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Sony Exec Says 'PSN May Not Always Be Free'

gamersreports.com — In a truly mind-boggling interview with two Sony execs, GameTrailers Drops a bomb. One Sony exec says that PSN and Xbox Live are more or less the same, barring price. The the second Sony exec, right after that, says that 'PSN may not always be free.' It left us speechless.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 18, 2007

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  • truspector, on 10/11/2007, -26/+127@tahiri
    Live uses dedicated servers for P2P matchmaking. Sony does NOT host dedicated servers for any games other than first party games, and even those get taken down when they are no longer profitable (ie. MGS3, latest RE, etc.). With Live, I can play ANY game ANY time for as long as I am a member. That's worth < $1 a week for me.

    Voice chat
    Voice messaging
    Game invites
    In game messaging
    Ability to see what friends are doing online
    Game progress tracking
    Unified screen name
    etc.

    That's quite a few features the PS3 is missing and it's not all of them.

    @ohfrak (see below)
    You owned a 360 just like I sucked dick to put myself through college. YOU ARE FULL OF *****. You're a Sony fanboy (paid?) that does nothing but spam the same comments over and over in Sony and MS stories.
  • charlescheese, on 10/11/2007, -21/+77This is such crap. The Sony guy says that they are very happy with their current model for the network (meaning free) and that it will remain so into the foreseeable future. He added that he didn't know if at some point down the road they could change their model, but it was really offhand. People really read way too far into this. The chance that Sony charges for their service is extremely low.
  • taxman, on 10/11/2007, -10/+64You forgot to add a HDTV to the cost of the 360. And the cost of a couch to put your ass in when playing and a house to put all these in. My god, the 360 does cost eleventy gazillion dollars.

    Ever heard of having a choice?
  • Hortnon, on 10/11/2007, -5/+52@OhFrak

    You're just embarassing yourself at this point...stop...please.
  • taxman, on 10/11/2007, -4/+49A maid to wipe out your drool when your playing gears of war?
  • zleilndka, on 10/11/2007, -5/+30I watched the video posted from "DM," where exactly does he say "PSN may not always be free." I watched the whole video and it didn't happen. The only time it was hinted towards that it may not "always" be free was when the host ask Eric Lempel "Your model is that it will always be free." But in business it's hard to say "always" so Lempel had to respond with "-yes at the moment- we are happy with our plans and we are happy to offer this to our consumers for free."

    Here's a direct link from the video the blog was talking about:
    http://www.gametrailers.com/bonusround.php

    "PSN May Not Always Be Free" was never in the video. If I'm wrong tell me the exact time in minutes that it happened and I'll watch it again.
  • truspector, on 10/11/2007, -6/+30@taxman
    You forgot the costs associated with power(to play the 360), internet(to play on live), rent(to have somewhere to put the 360), a stand(to put the 360 on), and a drawer(to put my controllers in). Let me know if I forgot anything else?
  • YouRookies, on 10/11/2007, -6/+26Looks like as long as you bash Sony, no matter if it's accurate or not, your story gets to the front page.
  • kinseyincanada, on 10/11/2007, -2/+21so after 5 years of live service i could of gotten a ps3 instead! damn it i feel so ripped of i cant believe i have to pay for 5 whole years of great online service until i can pay for a ps3.
  • arcticblue, on 10/11/2007, -10/+28Dude, go back to GameFAQs. Please.

    I know I'm feeding the troll here, but I'm going to say it anyway... 8 or 16 players is just fine for online play and I'd like to see some unbiased links to back up your claims of laggy XBL play. Have you even really played Resistance online? I have and let me tell you that 40 players online is a confusing ***** fragfest. It's hardly fun with too many players because you can't stay alive long enough to have fun.
  • truspector, on 10/11/2007, -14/+30@ohfrak

    1. True
    2. Only for first party games, third parties must have their own servers or there will be no online (see Virtua Tennis 3)
    3. Wrong
    4. Only if you're playing the same game as the person you want to chat with
    5. Black hawk down for the original Xbox had 50 player max so PS3 must suck?
    6. Only if you are sitting at the dashboard not playing, on 360 you can do it ANYTIME.
    7. Yes, now I can spend 30 minutes walking around looking for the game I want to play instead of actually playing.
    8. This was supposed to be in the infamous march update, don't hold your breath.
  • iluvatar, on 10/11/2007, -12/+26I agree, truspector, I think Live is a fantastic service. I'm just saying a little competition doesn't hurt...
  • truspector, on 10/11/2007, -3/+17@ohfrak
    You should send your resume into fox news. You damn sure know how to stick to your "talking points".
  • wageslaven, on 10/11/2007, -12/+24We've known this for some time. The HOME system is going to be formulated to allow 3rd parties to charge fees for use of "private services".

