I've read several reviews and posts here, but it doesn't seem like there is much about the PS3's online abilities. I know you can play people online in the regular PS3 titles, but does it have anything like the Xbox Live Arcade or downloadable media like game demos, tv shows, movies etc., and is it one of those things where they don't have it yet but it should eventually evolve to include a lot of that stuff.

I have a 360 already but I was thinking about getting a bluray player and the PS3 is often rated the best bluray player, so I was considering a conversion. The ony thing I would really miss is the Xbox Live Arcade, even when I try to show off some new game everybody would rather play the Arcade games and its the only games my girlfriend cares about which is important. I'll probably keep the 360 and use them both, I was just wondering what kind of stuff the PS3 has or eventually should have.

The store is still very crude compared to the 360's offering. It does have demos and buyable "arcade" titles as well as updates for existing games. No video marketplace as of yet.

As far as quantities go, I'd say that as far as arcade titles go there is maybe 7% of what the entire XBLA selection. That said, there are some great ones like Super Stardust HD which is like a really kickass Geometry Wars.

The is "right now" and there is "in the future".

Right now, the PS3 online is pretty weak. It's still new, so the market doesn't have a lot of demos, games or movies. Online game play is a little weak because too many people don't have headsets, so there's not as much communication. They don't have as good of a friends list as the xbox, nor a unified gamer tag. It should be noted that the PS3 games are more likely to have a dedicated server than Xbox games, but other than that the PS3 online experience is inferior to the xbox online experience in just about every way.

In the future, the PS3 will get a pretty slick little interface called "home" which will sorta be like a sims game. You'll have to look into it, because it might be cool. One would think that they will get there store up and running and have lots of good stuff to sell eventually. The only problem that time probably won't fix is the lack of communication due to the dearth of headsets.

All in all, the PS3's strong point isn't online play., whereas it is the xbox's strong point. But it's not lousy, it just isn't that strong. That's my opinion.

The strength of the ps3 online has everything to do with what you're looking for. I've played vegas and graw on live, and I detest the time waiting between maps so I can listen to people talk. The "community" in this aspect turns me away from xbox. I want to play online to talk sh*t and to kill people. I dont want to chat for 5 mins before the map, I want to go from one map to another to another without having to hear about some idiots plans for the night. (sorry about the rant there)

Anyway, I like the store. I think one update a week is generous considering everything else they are working on. I like the trailers and the "arcade" games. Even if I regret buying calling all cars for 10 bucks...I played it for a good two days and it was fun. The australian store has video downloads now, Im sure we'll be seeing that as well as music downloads when singstar launches.

Really the only community online Im looking for is a clan that I can talk to between games. Something you cant really do well now. I wish I could sent a folder of pics to someone instead of just one. I wish I could send videos that I've got saved as attachments and do voicemail and video mail like the box.

I'd give the online functionality for my usage a 6 right now with the box being an 8. When home sees its full functionality Im hoping the ps3 will jump to a 10. We'll see.

PS3 online is weak in comparison to the Xbox Live.

Home doesn't look like it will make it any better in my opinion.

Don't let it stop you from getting the PS3 as a Blue Ray player though. It's great at it and upconverting as well.

I have both the 360 and a ps3. xbl is much better. But the ps3 store has demos and trailors. I use my ps3 mostly as a blu ray player and playing ps2 games connected to a ps2. I wouldn't get rid of my 360. I tend to have more friends with a 360, so I play online with them. Plus mass effect looks like it is going to be game of the year for me. But the ps3 is a great piece of hard ware. I have it connected to my 46" 1080P lcd via hdmi with the sound going to the receiver via optical. I already have a 360 with the HD DVD add on. I am format neutral and just like games. I rent from netflix for I don't see the need to own non rare disks. I was able to update and make an account (Mindwarper) very easily. It is quieter then the 360. I bought the ps2 card reader. I have multiple screens for multi screen gaming with friends. I love co op. I would get the 60gb version for better bc.

Things I loved:

Blu Ray player
The controller charging cable is a standard usb cord.
4 usb ports in front.
Power supply is inside.
It is fairly quiet.
It links up with my ps2 for lan gaming !!!!!!!
Backwards compatibility.
Upreses old games slightly.
Upconverting dvd
video out connector is the same as the ps2. (easy to move)
Free online
not having to buy 8mb cards anymore.

