Archive for September, 2008

CamTwist

Sep 6th

Posted by dmkemick in Apple

1 comment

It's Saturday so that means it's video time.  For this one I demoed CamTwist, an application that lets you do some on-screen effects for streaming/video capturing.  Pretty cool stuff.  If you have any recommendations of applications I should take a look at, let me know!  Whether you're paid or free it doesn't matter - I just like getting my hands on cool Mac software. =)

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xbox_live_logo_qjgenth

5 reasons why Xbox Live is better than PSN

Sep 4th

Posted by dmkemick in Playstation 3

No comments

Xbox Live logoThis is my follow-up post to the "5 reasons why PSN is better than Xbox Live" post.  I guess the point of these posts is that each service has its merits, but neither is perfect.  I guess that's the point of competition, isn't it?  I've used both over the past few years (although I must admit I've had less time with my Playstation 3 and therefore PSN) and I enjoy using both for various reasons.  So then, without any further delay let's go ahead and jump into the list!
 

  1. Community Integration
    Unlike PSN, all of the features you get with Xbox Live are available in each Xbox Live game.  Basically, Xbox Live's friend system was designed, from the beginning, to work with every game on the Xbox 360 unlike PSN where it's up to each developer to integrate their own system.  What that means is there's a global friends list that I can interact with (including sending/receiving voice and text messages, game invites, picture messages etc.) not only from the Xbox 360 dashboard, but in-game as well.  It doesn't sound like much but it makes playing with friends a lot easier.  Of course, it should be mentioned that these features come at an expense since, unlike PSN, Xbox Live is not free.       

     

  2. Amount of Content
    There's no question about it - Xbox Live has an almost overwhelming amount of content.  Whether you're looking for games, video, expansion content, demos or gamerpics you'll have a lot to choose from.  From the beginning Microsoft has been serious about making Xbox Live Arcade a place to find those experiences, whether classic or not, that give you a taste of that "pop in and play" style of gameplay perfect for short sessions.  Since those initial plans though, games have varied to include full-length experiences as well.  Whether you're looking for classics like Rez HD or brand new games like Braid, there's a good chance you'll find something to suit your style.       

    Of course the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't stop there - you can also purchase or rent movies, check out trailers, and sample music videos from the Video Marketplace.  The amount of content still dwarfs what's available on PSN (videos alone) so, much with Xbox Live Arcade, chances are good that you'll find a movie you like.

  3. Features and Peripherals
    Part of the over-arching Xbox Live experience is utilizing features that are sewn into the system.  It's the seemingly simple things like being able to listen to music, either on your Xbox 360's hard drive or streaming over your home network, while playing a game.  I have to tell you the first time you setup Windows Media Center or the Windows Media Extender for the Xbox 360 you won't help but have a huge smile on your face.  Instantly you'll be able to use all of the music on your computer in games - so whether you're killing aliens or flying down a racing track you get that personalized experience that only one's personal music collection can provide.       

    Aside from features that came with the Xbox 360 out of the box, there's also a lot of other cool peripherals that Microsoft provides to expand on the experience.  One big selling point to the PS3 was that it used bluetooth, and so any ordinary bluetooth headset would work for voice communication.  That's cool, but sometimes using such a solution feels like a cheap experience.  The Xbox 360 however, which comes with Microsoft's own headset made specifically for voice communication on Xbox Live just feels right.  Of course there are also a lot of other peripherals that will cost you money - products like the chatpad for text messaging (I understand that Sony is working on their own version, but it looks a little wonky to me) and the wireless headset to free up some clutter.  I use both, and both work great while making interacting with friends that much easier. 

     

  4. Software Updates
    All along Microsoft has been great about adding features to the software of their console.  Sony is a bit slower at this, introducing somewhat out-dated functionality that has existed on other consoles for a while.  Meanwhile, Microsoft is dedicated to delivering two feature-packed updates a year (one in the Spring, one in the Fall).   Some of the features they've added in the past updates are the Video Marketplace, MSN messenger integration and even user interface updates.  There's no better way to keep the experience fresh than by changing things up a bit.       

    Microsoft realizes this and that's why, 3 years into the consoles life-cycle, they've decided to completely revamp the way the dashboard looks.  This fall we'll see an update that changes the user interface into one that's a little more modern, and a little less Fisher-Price.  The update will also add new functionality such as Netflix integration and avatars (not to mention live game shows) that will continue to make using the dashboard fun.  The fact that Microsoft is a software company primarily leaves me pretty confident that they can add to their product via incremental software updates without having to worry about pushing out new generations of consoles as often.

