What the PSN needs to Compete with Xbox Live

I already posted this on the Official Playstation website and let some ppl give their opinions on this and now giving Gamespot users to give their opinions on this topic as well.

First, let me say the the PSN is an outstanding network and Sony cleary knows how to give good quality towards their consumers. Now on to business. The PSN is great, but it needs more of that appeal in order to compete with Xbox Live. Here are my ideas and I hope Sony reads this thread and acknowledges it for future firmware updates:

1. Message Inbox Checklist.

- Instead of deleting messages one by one, Sony should require a checklist of all the messages that the PS3 owner wants to be deleted.

2. Voice Chat Area.

- This one isn't all important, but when talking to someone in a private voice session with friends, there should be some text on the bottom of the PSN-ID telling where they're talking from what city or country.

3. Include Music Store.

- Since the PS Store finally has a video demand, Sony should also include a music store for users who want to browse on their PS3 instead of uploading music from their computer. Require a bunch of music industries to allow their content on PSN.

4. In-Game Voice Communication.

- This should be included in the PS3. Just like Xbox Live, Sony should include a voice chat feature like message and instead of typing a message towards a friend online, it should require a voice chat message if the user has a microphone or headset.

5. Playstation Eye in-game photo

- This feature that I came with sounds pretty cool. If a PS3 user has a Playstation Eye peripheral, they can take pictures of themselves in-game and upload their expressions just like Burnout Paradise for example. When playing online with the match ending showing the player rankings, it should upload their expressions or a video showing them if they won or lost.

I hope Sony can pull off some of these ideas into future updates which will really be coming up to par with Xbox Live.

Accepting all friend requests!!!:)

Meh. Tbh, all of these things seem a little pointless to me. Everyone was pissing and moaning about in game xmb, but all I use it for is playing music in Warhawk. Sorry dude, but I just don't care that much for your suggestions, but don't lose faith as plenty of others will.RandomBeast

It's ok. I know some ppl were complaining about in-game XMB and don't care or use it much just only for in-game music.

Meh. Tbh, all of these things seem a little pointless to me. Everyone was pissing and moaning about in game xmb, but all I use it for is playing music in Warhawk. Sorry dude, but I just don't care that much for your suggestions, but don't lose faith as plenty of others will.RandomBeast

I think what you're doing is exactly what Sony is doing wrong. They're trying to do WAY too many things at once that they will probably fail in almost everything they do. And it's sad becaue I wish Sony could be a little more simplistic and focus one thing at a time and make it good. Microsoft is keeping it simple and it is certainly paying off.

For instance, Sony should have focused on Home, and FF13 and ditch everything else and a lot of people would be happy right now. They're trying to make the PS3 a media center for everything from bluray, to downloading movies and games, video games, internet browser, etc. They're trying to do way too much, and the result is a bunch of delays, and Microsoft knows that. They're not dumb. I wish Sony would get it together and be more like the PS2. PS3 lost more money than what the PS2 made in it's generation.

[QUOTE="RandomBeast"]Meh. Tbh, all of these things seem a little pointless to me. Everyone was pissing and moaning about in game xmb, but all I use it for is playing music in Warhawk. Sorry dude, but I just don't care that much for your suggestions, but don't lose faith as plenty of others will.hilltops

Well all the stuff that I put down was mostly for communication and that's what the PSN is lacking right now. Not many gamers who own a PS3 have a headset or anything and this helps out with the PSN to give a lot of verbal feedback for the community.

I think what you're doing is exactly what Sony is doing wrong. They're trying to do WAY too many things at once that they will probably fail in almost everything they do. And it's sad becaue I wish Sony could be a little more simplistic and focus one thing at a time and make it good. Microsoft is keeping it simple and it is certainly paying off.

For instance, Sony should have focused on Home, and FF13 and ditch everything else and a lot of people would be happy right now. They're trying to make the PS3 a media center for everything from bluray, to downloading movies and games, video games, internet browser, etc. They're trying to do way too much, and the result is a bunch of delays, and Microsoft knows that. They're not dumb. I wish Sony would get it together and be more like the PS2. PS3 lost more money than what the PS2 made in it's generation.

