PSN vs Live Experience

dc_fortythree

dc_fortythree

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As an ex-360 owner and a current PS3 owner I was wondering what people's experiences have been with the two different online services. I'm planning on jumping back into online gaming but wanted to get some feedback on PSN before hooking my internet back up. I used to have Live and loved the experience it offered (for $50). Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks CAGs.
 
oh god, I can't argue anymore... just try out PSN for yourself, and leave us alone. You be the judge and report back. It is free so... I mean, damn... give it a shot.
 
I guess i didn't state my issue clearly enough. I understand its free to use, but I'm gonna have to pay to hook internet back up. So having played on Live before my question is to everyone that's used both services how close is "free" PSN compared to "paid" Live? (not trying to start an us versus them just making sure that its worth it)
 
It's free, we got a store, they have a store. Some games have lag, others don't. It's all the same, well except when I'm downloading stuff from the PSN store otherwise it's the same. Seriously, what's up with all these anti-PS3 posts lately, which is what this will turn into. I thought people had finally given up bashing each system. I guess not.
 
[quote name='dc_fortythree']thanks Thongsy. have you experienced any persistant lag issues with COD4 or COD:WaW?

mwynn, i've been updating firmware with a USB stick.[/quote]
I've spent countless hours with CoD4.
Lag is a VERY rare issue.

You'll have fun.
 
[quote name='Thongsy']It's free, we got a store, they have a store. Some games have lag, others don't. It's all the same, well except when I'm downloading stuff from the PSN store otherwise it's the same. Seriously, what's up with all these anti-PS3 posts lately, which is what this will turn into. I thought people had finally given up bashing each system. I guess not.[/quote]

Pretty much spot on. Downloads can be slow which can be annoying. Lag wise though I've been playing some COD WaW, Motorstorm PR, Resistance 2, Battlefield BC and UT3 lately and I haven't had any issues.

I think functionality-wise the only real difference(s) is lack cross-game invites (currently) and lack of ability to chat with friends while playing a game. Right?
 
if you open up the right ports on your router the PSN download speed can be made a bit better. Also, by opening up certain ports you will have less problems w/ PSN games online. Overall the PSN service is excellent. Even if you don't have a computer, you can still use the internet access because you can download, rent movies, and there's a very good PS3 web browser where you can access tv shows from Hulu.com.
 
For what it offers for free. compared to Live, I can't complain... the service is pretty good, although download times can be really slow at times. The PSN is constantly improving, so I'm happy about that. :]
 
I feel that Live is much more informative than the PSN, in regards to all of the content that they put on live. The daily updates are really nice. The way they've integrated it with the NXE is very nice.

That being said however, if you're looking for actual gameplay, you'll find it to be essentially the same. I've yet to have a lag issue on any of my PSN games (or any PS3 games for that matter). The store is simple to use. Downloads can be slower, which is a real bummer sometimes. Other than that, I have no complaints at all with either service.
 
I'd say they are pretty much the same, only real difference is user base I guess. Though I've never played the same online game on both the 360 and PS3, I noticed no lag on my part in any of the games I've played. I get lag from bad hosts on both consoles, neither more on one nor the other. If you liked Live, depending on the games you plan to play on the PS3, you'll be just as fine with the PSN.
 
[quote name='dc_fortythree']thanks Thongsy. have you experienced any persistant lag issues with COD4 or COD:WaW?

mwynn, i've been updating firmware with a USB stick.[/QUOTE]

COD4 on PS3 onilne is pretty much identical to it on the 360 with the difference being you can invite people on the 360 that aren't playing COD4 to your party.


As far as Live Vs PSN goes, Live is better, but that doesn't mean PSN is bad.
 
PSN is so laggy right now after they added PSN home, Socom servers are so bad and so laggy. But I've been playing online for almost 2 years now and lag have been a rare issue, it happens from time to time. Im sure Live is a better experience, but im cheap, free is free....
 
