Although PlayStation 3 is still third in worldwide sales, behind the Xbox 360 by about 5-million units, the PS3 community services now have as many online gamers as Xbox 360 says Sony. Sony posted on their blog saying, “with 14 million active accounts and 273 million pieces of content downloaded, we know that you’re thirsting for this digital entertainment.”
Although US sales of the 360 are killing the PS3, the community membership does give gamers a reason to get online with the PS3. Nobody wants to buy into a console that has very few active online games or an easy way to find friends (*cough* Wii). Having 14-million users helps them bridge the sales gap by building gamer confidence. Social networking is the new term; gamers want to socialize with each other online and with their consoles.
Microsoft recently announced their 14-million subscriber base and continue to update folks when they hit big milestones. The main difference, LIVE is a subscription system — those 14-million gamers are also paying for the service (we’re not sure if silver memberships count in that figure) and this means income for Microsoft while Sony does their service for free.
Although Microsoft is making money on their service, no doubt Sony will bypass their total membership because it has no cost barriers to play. The biggest cost barrier to get on Sony’s network is the PS3 itself and many gamers hold out for price drops which aren’t coming anytime soon (so says Sony). However, building a larger community on a free network allows Sony to siphon gamers to buy downloadable content, games, music, movies and all the goodies that go with these services.
It seems a better idea to triple your audience with a free service knowing a large amount of “hardcore gamers” attach themselves to the easy to buy content on said service. So, is it better to make US $50.00 a year on half the population or give triple that population an opportunity to spend more money on content?
“Thanks to all of you, PS3’s momentum is stronger than ever. There are nearly 17 million PS3 systems around the world, and in the United States, PS3 hardware sales are up nearly 100 percent from where we were at this time last year. Software sales have tripled from a year ago. Yes, we’re proud about everything we’ve accomplished, and we’re even more psyched about where we’re going with our holiday software lineup” (playstation.com)
Eventually gamers may have access to Sony’s Home project, which could raise the community figures and give Xbox 360 something less to brag about. Although, we’re sure Sony would rather be boasting “number one” console again, at least they’ve finally got a win on their side because 14-million users is only the beginning for them.
Plus, it’s hard to argue free.
Nintendo Wii Rumor: Price Rollback
After having to listen to all the podcasts from episode 136 onwards to catch up due to being busy preparing for university and putting together my new gaming rig (Core i7 baby!), I can finally write an answer to a Question of the Week!
And so, without further ado, the first game that truly terrified me (and in many ways the last) was ‘Alien Trilogy’ for the PSX. Not in retrospect a very scary game, but I was only about 7 or 8 at the time and the game was rated as an 18… Not sure why I was allowed to play it. But after then, I never really got scared from games. Some games (like Systemshock and the Half Life games) managed to create a dull feeling of dread and foreboding, which in many ways is more ‘entertaining’ than straight shocking fear. In recent years the only game that managed to make me properly jumpy was when I was playing the Fear 2 demo, but the shock-factor soon wore off. None of the classically ‘scary’ games such as Resident Evil or the Silent Hill series ever scared me in the remotest, more often than not they merely bored me and so I got into the habit of simply ignoring games whose primary selling point is to create brown-trousered audiences…
As always, thanks for a brilliantly entertaining podcast, cheers and peace!
P.S: Monty Python quotes are always welcome… He’s not the Messiah!
After having to listen to all the podcasts from episode 136 onwards to catch up due to being busy preparing for university and putting together my new gaming rig (Core i7 baby!), I can finally write an answer to a Question of the Week!
And so, without further ado, the first game that truly terrified me (and in many ways the last) was ‘Alien Trilogy’ for the PSX. Not in retrospect a very scary game, but I was only about 7 or 8 at the time and the game was rated as an 18… Not sure why I was allowed to play it. But after then, I never really got scared from games. Some games (like Systemshock and the Half Life games) managed to create a dull feeling of dread and foreboding, which in many ways is more ‘entertaining’ than straight shocking fear. In recent years the only game that managed to make me properly jumpy was when I was playing the Fear 2 demo, but the shock-factor soon wore off. None of the classically ‘scary’ games such as Resident Evil or the Silent Hill series ever scared me in the remotest, more often than not they merely bored me and so I got into the habit of simply ignoring games whose primary selling point is to create brown-trousered audiences…
As always, thanks for a brilliantly entertaining podcast, cheers and peace!
