PSN Bandwidth Fee Lets Media Take Another Swipe At The PS3
They can no longer claim the PlayStation 3 "has no games." They can no longer question whether or not Blu-Ray will become the accepted high-definition medium. They can no longer say that the PlayStation Network "has a long way to go." But no matter how many hurdles the PS3 clears, the media always wants to place more in its path.
This isn't a promotional push for the PS3; this is merely a counter to the extraordinarily negative backlash regarding Sony's latest move: according to the MTV Multiplayer blog, Sony will now be charging publishers a bandwidth fee when PSN users download content. This "PlayStation Network Bandwidth Fee" will cost publishers 16 cents per gigabyte of content downloaded and although this does apply to free and paid content, publishers are only charged for the free stuff for the first 60 days of Network availability. Many game journalists have leaped all over this, as if a starving child had finally found another anti-Sony tidbit to snack on. They were running out of ammunition, but now they've found another bullet.
A popular article out there is this one at SF Video Game Examiner, and it essentially labels this new development as a crucial blow, and Sony fans should be "livid." It says "you'll be sorry you don't own an Xbox 360," and that it's a "no-win situation for publishers." The argument is that 1 million downloads of a 1GB demo will cost a publisher $160,000, and one source has already said- "It definitely makes us think about how we view the distribution of content related to our games when it is free for us to do it on the web, on Xbox Live, or any other way including broadcast than on Sonys platform." The final conclusion basically tells consumers to avoid the PS3 for this very reason. We don't know about you, but this is an absurd sentiment.
There isn't a single solitary gamer on Mother Earth who would count this as a catalyst one way or the other when considering a console purchase. The Network remains free. 1 million downloads of a 1GB demo? ...when the hell is that going to happen? How often has it happened? Arguing that there are 20 million+ PSN accounts allows you to say that 1 million might be believable, but the previous number was between 17 and 18 million, and Sony has freely admitted that includes PlayStation accounts made on the PSP and PC, and it likely includes multiple accounts as well. Taking this into account, and the fact that a grand total of maybe two or three demos per year would reach the aforementioned 1 million plateau, and I seriously doubt smaller publishers will even care. Most content isn't 1GB in size, anyway! Are we really going to say to someone, "oh, you shouldn't buy the PS3 because such-and-such publisher might not put such-and-such demo up on the PSN?" You've got to be kidding me.
Here's the bottom line- the Network is still free. The vast majority of gamers go online to play games. All they know is that it's free on the Network and it isn't free on Live. Nobody lists demos as a major priority when selecting a console to buy, and if you evaluate the numbers correctly, this fee won't smash publishers as hard as some people would like to claim. My favorite part of the article is where it says that "Sony has, in one fell swoop, effectively guaranteed that you'll be making your demos, trailers, and hefty add-on content exclusive to Xbox Live." I also suppose that every last consumer on earth is choosing between the PS3 and 360...not a one already has the 360 at home and is merely considering a PS3 purchase. Oh wait...in our estimation and from what we've seen, there are a whole lot more members of the latter group. How exactly does this stop them - or really, anyone - from buying a PS3? Man, why not just stand outside Sony HQ with picket signs saying-"
"We don't know what you're going to do next concerning the PS3, but we're sure it's bad and we won't stand for it any longer!"
'rolls eyes'
3/22/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (107 posts)
Akuma07
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:51:04 AM
Luiscosmo2
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 8:59:30 AM
Orvisman
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 3:23:15 PM
Also, I just read through this thread and saw many of the posters here crying this will be bad because developers won't post their stuff on PSN.
STOP IT NOW!
That is excatly what the MTV Blog and the SF Video Game Examiner want you to think. This result is unproven. Why don't you wait and see if anything changes before you overreact.
Dooby_Scooby
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 8:35:02 PM
Demos are only charged for the first 60 days, paid for content always has the 16 cents charge.. In other words if they make money from costumes that they charge £3 for and it is 1 meg in size, after 1000 downloads ( £3000 profit) they get charged 16 cents .