CoD4 usually doesn't have lag unless the host has a poor connection or you do. Some of the Sony first party games were having networking issues, those might have been fixed now, such as Resistances 2 in co-op and I heard Socom had some problems but they been patching that. LBP seems funky, sometimes it's great and lag free, and other times there is just a bunch that comes and ruins the gameplay. I was playing today with a friend and we were good for the first hour, but than the second hour there was just a lot of lag for us and we were playing the story mode levels.
 
[quote name='dallow']The LBP servers have been fixed.
Lag comes from people's connections once in a game, as it's P2P then.[/quote]

That's what I thought too. It was weird, it was just the two of us so I wasn't supporting four players or anything. My friend and I were fine for the first hour or so and than just suddenly lagged like crazy. No biggie, but a bit annoying.
 
[quote name='Thongsy']I thought people had finally given up bashing each system. I guess not.[/QUOTE]

Defensive much? Maybe my reading skills aren't what they used to be but I don't see a single post above yours bashing anything.

I'd have to agree with WhoKnows. Live is better, but PSN isn't bad. It is kind of a silly thread though, if you only own a PS3 at this point, then Live isn't an option. It's free, so just go at it.
 
I don't know if we can really judge, PSN vs Live... should it not be on a game by game Basis?

Resistance performed extremely well with 40 people on line, and now Resistance 2 performs ever better with 60 player matches. Warhawk has 32 players in one room max, no issues. The last time I brought this up, 360 fans, said "oh we don't like such large battles" fine.. but the point at this time, is not the game's decision to have that many people in one room that we're looking it, now we're looking at the performance of PSN, which have harbour several games that are at 40 plus people in one room, and there's no lag. Resistance 2 is a testiment to how well the PSN service operates. PSN isn't perfect, and neither is live, because last year live got free gifts and games due to all the service outages.
 
I'm way to lazy to make a marvel vs capcom 2 screen and replace the marvel and capcom with psn vs xbl.

Anywho I think psn is meh i always lag always have problems but its free. I know I know open up ports etc but still my xbox never needed to open ports etc it just worked ps3 should be the same seeing how its suppose to be so much better than the 360 hardware wise.
 
[quote name='Mrcapcom']I'm way to lazy to make a marvel vs capcom 2 screen and replace the marvel and capcom with psn vs xbl.

Anywho I think psn is meh i always lag always have problems but its free. I know I know open up ports etc but still my xbox never needed to open ports etc it just worked ps3 should be the same seeing how its suppose to be so much better than the 360 hardware wise.[/quote]

But then it's not the ps3's hardware, it's your other hardware that's the problem.
 
No its not my hard ware because once i open ports its still slow but if i connect via Ethernet its fine with or with out the ports open/close. So its a ps3 wifi problem. I got my 360 and ps3 in the same spot wifi my 360 out preforms the ps3 online on live and streaming video through the wifi.
 
PSN is fast, speeds are good. No lag on games unless they are new and the developers have bad servers running because demand can be high sometimes.

A++++
 
[quote name='Mrcapcom']No its not my hard ware because once i open ports its still slow but if i connect via Ethernet its fine with or with out the ports open/close. So its a ps3 wifi problem. I got my 360 and ps3 in the same spot wifi my 360 out preforms the ps3 online on live and streaming video through the wifi.[/quote]
get a wifi booster = problem solved
 
This is a burning question I have always had. I always hear that Live is infinitely better, but I never get any reasons. Since lag is dependent on a lot of variables can we talk about features instead?

There was a thread on gaf about this and the most I got out of it was that Live has cross-game invites and that the interface is standard. Any thoughts?
 
[quote name='jling84']People who tell you Live is infinitely better are xbox fanboys. Marginally better, maybe, infinitely, no way.[/QUOTE]Pretty much.

When you pay for XBL Gold, you get the following features:
-True Skill Match-Making
-Online Multi-player
-Able to send messages online via Xbox.com
-Cross-game invites
-Demos 1 week ahead of XBL Silver members
-NXE create a party

Comparing $50 XBL Gold to PSN, the only advantages you really have are
-Cross-game invites
-True Skill match making (although some games on PSN have superb match making, some do not)
-Sending messages online and sending a voice message through the 360.
-NXE create a party (although you can kind of do that in Home, but only one game supports it. Down the road, this will become less compelling IMO when Home improves).