P.S: Monty Python quotes are always welcome… He’s not the Messiah!
*clears throat* Okay, I was going to ask Jonah to back me up on this, but why drag him into my nitpicking, right? ‘;D
The resolution issue? Is not an issue. If you have a 1080p HD screen, it doesn’t matter whether your viewing area is 24 inches or 60 inches, you’ll get the same number of pixels. So the bigger the screen, the less tight those pixels (if they even call them that on TV screens) will be. The spoilage I alluded to is not so much console-related (considering the only console I have is a Wii), but rather the PC*, which has been “Hi- Def” resolution for about a decade now. ‘;D [* – Or the Mac, if you like.]
Maybe PS3 games scale up well on 50 inches, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t really know firsthand. ‘:( *sniff*
Of course, if your basement (er, gaming cave) is HUGE, then you can sit far enough away for it to still be enjoyable.
BTW, by “whatever’s ideal for Natal,” I of course meant an exact replica of the living room used in Microsoft’s tech demo/video, just off to a corner of the imaginary gamer cave (which I admit I got carried away with, but I thought I heard Don say money was no object, which I took a bit literally. [Or perhaps I just ran with the cave metaphor a bit far, since caves are typically for hibernating. ‘:D]
*clears throat* Okay, I was going to ask Jonah to back me up on this, but why drag him into my nitpicking, right? ‘;D
The resolution issue? Is not an issue. If you have a 1080p HD screen, it doesn’t matter whether your viewing area is 24 inches or 60 inches, you’ll get the same number of pixels. So the bigger the screen, the less tight those pixels (if they even call them that on TV screens) will be. The spoilage I alluded to is not so much console-related (considering the only console I have is a Wii), but rather the PC*, which has been “Hi- Def” resolution for about a decade now. ‘;D [* – Or the Mac, if you like.]
Maybe PS3 games scale up well on 50 inches, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t really know firsthand. ‘:( *sniff*
Of course, if your basement (er, gaming cave) is HUGE, then you can sit far enough away for it to still be enjoyable.
BTW, by “whatever’s ideal for Natal,” I of course meant an exact replica of the living room used in Microsoft’s tech demo/video, just off to a corner of the imaginary gamer cave (which I admit I got carried away with, but I thought I heard Don say money was no object, which I took a bit literally. [Or perhaps I just ran with the cave metaphor a bit far, since caves are typically for hibernating. ‘:D]
Interestingly enough, there’s an Amstrad emulator for the Wii!
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiituka
(I mention this only for educational purposes, since everyone knows that it’s wrong to install unauthorized software onto a Wii.)
“Don’t Abuse Your Wii! Keep It Clean.”
Interestingly enough, there’s an Amstrad emulator for the Wii!
http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wiituka
(I mention this only for educational purposes, since everyone knows that it’s wrong to install unauthorized software onto a Wii.)
“Don’t Abuse Your Wii! Keep It Clean.”
Two things about the original Pirates you didn’t mention:
1. You needed the cloth map to find out where you are, because you have to use a sextant to figure out how high the sun was in the sky at noon. (Now it’s just automatic.)
2. You could be the only member of your crew left during a fight, but so long as you defeated the other captain, you won. Picture you fighting a captain while 200 sailors are standing around watching. heh
Two things about the original Pirates you didn’t mention:
1. You needed the cloth map to find out where you are, because you have to use a sextant to figure out how high the sun was in the sky at noon. (Now it’s just automatic.)
2. You could be the only member of your crew left during a fight, but so long as you defeated the other captain, you won. Picture you fighting a captain while 200 sailors are standing around watching. heh