[PPOTW] Which company has the best online infrastructure?

[T-hug]

So this week's poll asks: Which company has the best online infrastructure?

Previous Week - Which is better android or ios?
Week 7 - Which August game release are you most looking forward to?
Week 6 - Will you be buying GTA V?
Week 5 - Will you buy a Gateway 3DS Flashcard?
Week 4 - Which system has the best controller?
Week 3 - Have you preordered a nextgen console yet?
Week 2 - Now MS has backtracked, will you?
Week 1 - Who will sell the most hardware next gen?

If you have an idea for a poll you would like to see on the portal just send me a PM with PPOTW in the title and your questions and answers for the poll.

 

[nukeboy95]

weird steam is not on the list

 

[T-hug]

Added thanks!

 

[FAST6191]

PC in general. I have not really used steam enough to say I have but
Largely free/free by default
Best online libraries
Easy mods for games.
Quite often free official addon content where others might have to pay.
Arguably better prices in general.
In the modern world still mostly point and shoot unless you do not want it to be.
Easily able to be flanked by any number of chat protocols
Easily able to be flanked by in game guides and whatever else
Easily able to be made into groups/guilds/teams (no limits, no friend codes, as arbitrary as you like)
Assuming the developers did their job easily able to be made into private servers ensuring a lack of downtime and a lack of end of support.
The payment/credit issue being able to be purchased in the real world that consoles had has also happened too.
About the only real downside is a lack of banning being able to made stick though a few seem to be adopting the console model (much to my chagrin) and maybe the occasional console exclusive/time locked expansion pack/extra content.

The consoles are pretty functional but I can not see them winning hands down any time soon, doubly so as the companies seem to be wanting more and more control.

 

[emigre]

Nintendo Network of course. Who needs shit like an account system.

 

[McHaggis]

I voted PSN.

In fairness, Nintendo Network is getting better on the shop side, especially considering I have downloaded 5 full retail games for free in the past 6 months, but I do worry that the couple of hundred quid worth of software tied to my 3DS will be gone forever if my 3DS XL is ever lost or stolen. That still makes the eShop a non-viable platform to spend money on, in my opinion.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Without doubt Steam. They're the example everyone else should be copying.

 

[Taleweaver]

Is there even a competition? The PC uses online features for YEARS (and I'd almost say decades). While the consoles sure have come a long way since the first modem-included models, I still feel as if they're really lagging behind. And I could very well be totally wrong as I barely tried the console services*, but I cannot see a single advantage of paying for services that are free on the PC.

And while steam is probably very hard to compete with price-wise, there's no denial that their sales pay off (though PSN kinda looks promising at this point).




*tried xbox360 gold for a month. Suddenly my console was filled with product placement and I had to put a gun to its CPU to prevent it from renewing the one-month trial.

 

[Hells Malice]

PC is kinda unfair to have on their. Obviously its better.
Otherwise Microsoft blows the other two away.

 

[PolloDiablo]

NINTENDO

 

[FAST6191]

Otherwise Microsoft blows the other two away.

Care to elaborate? PSN no longer seems the shambles it once was and "blows the other two away" is a pretty strong phrase.

 

[T-hug]

A year or 2 ago I probably would have gone for XBL but as I don't game on PC I voted PSN purely based on what you get from the service compared to XBL.

 

[Jax]

EA's Origin, of course!


loljk, Steam is da best!

 

[EyeZ]

Without doubt Steam. They're the example everyone else should be copying.

Can't argue with that, Steam offers an amazing service.

 

[Gahars]

With Steam on the list, there's really no contest. A bit unfair to compare consoles and PCs, since the PC infrastructure is always going to have the advantage in this field.

Just focusing on consoles, I'd say that Microsoft has had the superior online service for quite a while. You had to pay in to Xbox Live, but you get what you pay for. PSN was an absolute joke at the beginning, and Nintendo's online... well, I'll be kind and just say it was absolute shit. If you wanted the best online experience with the most features, you had to go Xbox.

Microsoft's really pissed away their lead, though. Sony has pretty quickly made up for lost ground, and they've even pushed ahead in a lot of areas (PS+ says hello) while offering a better deal (not hiding stuff like Netflix behind an arbitrary pay wall). Hell, even Nintendo is taking baby steps towards a modern online infrastructure now. Microsoft is losing the advantage, and they don't seem to have any idea on how to reclaim it. Hell, even video recording requires Gold on the Xbone.

I think the next generation is where we're going to see Microsoft fall far behind the competition. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

[Satangel]

Steam is just a WHOLE other level. The amount of games you buy with 50 USD on 360 or on PC, is just astonishing. With sales included, it's just amazing.
I'm not exaggerating when I say you can get 4 topgames on PC for the price of 1 360 topgame.

It is a real shame IMHO that in the past 2-3 years more and more publishers made their own, crappy, online PC platform, for their own games.
Horrible cases of DRM mainly, just dreadful and really should all stay on Steam.

 

[retKHAAAN]

With Steam on the list, there's really no contest. A bit unfair to compare consoles and PCs, since the PC infrastructure is always going to have the advantage in this field.

Just focusing on consoles, I'd say that Microsoft has had the superior online service for quite a while. You had to pay in to Xbox Live, but you get what you pay for. PSN was an absolute joke at the beginning, and Nintendo's online... well, I'll be kind and just say it was absolute shit. If you wanted the best online experience with the most features, you had to go Xbox.

Microsoft's really pissed away their lead, though. Sony has pretty quickly made up for lost ground, and they've even pushed ahead in a lot of areas (PS+ says hello) while offering a better deal (not hiding stuff like Netflix behind an arbitrary pay wall). Hell, even Nintendo is taking baby steps towards a modern online infrastructure now. Microsoft is losing the advantage, and they don't seem to have any idea on how to reclaim it. Hell, even video recording requires Gold on the Xbone.

I think the next generation is where we're going to see Microsoft fall far behind the competition. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

While I agree with you on most of this, the poll is concerning "infrastructure", not who offers better sales. When you look at pure performance and connectivity Live is certainly superior to PSN+. One would have to assume most of the funds going into arranging the sales and free games rentals to entice new members are funds that are not going into infrastucture. Giving Lending shit away for free isn't cheap.


It's not even fair to include Steam in this poll though...

 

[FAST6191]

It is a real shame IMHO that in the past 2-3 years more and more publishers made their own, crappy, online PC platform, for their own games.
Horrible cases of DRM mainly, just dreadful and really should all stay on Steam.

Though I am none too great a fan of a lot of the alternatives to have steam as a monopoly does not seem like the best move.

 

[Armadillo]

PC.

 

[ElYubiYubi]

I have NEVER found a difference between PSN an Xbox Live

Nintendo Network is just starting and Nintendo with all the money they have should invest a lil more on it.