Harrison talks up the PlayStation Network Platform
by Adams Briscoe 
{ Mar 29th 2006 at 10:45AM }
Phil Harrison is a pretty confident guy. Sitting high atop the Sony corporate ladder, it's easy for him to make big claims like "We have a reach and a market share that dwarfs our competition." He's been cheerleading for the PlayStation Network Platform lately and sitting down to talk about the challengers to the market.On the issue of PNP and how it'll stand up and be heard, he says, "The fact that PlayStation is making this push is the biggest differentiating factor." We've stated before that because Sony wants to offer this thing for free, it'll make a dent in the paradigm of online gaming. But someone's got to pay right? Well apparently they plan on offering premium services for downloads and other content. Not sure exactly what that might entail, but in time we'll know.
In the midsts of this idea, he does admit that Microsoft is "definitely a more vigorous competitor here than anywhere else in the world." So Sony's going to have to roll up their sleeves and cover ground, because that "vigorous competitor" has been doing their thing since last November. Think free online gaming is something that will attract a lot of gamers? Sure, all the bells and whistles are great, but in the end it all boils down to the games. Once we see the goods, that's when the real competition begins.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fan @ Mar 29th 2006 12:40PM
Free = good
I would never pay to play online. Unless its a mmo witch is more understandable. Kudos to Sony for bringing free online play to the console world. Its about time.
Riev @ Mar 29th 2006 1:27PM
Offering free online play is a nice ruse, but as the article says, someone has to pay. Free online play has been on PC gaming for a long time, but even THEN it costs for dedicated servers and ventrilo/teamspeak and what have you.
If the PS3 can possibly pull something out of their bag of tricks, so much the better, but I wouldn't bank a decision on it.
Nick @ Mar 29th 2006 1:56PM
It seems like there will be true competition for online play when sony's system rolls out. Sony will most likely add more features to their system knowing that they have to catch up. In the end, it just means that the gamers will reap the benefits.
SuicideNinja @ Mar 29th 2006 2:27PM
The problem here is that he doesn't saying anything important about PNP. Online play and downloadable content. Duh.
So far, it sounds like taking the PS2 online except you only need one user account and you'll have access to media. They actually aren't changing things in the background (i.e. having developers/publishers use their own servers for games).
We have free online play now with the PS2. But not many games support it, and it doesn't work that well. Hopefully they built a new system instead of working with the old one.
Jason @ Mar 29th 2006 4:17PM
Free online play didn't do anything to help PS2. In fact, many of those free online PS2 games were totally miserable online experiences. Madden online was a cesspool of cheaters, etc. I'd gladly pay for some quality control.
Jake @ Mar 29th 2006 5:32PM
Well Jason, it looks like you'll be getting the quality control you desire without paying a dime for the service.
Tristan @ Mar 30th 2006 3:56PM
I own a 360 and will be buying a PS3 the day it comes out.
I'll believe all of this when I see it. Live cost next to nothing for what you get from it so I don't care if Sony ends up charging too. If it is half as good as live it would still be worth the money.