25 responses so far ↓

• 1 Slashlen // Jan 7, 2008 at 5:08 pm

  Preach on, brother!

• 2 andyg8180 // Jan 7, 2008 at 5:20 pm

  you know what sucks more than XBL, the stupid ID checker next to the submit button

• 3 andyg8180 // Jan 7, 2008 at 5:22 pm

  When things were running smoothly, i guess i didnt mind dishing $50 a year, because, IT WORKED… I was able to chat without a third-party client, i was able to jump into a friends game, invite a friend, etc etc…

  BUT, rothbart is right, when you have too much time to think, it starts to dawn on you the realities of whats going on… When it works im content, but we’re going on about week 3 with continuous outages, dropped connections, and stupid effing DRM issues…

  I love XBL, but this is getting ridiculous… half a billion dollars should mean “I dont care what it costs, lets get this bad boy up” and not “meh, let the people in India deal with it”

• 4 AriesDog // Jan 7, 2008 at 5:54 pm

  I really don’t care for fanboyism - whether it’s PS3, Wii or Xbox 360. Sorry Rothbart but I usually avoid your articles because I know what I’m going to read. I can count on Doc and Lono and the others to be fair.

• 5 Caleb154 // Jan 7, 2008 at 6:44 pm

  Ok one thing rothbart you are obviously a ps3 fanboy as are alot of people there is nothing wrong with fanboyism in my oppinion hey your loyal grates thats cool but i get annoyed of fanboys trying to trash there opposites xbox fanboys do it to and unless you use both services regularly (me i am a certified mac and microsoft technician cus my job requires me to be i cant choose one or the other there each better at specific jobs) same goes for xbox vs ps3 i own aand play both if im playing a fast action pack game i play xbox if i choose to play story driven games (like finally fantasy (btw i do hate final fantasy nothing like not even playing a game (lol thats me being a prick (personal oppinion you dont need to think im a prick)))) ill play my ps3 online hands down i go xbox ive played my ps3 online and it doesnt feel the same (again my personal oppinion) as for xbl yes there having issues right now and i live up here in canada and weve been having issues since DEC 4th when the movie update came out up here and im pissed about it 2 (hell i just bought metal slug and it kicks me out of live if i start the game the only reason i bought the game was to try it online) but the fact of the matter is when the live service is running it runs better then ps3 network

  Now lets look at what your bashing you make how much money from advertising and you have loyal funs who help out 2 causes (i believe it was pacmanpolarbears house that was robbed) and Docs (oh most amazing) charity for that nice girl i know the other 2 you guys didnt get money for yourselves but im pointing out that money is transfered and when a picture goes up (what the picture is 1MB at most plus your logo and the writing is what for the main page of this site lets go big and say 10 MB because (hypathetically you guys dont know how to resize a picture) and 50,000 people brought your site to its knees and this is on your updated servers because you had been brought to your knees already before

  now lets look at xbox live with all the data being transfered in one game of COD 4 lets go on the end benefiting your side of the arguement and if that 30 min game lets say (again hypathetical) with the transfer of what team constant update of score and player position what gun they have (lets say that infinaty ward was smart and doesnt transfer stupid information like how much ammo each player has (dont knock it ive seen some games have done it)) so lets say in the 30 mins 100 mb is transfered but this time by 10,000,000 people theres a huge differece (what your doing is best described by my old college proffesor) its like a retard making fun of someone for getting a math question wrong when they cant even copy the question