Things I didn't like:

A) The price. It is a great piece of hardware, but it was expensive.
B) Lack of games. I don't own a ps3 game. I am going to try some demos. I might get resistance to man, but Ratchet and Clank is what I'm most interested in. Or a new ssx.

C) Some ps2's online servers down (ssx3 for example). All old live enabled xbox games that are backward compatible are still playable online. I like that feature a lot. I have multiple copies of games so I can play on separate screens.

D) no rumble

Things that would have been nice:

A usb to ps2 controller thingy in the box. or better yet...
A ps2 connection on the box for those that still have wireless ps2 controllers for multi play.
A hdmi cable in the box, or at least component cables.
Ability to output audio over hdmi and optical (like the 360)

Ps2 games that are lan:
atv2
atv3
heroes of the pacific
hot wheels stunt track
mtx mototrax
Socom
Tony hawk
Twisted Metal.

So to answer your question. The ps3 online is not as good as xbl, but get the ps3. You'll be very happy.

PS3 online sucks plain and simple. People don't excuse this! If you want to invite a friend to game online, here is what you do...

Send the friend a message with the XMB. Your friend will need to exit whatever game there are playing completely and go read you message. You already joined the server and now your just waiting for him. He sends you a response, so you go and exit your game and read the message. Now you both go online and hopefully can find each other at some point. If you cant find each other you'll need to exit the game and send a message to each other where your at.

Your getting my point, its complete garbage right now. It takes forever, you can't "instantly" check messages or chat while in game, can't invite friends to games where they can click "go". They are working on it, I hope. I'll be pissed if home is Sony's answer to this huge problem.

As for the PS store, its ok, but not great. The layout sucks and having studied usability for a long time I can tell you they could do much better. They could integrate it better with the controllers and actually design the page around the controller. Looks like I'm a negative nancy today huh?

so is it like ps2 online? where you have to make separate tags for the different games too? like a tag for madden and socom and ratchet, etc.?

So far, yes, but it's free and how often do you need to talk to your friends via the xmb to start a game? I just pick up my phone and say "hey, idiots, get yer asses in gear and let's join up". Of course, that's assuming my friends bought a PS3, which they didn't, because it's not worth 600 bucks - EVEN for a blue ray player. Games will let you know if your friends log on, while you're playing a game, so invites are probably not far off. I don't know - I'm no prophet.

The worst part of the PS3 store online is the interface. I think it was designed by someone with no notion of how the analog controllers work and no idea that it is better to place buttons that are easily reachable without having to move the cursor all over the place just to go back and forth in the menus. Otherwise, its not all that bad. Its got a great bonus in that it is free. What does suck is that it doesn't update as often as XBL and it gets new things like demos especially a lot less often than XBL.

I've read several reviews and posts here, but it doesn't seem like there is much about the PS3's online abilities. I know you can play people online in the regular PS3 titles, but does it have anything like the Xbox Live Arcade or downloadable media like game demos, tv shows, movies etc., and is it one of those things where they don't have it yet but it should eventually evolve to include a lot of that stuff.

I have a 360 already but I was thinking about getting a bluray player and the PS3 is often rated the best bluray player, so I was considering a conversion. The ony thing I would really miss is the Xbox Live Arcade, even when I try to show off some new game everybody would rather play the Arcade games and its the only games my girlfriend cares about which is important. I'll probably keep the 360 and use them both, I was just wondering what kind of stuff the PS3 has or eventually should have.
The store currently contains games, demos, and movie trailers and is updated every Thursday in the US. There is also going to be a VOD service for music, movies, and TV later on. We should here more on this at the Leipzig game convetion later this month, but it has been hinted the VOD service will launch before the year ends.

Store interface is lacking, but it works and with the forward/back buttons on the controller it is pretty easy to navigate.
so is it like ps2 online? where you have to make separate tags for the different games too? like a tag for madden and socom and ratchet, etc.?
Home will act as a unifying system for PSN. You won't need to even use it though to get the benefits of home as all features can be accessed via the XMB. For example the situation that you just pointed out will no longer be an issue.
PS3 online sucks plain and simple. People don't excuse this! If you want to invite a friend to game online, here is what you do...

