www.rakisingh.com

I am lucky enough to be a platform connoisseur; while my credit card might cry otherwise, I am quite content to have all three current generation beasts sitting peaceably under one high definition television. My last shreds of fanboyism were shed back in the glory days of Sega. After all, the Saturn and Dreamcast were so misunderstood, they needed my undying support. But it wasn’t so long ago that my favorite hobby had a very short and tight budget. I had to continually choose between consoles and take deep breaths every time the competitor got to host an exclusive title.

Deep down, I understood that competition was the best thing for the industry. Call it a niche effect — as the companies competed for our entertainment dollar they created increasingly novel solutions to achieve similar goals. This niche effect is no more apparent than in the differing paths that Sony and Microsoft have taken to getting their fanboys united online.

This article isn’t a poop-slinging fest aimed at determining which networks are home to bigger and better sets of hardcore titles. It’s gamers who win when we get to explore the intricate game worlds encompassed in titles like Braid, Flower, Castle Crashers, and Echochrome. I don’t care which console they come on, I’m just happy to be getting great artistic content. This article aims to take a deeper look at what these online services provide when measured against your gaming dollar.

All major titles these days include a significant online multiplayer component; it is hard to imagine the gaming landscape without high profile juggernaut franchises like Halo and Call of Duty eating up millions of gaming hours across the internet. Online co-op game play is arguably one of the most significant features of this gaming generation.

PSN is often heralded as a free service and in a sense it is exactly that. Grab Killzone 2 off the shelves on its release date, insert into your PS3 and you can commence participating in bullet ballets of the highest order.

It makes sense, doesn’t it? You paid for the ticket, shouldn’t you have to access all avenues of the entertainment provided within? Sony has made a big deal about their commitment to build quality of their hardware and boast that it is full featured right out of the box:

In a sense, they’re right. My launch PS3 is easily the best piece of Sony hardware I’ve ever owned. I can already hear the choir of PS3 fanboys screaming with delight. However, I can only echo the sentiment of the Arbiter from opening lines of Halo 3, “were it so easy.”

Between teabags and reloads, every gamer wants to shoot their mouth off while playing online, but wait… you don’t have a Bluetooth headset? Isn’t that as much a part of the game as the graphics or storyline? Why wasn’t that in the box?

If Microsoft has nailed any specific aspect of this gaming generation, it’s been Xbox Live. Microsoft was well prepared for the paradigm shift towards online play and has been a leader in pushing it towards its current state. Need a headset? It’s in the box. Want to try that Gold experience? Like any good dealer, Microsoft makes sure you get that first taste for free. Friend lists, gamer profiles, demos, and a wealth of content are given to the user right away. Easy and user-friendly, Xbox Live was built around social gaming.

Sure the XMB menu is slick, but the Playstation Network has a long way to go before it is fully integrated onto the dashboard. The new Live experience is almost too intuitive when it comes to purchasing online content. Yet, the main criticism still remains: you are locked out of online play unless you fork over the yearly $50. It renders the exclusivity of a game like Left 4 Dead void because it’s next to useless without Xbox Live; but with it, the game turns into an experience that few others have captured.

It only gets more complex once you begin to consider the little details: items such as Live Avatars and Home characters; additional video services like Qore, Inside Xbox, and Netflix; and the PSN video store. I don’t know about you, but I much prefer dealing in real dollar amounts than cryptic point allotments. However, setting up a game party off the Xbox dashboard is a lot less time consuming than using Home. Case in point, I still can’t figure out why I would want to spend time or money on PSN Home other than as a way to rehabilitate myself back into society after playing massive amounts of Saints Row 2.

While I generally prefer the uber-cuteness of Veronica Belmont to Major Nelson’s dryness (Belmont, after all, is that squeaky type of geek girl that every guy gamer secretly wants) that $24.99 price point with no access to a Killzone 2 demo feels like a kick in the balls. That said, Sony has shockingly supported user generated content in titles like LittleBigPlanet and Unreal Tournament 3, but the nickel-and-diming for content in that “free” Home Beta makes those Mii look-alike Avatars seem like a breath of fresh air.

Xbox live and PSN are built in opposition to one another. Microsoft puts a price gate at the onset, asking you to fork over cash before you run amuck on their online servers. They built a fleshed-out experience that is built around you and connecting to your friends. All the extraneous content is there for you to access it whether you choose to fiddle around with it or not. Sony, on the other hand, lets you get through the gate free and join a wild social experiment where all of the major attractions are at your disposal. However, if you want that complete experience you’ve got to pull out your wallet and reach for those dangling carrots.

If anyone were to come up to me on the street and ask me which one they should go out and buy, PSN or Xbox Live, I would have no hesitation in my answer. If you truly want that next-generation experience: go where your friends are.

For an overview of each service be sure to check out the following chart: