Sony Computer Entertainment president Phil Harrison shared some more details about the PlayStation Network Platform during last week’s Game Developers Conference. The new service will offer several things Xbox Live doesn’t and might be the spark that really lights up the next-gen console battle when the PS3 comes out later this year.
The PSNP will, of course, offer online gaming, but also movie and music downloads, messaging and voice chat, and an ability for users to do a bit more as well. All this, plus, the basic service will be free.
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.
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.
Sci-Tech Today
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