    For instance, being that PSN (HOME) isnt going to host the gaming-servers for 3rd parties, you'll find that EA (for instance) may charge you via Home for Internet-online multiplayer.

    This has been known from the start, why people slam the $50 per year, it always seems to be forgotten that all the service on Home (PSN) are not intended to be "free" either.
  • bdorry, on 10/11/2007, -5/+15Just keep repeating yourself, maybe once someone will agree with you.

    Until then, keep up the praise, we could use the laughs
  • UberC, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13The submitter puts 'PSN May Not Always Be Free' in quotes but it is in no way a direct quote. Wow, what inaccurate *****.
  • twinmatrix, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13awwww, you guys made oh frak cry.
  • TangentThought, on 10/11/2007, -5/+14@zleilndka
    I was watching the video too and did not see/hear where Sony has quoted that at all.

    Come on guys, it's one thing to misquote someone; it's another thing if you start putting words into someone's mouth.
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11hey, I have a PS3, but this guy is making me wish I bought a 360, just because I don't want to be associated with him.

  • c0dy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Let's not feed the troll. This guy is just PaiZuri (or DanaLL, or the other nicknames he's used) in disguise.

    You can tell by the way he keeps on listing the same point over and over again.
  • jonesy827, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10""40 people too much? I'm sorry, you must want less action and less people to kill and less fun."

    So you are saying that this is Live's fault? The developers of the game have a choice of how many players to support.

    Also, The fun of a server that supports only 8 or 10 people is using teamwork and strategy to take out the other team. Not everyone is a mindless run-and-gun idiot...
  • UberC, on 10/11/2007, -4/+12You may actually want to watch the interview instead of making such a decision on inaccurate blogspam.
  • piper999, on 10/11/2007, -16/+24Microsoft got the pricing right and Sony didn't. I think everyone is in agreement about this.

    Personally I would rather buy a PS3 for $100 less than it is now and then after a free two month trial period start paying a few bucks a month for online service. It would make the console more affordable in the first place which it isn't at the moment.

    Note: I'm a 360 user who can't wait for the PS3 to be available in a price range I can afford.
  • NsertNameHere, on 10/11/2007, -3/+11The article is very misleading. On the topic all Eric Lempel said was “Right now that’s our model. In time anything can change but right now we’re happy with it.” Way to spin a generic statement.
  • schoate09, on 10/11/2007, -4/+10@ Everyone,
    It's obvious that OhFrak is Dave Karraker attempting to represent sony. Just like 7of7 is Steve Ballmer.
  • darkzealot89, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Fellas! Don't feed the troll, use the block button to never seem them again! I know I did and it works great! Don't have to put up with the random ***** from OhFrak anymore...
  • staticneuron, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Granted in associated costs it is known that the 360 is more expensive feature for feature (assuming you want all of them, thats how comparisons work after all) choice is choice. Those who claim choice is needed are still a POV. Some people , including me, would like to have all the features the PS3 ships with. One thing I have to point out after owning all three systems though is that anyone who claims live is not good is pretty much biased. The PSN doesn't offer the same exact experience, they may hope to but for now they don't. Pardon me for having this opinion because I did not get invited to home beta or warhawk beta, and I am not going to compare based off of another's opinion.

    I am not sure how happy I will be to pay for online play per company/title but to tell you the truth I cannot honestly say that I would not want to play that many online games because the landscape is changing fast. I may not like online deathmatches but I Love Co-op.
  • dpaul87, on 10/11/2007, -10/+14@OhFrak

    Arguing online is like the special olympics, even if you win you're still retarded. Go back to bed and cuddle your PS3.
  • impos, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7@ohfrak - any online service that you WON'T be on is now my service of choice. $50 a year sounds like a DEAL to avoid asshats like you, think I'll go buy a 360 today!
  • jonesy827, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5still the developer's fault, not the service's... It's not the server..it's the game
  • hark659, on 10/11/2007, -7/+11@OhFrak

    I'm glad I decide not to buy PS3 because of you.
  • Typhoon2009, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7At least 360 has games.
  • xerus, on 10/11/2007, -10/+14As a mostly PC gamer, paying for online service is ridiculous to me no matter what the features. Unless its for an MMO (and even those are ridiculous at 15 dollars a month.), it should be free.
  • PunkPortrais, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Chalk one up on the "Shocked" board.
  • ezweave, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5@ OhFrak:

    I did and got "no problems with hyped lag", "rolled out patch to fix lag", etc.

    Since you're here: do you still do that neat-o rap about how you want a PSP? Cause I know you have those "clowny rhymes"...