After 4,000,000 downloads (£12 million pounds sales) they get charged
4,000,000 downloads at 1 meg download = 4,000 GB bandwidth
16 cents = $0.16
0.16x4,000 = $640
A whopping 640 dollars
£12,000,000 profit and they pay $640 for the bandwidth.. You have to be an idiot to complain, considering your possible profit margins, which wouldnt even be possible without the psn.. (By the way £12 Million is equivalent to round about
$16-20 Million Dollars, which makes this whole thing completely ridiculous now)
(check the SFIV costumes this is what I am basing this off of, and they charge nearly £5 per costume pack ) If you dont download it they dont get charged, if you do download it then they have to pay peanuts for the bandwidth and make a killing with the pofit..
It is true that not everything is this tiny in size, but your average map pack is 100 MB and runs in at £10.. Demos, while they generate no instant cash for the company they are what help to sell the game and even then.. It is controlled only the first 60 days are they charged (first 2 months) .. Makes perfect sense.. Its not an extortionate $50 a year while all the while you have advertisements pumped through to you on the NXE..
Thank you psxextreme for putting out such a level headed response regarding this.. How appropriate that it is all from unverified anonymous sources...
All things considered, why doesn't Sony start pumping adverts onto the XMB ? I wouldn't mind if it enables them to remove the associated cost and keep the service free..
karneli lll
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:06:56 PM
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Its sad that it has to come to this but life's life, its me or them and i prefer it be them.
Either way, having 100 demos does'nt do much in the end, i'd rather be at Home (Xi update tomorrow) than download demos for games i will never rent let alone buy.
Last edited by karneli lll on 3/22/2009 11:10:55 PM
PSN _HAITIAN_JB
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:16:59 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:19:15 PM
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No intelligent person would let this factor into a console purchase. The industry is gettin desperate and grasping at straws because Sony is going to destroy MS at GDC.
ImTheMan
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:27:16 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:30:36 AM
rell
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:50:25 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:01:47 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:15:58 AM
Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:22:49 AM
Therefore the download bandwidth fee would be automatically included.
Q!
"i am home"
crapreviews
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:20:17 PM
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JasperLoons
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:19:34 AM
Tim Speed24
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:42:42 AM
RadioHeader
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 10:29:19 AM
Itdoesntmatter
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 11:02:28 AM
N a S a H
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:40:23 PM
Itdoesntmatter
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:46:33 PM
The 360 is a joke of a system, I saw no use for it on the rare ocassions when it wasn't gettin repaired...i got tired of Halo and Gears of War, they both scream TEENAGER at me...that system has no games other than those two (i hear it has RPGs but im not into that genre), all of its "exclusives", I just download the game torrent on a pc (cant do that with ANY ps3 exclusive)
My 360s were louder than my vacuum cleaner, it was hotter than my central heating system, it broke down on me like a cheap suit every time, it lagged on me all the time AND i still had to pay to play and to top it off it was gaming with mostly loud/obscene kids across America that find it fascinating to yell racia/sexuall slurs...the entire system felt so outdated...from the DVD cases to the batteries in the controllers, to the disc tray poppin out...etc...also i cannot handle the message the consumers are sending out there that advertising does more for their pockets than hardware reliability...people have shown they have no problems buying multiple systems if it breaks on them, maybe Sony should make shoddy hardware too? Make more money that way...
If a Microsoft spokesman (and basically everyone who has adopted Sony bashing as a sport) can hold a press release that is nothing but an anti-Sony PS3 bashing, then I can do the same on a website...
Last edited by Itdoesntmatter on 3/23/2009 1:59:25 PM
ImTheMan
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:32:49 PM
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Like someone choosing Burger King over McDonalds because Mcdonalds charges Heinz to sell their ketchup and Burger King doesn't.
Albeit a bad move, I think Sony is doing this because they were in the red last year and this could help them somewhat.
Last edited by ImTheMan on 3/22/2009 11:33:43 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:51:52 PM
somethingrandom
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:39:15 PM
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BigTonesAUS
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:47:26 PM
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cegmp
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 6:34:26 AM
Tim Speed24
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:46:00 AM
Luiscosmo2
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:09:34 AM
gumbi
Sunday, March 22, 2009 @ 11:52:49 PM
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And as far as paid DLC goes, who cares? The publishers can just tack an extra $0.16/Gb on the cost of the DLC and nobody will even notice. I wouldn't. "OH NO!! that new rockband song is $2.01 instead of $2.00, the end is nigh. DAMN YOU SONY!!"
