Yeah, that is a pretty big assumption to make. I'm not saying he will be wrong or that Sony will have a WAY better online service, but I'm fairly confident Sony will have a much better online service that offers a service similar Xbox Live. I remember reading some rumors that Sony had actually been working on a better online service for the PS2 a couple years ago, but they scrapped it. I forgot the exact reasons why (probably something like too late in the generation, not worth it since even the best online service is only used by ~10% of the userbase, etc.), but it sounded like they decided to hold off until the PS3 to implement this new online service. Again, just a rumor, although it wouldn't surprise me. Sony already mentioned doing video conferencing with the Eyetoy and they've also been talking about and embracing microtransactions for next-gen, so we'll probably see just as much downloadable content for the Sony online service as Xbox Live.
Because A, there is no fee and B, they haven't released any real info surrounding the PS3's online system...
If they haven't released any real info on the PS3's online system, how could you know that there is no fee? And I'm not even going to try to figure how not releasing any info on the plan means that it will be inferior or the same as before.
From what I've read Sony plans not to charge a fee for online gameplay, and without a fee they couldn't do the things MS does with Xbox live... they'd lose money hand over fist. I'm sure it will be better then the horrible online play of the PS2, but it won't be anywhere near as expansive as Xbox Live for the 360.
So just because they don't plan on charging for online play, they are automatically inferior. Sorry bud, but there is no absolute way you can come to that conclusion, especially since you've already admitted Sony hasn't even released any news about it. It's just like paying for telephone service and then having to pay to make a call. I have never liked the idea of paying for a service I'm already paying for. I get online and get to play all I want for free, it's perfectly fine with me.
I have to agree; there's no reason to assume that if they offer it for free that it will be inadequate. HOWEVER, they haven't exactly said they will do anything different either; so the only hard evidence you have is what they have done this far. And that's pretty much jack. And you're selling XBOX Live way short. The value in that system, what you can do with it, how it will expand with the XBOX 360 and the ease of use make it more than worth 50 bucks. IN it's current state, Sony's online capabilities are pitiful in comparison to Live.
Out of curiosity, where did you get the feeling that they would not charge a fee (link or something like that, if possible)? I wouldn't doubt it, but I haven't really seen anything coming from Sony that strongly supported this idea. Their online plans for the PS3 have been one of their best-kept secrets IMO. That said, I'd guess that they could still afford to not charge a fee while still offering a online service similar to Xbox Live. From what I understand, MS uses their own servers for online play in games (outside of EA games IIRC), which is probably the main reason why MS feels they need to charge money. From what I've read, Sony still wants to connect the gamer with the developer/publisher, so I imagine they may not use their own servers for online games. That said, they could still offer several other services like friends lists, chatting (via camera or something else), unified login, microtransactions/downloadable content, matchmaking, etc., without charging a fee. In fact, I think even Xbox Live Silver members get some of that stuff for free, and I think Nintendo offers similar features with their new online plan. If Howard Stringer can really get all their divisions working together, they might even be able to integrate some things from Sony Pictures and Sony's music division (outside of stupid rootkits). Along with all the normal gameplaying services, Sony could try to work in movie trailers (maybe even compatible with the PSP) and maybe the ability to download music from their online store. If that works well, they might even be able to convince some other movie/music studios to work out a deal with Sony to put their content available on the PS3 online service. If the PS3 is anywhere near as successful as the PS1/PS2, I'd think many studios would love the idea of potentially getting their content into 90-100 million homes. Again, all of this doesn't really require a subscription service either. Here's some interesting ideas that some people came up with: http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PlayStationWorld.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PSWorldXMB.jpg http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/asian_boy5/AB5-XBM-PS3-c.jpg Or maybe Sony will offer none of that extra stuff, but keep it free. Strangely enough, I've met some people that played on Xbox Live but prefer Sony's online plan since it is free. At this point, I'm more of an offline, single-player gamer, so I don't care either way. It will be interesting to see how online play evolves this next-generation as broadband gets into more homes and features like downloadable content get pushed into our homes.
The Xbox is running up some high costs. PS3 has a new type of optical drive and the Cell processor to deal with.... Business week