Elann2008

True, Sony should have focused on Home a little bit more, but some PS3 users don't want to walk around a virtual 3D space with their avatars. That's why some of those features I put up on my list should be acquired into the PSN for the average or simplistic gamer.

XBOX lie isn't so great, only "they" say it is : first the "achievements" systems is very restrictive and has players play in a rigid way, I like to play games the way I want, be free with the rythm I play them do free roaming even if the game doesn't allow it or go straight if I want to, so "trophies" isn't fun for me. To add XBOXlive "gives" HD movies that are far from being HD : 720p with bitrates lower than a DVD, that's false advertising.

The "in game messenging" or "live chat" can be useful but mainly for FPS or battle games where strategy is important so it's up to the developers only to implement it. Maybe it copuld be interesting to be able to receive a message (not intrusive graphically) where a pal says "hey want to do a FIFA game" when you'r eplaying something else.

There's a competition spirit I hate on XBOXlive, it's "hey I did 10 headshots on COD4" or "I finished this race in 1'22"00 so I'm better tahn you. I play for fun, not to beat records or humiliate others, that's the Playstation spirit.

XBOX lie isn't so great, only "they" say it is : first the "achievements" systems is very restrictive and has players play in a rigid way, I like to play games the way I want, be free with the rythm I play them do free roaming even if the game doesn't allow it or go straight if I want to, so "trophies" isn't fun for me. To add XBOXlive "gives" HD movies that are far from being HD : 720p with bitrates lower than a DVD, that's false advertising.

The "in game messenging" or "live chat" can be useful but mainly for FPS or battle games where strategy is important so it's up to the developers only to implement it. Maybe it copuld be interesting to be able to receive a message (not intrusive graphically) where a pal says "hey want to do a FIFA game" when you'r eplaying something else.

There's a competition spirit I hate on XBOXlive, it's "hey I did 10 headshots on COD4" or "I finished this race in 1'22"00 so I'm better tahn you. I play for fun, not to beat records or humiliate others, that's the Playstation spirit.

TheTenth10

Yeah, I know what you mean. I play games for what they are. To tell you the truth, sometimes I play for trophies just to get the replay value in certain games and it can be addicting, but mostly just for fun. All of these features were just speculations of what the PSN needs to compete with Xbox's communication functionalities.

I think what you're doing is exactly what Sony is doing wrong. They're trying to do WAY too many things at once that they will probably fail in almost everything they do. And it's sad becaue I wish Sony could be a little more simplistic and focus one thing at a time and make it good. Microsoft is keeping it simple and it is certainly paying off.

For instance, Sony should have focused on Home, and FF13 and ditch everything else and a lot of people would be happy right now. They're trying to make the PS3 a media center for everything from bluray, to downloading movies and games, video games, internet browser, etc. They're trying to do way too much, and the result is a bunch of delays, and Microsoft knows that. They're not dumb. I wish Sony would get it together and be more like the PS2. PS3 lost more money than what the PS2 made in it's generation.

Elann2008

As of now your statement is valid but I just can't agree on it 100%. Sony has made some mistakes this Gen. Their biggest mistake was trying to give their users a new experience, which I am somewhat grateful for. Sometimes I need more than just that gaming experience. I love that the PS3 is complex and is centered around being a media center. The fact that I can add my own 2.5 HDD, install an OS, browse the web, can download and watch movies etc is a big plus to me. I am not making an excuse for some of the unacceptable mistakes that Sony has made but these are some of the reasons that I enjoy my PS3. I could get into it with Home but that is a whole new discussion that should be saved for another day. As for your FF XIII statement goes, FF XIII is created by Square Enix. What ever is decided for the future of this game is up to them and not Sony. Why should Sony get into a bidding match to keep a game that is still being released on their console? It doesn't hurt the gamer that this game is multi-plat. If a game sucks because it was multi-plat, don't blame the console, blame the Dev. I will agree that simple is better but maybe Sony wanted to market to a certain audience.

