Sony PS3 Home: Are you happy to pay for extras?

I have Verizon fios with a 50meg online connection. The issues I have faced with lag and ping should have been ironed out by XBoxLIVE already. It’s hard to pay for XBoxLIVE especially in this economy. PSN is much smoother for Free. Definitely a better deal.

” The issues I have faced with lag and ping should have been ironed out by XBoxLIVE already”

Most XBL game sessions are peer-to-peer, where lag is related to the connection of the person hosting the game. It’s not XBL causing the lag. Peer-to-peer gives the most flexibility for online gaming but has the potential for more lag, especially if you’re playing with gamers on the other side of the world. PSN favours dedicated servers more, which can give more reliable performance and less lag, but at the expense of flexibility and it’s often region restricted.

As for cost, well I doubt gamers who are willing to buy several games a year are really going to find it difficult to pay the price of one game per year for XBL, regardless of the current economic climate. It’s great PSN is free, but it still feels like it’s playing catch up to me, even with the release of Home.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Home, at least not yet. Right now it just seems like a cumbersome way of achieving something which could have been done in a much simpler, more direct and more accessable way years ago. But then, I’ve never been a fan of these kind of virtual worlds anyway, whether it’s Second Life or the Sims or similar.

However I will watch with interest to see how Home developes, and hopefully the time will come when I change my mind about it.

Who would pay to go stand in a closed off parking lot with nothing to do but stand there..as guys come up to you and push the dance button..

HOME is a dead space? People just standing there looking at a wall…

Ya see the good thing about Home is that, if the service doesn’t cater to your individual tastes, i.e. it’s a dead space, then you don’t have to use it. Some people will think it’s amazing while others are just gonna use it every so often when they’ve got an hour to kill.
I started laughing my head off when i started dancing and about 10 other people just waked over to me and started doin’ the same, i guess thats what it’s all about.
As for paying for extras, thats a difficult question to answer. While i agree that Sony will obviously need a way to make back the money they invested in developing Home and the PSN in general (exclusing advertisements within Home itself), and paying for extra items and clothing is a good way to acomplish this. They first need to ensure that they have sufficient things avaliable for free to choose from which I don’t think they have right now.

i have to say personnely i like it.it makes a big differance if ure friends are in there to.it does have potencial .

I think MS have the micro transactions with avatars absolutely nailed down.
For the forseeable future all avatar content will be 100% free.
Also, developers have been given the full avatar code to make clothes and accessories unlockable, which greatly enchances the “achievement” aspect of xbox live gaming.
I like that rather than just getting more points for an achievment, i’ll get a master chief helmet or COD army outfits.

XBL access is available from most online deliverers for £28pounds/$41dollars for 13 a months.
Thats £2 or $3 a month… a cost that is easily racked up in micro-transactions on ps home.

Anyone who actually wants to use home and have a decent experience will need to spend… so price wise it comes out as equal to, or more expensive than using xbox live…. So there is a clear choice. Do you want to pay for a decent and easy to use online experience that is head and shoulders above the competition (Xbox Live).. or do you prefer to walk around a virtual world adding virtual furniture to your virtual apartment.

“Do you want to pay for a decent and easy to use online experience that is head and shoulders above the competition (Xbox Live).. or do you prefer to walk around a virtual world adding virtual furniture to your virtual apartment.”

well, from what you just said, to be honest, i’ll stick with home. I’d rather meet up with my friends avatars, maybe have a bowling match, then launch a multiplay session on COD4 than go through tedious screens with an annoying 3D stickman staring back at me with dead eyes.

The whole point is, you don’t have to pay for home, it’s for everyone. If you just want to go on and meet up with mates, you don’t have to pay, however, if you are going to treat it like another game and you are desperate to update, you can. Its all up to the people. And yet again, with sony, its free online!

everyone has a good point but……… it all falls down to the players choice people everyone is diffrant and have there own ideas yes u have to pay for xbox live and ps3 is free xbox live has a wider choice of games there for a wider choice of online games i.e halo witch players do like to play so of course thay will pay for it home is a idea of a place for gamers to meet chat and have more to do than just play the games and as its free even better the custom stuff i.e night club^^ is a players choice not a nessersery part of home yes it is a free to play but you have to pay for add-ons but as somone said ^^ thay must have a way to support the service and having DLC it helps fund the free stuff if it was completly free it would take a long time to be able to fun anything free xbox live charge to play ad ps3 charge for add-ons but that said xbox do charge for some add-ons as well so to be fair moning about having to pay on the ps3 for extras is really pointless and it really is just up the players preferance well thanks for reading see ya

People complain about both services, but at the end of the day, they havent played one or the other enough to get a full idea of what its capable of. Someone who constantly goes on at me about the fact I have a ps3 was stunned the other day when I said “How is the actual system crap? Not sony, but the PS3?” They both do what they’re supposed to do. Neither is better, neither is worse. Ps3 is more durable and reliable, with the whole Hi Def blu-ray capabilities, 360 has a pretty hardcore library of games (not including multi platform titles) and a decent online service. What I’m saying is, the net is full of petty people who just want to fight and argue with someone. Its the whole “my dad could kick your dads ass” argument from school, in console form. Its pointless, let’s just live with eachother peacefully, theres nothing wrong with healthy competition, but these forum wars are stupid, and I’m ashamed to say I have been dragged into them. But enough is enough. Personally, I think it would save a whole bunch of peoples time if Sony and Microsoft joined up and made a super console, with the best properties of both the 360 and the PS3. Goodnight world!

