For Xbox 360 fans who scoffed at Sony's free Playstation Network with its promise of delivering an equitable experience to Xbox Live (minus the subscription), here's a little nugget from PS3Fanboy.

Eric Lempel, Sony's Director of Network Operations, recently indicated in an interview that "things change" and that it's not unlikely for users to be asked to cough up a premium to access the core features of Playstation Network.

Hey guys. Sales 101. The worst thing you can do to a client is tell them something is going to be free, and then charge them for it. Not wise. But then again this is Sony we're talking about.

Under-promise. Over-deliver. Do I have to explain EVERYTHING??!?

Proportion <------ ... now here's you --------> ;)

Talk about blown out of proportion. In the hypothetical, Microsoft may someday ship a gold bar in each 360 box at no additional charge! Make a headline from THAT! :D

BTW, does the "Totally biased" tagline mean "Totally biased toward the 360" or "Totally biased toward whatever will get people riled up?" ::)

It means I make no promises to weigh all the evidence before jumping to a conclusion.

:)

It's pretty obvious squirming. If I am wrong, six months from today I'll eat a worm. If I am right and 6 months from today PSN is still free, you have to sing a song of my choosing about the xbox and how great it is, that I then get to put on you tube with your face on it. Deal?

If I am right and 6 months from today PSN is still free

You sir, are confusing! *I think I'm being talked into eating a worm AND singing! *:-[

But if I'm to be singing, I'll stop by the liquor store first!

Did I mention the worm would come from the bottom of a tequila bottle?

If they go to a payment standard (I said if Roth, not when), they had better tighten up the system to something worth paying for...

If they go to a payment standard (I said if Roth, not when), they had better tighten up the system to something worth paying for...

I think there's a lot to that statement. They know they couldn't ask money for their current offering.

Honestly, rather than hoping they improve it to the point that they can charge, I'm more hoping they improve and legitimize the free service to the point that Microsoft caves and Gold goes free.

It's quite clear they're approaching and implementing different models for income when it comes to their offerings. They get lumped into the "watch and copy" monicker more often than is neccesarily warranted. We'll see how a few of their upcoming offerings do. I'm specifically interested to see how Singstar's Singstore handles DLC (since we've yet to have a poster-child for doing that right -- Guitar Hero II failed miserably IMO), how PSN games like Warhawk and SOCOM: Confrontation (or whatever it's called) do, and how offerings like Home implement ads and premium content and how it affects the overal dynamic. In my opinion these are all areas neglected by the folks from Redmond (folks being plural).

I agree with your previous statement Roth, the best thing that they could do is to throw the pressure over onto Microsoft's shoulder(s)...

I'm more hoping they improve and legitimize the free service to the point that Microsoft caves and Gold goes free.

I just don't see that happening. They'd need like 3 years to undo the damage that they've done enough for that to happen, and by then I'll bet we'll be able to see the Xbox720 on the horizon.

If they both go free, I think that we are going to see more in game and in-system ads then we ever thought possible...

I'm more hoping they improve and legitimize the free service to the point that Microsoft caves and Gold goes free.

I just don't see that happening. *They'd need like 3 years to undo the damage that they've done enough for that to happen, and by then I'll bet we'll be able to see the Xbox720 on the horizon.

My money says you'll change your tune way before 3 years... There are definitely many areas where the 360 is far ahead of them, but there are many areas the PS3 is going that the 360 isn't even (or is refusing to even) address. We're not looking at Sony coming out trying to out-360 the 360. We're looking at Sony putting out the PS3 to be what the PS3 was meant to be... and while some areas may not be as deeply fleshed out as the 360 is, I bet a serious chunk of the gaming population will have to rethink their stance within the next 12-18 months... the early adopters sooner of course. We'll see... I'm comfortably riding both trains... I'll see which station looks the best firsthand...

i hope so, you know why? because it makes MS try harder and they'll make my 360 cooler. Not to mention I'll finally be able to drool over the PS3 intead of being such a jerk to them.

i hope so, you know why? *because it makes MS try harder and they'll make my 360 cooler.

Judging by the failure rate, they need to try to make the 360's cooler... *literally! *rimshot*

I simply don't like Sony's model. It's really that simple.

They're still operating under the model of "leave it up to the publishers". If a game publisher wants online, the game publisher is responsible for it. In theory, if a third party game publisher wanted to provide online gaming through the PS3 and not use Home or PSN, they're free to do so. And this solves the desire for quality online gaming how?

Microsoft, on the other hand, gave publishers a unified online programming interface through Live. Sure, it's still up to the publishers whether they want online or not, but if they want online portions, they have an established programming API which makes programming online functions easier and to all Xbox owners.

But I guess that's neither here nor there regarding pay.

Unlike the idea that MS might start handing out gold bars, Sony's PSN going pay isn't far fetched.

Personally, I'd rather see Sony go with a subscription model and make PSN as robust as Live than see them try to make it free and generate revenue elsewhere. The groundwork for a possible subscription service is being laid by Sony's hopping on the microtransaction bandwagon. They're going to be (or maybe are) using rechargeable spending cards in Japan for PSN and are going to charge people for items for their virtual homes.

Sony "potentially" some day charging is about as much news as Microsoft one day "potentially" going free for XBL Gold. There you have it. In a nutshell, that's the entire scope of this "story". Wow the media runs with anything (except scissors)...

maybe they should have done something like this sooner.

Maybe if the PS Network won't be free anyomore they will invest the money they'll earn on it to make the Network better? They'd have to do a huge software update, but everything's possible - even Xbox Live going free (mmm, I'd love to play for free!).

Maybe if the PS Network won't be free anyomore they will invest the money they'll earn on it to make the Network better? They'd have to do a huge software update, but everything's possible - even Xbox Live going free (mmm, I'd love to play for free!).

Why does everybody just autimatically ignore the facts of this kind of statement/story? I suggest you ALL go watch the Bonus Round episode where this news came from... then look up the phrase "blown out of proportion". Lastly, see if you can connect the dots between the two... :-?