  now to look at the difference between live and psn (other then the obvious ones paid for and ones not one have a 4 letter name the other can be shortend to 3) i mean both of theose are great arguements why psn might be better but pc online gaming cant becompared to by these 2 networks because i can get a great dedicated server with both of these pc gaming can take hours to find a server you like that is hosted by some guy in his mothers basement whos being super cool letting everything go against his mothers internet bill but then you wake up at 3 in the morning and want to play but it ends up your server has no one on it at all (you dont get that with psn and live) so back to psn and live yes i will agree with you right now that psn is out preforming live that is why i feel there should be some kind of re-embursment and the time that it happened is during peoples time of so just giving them a free month of live is fine by me but to some people that wont be good enough if you give a free game thats already out then cool by anyone who doesnt have it other then i buy any game i want so i probley already have it or didnt want it same goes for a game to be released being free not everyone will like it if you give points then thats great because everyone gets what they want a new arcade game or a movie (or desprate housewifes if they really want it) so lets put that aside tho it is a knock for live when it was up and running fine i had 4 xboxes in my house all running seperate accounts of live sometimes all in the same game other times not and no lag problems but if i have my ps3 pluged in just one again its fine but if i have 2 ps3s both consols almost become unplayable so as a person whos basement is set up for lan partyies weather its computer gaming (BG 2142 woot) or xbox live lan parties but unfortinatly we cant do ps lan parties knock for psn

  (random note VC sucks fix now nintendo)

  as for content offered i PERSONALLY (you should try that word rothbart) like what live offers for arcade with new some new game ideas (some) and classics but upgraded this over ps1 games that many i didnt play when i was younger for a reason and you didnt even upgrade them (so personally thats a knock against psn again your score might be 1-2 or 2-1 (were going for a loer score)

  so i called customer service for the next test tho microsoft seemed to have your typical idiot working tech this is the response i got

  \\

• 6 Caleb154 // Jan 7, 2008 at 6:45 pm

  “hello, my name is ***** is this a xbox issue or an xbox live issue”

  this was psn response

  -wait is there a place i can phone cus i couldnt find one i found a chat that was closed (funny cus this is the time i would be sitting and playing my online games) or i can send an email

  so suppior support (tho it may not be helping at this time i told them a story about how i could download this movie i was trying to rent but it charged me i was able to tell someone and he marked it as a note if i was still having trouble after all the things he suggested to me to try they were going to refund me when we were having networking issues with the 2 ps3s we had to send off an email it took 2 days to get a response i replayed thanx for the speedy service the tech obviously didnt detecht my sarcasim in my email
  a knock against psn

  the fact of the matter is live works better when its working right now sure psn is working better cars break down and thats unacceptable so is live going down but a car is better then a bike
  (im calling live a car cus its fast and better but they break down, psn is a bike slower but rarley breaks down(tho the chains can fall off)(and its much easier for multiple people to have fun in one car then on one bike cus 2 seater bikes suck)

  Im caleb154 you all probley hate me now but thats cool i dont care cus i like using brackets

• 7 lwelyk // Jan 7, 2008 at 7:08 pm

  Rothbart’s point is XBL isn’t better than PSN enough. Not $50 better. And with the massive amounts of cash they get from subscribers they should be able to maintain it better.

• 8 Harag // Jan 7, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  if were throwing personal experiance out there then ill just say that haveing a PS3 lan party was absolutely NO problem for me dunno what the deal with yours was but i ran 4 ps3s off one router with no lag whatsoever cod was awesome
  and as for xbox live ive never seen any great glaring features it has over PSN aside from the mentioned chat capabilitys and interfacing with your dash during a game

• 9 Caleb154 // Jan 7, 2008 at 7:41 pm

  lol the one point of mine i was hoping would be disproved by know is PSN have a service line i can call (im unbias in this situation i just want to know)

• 10 TheMeggaMan // Jan 7, 2008 at 8:03 pm

  I have gotten a good gaming laptop for christmas and after playin Zombie Panic and FEAR online im starting to wonder why XBL.

  I guess i keep it so i can hook up with friends i make on there

• 11 eskimopirate // Jan 7, 2008 at 8:36 pm

  Well I’ve used $50 XBL a lot more than I’ve used $60 Bioshock…….Prices are screwed up, we all know that, let it happen and pay for what you really want.