     

  5. Community
    This is easily the biggest advantage Xbox Live has over PSN.  Live's community is absolutely huge, and Microsoft is dedicated to keeping them interested.  The last dashboard update included streaming video features like "Major's Minute" (Larry Hryb's overview of some of the lastest features the 360 has to offer) and "Community Confidential" (Trixie's rundown of all of the latest events going on in the Xbox Live community).  That's only a couple of examples but it's easy to tell that Microsoft wants to keep their customers happy.       

    The other less glamorous side-effect of having a huge community is that you'll never have to worry about finding someone to game with online.  Most big games have their own dedicated communities (Halo 3, Call of Duty 4) but even older games retain a presence online.  I remember not too long ago I went back and played Project Gotham Racing 4, and was pleased to find that there were still a ton of people playing.

So there you have it.  In my opinion, the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live provides the more seamless experience.  If you just want to pick up some games and jump in to play with friends you can't go wrong with the 360.  There's features there that are aimed at both the casual player and more hardcore gamers, and new features are being added all the time.  Of course there's still a lot of promise coming down the road, and if Microsoft would get around to capitalizing on some promises (Live Anywhere, the independent XNA games initiative) I'd be even happier.
 
And that rounds out my "5 reasons" posts, for now.  Remember this is all just personal opinion, and if you want to go back and check out the arguments I made for PSN you can do so by clicking here.  As always if you have any comments I'd love to hear them!
 

 

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Playstation Network logo

5 reasons why PSN is better than Xbox Live

Sep 2nd

Posted by dmkemick in Playstation 3

8 comments

Playstation Network logo
This is a series (that's right, I'll also do the opposite in favor of Xbox Live) of posts for a while.  After having used both online components for the individual consoles, obviously the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in this case, I've found good and bad things about both.  So then, without wasting much time let's dive in and start the countdown!

 

 

  1. User Interface
    I have been a fan of the Playstation 3's cross-media blade interface since I first saw it on the PSP.  It's simple, pretty, and intuitive.  Fortunately, not too long ago this approach was also taken when revamping the Playstation Store.  Before the store was overhauled what you saw when you tried to browse or purchase content was what amounted to a pretty, if cluttered, website.  That's right.  You interacted with the Playstation Store via the PS3's web browser.  After a lot of complaining from gamers Sony finally realized that perhaps that wasn't the best route to go (especially for a store that has a lot of potential to make money for them) and so they transformed the store into more of a software-based solution.           

    The new store is absolutely awesome.  Not only is it pretty to look at (I find myself going in there even when I know there's nothing I want, just to make sure I haven't missed anything) but it is, at least in my opinion, much easier to use than the Xbox Live Marketplace.  With the Playstation Store you won't find lists of text denoting what you want to try out.  You get image-based icons in various categories that you can drill down into to find what you want.  You can also search through the content alphabetically so, unlike the Xbox Live Marketplace, you won't have to scroll through a giant list past the A's and B's to finally get to the first letter of your download.  Add to that the simple touches like placing a shopping bag icon next to any content you've already downloaded (saving you the time you may have lost redownloading something you didn't know you already had) and the experience is just plain better.  I'm happy to say that the same system was carried over to their Video Store as well.

     

  2. Trophies
    When I first heard that Sony was taking a crack at the beloved achievements system I assumed the worst.  How can an idea so simple be elaborated on?  You do things in games, you're rewarded with points.  Can't go very far past that, right?  As it turns out, I was wrong.  Getting trophies is way more fun than getting achievements, for a couple reasons.  One problem with achievements is they can be easily gamed.  For instance, I can go out and rent a game that has a bunch of extremely easy achievements and pad my score by 1,000 points in a weekend.  Sony, by breaking up their trophies into 3 separate difficulty levels, have found a way around that problem.             