NeutralGamer_86
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:14:40 AM
JasperLoons
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:21:59 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:36:05 AM
Luiscosmo2
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:07:41 AM
CH1N00K
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:19:52 AM
This is just something for the Anti PS3 people to add to the fire. Why isn't anyone saying that Sony are charging the publishers so that the end customer doesn't have to pay more...or they could charge the customer and end up with the same thing Microsoft is doing...
Why are there so many people willing to overlook what Microsoft is doing? It seems that no matter how good of a system Sony has made, it's been nothing but bad publicity for it since day one. And yet it's still here...
migabyte
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:22:56 AM
Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:34:00 AM
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What Sony has done is correct. Its a good filter of sorts. We will see quality and not rubbish one hopes...
The other comments from that article you quote about people migrating in droves to the 360, or reasons why people would not now chose a PS3, are just stupid and short sighted...
Lets all remember one thing... the 360 had a one year head start... the PS3 has done EXCEPTIONALLY well, with a year disadvantage under its belt, to be in sights of over taking 360 within the next 12 to 18 months... it sounds long but it isn't, especially with a price drop in hand... to have come back from a years launch delay and still be 5-7 million consoles away from 360 is a mighty fine achievement I must add...
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 3/23/2009 12:36:40 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:38:58 AM
Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:17:58 AM
cegmp
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:00:00 AM
Deleted User
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:44:27 AM
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Again, I like the 360. I owned two of them. However, the 360 controller gave me arthritis, I didn't want to pay $60 any more to play online with a bunch of kids, the console has durability issues and there is little in the way of exclusives that interest me. That's my opinion and I think if all these journalists, bloggers and websites weren't on the take, that's what they would say, too.
I think long ago we all decided to ignore this crud. We all know the truth about MS and the media being in bed together and only the Xbots are deluded enough to believe that's not true.
ThugNificent101
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:46:10 AM
NeutralGamer_86
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:53:17 AM
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Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:21:36 AM
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 3/23/2009 2:22:00 AM
chicko1983
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:02:16 AM
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BigTonesAUS
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:37:23 AM
"SF4 comes out this year, how can we grab everyones attention? Oh i know, instead putting SSF2HD out asap to get everyone into SF again lets release it the same week that SF4 comes out. Yeah thats an awesome idea, i'm so super cool"
Kevadu
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:29:47 AM
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BTW, if you actually read the article you'll notice they say this fee has been in place since October 2008. So...we clearly haven't had any demos since then, right?
CH1N00K
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:28:17 AM
I think this is a good way to do it. Publishers will think twice about putting up just any old game onto the network, they'll only put up something that is going to be a seller. That means that there will be more higher quality games in PSN.
Everyone makes money, we don't pay more money...how is this a bad thing?
Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:22:39 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:05:14 AM
Alienange
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 5:29:59 AM
CH1N00K
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:31:39 AM
convergecrew
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:26:00 AM
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Qubex
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:00:58 AM
The maturity of the majority of the readers here becomes an incubator for sensible intellectual discussion... not the drivel we read and see within 90% of the internet...
Ben knows that the majority of readers here have a decent level of IQ and intelligence... you can see it in the way we discuss points... sometimes having a little fun we relapse... but ultimately... there is sensibility and trust here... and if we have hellish articles to read on other sites, you know you can return to PSXE and find your soul again...
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 3/23/2009 7:01:52 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 10:19:00 AM
Alienange
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:46:00 PM
Blaiyan
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 8:34:31 PM
rell
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 2:35:58 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:07:08 AM
thepill
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:31:30 AM
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Think about it like this, if YOU were a dev and you had an item you wanted to put on PSN (lets say a downloadable game for instance), and this title has a single and a multi-player mode. Your game is lets just say 1.5Gb in size. If you wanted to get around the whole fee you could just split the game into TWO separate pieces of DLC, and make this whole thing a NON-ISSUE. The same idea works for every other piece of DLC you can think of.