HOME is pretty cool. It’s like a visual Instant Messenger. The movie theater is cool but they need to add more previews.

I played the arcade machines in the bowling alley and received extra content for high scores.

The flying saucer game in the court yard looks nice graphically, but gets boring after several minutes.

Interacting with people from all over the world is the highlight of HOME. I spoke to someone from Egypt, Ireland, Ohio, Wyoming & Boston, all in the same hour. Pretty cool.

Sony must think I’m a mug if they think i’m gonna pay for a piece of virtual furniture… Really where are they coming from… Up yours Sony!

Doesn’t sound “fair” to me. A one off fee would be ok but a monthly fee means rent – who in their right mind would rent from Sony.

i need someone to tell me if u can go anywhere els on the game rather then the home town centre cus iam geting board with the same place

Jesus Christ People! It’s not a fucking requirement, it’s optional, you mongs! You only pay monthly if you want to have a club, you don’t have to buy furniture, playing the minigames is free, walking around with people is free, owning your own space is free, making your character is free, get it through your incredibly thick skulls, the payment is completely up to you. They arent forcing you to do anything. God, it’s like talking to thick kids!

The great thing about home is its free, if you dont wanna use it you dont have to.
If you want to pay for virtual extras you can, but at least the actual service itself is free.

And dont forget this is only a beta, so will only get better as time goes on.

As I said “who in their right mind would rent from Sony.” You don’t have to do but I can’t see why any one would want to. I think that’s a fair enough comment.

“Sony must think I’m a mug if they think i’m gonna pay for a piece of virtual furniture… Really where are they coming from… Up yours Sony!”

I was talking more to this guy, but a little bit to you aswell. Im in a club, the guy owns it because he was part of the private BETA so its free….I think. I wouldn’t personally rent space from Sony, but I could see the attraction. It would make launching multiplayer games easier, having all your mates in one space. But you’re making it sound as if you have to rent the apartments/houses monthly. you don’t, i got the summerhouse for £3.99, at its mine forever now.

I think having to pay for stuff like furnature and homes is fine but paying a monthly fee just to have a virtual club is f%*king extreme I understand that they need to make back the money for developing home etc but they should find another way

As far as i’m concerned Sony have just wasted years of programming they could have spent bringing us some new game franchises, Home is a mess and i’ll certainly NOT be buying virtual furniture or clothes, i would most likely have bought the full price games they could have coded in the same time.

How have they wasted time?

The amount of people they have working for them could ensure that they have been doing games aswell as Home. Infamous for example, theyve had time to work on that, and it’s looking epic!

i walked into the mall hoping to download some new clothes for my avatar (as he looks boring and original wearing the same combination of clothes you get) but when i went into the shop “threds” i found that all clothes cost somethink like 59p or somethink like that. really though their is no need to hav to pay for clothes i thort this was a free service, and the same goes for home furniture the ones you get are boring as hell!!! everythinks white i was a deacent place to show off but i have to pay which i feel you shouldnt have to.

It’s better than I thought it’d be from all the whiners on comment sections like these. The graphics were great. I didn’t notice any errors or lags. It was very easy to use. The sound in the theater was amazing and the video quality wasn’t too bad, either.

No, there’s not a lot to do, yet. And the stores are relatively empty IF you wanted to buy something (I’d probably drop 3 or 4 dollars on furniture). My only real criticism right now is that everyone looks the same. There are a lot of sliders and what-not to change body/facial features but it’s not enough! I tried second life before and I prefer Home.

Jobby: “Do you want to pay for a decent and easy to use online experience that is head and shoulders above the competition (Xbox Live).. or do you prefer to walk around a virtual world adding virtual furniture to your virtual apartment.”

Hoenstly? The latter. Isn’t The Sims one of the biggest franchises in video game history, afterall? People are complaining about buying a 50 cent piece of furniture, but millions have paid $10+ on Sims expansion packs.

I wish I knew if Home was any good or not, it crashed the first time I walked on to the balcony and I’ve never been able to get back online since. If Sony want Home to be a success they really need to sort out their network issues, from this to the age it takes to download anything.

personally i like home.i know its unreasonable to demand all free content but thinker their should be at least some free content.

well, i disagree with people having to pay for extras because i’m only 13 and i have not got a credit card and there are a lot younger people that agrees. My parents wouldn’t mind if i payed for it but they don’t want to put there credit card details in. I would be happy to pay for the extras if the ps3 store gift cards came out that allows you to pay without credit or debit cards. please let me know if sony changes or brings out gift cards thank you.

