I know you can set up a que on PSN, but it handles it poorly.

And yes, I wrote 7 paragraphs to explain 4 points because people like you act like they aren't a point. Sending someone a text message is not the same as chatting with them while playing separate games. Trying to pretend it is is just silly.

The real question is whether being able to chat with your friends whenever you want, cross-game invites, party systems, voice-messaging, etc. is worth the $39 a year versus what you get on PSN for free. To you, it might not be. But to me, it is. Even when I'm playing single player games, I am talking to my friends and it completely changes the experience.

Things I did on LIVE last night, none of which I could do on PSN.

In story form...

I dropped into the Marketplace to check out the Tomb Raider demo since I've been interested in it since it was announced. I queued it up and browsed through some other new releases. Four other game demos caught my eye, so I queued up all four of them. Also, there was a new video out from Gametrailers, so I queued that up, too.

Then I switched from Marketplace to my Inbox and I noticed I had a new voice message from a friend of mine. He and I have been competing to see who would get the achievement for finding all the Bobbleheads in Fallout 3 first. He checked my profile and noticed I don't have it yet, and he was giving me a hard time since he only has two Bobbleheads to go. I saw that he's playing Gears 2 Multiplayer (and losing 2 rounds to 3), so I feel confident that I can still beat him to the Bobblehead achievement. I opened up a voice chat channel with him and told him to shove off. He laughed and we talked about how his team was getting decimated.

A message popped up telling me the Tomb Raider demo is finished downloading. I could have played it instantly, but I'd already decided on Fallout that night. I switch to the game and start playing, all the while still talking to my friend. In the background, the second download I queued was already going without me having to do a single thing. My brother popped online and quickly opened up a chat channel with me — had had a question about a Christmas thing we're attending. We talked briefly about that and he signed off just as I find the 19th Bobblehead. I promptly switched back to the chat channel with my friend and rubbed it in. He was less than pleased.

By this time, the second and third game demos had both finished downloading, and convenient messages popped up for each letting me know that I can switch to play either of them at any time, but I ignore them in my quest for the 20th Bobblehead.

Perhaps sensing my inevitable victory, my friend tells me that a player dropped out of their team for Horde mode in Gears 2 and asked if I wanted to join. I considered for a moment before deciding that Horde actually sounds like a lot of fun. He sent me an invite and I saved my game in Fallout and switched to Gears. I dropped instantly into his game without having to boot to the menu or go through any hassle.

It became clear very quickly that we needed one more person to do well and I see sixteen people on my friends list are playing Gears — fifteen were already in multiplayer matches, but one was going through the campaign on Hardcore. I sent him an invite since I could see he wasn't playing it on co-op and he accepted, immediately joining our game. We spent an hour and half playing together and made it to wave 30 on Hardcore before we're all killed off by those dog things (if you've played Gears 2, you know what I'm talking about).

Another friend of mine then sent me a voice message asking if I can help her get the Hoarder achievement in Fable 2. I had work the next day, but it would only take a minute, so I agreed. I opened a chat channel and told her to meet me by the clock tower in Bowerstone in-game. I bid my team goodnight and switched out of Gears. I then popped in Fable, loaded up my good character, and ran over to Bowerstone. One of my other friends was playing Fable 2, as well, and I ran into his orb on the bridge to town. We said hello and he asked me if I want to co-op with him, but I couldn't then so I politely declined. The orb of another friend of mine pulled up behind me and yelled something, scaring the hell out of me. All three of us have a laugh at my expense (my laugh was somewhat sheepish). I then said my goodnights and jogged over to the tower, where my friend was waiting patiently. We talked for a minute, then she joined my game with one button press. She then made a dry comment about how clean my Bowerstone is — her character is about as evil as they come and her Bowerstone is a brown delapidated ghetto at this point.

I helped her grab the Hoarder achievement, she thanked me and dropped out of my game back into her Bowerstone. I switched out of Fable to the Dashboard and pulled up my demos to see that they've all downloaded and are ready to play. It's too late at night for that, though, so I shut down the console and called it a day.


~THE END~

I know you can set up a que on PSN, but it handles it poorly.

And yes, I wrote 7 paragraphs to explain 4 points because people like you act like they aren't a point. Sending someone a text message is not the same as chatting with them while playing separate games. Trying to pretend it is is just silly.

The real question is whether being able to chat with your friends whenever you want, cross-game invites, party systems, voice-messaging, etc. is worth the $39 a year versus what you get on PSN for free. To you, it might not be. But to me, it is. Even when I'm playing single player games, I am talking to my friends and it completely changes the experience.

 ...are you serious? How does it handle poorly? "download through backgrund" wait for my shit to be done downloading... wheres the problem?

Yes, I'm serious. If you haven't downloaded anything on Live, you won't understand. On PSN everything downloads much slower then Live, you have to install things after you download them, you can't download things while watching movies, etc, etc., etc.

EDIT: And it changes a single player experience the same way co-op can make a bad game more fun — because talking with your friends while doing it, particularly if you're both playing the same game, always makes things more enjoyable.

And like I said, maybe it isn't worth it to you. But it is it me, and clearly, it is to a lot of other people, as well.

Yes, I'm serious. If you haven't downloaded anything on Live, you won't understand. On PSN everything downloads much slower then Live, you have to install things after you download them, you can't download things while watching movies, etc, etc., etc.

EDIT: And it changes a single player experience the same way co-op can make a bad game more fun — because talking with your friends while doing it, particularly if you're both playing the same game, always makes things more enjoyable.

And like I said, maybe it isn't worth it to you. But it is it me, and clearly, it is to a lot of other people, as well.

No matter how many times you explain something or try and get your point accross there is always someone who simply doesn't understand or who doesn't want to.  You completely nailed live vs. PSN for me. 

i own an xbox 360 and i frequently download from the marketplace. whilst it is quicker than psn, it's not 'much' quicker. and xbl queue has it's disadvantages too, like not being able to continue your download off the marketplace if you're not signed in or the download you started on your profile can't be continued on someone elses profile. both of which are possible on psn. i'm not saying they make it better. but to say the psn queue service handles poorly compared to xbl is just ignorant. it's a queue service, installs have nothing to do with it. oh and it only stops when a disc based movie is inserted.

surely if you're in the same game playing co-op then you would be able to communicate in the game? and if you want to chat to your friend whilst playing a single player game, then pick up the phone!

Yes, I'm serious. If you haven't downloaded anything on Live, you won't understand. On PSN everything downloads much slower then Live, you have to install things after you download them, you can't download things while watching movies, etc, etc., etc.

EDIT: And it changes a single player experience the same way co-op can make a bad game more fun — because talking with your friends while doing it, particularly if you're both playing the same game, always makes things more enjoyable.

And like I said, maybe it isn't worth it to you. But it is it me, and clearly, it is to a lot of other people, as well.

Pick up the phone? Wow, that is reaching.