The PlayStation Network is free. Xbox Live demands money in order to do the same things that PSN does. For at least one up-and-coming developer, the difference is crucial. ModNation Racers is generating a lot of excitement lately, and it’s PS3-exclusive because United Front Games wants it on a system where everybody is allowed to play it.
“As we were coming up with what we were doing and what we wanted to create, we spoke to some different publishers and immediately there was this sort of synergy between us and Sony,” says producer Dan Sochan. “And in terms of the hardware, the power of the PS3 and the PSN network being free — that we could make sure that everyone who buys a copy of the game is able to get online for free and then share all this content — were really important for us.
“For us it’s really a lot about the community feel and we feel that the PSN has a very strong community at present.”
So, there’s at least one developer out there that believes the PlayStation Network is superior to Xbox Live. In many ways, it actually is. If only Sony itself would wake up, realize the same thing, and give PSN the functionality it needs to compete, then Xbox Live would look like a total scam in comparison.
I mean, more so than it does already.
