It seems like a lot of things have been covered already, but I meant to reply last night (just didn't end up having time..), so I might as well now:
XBox Live
+ Streamlined login/setup. Buy a kit, input your information, and you're good to go. You won't have to tweak settings for certain games, or input your credit card information more than once... It's just a no hassle, user-friendly set-up.
+ Everything is standardized. Buddy list, broadband only, voice chat, and so on. When you buy a Live! title, you know it's going to support these features (99.9% of the time).
+ Downloadable content. A big plus for the service, and adds longevity to both online & offline titles (ie: KotOR, Ninja Gaiden). Plus, with the built-in harddrive, there are no outside expenses to worry about.
+ Microsoft handles all of the servers (exception being EA's). Another big plus in my eyes, as it encourages developers to include online play. With no on-going costs to worry about, what do they have to lose? If anything, it brings more recognition to their titles, and frees up cash for them to put towards downloadable content down the line.
+ Live! Aware & MSN buddy list integration. May seem like trivial features, but anything that allows you to get in touch with your buddies via multiple means is a definite plus.
+ Free trial cards. These give customers the chance to try out their new game(s) online for a few months, and see what Live! is all about. One of the best moves MS has done with the service, in my opinion.
- Price. While the hardware to get online is built into the system, you still have to fork out the cash for a Starter Kit. And on top of that, this only lasts you a year (or 3 months, depending on the version you get). Monthly fees, yearly fees, starter kits... Definitely not a cheap service in the long-run. Though, as a mini-plus, you do get a headset & often a free game included with the starter kits, which makes it a bit more appealing.
- Multiple fees. While this only deals with PSO, it's still worth mentioning. You're paying to access the online portions of Live! games in the first place (through a starter kit, or the 5.95$ monthly rate), and then PSO comes along, asking you to shell out for another monthly fee that's
even more than the Live! rate itself. Isn't that a bit much? To make matters worse, I can definitely see more products going this route in the future, especially the upcoming MMORPGs.
Who knows, maybe they'll even go one step further: "What?! A multiple fee, fee?!" -- Drew Carey
- Pay downloads. While I think downloadable content is a big plus, I think the fees some of the developers are slapping on such content is a bit much. I'm sure some will argue that "They're not working for free!", but I'd like to point out that they're saving cash as it is by not running the servers themselves... Can't they take some of this money to cover the content costs?
- Broadband only. While most will argue that this is a plus, and in quite a few cases I'll agree, it still cuts out a very, very sizable portion of the internet userbase (mainly in the US). While I can definitely see the reasoning behind going this way with the service, it's also leaving a lot of gamers out in the cold.
"PS2 Online"
+ Free online play. Pretty self-explanitory.
Only exceptions are the system's MMORPGs.
+ Hardware included. One of the biggest drawbacks to the "PS2 Online" option was the cost of the Network Adaptor, but with the "Online Pack" and the upcoming "PStwo," this is no longer an issue.
+ Narrowband compatibility. While this will naturally get less important as time goes on, it's still currently a key feature for the system's "online plan." It's allowing a very large portion of games to play titles online, instead of excluding them, and even allows those using AOL to play. And despite what most people would like to think, playing games online with dial-up
can be fun!
+ Decreased licensing costs. I remember reading about Sony offering decreased licensing costs for developers/publishers that put online options into their games. As far as I know, they went through it, but I'm not sure if it still holds true today. Regardless, it's still a very good move by Sony, and a great way to entice developers into putting their games online... Sure, it's no "Hey, we'll handle all the servers for you!" offer, but not much is.
+ Open network. I'm sure somebody is going "How is that a plus?!", but you only need to look at PlayOnline to see why. It's basically a Square Enix centric XBox Live! service, though unlike Live!, the open-ended nature of Sony's "online plan" gives Square Enix the option to take their service one step forward. They offer email, instant messaging, chat rooms, and the big one, cross-platform play. None of this would have been possible through a closed service like Live!, which is why I think in some cases, the "Leave it up to the developers." mindset can be a huge plus.
- Streamlined setup. How is this a negative point? Well, it's half-assed. The original plan was to have you setup your information with the Network Adaptor disc, and then all games from there-on would just boot up your settings automatically... The problem with this is, however, that most developers don't utilize this. Instead, you end up inputting usernames, passwords, credit card info, etc for damn near every title. User-friendly this is not.
- Nothing is standardized. Voice chat, keyboard compatibility, buddy lists, seperate logins, rankings, narrowband compatibility... Support for
any of this is all left in the developers' court, which is resulting in a lot of titles supporting only basic keyboard chat and nothing else.
- Cost of peripheals. While the Network Adaptor is being included
now, there are still a lot of users out there who will (or did) have to buy one on the side. Add in the HDD (see below), and you get a lot of off-putting costs associated with going online.
- The HDD. Everyone knows how this went wrong, but I'll elaborate anyway. First off, it's freaking expensive, which is enough to turn even 'hardcore' gamers off. Secondly, it has next to no support in the US, and with the PStwo not supporting it, future support is likely going to die off completely. What was once a peripheal with a lot of potential, is now only a FFXI gateway or HDLoader accessory. What a waste.
I think I covered the most important facets of both, and hopefully didn't ramble too much doing so.