    Throughout a game with trophies in it you'll be presented with opportunities to win Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies plus a Platinum trophy for earning all other trophies available for that game.  Your trophy count for each of these separate levels (Bronze being the easiest to obtain, Platinum being the most difficult) is displayed on your PSN card which is easily accessible from the XMB's friends list so, if someone has been padding their trophy count with easy-to-get bronze trophies you'll be able to tell right off the bat.  Another cool feature of the trophy system is that, in order to progress your gamer level you need a certain number of trophies, including certain types of trophies.  So, for instance, say I have a thousand bronze trophies but I need at least 3 gold trophies to progress to the next gamer level rank - I'll be stuck at my current level until I go out and grab those golds.  Pretty cool stuff.

     

  3. PSP integration
    One huge advantage that the PS3 has over the Xbox 360 is that it already has the PSP, a handheld multimedia powerhouse, ready to be integrated with your PS3 experience.  Through remote play you can interact with your PS3 from your PSP (remember how I mentioned they both had the same interface?) and do things like watch videos, listen to music, access the Playstation Store, and even play games.  This gives me a whole bunch of opportunities to interact with PSN from my PSP.  Say, for instance, I just heard that a new game has been added to the Playstation Store.  Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get to my PS3 anytime soon but I do have my PSP with me.  As long as I have a wifi connection (built into the PSP) I can use remote play to turn on my PS3 and start the download so it will be waiting for me when I get home.           

    As another example of how cool remote play is, imagine you're totally addicted to PixelJunk Eden on the PS3.  As with before, you're away from your PS3 but you want to get your fix and even earn some trophies, so you use remote play to play PixelJunk Eden on your PSP (despite it being a PS3 game) and, since trophies are available even over remote play, you get to add to your trophy count!  Pretty cool stuff.  Just the idea of the established functionality plus potential further integration in the future has been enough for me to add the PSP to my must-own gadgets list.

     

  4. Real Currency
    One of my biggest complaints about the Xbox Live Marketplace (and most online gaming-related stores these days) is that they shy away from using actual monetary values for things you purchase.  For example, why say a certain game costs $10.00 when you can instead say it costs 800 Microsoft points?  To avoid confusion, that's why - and Sony understands this.  Of course equating the money your users spend to funny money does have its financial benefits (users will be much quicker to spend "fake" points instead of actual dollar amounts) but it still seems a little deceitful, doesn't it?  That also adds another step in the content-purchasing process.  On Xbox Live if I want to purchase something I must first purchase points, then use those points to buy whatever game I'm interested in.  Fortunately, the same is not true for PSN, and as long as I have my account information tied to a credit/debit card, I can quickly make purchases just like on iTunes and guess what!  On the Playstation Store if something costs $10.00, it says $10.00.  Not 800 Space Bucks.           

     

  5. PSN IS FREE
    This is a huge feature.  Microsoft charges $50 a year for their Xbox Live service while PSN is 100% free.  You can play your games online without spending a single cent.  This is my biggest response to anyone who gets down on PSN because it doesn't have a particular feature that is available on Xbox Live - PSN is free.  They're allowed to lag a little behind despite making a ton of progress of late, just because they aren't billing me yearly.  I accept that.  With PSN there's absolutely no barrier to entry because they're banking on your liking the content that's available and maybe purchasing a game or two.  I have to say, spending $20 on the PSN store for a couple games is much easier when you know you aren't being billed to use the service.  Just sayin'.           

    Runners Up: 
    These are just a couple features I like about PSN over Xbox Live, but didn't get their own specific bullet points.  First off, content.  Sony has made an effort to bring original and unique content to PSN over the same old arcade game rehashes that we see all-to-often on Xbox Live.  Games like Fl0w, PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Eden, Super Stardust HD as well as future titles such as Fat Princess and Flower prove that Sony is committed to bringing the goods.

    Another huge feature of PSN is the ability to download full games, not just arcade games.  I've already spoken highly about the power of releasing Siren, a somewhat-niche title, as a download but this has worked for other titles too.  Games like Warhawk and Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty have offered full-game experiences without having to go to the store and purchase a physical copy.  The main reason this is only possible on PSN is the Playstation 3's hard drive capacity.  It generally doubles the Xbox 360's in most cases, plus you can upgrade your own hard drive rather than spending ridiculous amounts of money for a proprietary solution as Microsoft has done.  Being able to deliver full content experiences via digital distribution is the next big thing in gaming and I'm happy Sony is on-board.

As I said I'll be posting my Xbox Live list on Thursday, so stay tuned for that!  If I missed anything please leave a comment, or just leave a comment and let me know what you think. =)
 
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