• 12 Dexyn // Jan 7, 2008 at 9:41 pm

  Caleb, the only reason why it’s hard to take you seriously is because you don’t seem to use proper grammar. Come on bro. Use periods and capitals where needed. Otherwise, you bring up some interesting points. However, as Iwelyk put it succinctly, you simply didn’t get the point of the Rant. XBL should kick PSN in the balls over and over forever, but it’s only clinking the armor of Sony’s online play. At least, that’s what I expect for 50 dollars.

• 13 Dejanus // Jan 7, 2008 at 9:47 pm

  There is a massive call for them to make it free, and there are early signs that they may give in. Or am I the only guythat sees 30 guys with”Make Live Free” as theior motto every day.

  Untill then, ill pay the fee for the community, not any vaguely superior service or user-friendliness.

• 14 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:06 pm

  @Caleb154: If you’re going to type that much, please register and post in our forum.

  You make me laugh at the very notion that some of my money is going towards a better support solution at Xbox Live. Unless your problem is a “look it up in my manual” problem, they’re nearly useless. I’ve gone around and around with them for weeks over problems before. That’s weeks, contacting them virtually every day. You can read about it over at GamerCastNetwork.com forums.

  @lwelyk: Very close. It’s not that I don’t think XBL is any better than PSN, I _do_ think XBL is better. It’s just that I don’t think XBL isn’t substantially better (let’s be clear here before Caleb154 misinterprets my statement, I’m talking about Xbox Live “only” and Playstation Network “only”) and yeah, for $50 (minimum) per Gold member per year, I’d expect more. And certainly for the large sums of money they’re getting, I expect more. Yeah.

• 15 Caleb154 // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:27 pm

  I am registered on the forum i only have 4 posts currently cus 1. i dont like reading a whole lot of back and forths 3000 times i prefer these big speals where people actually learn stuff instead of yealling at the keyboards.

  @ Dexyn Grammar is for the week and the intelegent

  @ Rothbart Me im fine paying $50 a year for at just under 17 cents a day (money that ill make sure starving kids dont get there hands on) i can call an american and complain well they reassure me everythings fine while at the same time having no idea what there talking about

  Maybe i got lucky.(does a period work here i don\’t know) Maybe God favors Canadians but ive never had an RRoD and i got mine 2 days before launch i use it everyday to stream movies from my computer to my TV so maybe i dont have this tick bighting my (oh i dont think i can swear here) but to me ive never had a problem maybe when i get my first RRoD i will get mad about $50 a year but right now its no way effecting my life i can still pay my house and car bills infact since ive been a live member for 4 years now and i bought my xbox 360 a 399 +(4 x 50) it now equals what i payed for my ps3 so come the next time my xbox live bill comes in ill be right beside all of you being angry

  PS Rothbart this is just a question not a challenge dont yell at me again do you agree or disagree my pc online arguement

• 16 Harag // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:58 pm

  @caleb154 if your going to call some one intelligent and weak at least spell it right

• 17 Patrick // Jan 7, 2008 at 11:05 pm

  I’m sure if PSN had 10 million users it would suffer slowdown and crashes too. Guess we will find out when HOME comes out.

• 18 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Jan 8, 2008 at 12:15 am

  @Patrick: Why the continued misguided views of Home? Do people just latch on to it because it’s a nice short word? No offense, but I’ve seen reference to home being everything from the answer to multiplayer gaming on the PS3, the answer to achievements on the PS3, the answer to the PS3’s missing features making it equal to what the 360 offers, and even the PS3’s “killer app” to take on the 360 and frankly, it’s NONE of those. And if it does eventually evolve to be a “killer app”, it certainly won’t be at launch.

  If you expect 10 million Home users, you’re misguided… at _least_ until the PS3 install base is more than double that figure… Hell, there are MILLIONS of 360 (and presumably PS3s) that aren’t even connected to broadband.

