I personally think that, in some ways, the PSN has stepped back a little. Only because of the XMB - I HATE the XMB. It's slow, boring to look at (I know there are themes, but those are usually crap/tacky, some don't have the full icon set, and they don't load ingame), there is a severe lack of organisation, and due to the "minimalist" look, you have to launch into other applications, like the PS:Store, to see and do things that you should really be able to do from the get-go.

They should scrap the XMB.

I don't want to communicate in all games.....I have no intention of speaking to strangers online randomly.

I can invite my friends in motorstorm PR....or I can send them a message to come n play this game with me...no big deal

I can set up a party in HOME

I can check trophies when I'm playing say Fallout 3

OH AND SOON...I can go on my internet browser while in-game

_______

AND its free

F-R-E-E (This alone makes it > Live.....as I would'nt be an online gamer right now if PSN was paid...my parents would refuse to pay for it)

@kowenicki

not as easy?

I'm fine with that

oh and cost is a big issue for me & many people

I am ok with less quality & it being free....as long as it isn't inconvinient....and PSN WAS inconvinient when there was no in-game XMB....now that that problem is solved it isn't inconvinient for me.

I am not buying a wireless router & paying Live's fee for "easiness"

In the future if I buy a 360....I'll never play online on it...thats for sure.

 Some people (like myself) would rather pay a one-off higher cost for a PS3, rather than pay less at the start, but have to continue paying to get the full functionality of the console.

@kowenicki

But Micorsofts numbers for XBL are including SILVER (FREE) members too right?

or not?

 Ah, well, that title easily goes to the 360.

I don't have enough experience with PSN to comment on that, but I do like the way the article was written.

He starts with what he thinks is good before commenting on what he thinks is bad. Then he proposes solutions to fix his perceived problems. Most articles these days just whine about what they think is wrong.

I agree, mostly with the last point though. Playing games on the psn is incredibly frustrating for me. It's not very cohesive for groups of friends, which is the only way I like to play. Forming a party is hard to do in pretty much all the games on the psn. Where as if you were to compare it to live, forming a party is simple, and it will give you private chat to boot. In the end, when I actually play on the psn, I generally form a party on live so that we can actually communicate with each other. So I have my xbox on for communication and my ps3 on for games. It is definetly not the ideal way to play. However, I would say that sony is years ahead of nintendo in the online category... Nintendo is just sad...

As long has PSN has XBOX Live as it's main online competitor it will keep ripping concepts off of it, thus making it somewhat relevant (especially with no price tag). This is as a huge cost to Sony.