PS4 online behind a paywall

[AvalonX]

They sort of snuck it in there if you weren't paying attention but you WILL need to pay to play online. Why Sony? So close to being perfect. I really hope you don't need a sub for every member of the house. Anyone else catch this and if so does it matter to you?

 

[Joker99352]

That doesn't really bother me so much because I've never been a fan of the online multiplayer in the past. But I think it's ridiculous to have to pay for the online service when everything is so expensive to begin with. I don't think it's that big of a deal to most people, especially since you can still use apps and whatnot without a paid subscription.

 

[Haze]

Yeah I heard that part and yes, it was kind of snuck in, but they said it's $5 a month to be a PS Plus member so I am more then ok with this. I'd rather give my money to Sony then that other company.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Well, it's not like they said it clearly, but yeah, even if you have to pay for online, i think the way the console is working is really good, specially that low price.

 

[AvalonX]

From the looks of things on the net the overwhelming winner last night was Sony so this does not look like a deal breaker. I think what is helping them is that Playstation Plus is a really great service. I am curious though, as a guy with kids are they going to make you have separate Plus accounts for each member. This is where MS went to far. For my Kids to use Netflix and play Minecraft I has to fork up cash for another live account.

 

[Haze]

From the looks of things on the net the overwhelming winner last night was Sony so this does not look like a deal breaker. I think what is helping them is that Playstation Plus is a really great service. I am curious though, as a guy with kids are they going to make you have separate Plus accounts for each member. This is where MS went to far. For my Kids to use Netflix and play Minecraft I has to fork up cash for another live account.

Well I know on the current PS3 if one account has PS Plus and downloads a game, another user on the same console can play the game as well without having to be a member of PS Plus.

 

[Joker99352]

I didn't think it was sneaky of them, but it's kind of unnecessary. It's still not as bad as what Microsoft has been doing, but it is what it is. PlayStation Plus has a lot more perks than Xbox Live Gold does, but to their credit Microsoft has been upping their game in terms of XBLG content lately.

 

[Seiryu]

Yeah, I noticed that too, and I admit I'm not a huge fan of that, but to be honest, I can let it slide for Sony because PSN+ offers so much more than XBL Gold ever did. Not to mention the fact that there are a lot of games that are just fine single-player (and I'm not that big of an online multiplayer kinda person) and really, it's not too bad, and certainly doesn't work to tarnish the console. I do admit, it is liberating to know that you can play online for free whenever you want...

 

[venomeye]

I am curious to how this will affect the PS3 as I am assuming you can just sign into the network for PS4 using your existing PS3 user name( I am happy with mine and have no desire to change).
Will this have an adverse effect to the network as a whole and you will be made to pay to use the online feature of a PS3?

 

[NickJ]

I hope I don't have to pay for a whole new user name and panel. I wanna be able to use my PS3 name as well. Interesting to see how this eventually shakes out.

 

[Joker99352]

I hope I don't have to pay for a whole new user name and panel. I wanna be able to use my PS3 name as well. Interesting to see how this eventually shakes out.

I doubt that you'll have to do that. I'm pretty sure they said Xbox Live would remain the same as before, so I'm sure it's the same for the PS4. I know that my username on Xbox Live now is the same one that it was on the original Xbox, if that means anything.

 

[Haze]

Yeah all your trophies and online alias will carry over to the PS4. If you look at this screenshot here: http://images.vg247.com/current//2013/02/playstation_4_ps4_user_interface_2.jpg you'll see that below their real name is their online name. My guess is that only your friends will be able to see your real name and I read that there will be privacy settings that will let you disable your real name from being shown. Hopefully they explain more in the near future towards this.

 

[NickJ]

I doubt that you'll have to do that. I'm pretty sure they said Xbox Live would remain the same as before, so I'm sure it's the same for the PS4. I know that my username on Xbox Live now is the same one that it was on the original Xbox, if that means anything.

Yeah that's reassuring but you never know these days. It sucks to have your fate in someone elses hands sometimes though.

 

[DrRipley]

I'm not too much against it, because for one thing, at least Sony is fair with giving as much free games and good services to warrant a payment for said service. To be fair though, I haven't really tried MS's online store/service, but from what I've read online, they weren't really giving much in terms of free games and other bonuses and merely just offering the service to play online mostly, which I think is unfair. At least with Sony, it's just like paying for a premium, but I guess I'll have to reserve my judgement for when I've actually tried it out with a PS4.

 

[lindbergh]

Well, Microsoft follows Sony's footsteps and Sony follows Microsoft. It's the trend with competing businesses these days. With all the raucous that E3 has caused, I now think that both consoles are in equal footing. What I'll do is that I'll have a blast playing offline first before trying out the paid service of Sony online.

 

[Phailadin]

Awww, I'm sad honestly. I heard it was going to be free. I was so pumped. It would have honestly been $100 perfect if this was the case. I guess $5 a month isn't *too* bad, so I can't complain. Just a bit sad though since it could've been free! haha. Oh well, it's not as bad as $10 or $15 a month, so it's alright in the end I guess.

 

[strangel0ve]

I feel that I would definitely pay for the service if it really means better servers/security. But it is still up to Sony to back their paying service up with an online experience that deserves the gamers' money.