Question for PS3 owners

[Banshee16]

I have both a PS3 and 360, and this week started trying online gaming for the first time, with one called "Borderlands". However, I've been playing with a friend who also has a 360, and we've been having a lot of troubles with the chat.

I'm not posting this to slam the PS3. It's a cool system, but I'll be completely open, and admit that 95% of my online gaming is with the 360 instead of the PS3, so I'm used to how that system works.

What is wrong with the whole buddy list and chat system? I don't know if we're doing something wrong, but it seems for our buddy list, you have to go to the main menu, find your list of friends, and then you can either send a text message, or invite them to a chat. If you invite them to the chat you *have* to go into a dedicated chat room interface. You can't just start a chat, and then move around through your menus, maybe check out the PS3 store, etc. while retaining the chat session. Is that right? It seems if I try to leave that chatroom interface, the chat ends.

Further, if we decide to start a game, the chat is terminated (can't talk to someone not playing in the game), and then you have to look at a separate friends list that is unique to the game itself, and invite to a game from there. If you invite to a game, you can chat....but sound quality seems iffy, it drops during loading and menu screens...and then comes back in game. The friends list itself, and how it works, seems to depend on the game. With Resistance Fall of Man, the friend list was empty, even though I have about 6 or 7 friends on my system. I had to manually add those friends into the separate friend list for the game. On the other hand, Borderlands seems to self-populate. If I have a friend, and they have the game in their system, it shows in the game's friend list. If that friend isn't online, or is online, but doesn't have the game in the drive, they're not in the list.

All of this just seems kind of disjointed compared with the 360 where there is drop in and drop out chat, party's, cross game chat, etc.

Are we doing something wrong? I'll admit we may be using the system incorrectly, given that neither of us have used it for online gaming before.

At least on this experience, with respect to online, the PS3 seems years behind the 360, and so many people say it's not, I figure we must be doing something wrong.

Banshee

 

[Welverin]

Despite being a PS3 owner, I can't help you with this since I don't play games online with it.

I believe I've read that cross game chat being PS+ feature which would make your issue standard.

I don't know what people say the PS3 isn't light years behind the 360 in online features, but I can't see how anyone who isn't ignorant or a fanboy wouldn't think so.

 

[John Crichton]

For online play the 360 is ahead of the PS3 in all areas of multiplayer. It should be considering they charge for it.

 

[Banshee16]

OK, so I'm not insane, or "missing something" with respect to the impression I've been getting of the differences between the two systems.

I have seen PS3 users claiming the online abilities of the PS3 were far better than the XBox........but now that I've used both, I couldn't agree.

I think Sony's coming out with an enhanced network in the next year, that would give more robust multiplayer capabilities....there would be an annual fee, like with XBox Live.

I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing...if a game is out on both systems, and I want the multiplayer, I'll play it on the 360. Otherwise, I'll play single player exclusives depending on whichever system they were made for.

Banshee

 

[Welverin]

I have seen PS3 users claiming the online abilities of the PS3 were far better than the XBox........but now that I've used both, I couldn't agree.

It's far less expensive, but I haven't heard anyone say it was better.

I think Sony's coming out with an enhanced network in the next year, that would give more robust multiplayer capabilities....there would be an annual fee, like with XBox Live.

Playstation Plus started a month and a half ago, but that has all sorts of features other than enhanced multi-player.

 

[Orius]

For online play the 360 is ahead of the PS3 in all areas of multiplayer. It should be considering they charge for it.

True enough, but I think Microsoft has actually put its experience with PC multiplayer gaming to good use on the 360 as well. I get the impression that they know what they're doing better than Sony and even Nintendo.

 

[Banshee16]

The way that 360 live works just makes sense to me. Now....I don't know if that's simply because I'm used to it....but having one environment that everyone is in, one set of chat software, and being able to talk to friends inside and outside of games...these things are all super useful.

Maybe MS just spent a lot of time and research making this environment as well-thought out as it is. On the surface, you'd think Sony and Nintendo would make their own systems just as user friendly online...but I guess it's far easier said than done.

Having been playing Borderlands for almost a week now, I can say that there's definitely a difference between how the online performance works, from game to game. But even though the chat functions, I'm surprised to find how many people seem to want to talk online. I'm personally not an aggressive player...but I've had people jump into the game, and sometimes you can tell they've got a mic because you can hear a keyboard clicking in the background, but they don't say anything. They'll just have their character jump up and down to indicate you should come and look at something. I'd think it would be much easier to just "say" something. On the other extreme, sometimes XBox Live can be obnoxious. It's cool some days, and other days you get people swearing at each other, calling each other names, or saying nothing, but flooding their speaker with annoying rap music.

Banshee