~PS3 to use Xfire for online confirmed~

[paulyfknt90]

PS3 to use Xfire for online confirmed


Sony and Xfire have confirmed their partnership today, announcing that the PS3 will be using a new cross-platform middleware, developed by Xfire; it will allow users to communicate from PS3 to PC.

The gaming service will include voice/video chat, online rankings, match making, ect.

John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment stated, "Many of our PC game players already use Xfire to find and play with their friends online. By integrating Xfire features into our games we are able to strengthen our online community, making it even easier for our players to remain connected, whether they're on a PC or a PlayStation 3."

Mike Cassidy, CEO of Xfire added, "The opportunity to work with the PlayStation 3 is tremendous...Many Xfire gamers and game publishers have been asking us about a version of Xfire for console play for some time now. Working with SOE on one of their highly anticipated PlayStation 3 launch titles is a very exciting beginning for Xfire's new console game product."

The first PS3 title confirmed to ship with Xfire's new cross-platform network will be first party game Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. Check in with PS3Land.com as more info on the online service is available.




http://ps3land.com/article-848.php

 

[Axid]

Oh dear

 

[Havok83]

Oh dear

Im not familiar with it, but whats wrong with Xfire?

 

[Kenji Li]

Xfire is not bad at all, they dont like it because its now affiliated with sony.

 

[Axid]

Next time I need to explain what I like or don't like and the reasons, I'll be sure to look for you.

 

[WhatsHisFace]

Actually, X-fire just sucks.

 

[Fran]

X-Fire has never been good.

 

[Zenien]

Isn't this just middle ware for PS3/PC communication? Even using it for the PNP system, it's just middleware. XFIRE does what it's meant to do, you can't get much better then that.

Again, those familiar with Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 won't find this terribly surprising, but it's worth noting that the system does show you friend sign-ins and new messages received in overlays on top of the game you're currently playing - just little notification windows which pop up to tell you about something happening with your friends list. At present, however, there's no system for actually reading or responding to messages while you're still in the game, as the operating system doesn't take resources away from games in order to do that - however, according to Harrison, that functionality may well appear in an OS update, presumably based on whether users actually express a desire for it or not

Oh - and it's all free, too. The only place you'll be asked to fork over a penny is when you purchase something in the PlayStation Store - all of the online services, from sign-up right through to voice and video chat, are free, as is normal multiplayer gaming. There's no equivalent of the Xbox Live Gold account, where you're expected to pay extra for a further tier of services - the only things you'll pay money for are paid-for downloadable content, or subscriptions to like massively multiplayer games.

We're not going to talk in much depth about PlayStation Store, because what we saw was still undoubtedly being worked on frantically to prepare for the November launch. However, there are a few elements that it's worth talking about - the first of which is the Wallet, which lies at the heart of how you buy things on the Store. Unlike Nintendo and Microsoft's offerings, Sony doesn't hide the price of items behind an arbitrary "points" scheme - instead, everything simply lists a price in your local currency, so European types will see a Euro price, British people will see prices in Pounds Sterling, and so on.

Alongside the free and paid-for game content, the store will also play host to a wide range of new titles developed specifically for download (the first of which, fl0w, was shown off at TGS - dozens more PlayStation Store exclusive titles are being worked on around the world thanks to an initiative which Sony launched at GDC last year) - and as Ken Kutaragi revealed at TGS last month, it'll also be possible to buy PSone and PS2 classics you missed out on, as well as a selection of PSP games, from the PlayStation Store, and download them directly to your PS3.

Sony has some way to go before proving to people that it can do a comprehensive online gaming service. However, what we've seen is very promising. Account creation and management, buddy lists and various types of chat appear to be working just fine, the interface is simple and elegant, and the PlayStation Store, even at this early stage, looks like being one aspect of the service which will be a genuine improvement over Microsoft's offering, Xbox Live Marketplace - which is well-stocked, but has a terrible user interface that struggles to cope with the amount of content now available, and has only been marginally improved by recent updates.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=68677

 

[WhatsHisFace]

This is like the Real-Player of online gaming. Crap that installs itself without you wanting it to, spyware abounds, resource hog, underperforms.

It blows. I just found it in my "Program Files" folder again. I should sue these *******s.

 

[SpiderFan17]

"Unlike Nintendo and Microsoft's offerings, Sony doesn't hide the price of items behind an arbitrary "points" scheme"

This is a pretty spin-riffic way of putting it. I mean, points aren't there to really hide the price, because you would figure out what translates to what.

400 ms points is 5 bucks, 800 is 10, etc. When I look at the marketplace and see Dig Dug for 400, I mentally read it as 5 bucks, automatically. When you get way down to stuff like 30 points for individual picture packs, its easier for 30 points to be there, than 9.8 cents.

And I thought Nintendo was doing a relative point system, like 100 points per dollar, or something. How is that exactly hiding the price?

This really reeks of trying to heavily prop up a mild achievement at best. It's a nice feature, but they're trying to make it sound like something totally revolutionary.


Also, screw whoever decided not to allocate some of the processing to read messages in-game. I thought the cell was so fantastic it could do anything, so why are they denying it to us at the beginning. As far as "it can come out later in an update", why do people harp on 360 updating the dashboard twice per year by calling it "implementing stuff they forgot to do", yet are ok with this?

 

[Zenien]

Using points is a clever way of helping to manipulate and hide the real cost, using fake currency as a means to spur spending has been shown to make people more likely to put down the money then if the true value is litterally right in front of their face. So good news for gamers.

As for the read message part, probably because it's planned in a future update.