Finally got Home up and running with no crashes and I was glued to my seat. Literally. I got stuck playing a game of draughts and after it finished I couldn’t get up otherwise I’d have left.

Now having spent some time with it I certainly would not pay for any extras. Home for me was extremely boring and an excuse for heavy advertising. I know they’ve got to pay for it some how but it seemed to be only about the advertising with little or no reward for the player.

I know the fanboys are loving it but everyone else is not impressed.

well, i think home is amazing. you are all moaning about having to pay for content, but if you looked in the shops you would see that some is free. so y are you all putting sony down; home is free, if you dont like it then you dont have to use it. sony are workin thier asses off just so you guys are happy; they are updating it so it is better. you should be grateful that it is out coz u put sony down 4 not bringing out the open beta and wen they do you put them down coz it isnt good enough\’. i am thankful to sony because they are doin as much as they can to please us and they have other stuff to do other than work on home. if i was sony i would tell u to fuck off and switch to xbox i u dont like ps3. by time they releaser the full version you will b sayin how good home is and if u dont u probably will b by at least a year later.

thanks for reading and sum of ya probably agree with me

well, i think home is amazing. you are all moaning about having to pay for content, but if you looked in the shops you would see that some is free. so y are you all putting sony down; home is free, if you dont like it then you dont have to use it. sony are workin thier asses off just so you guys are happy; they are updating it so it is better. you should be grateful that it is out coz u put sony down 4 not bringing out the open beta and wen they do you put them down coz \’it isnt good enough\’. i am thankful to sony because they are doin as much as they can to please us and they have other stuff to do other than work on home. if i was sony i would tell u to fuck off and switch to xbox i u dont like ps3. by time they releaser the full version you will b sayin how good home is and if u dont u probably will b by at least a year later.

thanks for reading and sum of ya probably agree with me

rhys kinslow wrote: “if i was sony i would tell u to fuck off and switch to xbox i u dont like ps3.”

This news may come as a shock to you but… some people absolutely love their PS3 console (even more than you do) and yet they don’t like Home.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and so those “putting Sony down” as you put it have as much right to express their opinions as those singing Sony’s praises.

Afterall, if you see a film you don’t like, perhaps even hated, wouldn’t you express your opinion about it to others? Of course you would. Now if someone said to you that you shouldn’t criticise the film because the studio, the director, the producer, the actors and others worked sooooo hard to make that film for your enjoyment, what would you say to them….after you tell them to FO that is?

” sony are workin thier asses off just so you guys are happy”

Ahh, they’re like Santa bringing the gift of advertising and disappointment. God bless em, everyone.

“Ahh, they’re like Santa bringing the gift of advertising and disappointment. God bless em, everyone”

lol

This is it. The end of our times. People don’t listen to reason anymore. Everyone just wants something to fucking complain about. It’s pointless trying to get any sort of coherant message across. Anyone trying to defend Sony/Home, don’t bother, the world as we know it seems intent on complaining about something, no matter how reasonable it is, and they have chosen Sony, even though Home’s probably cheaper than Xbox Live in the long run.

Well fuck you. Like I said, it’s pointless trying to defend them, since you all seem intent on hating it, even though its all optional. Fuck it.

randy chimp you need to calm down serioussly haha its only people complainin about somethink we are allowed to, get a grip u faggot. And wots all this its the end of times? like i said its only people complaining!! jesus its nothink new

Oh, my goodness! These people are like little five year old kids who whine all the time. When you play online with your games (Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, etc.), it’s FREE (no monthly or annual fee at all).

Now, for PlayStation HOME, it is also FREE. Virtual Character or Characters (Avatar), Shelter (Harbour Studio Apartment), Clothings (basic clothings and accessories of more than four options each from pants, shirts, shoes, hats, etc.), Arcade Games (2-D games like Ice Breaker, EchoChrome, Carriage Return, etc.), Bowling, Chess / Checkers, Mancala, Billiards, UFO game (Saucer Pop), Red Bull Island’s Plane Race, and more to come are all FREE. F – R – E – E, FREE! They also give out free items (clothings and furnitures) from time to time or when you beat some arcade games.

The add-ons (the one ones that you have to pay for), you can live without. You don’t have to buy clothings, houses, furnitures, and a clubhouse, unless you want to be the coolest avatar in the virtual world. IT’S REALLY UP TO YOU like most of the smarter masses above this post have said. You can go on a year or two or even until the next PlayStation console series is released and still not pay for HOME. If you want, you don’t even have to create an avatar for HOME — just play your damn PS3 games online, whining retards! No one’s forcing you to use HOME. You can just log in online using your PS3 and play your online games without even passing through HOME.

I’m not even going to compare X-Box with PS3. I have a friend who’s got an XBox 360 and I preferred my PS3 (I prefer this and you prefer that, and that’s that). We are all video gamers here, so it doesn’t matter what console we play on, does it?

Frank the Rice Eater