IMO, are these features worth an extra $50 over what PSN is like?? Nope. While it is marginally better IMO to have these features (at least PS3 supports any bluetooth or USB keyboard, so I no longer need to send messages on some website to make typing easier and won't messaging isn't exactly a must). The only main advantage I see is cross-game invites, but accept an invite on PS3 and going online only takes like 1 minute or less.

The advantage PSN has is that some games have dedicated servers minimizing lag, and some games go up to 60 player multi-player.

Is XBL the better service? Yes. Is XBL $50 (or even $30 better) than PSN every year? Absolutely not. I'm perfectly happy with what PSN has to offer and that's what I'm sticking to (plus most of my friends are on PSN). I just don't see a reason to pay for XBL when PSN is almost as good for free, and I never have to worry about making a monthly payment again.

This is coming from someone who had XBL on Xbox, and had it for over a year on Xbox 360 (Currently I'm XBL Silver, but had XBL Gold for 14 months).
[quote name='StrandedBrit']Pretty much spot on. Downloads can be slow which can be annoying. Lag wise though I've been playing some COD WaW, Motorstorm PR, Resistance 2, Battlefield BC and UT3 lately and I haven't had any issues.

I think functionality-wise the only real difference(s) is lack cross-game invites (currently) and lack of ability to chat with friends while playing a game. Right?[/QUOTE]Downloads between the two are exactly the same if you (and this is what I've done):
-Open up ports on your router and configure it for PSN, although not an easy task for some.
-Download while being wired (Most 360 owners have their console wired, compared to many using WiFi on PS3).

When I do that, I'm getting around 1-2MB per/sec, on both PS3/360 for downloads.

As for cross-game chat, that is something Sony is working on no doubt. It will most likely come when they reduce the OS footprint enough to make it work (kind of like what they had to do to get in-game XMB to work).
[quote name='Thongsy']It's free, we got a store, they have a store. Some games have lag, others don't. It's all the same, well except when I'm downloading stuff from the PSN store otherwise it's the same. Seriously, what's up with all these anti-PS3 posts lately, which is what this will turn into. I thought people had finally given up bashing each system. I guess not.[/QUOTE]Yeah, tell me about it.
 
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[quote name='manthing']If a CAG is paying $50 a year of XBL, they're doing something wrong.[/QUOTE]I actually paid $38 a year when I had it, but that's another story. ;)

I see what you mean, because I normally try getting XBL Points, Wii Points, and PSN Cards cheap too.
 
I paid $30 and haven't played a single game online since.
I need to start using it.........

I guess I did have access to Sonic Unleased a week early...
 
live is a lot better compared to the psn. You can jump into games your friends are in as long as its joinable. On the PSN you can't do that. Depending on the game you play you probably would have to wait for your friend to invite you or join their party.

Based on my experience with COD4 (i have it for both the 360 & PS3), xbl is better. The ps3 has A LOT of issues when it comes to parties in COD4. For example, although COD4 enables users to invite their friends in game and join, half of the time I get an error (host was unable to connect to server). So when that happens on the PS3 I'm SOL and sit out until my friends are finished to be invited in their party. This wouldn't be a problem on the 360 because I could just go to the dashboard and join their game myself. Another thing I've noticed is that public and private parties tend to disband more frequently through the PSN than XBL.

Now I'm not complaining about the PSN because it is FREE. You get the basics, it could be better but you're not paying for it so I'm happy with it. Btw, HOME Beta just launched and that seems pretty cool, nothing much to do there yet but in time it will probably get better. Communication wise XBL is better. You get what you pay for.
 
I'm not disputing that you could have had problems with CoD4, but I never had any problems with online including matchmaking (I played til the point where I almost got to prestige mode).

I'm pretty sure problems like the one you suffered are suffered by some on PS3, but also some on XBL, so it is a wash.
 
One thing better about PSN vs. LIVE

If PSN ever sh*t the bed like LIVE did last year, it won't feel like you wasted any money
 
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