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PS Biz Brief 06: PS3 Online Service Update** Consumer Alerts Recent Updates Trailers Heroes of the Pacific Release Trailer Cool Moves S.C.A.R.S. Part 1 News Stories SCEA Confirms Worldwide Simul-Launch Trailers MTX Mototrax Trailer 3 View all recent updates ? News Stories PS Biz Brief 06: PS3 Online Service Update Sony plans a fully featured Online service for PS3. By Anoop Gantayat, Mar 15, 2006 Sony Computer Entertainment's answer to Xbox Live is at last coming into light. While previous comments from company executives were unclear on the matter, company president Ken Kutaragi today assured members of the press, 3rd party companies and investors that the PS3 would be seeing a service similar to Microsoft's. The service, which is currently going under the working name of "PlayStation Network Platform," will see its service kick off at the PS3 launch in November. Basic service will be free of charge initially, although it should be noted that Kutaragi did not comment on what exactly constitutes "basic service." Business will take place on the open internet, suggesting that the service will be more open than Xbox Live. The service will offer full support for Online title development, providing necessary functions and services for commerce and community. Sony made note of some of the major features that all Online titles will be able to access: Communication/Community: Voice/Video chat Messaging Lobby/Matchmaking Score/Ranking Friend list/Avatar Game data upload/download Commerce: Shop (accessible from inside games) Content Download Micro Payment Subscription Entitlement (user access rights) management Account: User Registration Login ID/Handling of name issues Sony didn't announce an Xbox Arcade style game download system, but it did state that games will be bootable from the hard disk, noting this as part of the commerce opportunities for the system. Sony Computer Entertainment will take care of investment and operation of a commonly used infrastructure. However, SCE will be allowing licensees to connect their own game servers to the network. SCE's network, with data centers throughout the world, is being developed in conjunction with Sony Online Entertainment. Kutaragi's comments from today's PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo set the framework for a hefty Online system on Sony's next generation beast. There's still room for speculation, though, so we encourage you to take to the message boards and speculate away. ?2006, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved More in Playstation News Browse all News Related |
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