other console services are as good if they're being objective. Of course, the "good enough for me" argument applies, but you could say that about the Wii's online service and it doesn't make it "just the same as Live" overall, as some people here seem to want to imply.
As for pricing, here in the UK, the price of content works out like this most of the time: -
400 MSP (£3.40) is £3.99 on PSN
800 MSP (£6.80) is £7.99 on PSN
1,200 MSP (£10.20) is either £9.99 or £11.99 on PSN
Plus MSP cards are more heavily discounted than PSN cards too, making Live even cheaper.
You're comparing the whole console there lol
Compare apples with apples. What you pay for "Xbox live" is what is different from silver to gold membership, you cannot use anything else as argument.... unless we'd compare the whole console's offering in this thread.
Also, about the features you named, almost all of them are available on PS3, PSN and Sony ARE offering it... just not forcing them on devs. Bolded up there is really the keyword. Basically this means PSN and Sony offers a great system, what should blame is the devs or the fact that Sony doesn't have a devellopment rules that are severe enough. (and on this particular front, I agree).
RukusProvider
Banned
The last PSN online game I played was Uncharted 2 with a friend. The problem was that the game would often have lobby issues (this was during the release months) which would kick us out. We had no way to communicate through the issues due to the way the system was setup. This means, we could not stay in contact over voice and kept having to send messages. Now add a 3rd person into the mix and it was even more troublesome.
Ultimately, we ended up using XBL to start a party chat and then worked through out issues on PSN/Uncharted 2. This proved to the be workable solution.
PS3's online always makes be feel like it's a chore. It somehow has all the inconsistencies of PC gaming without any of the benefits (better fidelity and customization).
Ultimately, we ended up using XBL to start a party chat and then worked through out issues on PSN/Uncharted 2. This proved to the be workable solution.
PS3's online always makes be feel like it's a chore. It somehow has all the inconsistencies of PC gaming without any of the benefits (better fidelity and customization).
Everything I mentioned is related to online features that are part of what make Xbox Live better. And if Sony say to devs "it's up to you if want to let players mute annoying idiots or not" and the devs don't add that feature, then Sony are still partially to blame for not having some standards. Consistency is a big part of what makes Xbox Live better.
RukusProvider
Banned
6 years later and PS3 fans are still blaming devs. Never one to learn, eh?
Uno Venova
Banned
...Later on in the post he also said Sony's development rules. And man does that sentence sound like gamefaqs.
bigdaddygamebot
Member
So...we shouldn't be trying to get achievements/trophies unless we're going to impress someone?
Well...that's one way to go about it.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Vita is PSN, and it has most of the important stuff that PS3 was missing, and some things that XBL doesn't have as well. Still free.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Thats true but sony fans dont use them because they're boring or uninteresting features.
Mithos
Member
Adding free games monthly like PSN have done?
DragonSworne
Banned
Steam is better than XBL.
I honestly believe Nintendo is going to impressive everyone with the Nintendo Network.
I honestly believe Nintendo is going to impressive everyone with the Nintendo Network.
corporate cheerleader
Member
According to speedy, free PS+ games harm the developers, even though no one ever said anything bad about it. Go figure.
Vita might tick most of the checkboxes but it doesn't make it well integrated. You still have to do all the stupid things like sync trophies, download huge patches, load up apps just to do things. There is a massive difference between ticking the checkboxes and providing a quality experience. Sony appear incapable of providing a quality connected experience. Online is still not a fundamental part of the UI.
Because those features require you to spare additional RAM, unlike on 360.
Oppo
Member
There haven't been any huge patches on Vita that I'm aware of. I ly one system update at launch. The apps are pretty good on whole.
What is REALLY happening here is that X360 diehards are using what they saw of PSN (briefly) years ago as the basis for an argument today. I own a PS3, a 360 and a Vita. Believe me, the Vita comes extremely close to the paid Xbox service. It's not perfect parity, but if this is what Sony is offering out of the gate for free, MS has a lot to learn.
Captain Tuttle
Member
I don't own an Xbox 360, but from what i've played (a lot with my buddy's 360), I enjoyed the fact that it has cross-game chat. PSN has the cross-game text chat thing, but it's not all that useful I guess.
I'd say there's not much difference other than that, though. Maybe the mandatory demo feature for Xbox 360 is something that PSN should focus on in future updates. Leaving a lot of lee-way for developers helps PS devs out, but it can also hurt consumers.
Maybe your Internet connection is faster than mine. Still what about the trophy syncing and apps for friends list and communicating? Hardly well integrate is it?
I'd laugh if Nintendo came around and made WiiU online on par or better than XBL. Considering the things they've already announced, which are features not present on XBL, and their suburb handling of DLC, I honestly can't rule it out from happening, no matter how unlikely it would be.
Who is doing that? I don't own a Vita, but PSN on the PS3 is still piss poor compared to Live on the 360.
MS has a lot to learn from a service that even you are admitting isn't as good as their own, even on the Vita?Nerfgun said:
statham
Member
lol, try live for a month.
Never had a problem with actual online gameplay on PSN. Even on Hawx 2 which only 10 people play, you are still able to join games. Yes it's missing the chat features and invites, etc, but the actual task of playing online isn't any worse than XBL.
I live in the NYC area though, so it might be different for other locations.
I live in the NYC area though, so it might be different for other locations.
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