I told every one of you that Sony eventually was going to make people pay, but none of you listened. They'll find more ways, trust me. All this free crap that sounded too good to be true to Sony fanatics will end in ruin.

LOOOL..........i think u got him there

I dunno, one of my favorite qualities of X-box live was having all the cool features for 2 years before PSN...

With a price of $0.16 per GB, I'm pretty sure Sony can make a profit from people downloading demos (considering average CDN prices). I'm not sure publishers will be so happy about this.

Sony had to find some revenue sources to cover part of their losses generated by PS3 manufacturing costs and the strong yen. The PS2 is almost dead now and it can't hide the PS3 losses anymore.

The bottom line is that publishers are already paying a lot in licensing fees, and Sony is increasing them. If you're a publisher making more than a few games a year, this will easily add a few millions to your yearly expenses. All of this at a time when most publishers are already suffering from losses or low profits.

The Sony model : Put a lot of pressure on the consumers and make them pay ... oh no wait !! They don't have to ! It is not gonna work ! Lets make our business partners pay instead... yeaaah this will do !

Sony arent helping themselves here....

Or going bankrupt, and shutting down.

Valid enough.

Then again, XBL restricts developers usage significantly and far more than the PSN.  The PSN provides a far less restrictive environment for games and is more flexible. Microsoft imposes limits on developers and picks and chooses when to make exceptions.  (From what I can tell,  Sony doesn't do this).   Sony offers full game downloads across their network. Why should Sony foot the distribution bill?

In the end, both companies do things of this nature to help their bottom line.  I don't think this will cripple Sony though. Microsoft gets plenty of money from online subscriptions and still sends developers through the ringer.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/xbox-live-keeps-size-limits-enjoys-ever-enlarging-downloads.ars

Digital distribution is big business for this generation of consoles, and the smaller, cheaper games are often compelling buys for consumers. Sony and Microsoft have two very different strategies for downloadable games however, with Sony offering full titles such as Burnout Paradise on the PlayStation Network, and Microsoft sticking to smaller, more bite-sized games. That strategy may be changing for Microsoft, with the size limit for games becoming relaxed, if not going away altogether. The newest evidence? The Watchmen game was over 1.2GB in size, making it the largest Xbox Live title yet.

"We have set Xbox Live Arcade game file limits as a general guideline. An important part Xbox Live Arcade is easy access, and keeping file size down is a vital part of that," Microsoft told Ars. "Equally important is offering titles with superior gameplay. We weigh both considerations on a case-by-case basis, and will make exceptions when it makes sense to ensure the best customer experience."

In other words, the company felt that this game was worth the huge—for Xbox Live standards—download size. How many other exceptions can we expect?

Games have been bumping against Microsoft's size restriction on Xbox Live ever since the system was released; the Xbox Live release of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night received an exception to the then-50MB limit in order to get the game, plus its music, onto the service. Microsoft pointed to the popularity of the game as the reason for its leniency. That was in January of 2007.

In March of that year Microsoft officially raised the size limit to 150MB, although that did little to help the developers of more ambitious titles. "It's difficult to store so many 1080p graphics in such a small download size," said David Sirlin, director of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. "It also makes it difficult or impossible to include all the original game's music AND all the remixed set of music. We're still doing our best to fit within the limit we've been given."

The final release was 368MB, as Microsoft gifted the title with yet another exception. The game went on to enjoy critical and commercial success; no one complained about the download size.

Microsoft admitted it wrestled with the issue of file size with Watchmen, ultimately allowing the developer to bypass the limit to "ensure the best customer experience and optimize overall gameplay." It's hard to argue with the reasoning: the End is Nigh is a tie-in to the most hyped movie of the season, and the graphics are impressive.

The limit still exists, and it helps to keep the majority of the games on the smaller end of the scale, although Microsoft is happy to bend the rules if the company feels it's economically viable. With larger games doing well on the service, and an outcry yet to be heard over the ever-growing download size, will the limit soon be dropped? It's doubtful, as the limit allows Microsoft to mold the service and gives it the power to grant some games clemency. It creates something of a rough situation for publishers though, as they must either shoot for a download size under the limit, or pitch the company on why they deserve that all-important exception.

ok we understand the reason of the fee but why the free content also have fee ?! what the hell sony thinking ?

Well we get the games I want, And they pay for it...

..

..... HAHA SUCKERZZZ XD