• 19 Patrick // Jan 8, 2008 at 2:15 am

  I do not believe that HOME will be capable of handling 10 million + users at any given time. HOME will be a hell of alot more draining on bandwidth and servers than LIVE will ever be . I have both consoles and I enjoy both differently , however when it comes to online play and downloadable stuff Xbox LIVE is where it’s at . THERE IS NO WAY IN H*LL THAT PSN WILL NOT GO THROUGH THIS in a couple of months ( or a year ) when and if HOME comes out . So if you think that this is not going to happen on sony’s PSN your only kidding yourself .

• 20 haydenkayne // Jan 8, 2008 at 9:39 am

  a little advice to everyone, just buy a wii like the other half of the world. you dont even have to worry about an online expierence

• 21 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Jan 8, 2008 at 10:26 am

  @Patrick: You also seem misguided thinking that Home is a replacement for Live that everyone owning a PS3 will use. It’s not, and they won’t.

• 22 Olly Newport // Jan 8, 2008 at 3:39 pm

  HOME is something that I found very interesting when I first saw it I think when it was announced at E3 06. Where XBOX Live and PSN have its pro’s and con’s and being a 12 month gold member, the two networks are wide apart in terms of download content, and online features. I do highly agree with rothbart when it comes to this crap that Microsoft pull on PAYING members of a service. When I signed up for XBL, I imagined a place of wonder and fun…without the lag, and the over costly prices. I also happen to hate the points system. I think Microsoft will do anything to make them money, and at any point. And yes, you would highly think that making just over £25 Bn. a year profit for something that Microsoft is not a first time person to. They know about networks, and online, it’s not new to them. The new thing is the hardware, not the service. Get you boot’s on Mr. Micro$oft.

• 23 Ryu1993 // Jan 9, 2008 at 3:54 pm

  HOME is a app that I will use occasionally but it won’t be something that I will use every day that I go on PSN.

  @Patrick

• 24 Bono Hit My Car // Jan 9, 2008 at 5:16 pm

  How dare Microsoft make a profit!!!! Those douches!! They should make everything free!!

  I don’t know Sean, I completely respect your position, but I feel like you should be more upset at the people buying the subscriptions and the 360’s. The company isn’t forcing you to do anything. XBL screws up all of the time? Not until Dec did I have any problems.. Now I can log in just fine. Just seems like a good opportunity for you to say “SEE I TOLD YOU XBL SUCKS” … lame

• 25 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Jan 14, 2008 at 12:06 pm

  @Bono Hit My Car: You’re right, the people paying the Live subscriptions are definitely a huge part of the equation. The same people that didn’t balk at $60 games back in Nov. ‘05. The same people that will buy $179 120GB hard drives and $99 wireless network adapters and $50+/year online multiplayer… but should I completely ignore the company putting all those things on the market? Don’t get me wrong, if I was Microsoft, sure… gouge the customer! Squeeze them dry! Take every last cent! Lock them into prepaid subscriptions with no legally binding quality guarantees. Make sure the money’s been exchanged, worry about the rest later. When our products fail, extend the warranty to match our competition’s, when they start failing like crazy, extend the warranty conditionally to cover our glaring problem.

  My main beef with Live fees (and the cost of the hard drive) is their public reasoning… it’s BS. Of course it costs money to run Live, nobody disputes that. But to sit there and cite the reasons why it costs (reasons that exist on Sony’s PSN and virtually every PC gaming system) really rubs me the wrong way. I almost see it like working in a high rise office building and getting a monthly fee for air circulation/filtration. Every other high rise has ventilation systems and air filters, but _my_ building sent out a memo and said “You know, it’s expensive putting the HVAC system in place, and there are constant filter changes and we have to hire technicians and service people, people to answer the phones, etc.” all the while ignoring the fact that EVERYONE ELSE does the same damned things, but don’t try to give you a sob story of why they’re charging. They’re charging because they can and if you want your job (which is in that building) then you HAVE to pay!

  Silly analogy, but so is their justification. Of all the companies involved in this stuff, Microsoft is the one I’d say can most afford to absorb these costs to make _itself_ look like the most promising platform… imagine the ding PSN would take if Live Gold were free…

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