Back to the original topic, TC I really like the the ideas for 4 and 5. Since I have a lot of active friends online the voice chat could come in handy since it can be annoying typing messages to friends in the middle of a game. I would tweak the PS3 eye toy idea a little bit though. I always thought that Sony could use the Eye toy to revolutionize the system in some way. Maybe the will down the road.

i dont think psn is bad to be out of competition...i only thought achievements was great idea on 360 because people like to beat goals... it will help many people to play their games more to get those achievements, so trophies are great addition for PS3 and i think now its done. i played uncharted and when i got my first trophy, i checked what is that about and found that its just set of goals and i want to achieve them now... if they wouldnt be there, i would still probably enjoy the game fullest but would play and beat it once. now i have a reason to come back...

my wishlist is just basically universal custom soundtracks.americahellyeah

yea, that would be great actually

I want playstation HOME!redskins2156

Me too, but it will come out eventually sometime this year to the public.

I honestly don't need those features, sure it would be okay to have them I guess, but I don't have to have them to entertain myself.

I play games for fun. I love the idea of trophies because it's a fun and interesting challenge for me; it's like achievements but in a "fresher" way (IMO).

What I really want is proper web application and a centralized website to log into your PSN account, check and write messages and create fleshed out gamercards with more than just your name (updated in real-time).BenderUnit22

That's sounds like a great idea.

shouldn't the question be what xbox Live needs to compete with Psn. I'd rather play games without having little 11- 14 yr olds screaming in my ear or babbling nonsensically, at least in psn, theres not many kids like that.silentkill62696

That's not the services fault, it just means that there are more idiot kids on Xbox Live that have headsets and since most 360 packs come with a headset and every game supports voice chat you are going to have that issue. The solution? You can mute any player that you like and never have to worry about them screaming in your ear.

Any other terrible suggestions?

What XBOX Live needs to compete with the PSN:

- free subscription

/post

TC-I agree with most what you wrote, and I would add this:

Sony needs to really tap into its library of movies. I know it is adding movies everday, but I was surprised the first time I checked out the PSS and found that it had roughly the same amount of movies as XBL, and had fewer HD movies available for rent. Further, it should consider, given the release of the 160 GB version, having HD movies for purchase.

[QUOTE="silentkill62696"]shouldn't the question be what xbox Live needs to compete with Psn. I'd rather play games without having little 11- 14 yr olds screaming in my ear or babbling nonsensically, at least in psn, theres not many kids like that.Large_Soda

That's not the services fault, it just means that there are more idiot kids on Xbox Live that have headsets and since most 360 packs come with a headset and every game supports voice chat you are going to have that issue. The solution? You can mute any player that you like and never have to worry about them screaming in your ear.

Any other terrible suggestions?

Well put. Because of the large numbers of people utilizing XBL, statistically speaking, you are bound to run into a few idiots. I would rather take that chance than not being able to communicate with people to coordinate strategies in games.

I really hope people who play the upcoming Socom: Confrontation use voice communication.

TC-I agree with most what you wrote, and I would add this:

Sony needs to really tap into its library of movies. I know it is adding movies everday, but I was surprised the first time I checked out the PSS and found that it had roughly the same amount of movies as XBL, and had fewer HD movies available for rent. Further, it should consider, given the release of the 160 GB version, having HD movies for purchase.

WardCleaver02

Yeah, the movie demand is awesome, but I wish Sony would just add more rental decisions and have each resolution instead of just SD for some movies/television shows. We'll see what happens in the future though.

How about a clue?

How I look at it is.......XBOX360 is Microsoft, Microsoft is PC.....They have a head start on online/internet/user friendly software/hardware. Thats the only way I look at it. The difference is far and wide. PSN is horrible when compaired to XBL. XBL...and Accessiories are where XBL shines over the PS3. I like that all the themes etc are free, I cant stand stuff like downloading ALL vids.

i think they should have a more indepth description of what a player is doing like xbox does

and trophies are a good thing, if you dont care for them just dont play for them, but what they do for replay value is unreal.