King James
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 5:13:59 AM
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Alienange
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 5:17:54 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:51:39 PM
Alienange
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 4:27:31 PM
JohnnyGold
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 6:03:25 AM
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in all honesty, what is up with the media and xbox bias against the ps3? i mean... i would never get a 360 because im not really interested in games like halo or left for dead, and sonys exclusives generally look 10x better. but i dont NOT like 360s... i just find them slightly juvenile.
maybe the most pertinent piece of info weve stumbled across this year was that article that says the average 360 user is aged 12-17, and the average ps3 user is aged 18-24.
Papa Burgundy
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:29:10 AM
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Robochic
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:40:24 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 1:01:47 PM
LightShow
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 8:44:03 AM
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And a million downloads? Has ANY single piece of content broke 1m downloads? I personally don't know, but I seriously doubt it.
I don't know why people think this is a big deal. So far, besides hype, Demo's are the only source of free advertising for a game, and publishers know this. Now sony has decided to implement a /i nominal /i fee so it can get a few extra bucks for hosting these demos. Big deal.
LegendarySai
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:07:10 AM
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zerostar39
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:19:55 AM
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So if this move by Sony means even less demos, I think its gonna suck. I rarely buy a game without trying it first.
Last edited by zerostar39 on 3/23/2009 9:20:24 AM
Nynja
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:48:57 AM
Alienange
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 10:15:02 AM
RadioHeader
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 10:31:48 AM
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maxpontiac
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 10:58:58 AM
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Unfortunately, I feel Americans as a whole are to gullible (yes, I am from the USA) at times. For proof, all you need to do is follow any recent event in this country whether it be political in nature, or simply buying into the newest fad.
The problem for Sony (and the PS3 specifically) is that article will influence people into purchasing a 360. Why?
- The negative issues surrounding the RROD are still being kept under wraps (EC 74 will go away too).
- Any perceived weakness the PS3 has is still being exploited on a constant (albeit slower)basis.
- Xbots are far, far more vocal then PS fanboys. Search the net, you'll see what I mean.
- PS3 is more expensive, and selling the least amount of consoles this generation.
Until the above (and other issues as well) comes to halt, the PS3 will always have a bullseye on it (especially by US media).
As far as the one developer who has gone on record about the charge, I would love to see who this company is, and I would be willing to bet that M$ has lined it's pockets with some sort of "exclusive" set up.
Xplicit
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 11:07:23 AM
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slugga_status
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 11:46:09 AM
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Seriously this is no news or blow at all to Sony. BigTones said it best. If you want me to shell out $60 for your game then that demo better make me want it b/c we all know we see virtually no advertising outside the PSN.
It's like they want people to buy more and more 360's but then the same people go out and buy Blue-Ray players..Now in my mind that makes absolutely no sense but people do anything to slam sony but use their HD products.
slugga_status
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 11:49:55 AM
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jaybiv
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:10:54 PM
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I don't see anything wrong with Sony's fee. The vast majority of games have multi-million dollar budgets, so this fee is a drop in the bucket. Either the publishers pay it or me, and I wil not pay to play or download content online.
If the devs don't want to pay the fee, it's only going to make it harder to sell the marginal games that do not have the pre-release buzz like KZ2, Drake's 2, etc.
I think it's much ado about nothing really. The publishers know demos are the standard now and they cannot risk alienating a substantially large buying audience over a few nickels.
Diggity Dan
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 12:57:20 PM
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shooter9314
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 3:57:15 PM
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mk ultra
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:16:50 PM
Sakitosai
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:15:47 PM
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Gone
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 7:42:19 PM
Dooby_Scooby
Monday, March 23, 2009 @ 9:30:14 PM
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New tax year right ? Means Microsoft can allocate a new budget for advertising.. Notice all of the negativity in the press recently surrounding the ps3
I wish you hadn't linked to it.. I have never read so much bullshit in my life. Is the examiner famous in the US ? I hope not, seriously..
they use a cat held up by a gun to show how mean and nasty Sony are. I swear she is laughing all the way to the bank with this article
Read the end of it:
I don't know if Sony will be smart enough to back off of this plan or change the fees so they don't penalize good publishers with good demos. But until it does, I can almost hear the cackling from Redmond.
I wonder how much Microsoft paid her to write this. I can almost here Her cackling...
that is what you call a prime piece of FUD
Deleted User
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 @ 9:06:17 AM
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