No price or details were mentioned, but PlayStation’s Kaz Hirai says that a “premium level” subscription will come to the now free PlayStation Network some time in 2010. And by subscription, he means NOT free.
What you will get is a kind of “service offering with premium content and services” that you can’t get in the free edition, but what that is is unclear. But it’s unlikely that Sony will charge for the services they give away now, such as the ability to play for free online. [Gamespot via Engadget]
bobbob
November 24, 2009 at 7:49 AM
If this means some decent apps getting released (like non borked internet browser or a decent media playback system)then sign me up.
Clearly sony are currently only interested in playing xbox live catch up with lame features such as music videos and social networking rather than fixing things people might actually want. Non-game SDK and a apps store sounds great to me. All this power in the console yet its hobbled when using linux and Sony only seem to do the minimum required on their official apps just so they can add features to their feature list.
Report Permalinkmatt
November 24, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I agree, but I’d rather just pay for the apps than a subscription.
honestly, this doesn’t sound good. sounds like they are hard up for cash and are gonna make features they would have otherwise released for free locked behind a paid subscription. sounds like they’ve gone “well, we’ve blindly copied enough of xbox’s functionality now (that most people don’t want) surely that gives us an excuse to charge like they do?”
not a fan of subscription services, I won’t pay for it.
Report Permalinkboc
November 25, 2009 at 12:46 AM
You may think that music videos are lame, but, I love the vidzone app.
I just have vidzone running on the TV and I’ve got a great video jukebox playing the whole night.
It’s something I’ve wanted for years and now I got it.
Report PermalinkHugh Van Weeren
November 24, 2009 at 1:20 PM
that is sooo shit, it is one of the reasons that Sony’s PSN service is better than xbox live.
Report PermalinkLoLs
June 18, 2010 at 3:04 PM
wow another lame excuse to blame the 360, for 1 both consoles are good and the 360′s xbox network is way better and simpler to use and has more features to it but have you considered why they are charging its because they dont have a handheld device like PS3 and Nintendo Wii if they had they’d probably drop the cost or completely demolish and i rekon that making people pay for ps3 will stuop this silly little girly console war…
Report PermalinkChris Brown
November 24, 2009 at 1:34 PM
I agree with Hugh, A big part of why I bought a ps3 was because online play was free. If Sony starts charging for online play, I will likely sell my ps3.
Report Permalinksam
November 25, 2009 at 5:54 AM
psn sucks right now in regards to playing online. i tried playing a freind about 2km away on street fighter 4 and the lag was amazing. if we can pay for a better service i’m up for it. i’ll get ready to kick ass real quick!
Report PermalinkHa
November 24, 2009 at 3:51 PM
So you guys buy a PS3 and games for it but can’t spend $3 a month to play online?
If it really is going to become subscription I think lots of people are going to stop playing online, even though a 12 month sub will probably cost less than one game.
Report PermalinkRobbie Spencer
November 26, 2009 at 9:46 PM
How long until they start pulling things out of the free service and only offering them to paying customers, effectively rendering the free service useless? I’m a cynic I know, but after the PSP Go UMD “Goodwill Program” I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t play that many online games anyway so it won’t matter to me too much either way I guess.
Report Permalinkthis suck
November 5, 2010 at 1:54 AM
if they make us pay im going to sell my ps3 and go to xbox 360
Report Permalink