Rumor: Sony Announcing Cloud Gaming Deal at E3 2012

[hdinred]

Apple doesn't charge me for the Netflix app I have on my iPhone, or the one on my new shiny iPad (fucking love this thing!!!). Roku doesn't charge me for any of the video apps running on my Roku HD in the bedroom. In fact, Panasonic isn't even charging me to stream Netflix, Pandora, Amazon video, Vudu, etc. on the new plasma I bought last month.

So how come MS still gets away with it?

You know full well Sony has been losing money for a lot of reasons. Their business model across the board is out of date and they made a number of bad decisions with the PlayStation brand over the years. Charging people for access to Netflix isn't a good solution to the problem, even if Microsoft does it.





Well, I for one never had any expectations that Sony was going to surpass MS once Blu-ray won the format war. MS already had a dominant foothold with the online gaming crowd and Sony was slow to bring the top tier titles. They waited to long and MS drank their milk shake.

Could they make more money if they charged for online like MS does? Sure. Would I fault them for it? Not really. I get that they need to make money, but it would still be really lame to take all these apps and services that can be accessed elsewhere for free and put them behind a pay wall.


I don't give a fuck who is "winning" anymore. Sony fucked up pretty bad at the beginning of this generation and I wanted to see them admit their mistakes and work to make the PS3 a better platform. They did that. I also wanted to see MS admit the fucked up with RROD and take responsibility for it. They did that. The result? The consoles are pretty close to even in overall sales and the final score between the two when it comes to quality games is a wash. Live Gold is still a better service than PSN Plus for sure (party chat!) but that doesn't mean the value of both hasn't been taken down a few pegs as a lot of these services have come to every other device in the home.

Reasonable points.

For me personally, I became an XBL Gold subscriber 6 years ago to play online games and it's hard to see added services as anything but value added to something I would have paid for anyway, regardless of what other devices are doing. I don’t see anything “shady” about adding more features to your service every year. And given the success they are having with their entertainment apps, the consumer validates the business model.

[Indy_aka_Rex]

This is why your opinion never matters. When it was the 360 you railed against it over and over. How you had to have live to use things (even the things that didn't cost extra, like Facebook, Twitter, etc.) but when it's the ps3...its "whatever".

I railed on Live for forcing you to pay for Gold to use Facebook and Twitter and other similarly FREE-TO-USE services. I railed on Live for forcing you to pay for Gold to access things like HULU and Netflix which you still had to pay for separately - essentially you pay TWICE to access something you should only be paying for once. Which is BULLSHIT.

My stance hasn't changed - and like I said: If OnLive requires a subscription on top of PS+? Then it's bullshit; if you get OnLive with PS+? That's cool, I don't care since I can't really use it.

I don't see how that's a difficult concept to grasp?

[Badger3920]

Reasonable points.

For me personally, I became an XBL Gold subscriber 6 years ago to play online games and it's hard to see added services as anything but value added to something I would have paid for anyway, regardless of what other devices are doing. I don’t see anything “shady” about adding more features to your service every year. And given the success they are having with their entertainment apps, the consumer validates the business model.

Because value is about more than whether or not you got in on the ground floor of something 6 years ago.

Another way to think about it would be this: an xbox for $200/$300 isn't worth owning without having to pay for that 'extra value.' Admittedly, silver is just horribly neutered and cripples the basic intent of the entire console. Everything is put behind that 'hey, pay us extra' extra wall which is obviously just another unnecessary toll station on the e-highway.

[hdinred]

Because value is about more than whether or not you got in on the ground floor of something 6 years ago.

Another way to think about it would be this: an xbox for $200/$300 isn't worth owning without having to pay for that 'extra value.' Admittedly, silver is just horribly neutered and cripples the basic intent of the entire console. Everything is put behind that 'hey, pay us extra' extra wall which is obviously just another unnecessary toll station on the e-highway.

It all leads back to the "I shouldn't have to pay for online" debate which has been done enough. Since it was born 10 years ago, XBL has required a subscription and now that it's morphed into an entertainment service for both gaming and video, the same subscription model applies. It's pretty well known that when buying an Xbox, that is the case. For what people are getting out of the service.. $5 per month.. cheaper if you shop around.. other options if you are opposed..

The Average Xbox User Is Online For 84 Hours Per Month, Gaming For About Half Of It

[michealo]

So "it just plays games" won't be coming back?

[CorruptedDragon]

So "it just plays games" won't be coming back?

No, it has disappeared down the same dark hole as Sony's profits.

[michealo]

No, it has disappeared down the same dark hole as Sony's profits.

it will join kinect/move hype then?

[CorruptedDragon]

it will join kinect/move hype then?

Probably. Although Kinect is now being used to dock things in space (not men I think).

[hdinred]

Sony close to agreeing cloud gaming acquisition

MCV understands that the deal is far more extensive than anyone could have predicted and will see Sony fully acquire one of the two firms. The deal, our source says, “is close to being signed”.

Wow, looks like a bigger deal than I initally thought.

[Indy_aka_Rex]

If that is true and it gets announced at E3? I'd say that's a hell of an announcement.

[CorruptedDragon]

If that is true and it gets announced at E3? I'd say that's a hell of an announcement.

You think anything Sony announces is a hell of an announcement...Mr Vita buyer.

[Indy_aka_Rex]

You think anything Sony announces is a hell of an announcement...Mr Vita buyer.

Well, when all Microsoft's got is "Hey you can run in place in this baby game we made for babies that parents can play with their babies!" and all Nintendo's got is "Hey so uh, here's our iPad that's useless out of your house, but it plays games and sitch!"... How do you expect me to feel about the only company that talks about games and not shitty gimmicks, baby games and another way to watch a TV channel that you already watch everywhere else?

[CorruptedDragon]

Well, when all Microsoft's got is "Hey you can run in place in this baby game we made for babies that parents can play with their babies!" and all Nintendo's got is "Hey so uh, here's our iPad that's useless out of your house, but it plays games and sitch!"... How do you expect me to feel about the only company that talks about games and not shitty gimmicks, baby games and another way to watch a TV channel that you already watch everywhere else?

I guess you forgot about Move already, I mean, Sony has so you might as well also.

[hdinred]

If that is true and it gets announced at E3? I'd say that's a hell of an announcement.

If they’ve been able to fix the lag and compression associated with cloud gaming, then it’s a huge announcement. Otherwise, I’m really curious to see where they are going with this.

[rm082e]

Now I'm kind of worried. I really hope Sony isn't stupid enough to think they should replace downloaded games with cloud based games. That would be a fucking tragedy...

Maybe this is something they are looking at as a rental service? Try this game in the cloud for 48 hours ($5) and if you like it, you can download it for real on PSN? That might be kind of cool for the renters, and it keeps the cloud bullshit out of my way.