    Bottom line: who cares? They are both nice systems, I went with a 360 for content: GTA IV exclusives, BioShock, Mass Effect, and so on.
  • c0dy, on 10/11/2007, -4/+7Once again, buried as another inaccurate piece of crap. Digg is really pissing me off as of late.

    You can view the video in here: http://www.gametrailers.com/bonusround.php. The Sony guy never says "PSN may not always be free". All he said was that right now a free service is Sony's model, and obviously anything can change...
  • formulathree, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5
    Why don't you post links to the $250 360 premium, hoser? Ya, didn't think so.
  • mweflen, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Non Blogspam link to actual content...

    http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6030&Itemid=2
  • Jholder112233, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6I'm not a fanboy, I own a ps3 and a 360 but the one key difference is that I can't have a voice chat with someone while doing my on thing on a different game to them on the ps3. Thats what lets PSN down for me.
  • zelkuta, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Here's my two cents
    I have had Xbox live since 03 and I have had very little problems with it. People keep saying "Crappy P2P hosting" but I rarely have lag at all. And yes my 360 did explode (the disc drive to be exact) so I sent it in payed 140 for it to get fixed. But a month later Microsoft refunded my repair charge and gave me another free one year warranty. People seem to forgot that both Gears and Halo and built around 8 and 16 players and it works very well in my opinion. I have yet to play a PS3 other then at EB so I can't comment on that but I will say I do want to get a PS3 sometime when the price goes down. I can also say I have had bad luck with Sony, I got three PS2's and they all went on my the first ones disc drive went(what is it with disc drives?) I have no clue what happened to the second one I had, it just stopped one day and never turned back on. The Third one I got was most likely my fault. Dropped it but it still worked but a few weeks later it stopped working.

    I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes made.

    Well that was a rant : /
  • yellowb, on 10/11/2007, -6/+8which 40 people games are fun online?
    I've played Call of Duty 3 and it's just too chaotic with 24 people running around.

    when sony starts charging for their online service (and they will when they see the revenue that Microsoft generates after Halo 3 comes out), ps3-fanboys will be pwned! It's just common sense, which company doesn't want to make money?
  • Juntistik, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4quoted from the first video...

    "over 2 days on CbN ClouD's host (note: his host isn't what was horrendous it was my college connection)"
  • ironyinc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2"If its one thing Microsoft _doesnt_ do is stand still."

    And after they dominated the browser market with the release of IE6, it took them how long to release a new version to fix problems and bugs? 5 years. And that was only because of falling market share to Firefox. Don't get any ideas, Microsoft only "moves" when they are provoked.
  • apoc06, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4im surprised that you didnt watch the video and assume that they are going to charge anytime soon.
  • daridave, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4No, it's not really as good as Xbox Live.

    But I wouldn't mind paying "something" for it. It's a service, after all. Xbox live isn't free, the VC is overpriced and there's millions of people basically throwing their money away at Blizzard every month, so why can't SONY get its share? Be it 20$ per year, it would help them a lot financially...
  • UWTKO, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3 I know that I have had my 360 for a while now and it is by far my favorite system I've ever had. Listening to music while playing games along with no lag on Live really make it a fun console on and off line. There are pluses to the PS3 obviously as well I just don't have the kind of cash to afford one (also the games currently out for it don't draw me in).

    @shibainu if you really like the achievements you should get it for the 360 if not I would wait for reviews to come out for it first there might be a difference between the two consoles I am not sure either way
  • jonesy827, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5so they should just come up with the money to keep these games online out of nowhere? Advertising makes some money but not enough. If you like extremely ad-ridden games than stick with it...but dont complain to me when your games have ads all over the walls...
  • jostheller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have been following your posts... here is yet another one where you sound like a complete ass. Money isn't everything
  • evozero, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I don't understand why everyone is making such broad assumptions about the future of Sony's offerings for online service.

    Alright, lets assume for a second that they will eventually charge in some form for online. What is stopping them from offering free online play and some other basic chat/interaction features free of charge? From there they could offer a pay package for more dedicated gamers that allowed faster game/demo downloading from PSN, a rewards system that they could earn free ps1 games or download credit (or maybe some exclusive home items, if they choose) by purchasing X dollars worth of content from the PSN network, perhaps timed exclusivity for certain new demos, and some other goodies that are not available to free users. Another pay package could offer a PVR service.

    There are so many options available to Sony for online services, don't assume that they will provide a carbon copy of XBL.

  • apoc06, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1EA runs their own dedicated servers for ps3 games. 'EA Nation' or somesuch

    to my knowledge, all xbox live games that are run on dedicated servers are housed within the MS xbox live server farm. EA had a problem with that early on with the original xbox, and thats why EA didnt support the xbox in the early days. they finally reached compromise after a year or so.
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