Is the PSN Network really that bad?

Written by Jim Squires

Wednesday, 13 February 2008 07:04

I may be alone in my opinion on this, but I really think the PSN Network has gotten a bad rap. I picked up a PS3 a few months ago and honestly didn't see the reason for all of the complaints. Online gaming hasn't failed me, the friends list isn't that bad, and despite multiple confirmations and poor navigation I actually prefer shopping in the Playstation Store to the Xbox Marketplace.

With all of that pretext out of the way, I thought it might be fun to share a little point/counterpoint Dan and I were having back in October on the virtues of the PSN Network. It's especially fun when you see how quickly his opinion has changed (give a listen to our latest bitcast to hear what I mean!);

Dan: so another friend's xbox died, now I'm considering Rock Band on PS3!
me: YES!!!!
Dan: considering
me: If you do, I'm 100% on the PS3 version. You folks are really my only reason to not at this point.
Dan: it'll only be me that gets it, kev doesn't have a PS3
me: understood. so long as I have someone to play with.
Dan: I dunno, I'm still leaning 360
me: awww! you're such a sonytease.
Dan: what can I say, I prefer Xbox Live to the PSN
me: agreed, but still. I think 99% of my multiplayer will be local anyways, besides -- i loathe microsoft points after getting used to the sony shopping experience.
Dan: adding money to your wallet, taking money out of your wallet, paying, are you sure, yes, yes, yes, would you like to d/l, yes, sure, yes, would you like to install, yes, sure, yes
me: it's totally not that bad. and I don't mind clicking X a few extra times nearly as much as I mind being forced to buy extra disney bucks when I only need 800.
Dan: I always end up spending the points so it never really bothers me
and it is that bad
me: you spend them because you have them. that's why they force you to buy them. And on that second point, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Dan: it's mostly the friend management on the PS3 that I hate
me: really? I don't find it too bad. It's not the convenience that Live offers, but still -- every game I've played online so far seems to know who my friends are. Isn't that all that matters?
Dan: I just like the functionality of Live better
me: Don't get me wrong -- I like Live too. I just don't think the PSN network is as bad as everybody says it is.
Dan: You get what you pay for, and it's worth it being free... but I wouldn't pay for it
me: fair enough. keep in mind though too -- it's still in it's infancy. should they have had a system to roll out at the time of launch? absolutely. but they didn't, and that's where home will (eventually/hopefully) come in.

So what do you guys think? Is the PSN Network really as bad as everybody says?

Comments (4) Add Comment

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written by Santos Gonzalez, February 13, 2008

PSN could turn into something good but at the moment is passable. You do get what you pay for though.

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written by Ryan Hewson, February 13, 2008

No its not that bad.

Hey Dan, there's a Buy Now button on the store now that bypasses all the wallet nonsense, you should check it out.

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written by bdwilcox, February 14, 2008

I love on XBox Live how you have to pay to use a service that sells you stuff. It's like paying a door fee at Walmart or Gamestop.

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written by SuicideNinja, February 16, 2008

The PSN is functional, but it is clunkier and slower. The only credit I give it is that using actual money values instead of points is a good thing. But other than that, I can get much more browsing and downloads started on XBLMP than the slow loading clunky browsing of the PSN store.

I blame a lot of it on the visual presentation. They can't fit as much on one screen. It seems to me that XBL is more for power users.