PS2 Live

[Johnny Nighttrain]

May 08, 2003 - Online console gaming is steadily carving away a place in gamers' homes, and Sony and Microsoft are at the front of the line. But where Microsoft has a unified online structure and built-in hardware, Sony offers an unintuitive online system, and forces gamers to buy additional hardware. Voice chat, downloadable content, a hard drive, and friend's lists are all things Xbox Live gamers are currently enjoying, while many PS2 gamers are left out in the cold and/or jumping ship to Microsoft's own.
But as E3 nears, information is slowly leaking out, and predictions are being made. The excerpt below is taken directly from our exclusive interview with Andre Vrignaud, Director of Technical Strategy for Xbox Live. While the following information is purely speculation, it is an interesting read. And who knows, maybe 'ol Andre is really a psychic…

Want some E3 predictions? Time to go to town...

1. Sony will announce a hard drive for the US.
Continuing their new 32X strategy, Sony will make content download a reality by finally delivering an add-on hard drive. However, it will be interesting to see just how many game developers take advantage of this aftermarket afterthought since the attach rate will *always* be far less than Xbox's 100% attach.

2. Sony will take credit for "adapting".
While Xbox Live has been innovating the online console gaming market by including that hard drive and Ethernet port in every box ever made, Sony's response has been to adapt, by shipping... well, an adapter. No one should get credit for selling an adapter - what matters is community. We've built a community of over 400,000 avid gamers, and each and every one of them is connected by broadband, a Friends list, and voice. The power of community is unstoppable - we know what the Live community wants next while the PS2 online crowd is too scattered for Sony to glean any insight. (Notice all the recent PS2 online surveys that have been coming out lately? Hmm....)

3. Sony will hint at their own Live.
Watch for announcements of a Live clone. In order to compete in the future, Sony needs to step up with a Live-like strategy. Friends, voice, presence, content download, invites across games, a hard drive, community - these are all *required* to have a viable online gaming story. What about new features like Teams, Tournaments, web presence, and Alerts in IM? Done. Look no further than the new sports games coming from Microsoft Game Studios this fall. Check out the relaunch of Xbox.com this fall. Check out publishers who are already building community sites around Xbox Live data. Heck, check out the IM Alerts we'll be releasing over the coming year, and their integration into IM!

Again, the above information is not confirmed by Sony in any way. But as the online competition heats up, expect at least a couple of the concepts mentioned to become a reality.

We'll have more news on Sony's online plans as E3 heads underway/

im not sure what to make of all their "predictions". i know all of them won't be true. and even if Sony hasn't confirmed any of this, im pretty sure that IGN knows somnething we don't.

im expecting some solid online announcements from Sony at this years show.

[youandwhosearmy]

Strange.

Taking all of my anyone but sony bias away from this topic, I can honestly say they shouldn't even bother with any mainstream online attempt with this console and just wait for the PS3, because that 32X bash, while unnecessarily cruel, is right on the money.

[Sl1p]

If the PS3 launched with a live clone, and was backwards compatable...watch out competition.

Im actually quite content with online gaming with my PS2, but thats because I don't depend on it as much as MS wants xbox fans to. When Im in the mood, I hop online for some SOCOM or Amplitude, have my kicks and hop off. I was raised on online PC gaming. I don't need to know when all my stupid internet friends are online for me to enjoy myself and I really don't need to hear what Joe Gamer in Mississippi has to say about my sexuality in connection to my abilities at a video game. If that option is there? Cool. If not? Whatever. Not too big of a concern.

[Mfkzt]

So Sony is going to copy Microsoft's shitty online model? That's pathetic on so many levels.

[Dyne]

its too late. this generation is a testing bed more than anything and neither company (as good as live is) seems to even get THAT right. somebody wake me up in 10 years when somebody does this thing right. oh wait...it'll probably be Nintendo!?

[Despair]

All I want is to play RE Online

[Drewbacca]

Who cares. Online gaming is solid on PC, I'll take my business there.

[Yoshi]

To an extent this makes sense. Why would Sony want to wait and release their online entity with the PS3 when they can use some percentage of PS2 owners as beta testers? That way the kinks will be worked out when the PS3 launches.

They are simply taking a page out of Microsoft's book. Afterall, how many people bought Windows 98b... I mean Windows 95?