not again but..... PSN PLUS vs. XBOX LIVE

Robert1986

Robert1986

Robert1986

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There isn't just one paid online console gaming service, anymore. There are two. Xbox Live and the newly revealed PlayStation Plus are going head-to-head. But, how are the two services different?

This is what we know so far:

Price

An annual "Gold" membership for Xbox Live is $49.99. The "Silver" membership is totally free, however. The upcoming PSN Plus is also priced at $49.99 for a year and $17.99 for three months. The regular PSN service is free of charge. Sony is planning on offering an initial three month trial membership for PlayStation Plus for those who sign up for a year's worth of service for a total of 15 months, priced at $49.99.

Downloadable Content

Both Xbox Live Gold and Silver members have access to downloadable content like demos and game trailers; however, some Xbox Live Gold content becomes available to Silver members a week later. According to Sony, the PlayStation Plus "Exclusives" include "full game trial" as well as "select early demos". PlayStation Plus offers a "Full Game Trial". According to Sony, that means players can play a game for up to one hour and purchase the title to unlock trophies and continue said title.

For current PSN users, demos and game trailers, and we do not see this changing, because it is such a powerful marketing tool for games. The "select early demos" bit sounds similar to how Microsoft rolls out content early on Xbox Live for Gold members.

Discounts

Microsoft has had "weekly deals" on Xbox Live to Gold members with 50 percent on select Xbox Live Arcade games, Xbox originals and downloadable content. Sony's Playstation Plus is planning to offer its paid users PSN Store discounts, free games and downloadable content. You would also get access to one new PSN game per month (possibly only for as long as you're a paying subscriber, though we're not sure of that).

Chat

Both Xbox Live Gold and Silver members have voice chat capabilities, but video chat and party chat are reserved for the fee-based Gold members. Sony currently offers free voice chat and voice free of charge to its PSN users. No word yet on what new robust chat services will be offered via the PlayStation Plus.

Social Networking Sites

Paid Xbox Live Gold users get Twitter and Facebook integration, while Xbox Live Silver members do not. Sony's free PSN service already offers Facebook integration.

Netflix

Netflix subscribers can take advantage of both the PSN and Xbox Live. The difference is that PS3 users can stream Netflix on the console for no additional charge, and for the Xbox 360, only Xbox Live Gold membership members may access their paid Netflix account.
Multiplayer

The traditional divide between Microsoft's paid Gold service and its free Silver service is multiplayer. On the Xbox 360, players that want to experience multiplayer online gaming must play the Gold membership fees. Conversely, since the PS3 launched, it has offered free multiplayer gaming. PlayStation Plus does not currently appear as though it will change this.

Firmware...Wait, Firmware?

According to Sony, the company has made it easier for PlayStation Plus users to get their firmware updates. This PlayStation Plus updating service covers patches and updates. More details on this as they become available. Microsoft does not offer such a service to Xbox Live members.

This is, as previously mentioned, what we currently know and obviously subject to change once Sony launches PlayStation Plus later this summer. There will be kinks for the company to iron out, so stay tuned to see how Sony continues to differentiate its paid online service from Microsoft's. So far, Sony is positioning PlayStation Plus to be entirely optional, but the battle of the paid subscriptions is just getting started.
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http://kotaku.com/5565042/xbox-live-vs-playstation-plus

oh and...

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:D
 
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Oh lord.. just why..

:D



the Netz is alive with comparison articles at the mo.. seems sites need to do a new one on the hour.. One site actually had an E3 Best Conference article where MS where leading the poll.. talk about trying anything to get more site traffic..


But some are pretty funny... :)
 
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Losing your games when your subscription ends equals massive fail. I'm not being a fanboy as I prefer PSN since I only care about online gaming and you get that free on PSN but the PSN plus service is absolutely awful.
 
£200 worth of games a year for £30-40. What did you think it would be other than rental? :confused:

Enless PSN+ has cross-game chat probably Live.
 
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Not sure exactly how can you can compare at the moment, we dont know exactly what games you will get, how much of a discount on PSN stuff or anything TBH. I reckon i might try it for a year just to see what its like, and if i want to renew at a later date anything I got previously will be available again. The "free" LBP and any price reductions from store purchases will always be there even if you cancel and dont renew.
The one thing im interestead in how they do it is the 1 hour trial of full games, not sure how this will work TBH, its not like most demos as its the full experience but you can only try it for an hour, so will this mean you may have the option to buy the full game as a download?
 
