Sony Details PlayStation 3's Network Services
During his keynote address at the show, Sony Computer Entertainment President Phil Harrison disclosed several details about the device, including that it will support an online gaming service, tentatively called the PlayStation Network Platform (PSNP), as well as movie and music downloads. According to Harrison, PSNP will give PlayStation 3 users the ability to communicate directly with one another not only through instant messaging, but also through voice and video chat.
Online Gravy Train
In addition to offering social-networking features, PSNP will let users upload their own content to sell to the community at large. At the basic level, the online platform, which will debut in November with the PlayStation 3, will be free to all PS3 owners.
While the service will be designed to cultivate a MySpace-like PlayStation community, Harrison expects that it will form the center of what he termed a "wheel of fortune" for Sony.
The revenue-producing content will include mobile games for the PlayStation Portable, in-game objects for PlayStation 3 games, branded merchandise, subscriptions to additional services, and lots of other content, including audio and video. "This can provide a tremendous revenue stream for our industry," Harrison said.
Keeping Pace
Sony seems to be taking the creation of an online component for the PlayStation 3 much more seriously than it took the PlayStation 2's, according to Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson, who called the PlayStation 2's Internet connectivity a "ramshackle service."
"They are now offering more in the way of tools and advice and help for developers," Jackson said. One major difference between Xbox Live and PSNP is that Microsoft hosts its service, while Sony will expect each game developer to host its own servers and related content.
Jackson pointed out that when Microsoft launched its first Xbox network, some developers were hesitant initially about participating because they wanted to use their own servers and "own the consumer."
"Microsoft does the whole thing, and developers post their content on the site," Jackson said. "For small developers and publishers, [a hosted service] is a great model because it encourages experimentation and innovation."
While the PSNP strategy might work to Sony's advantage, said Jackson, the every-developer-for-itself model might preclude small shops worried about running their own content servers and e-commerce systems.
Microsoft Head Start
Notably, Jackson also said that, despite Microsoft gaining a full year's lead with the launch of the Xbox 360, Sony will not have any problems catching up, especially in the Asia-Pacific market where sales for Microsoft's console have been almost nonexistent.
Jackson said that the company might lose some market share in North America between now and the November launch of the PlayStation 3, but he also noted that with 100 million PlayStation 2 systems on the market now, Microsoft and Nintendo pose little threat to the Japanese company's dominance.
For Sony to start losing market share, he said, the company would have to "really mess up" the launch in November.
"If Sony makes their now-promised November release," Jackson predicted, "they stand a pretty good chance of staying in the lead in all three global markets, in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America."
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Originally Posted by RsX