Send the friend a message with the XMB. Your friend will need to exit whatever game there are playing completely and go read you message. You already joined the server and now your just waiting for him. He sends you a response, so you go and exit your game and read the message. Now you both go online and hopefully can find each other at some point. If you cant find each other you'll need to exit the game and send a message to each other where your at.

Your getting my point, its complete garbage right now. It takes forever, you can't "instantly" check messages or chat while in game, can't invite friends to games where they can click "go". They are working on it, I hope. I'll be pissed if home is Sony's answer to this huge problem.

As for the PS store, its ok, but not great. The layout sucks and having studied usability for a long time I can tell you they could do much better. They could integrate it better with the controllers and actually design the page around the controller. Looks like I'm a negative nancy today huh?
Most of those issues can be solved with the in-game XMB access, supposdly in F/W 2.0, and the others with Homes unifying features.

So far, yes, but it's free and how often do you need to talk to your friends via the xmb to start a game? I just pick up my phone and say "hey, idiots, get yer asses in gear and let's join up". Of course, that's assuming my friends bought a PS3, which they didn't, because it's not worth 600 bucks - EVEN for a blue ray player. Games will let you know if your friends log on, while you're playing a game, so invites are probably not far off. I don't know - I'm no prophet.

It's even worse when you call 10 guys with 360's to play an online game & they say they can't because their Xbox 360's are all headed to Texas for 6 weeks to fix the red rings of death!! :rolleyes:

PS3 online sucks plain and simple. People don't excuse this! If you want to invite a friend to game online, here is what you do...

Send the friend a message with the XMB. Your friend will need to exit whatever game there are playing completely and go read you message. You already joined the server and now your just waiting for him. He sends you a response, so you go and exit your game and read the message. Now you both go online and hopefully can find each other at some point. If you cant find each other you'll need to exit the game and send a message to each other where your at.

Your getting my point, its complete garbage right now. It takes forever, you can't "instantly" check messages or chat while in game, can't invite friends to games where they can click "go". They are working on it, I hope. I'll be pissed if home is Sony's answer to this huge problem.

As for the PS store, its ok, but not great. The layout sucks and having studied usability for a long time I can tell you they could do much better. They could integrate it better with the controllers and actually design the page around the controller. Looks like I'm a negative nancy today huh?



well said i could not agree more if you own both you can not tell me that the psn even holds a candle to the xbl there is no comparison i wish there was maybe i would use mine more than for just blurays sorry guys but just accept it. buy the way any news on that pshome lately i do want to check it out

PS3 online is coming along nicely. The big advantage over the Xbox is that it's free, and a lot of stuff seems to have dedicated servers. I get a lot of lag on Live, Comcast cable... people with 128/256k up hosting games, it's unacceptable for a pay service.

There are videos posted, and regular updates, which is nice. The interface is prettier than the 360 but harder to navigate. And as someone else correctly pointed out, it's not nearly as integrated.

I own both, would say they are pretty even right now, because Live is a pay service, but if I had to choose I'd say XBL because it has more content.

It's even worse when you call 10 guys with 360's to play an online game & they say they can't because their Xbox 360's are all headed to Texas for 6 weeks to fix the red rings of death!! :rolleyes:
Har har! I'm still waiting to take the plunge with the 360 for that reason alone. :D

Har har! I'm still waiting to take the plunge with the 360 for that reason alone. :D
i've had 2 a preimium for about 1.5 years and now the elite since lauch and not a problem one maybe i am just lucky i do keep it in the open though plenty of cool air ;)

Everyone in my neighborhood who has had one has had to replace theirs at least once, and none of them were using an enclosed space, so... I think you got lucky. But then again, everyone cried about the PS1 and PS2 burning up, but the only one I destroyed was when I used the first PS2 gameshark in it - bye bye PS2. But in all fairness, a video game shop owner repair guy warned me it would happen. Anyways, I had good luck with the ps1&2 , except for that one time.

I doubt it was the Gameshark because I've been using them since the PS1 and theirs nothing wrong with my PS1 & 2... but then again I don't put a lot of wear and tear on my systems so maybe that's why they last.