If everyone else on my friends list gets Plus then I'll probably go for it as well, purely for the cross game chat which I've read in numerous places will be coming, but only for Plus subscribers. It'll be much easier to stay in touch with people while not necessarily playing the same game as them. That's the thing I liked about my Xbox before I sold it, you could just chill with your friends, but do your own thing at the same time.

I don't see myself subscribing for any other reason really, I'm not interested in the free games which are essentially rentals, I'm not interested in the one free PSone game per month because it will no doubt be a crappy Disney game and I don't really care about the updates, everyone gets them fine at the moment so some kind of priority service doesn't really bother me in the slightest, I'm happy with it how it is at the moment.
 
I have to ask (as someone might be able to clear this up for me)

When i watched the Xbox conference the thing i got most excited about was the ESPN integration with xbox live gold subscribers. Now i didnt want to make my own thread but will this be available for gold users in the UK? ( I REALLY hope so)

Also back on topic i don't think the two services are really comparable? I just see Sony trying to make more money by jumping onto the money grabbing bandwagon. Which, if they thought things through properly they should have been on in the first place.

Sony couldn't have failed more in this years E3 they just seem to have totally lost the plot.
 
Musty Pie said:
I have to ask (as someone might be able to clear this up for me)

When i watched the Xbox conference the thing i got most excited about was the ESPN integration with xbox live gold subscribers. Now i didnt want to make my own thread but will this be available for gold users in the UK? ( I REALLY hope so)

Also back on topic i don't think the two services are really comparable? I just see Sony trying to make more money by jumping onto the money grabbing bandwagon. Which, if they thought things through properly they should have been on in the first place.

Sony couldn't have failed more in this years E3 they just seem to have totally lost the plot.
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ESPN will not be available in the uk , it requires for isp to have espn live 3.0 services of which no-one in the uk has.(obviously)
think of it like how sky works at the moment, esentially you already need to have the service on your tv to get it to work through 360 - they dont want people dropping their subs afterall!

and on this debate which is all kinda pointless, i love how when it was announced everyone was 'free game free games' but now that we no that said free game is basically an hour long this is really no different to xbox trails.

anyhow the 360 has the cleaner interface, more interactivity and community additions - sony has always been playing catchup with this from day one.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
ESPN will not be available in the uk , it requires for isp to have espn live 3.0 services of which no-one in the uk has.(obviously)
think of it like how sky works at the moment, esentially you already need to have the service on your tv to get it to work through 360 - they dont want people dropping their subs afterall!

and on this debate which is all kinda pointless, i love how when it was announced everyone was 'free game free games' but now that we no that said free game is basically an hour long this is really no different to xbox trails.

anyhow the 360 has the cleaner interface, more interactivity and community additions - sony has always been playing catchup with this from day one.
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I am actually going to self harm now :(

Ah well I thought it was too good to be true. Again the UK market gets totally ripped off.
 
Musty Pie said:
Also back on topic i don't think the two services are really comparable? I just see Sony trying to make more money by jumping onto the money grabbing bandwagon. Which, if they thought things through properly they should have been on in the first place.

Sony couldn't have failed more in this years E3 they just seem to have totally lost the plot.
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Sony doesn't need gimmicky apps like the Last.fm and Facebook features of the 360 because we've already got a full browser which supports Flash. With the addition of cross game chat the gap has closed between Xbox Live and the PSN in regard of features.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
and on this debate which is all kinda pointless, i love how when it was announced everyone was 'free game free games' but now that we no that said free game is basically an hour long this is really no different to xbox trails.
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Where does it say the free games are now the hour long trials? Misunderstood again or still got those specs on?

"Sony's Playstation Plus is planning to offer its paid users PSN Store discounts, free games and downloadable content."
 
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Nanoman said:
Where does it say the free games are now the hour long trials? Misunderstood again or still got those specs on?

"Sony's Playstation Plus is planning to offer its paid users PSN Store discounts, free games and downloadable content."
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It doesnt lol, the free games are full games, the 1 hour thing is for BD games you can download and try.
 
Frapple said:
Will you be able to buy cheap subscription cards ala XBL? Don't know anyone who paid £39.99!
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You buy the PS+ service with your wallet. You can buy those discount PSN cards (something like you buy the £20 card for £15 online or something?). So I guess if you bought 2 of those you get £40 credit but only paid £30?

Never bought any of these discount PSN cards but I do see it mentioned on deal sites every now and then.


rp2000
 
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