GamerNode: News - PSN ad bashes Xbox Live?

PSN ad bashes Xbox Live?

Category: PlayStation 3, Posted: 01/21/2008 at 11:47PM EST by Andy Groen, Contributor

PSN ad A lot of people are doubtlessly going to see this as a dirty cheap shot. It's really just smart marketing, though. Sony has released a new advertisement for its online network. The tagline for this ad is, "PlayStation Network: The fun's always free."

Many current PS3 owners see the cost-free nature of the PSN as a huge benefit, as any PS3 fanboy will loudly declare. So they are really just marketing the one thing they know for sure that the consumer is going to respond to.

I'm a bit surprised that Sony decided to take this route and point out the positives in the PSN when Microsoft has made it so simple for them to point out the flaws in MS's service. When your competitor's service essentially craps out for the better part of a month, the advertiser's job becomes pretty easy.

I would love to see MS mount a smear campaign in response to the "Playstation Network: The fun's always free" ad. The tagline could be: "Playstation Network: Fun-free."

Posted by -=BINGO-BANGO=- on 01/21/2008 at 11:48PM

yea, this got into a pretty heated discussion over at the gametrailers.com forums

Posted by Disc0 on 01/22/2008 at 12:41AM

This is seriously a big advantage over XBL. I'm used to online gaming on PC, and just can't justify paying for Live when the internet connection is mine, and the game is hosted on the console. I'm paying a monthly fee for matchmaking? And it craps out for weeks at a time? Sounds like a raw deal, to say the least.

Posted by Leonick on 01/22/2008 at 12:45AM

So sony say fun is always free?? why do you have to pay for all games and consoles?? I demand them to send me a free PS3 and atleast 20 games!! :p

Posted by honestgamer on 01/22/2008 at 12:54AM

The reality is that the PlayStation Network is inferior to the Xbox 360 one by a great deal. That doesn't have to be the case, but right now it is. Until that changes, there's not much point in the ads. Xbox Live is pretty awesome, as long as it's running. The PlayStation Network isn't really awesome at all.

Posted by Dr.Aaron on 01/22/2008 at 11:04AM

I haven't connected on to the psn network yet, but yeah, I don't want to have to pay £40 a year for something that's been a standard for ages.... Well someone else pays it but whatever.

Posted by Corvall on 01/22/2008 at 01:09PM

You get what you pay for. While the recent problems some (emphasis on 'some') have had with XBL recently don't help it, the service is generally very good and well worth the few bucks per month.

Posted by 7ty714 on 01/22/2008 at 03:17PM

"THE FUN'S ALWAYS FREE"
I guess PS3 isn't fun then.

Posted by Lopez on 01/22/2008 at 03:25PM

I really don't see what people's problem is with paying £40 a year for a service that is far superior to Sony's free service. I'm not going to bother pointing out why it is because if you care then you will already know and if you don't then you will point out advantages of PSN over XBL. It is a little less than the price of a new game for 1 year's service and it lengthens the playability of the game considerably. XBL also offers the user free access to various content ranging from game demos to extra game content. It even allows expansion packs and such-like to be purchased without the need for a credit card by allowing points to be bought. Sure, if you don't want any of these because you're used to playing PC games online free then don't get XBL but its not like its a compulsary purchase.