Thread: How can online play on consoles be improved?

Originally Posted by InsaneNutter

I was thinking about this earlier when messing about with silly Nintendo friend codes, I think for the DS and Wii Nintendo need some universal friend list like on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. On the DS I found it annoying having to find the correct location to go in some games just to find out my friend code and add some one, I then realised I had a different friend code for each game that used the Nintendo Wifi connection which I thought was a bit silly, why can’t I have an easy to remember username?

On Xbox Live I think things could be improved by allowing dedicated servers to be hosted, this would eliminate the advantage people have who host games with slow upload speeds and everyone ends up lagging except them. I also think this would be good as the game could go on for as long as people want to play and not until the host quits. Even if Microsoft don’t want to host dedicated servers themselves I think the option should be there to download and run a dedicated server on a computer, it would be nice to load up gears of war and be able to join a Digiex server.

I can’t really say anything about the PSN as I don’t have a PS3, it would be nice if there was some sort of online network for the PSP though.

What do you think? Are you happy with online play on consoles at the moment?

Interesting topic here InsaneNutter.

It boggles my mind as to how some games are brilliant online, and some aren't.

For example. Pro Evolution Soccer it virtually unplayable online due to lag, and it is also very hard to find a game due to the lack of an online lobby. Whereas FIFA (a fellow football game) is very playable online, i have played around 20 games online on FIFA without any lag whatsoever, and it is so easy to find a game, whereas I haven't been able to complete ONE match on PES.

I guess the question is why is this? IS it to do with the servers? I honestly don't know, could someone possibly clear this up?

As for improving Xbox LIVE the obvious thing I think everyone would liek to see is LIVE being free. PSN offers this, however i do believe that we are paying for a good service, and I can't comment on PSN. Maybe Microsoft would benefit from this aswell, by using the gold service as a loss leader. Basically this means that they may well make a loss on this (and it would be a big loss) but they may see people buying more content. I'm sure a lot of people don't buy content because they are already paying for their LIVE and therefore don't feel as comfortable bying content. I don't know what other peoples views on this are.

I can't wait for the new dashboard update as this should make it a much more user friendly experiance. As much as I liked the blades to begin with, I think they are far outdated and are in nee of replacing. I think its good that Microsoft have noticed this and done something about it, so good for them.

Originally Posted by InsaneNutter

What do you think? Are you happy with online play on consoles at the moment?

I think that having the psp on a network would be sweet! I would never use it for gaming but more like a moblie chat. On Xbox Live, the only things I can see is they need to release the new update and either choose between charging people for DLC or paying for Live. Both makes Xbox live a little expensive. I always buy my a 1 year month thing for xbox live. Though my brothers account hardly ever has xbox live. I wish that the least they could do it make it free. They already made GFWL free. So why not do it for the 360 too. On the PS3 i believe its pretty ok, though i would like the new update for it also. For the Wii, Yes they do need to put a friends list in it like xbox live or the ps3 network. The code thing just sucks. I'f i had to type that in everytime, i would never add a friend. Lol.