PSN Bandwidth Charges May Explain No MME on PS3
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When the March Madness edition of NCAA Basketball 09 was announced many people wondered why it was exclusive to the Xbox 360. EA Sports didn’t make any comments as to the reasoning behind that. News that came out today though may provide the basis for why that decision was made.
MTV has an article about how publishers have become frustrated with the charging of bandwidth fees for both paid and free content on Sony’s Playstation Network. It appears that this is another (unrealized) benefit to the paid XBL subscriptions that now publishers are hesitant to provide content for PSN because they have to foot the bill for it.
Until October 1 2008, video game publishers who wanted to offer downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 didn’t have to worry about getting a bill from Microsoft and Sony. That situation changed with the PS3 on October 1 of last year, when Sony implemented a 16 cents per Gigabyte fee to publishers for paid and free downloadable content, according to publishing sources familiar with Sony’s policy. Game publishers are not happy about it.
So this probably explains why EA chose to bring a downloadable game such as NCAA MME only to the 360. It wasn’t expected to make the company a lot of money but instead intended to build the fanbase and increase awareness for the franchise going forward. Taking the hit on bandwidth costs may have made the prospects for a PS3 version uninviting. The article goes on in detail about the costs related to demos and how much Sony’s charging can really add up and affect the way publishers distribute content.
March 20, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Wow, now I'm glad I got a 360 over a PS3… still want The Show though:(
March 20, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Apparently Sony still hasn't learned not charge more money for the same quality product that's less elsewhere.
*cough* Playstation 3 *cough*
March 20, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Apparently Sony still hasn't learned not charge more money for the same quality product that's less elsewhere. *cough* Playstation 3 *cough*
March 20, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Apparently Sony still hasn't learned not charge more money for the same quality product that's less elsewhere. *cough* Playstation 3 *cough.*
March 20, 2009 at 11:19 pm
could care less about having MME… any big DLC is gonna come to the ps3 anyways so if they dont feel like paying then all the power to them, ill just sit back and enjoy The Show (MLB that is).
March 20, 2009 at 11:37 pm
What has happened??
This site somewhere along the line became PastaPadre@EA.com???
I mean, 95% of the posts are EA related. If I wanted that I will just go to EA"s website. I come on here to get something different, but not lately. . .
March 21, 2009 at 1:14 am
Once again what do you guys expect??? its a sports gaming website and the only people releasing information on their games is EA, I mean theyve been talking about madden and ncaa football for weeks now. If you want pasta to talk about other companies other than EA go to the 2k boards and complain about how they dont release info like EA does. What else is he supposed to talk about, mlb 2k9s issues again (which would be beating a dead horse).
Go complain to EA about how frequent they release information… pasta's just an avid sports gamer like us who relays information out when he gets it
March 21, 2009 at 12:33 am
How big is this file and how much does it cost!? If EA was that concerned about the fee they wouldn't have put up a demo for Red Alert 3, so I would just keep on speculating there genius. They would be fmore hesitant to put up free shit than paid since they can recoup the cost by adding .50-1.00 to the cost of the game/content.
March 21, 2009 at 12:48 am
its tougher to justify to consumers why free content would be on one console but not the other. if its paid content its not "expected". free content they kinda have to offer out of goodwill now if to one than to the other
March 21, 2009 at 12:46 am
sounds like its inevitable that sony will charge for PSN. that or we'll be stuck with a vastly inferior service not only in features but also in content
March 21, 2009 at 1:07 am
March Madness sucks anyway…I know why…it's an EA Sports Basketball game…I'll just play the show..
March 21, 2009 at 3:37 am
well the way i see it ea screws up enough of the games why shouldnt it be free. every game thats released has to have a patch, actually many patches. im pretty sure they make enough cash of us with all the crap they ship out.
March 21, 2009 at 5:02 am
Hey Sidewinder (second comment from the top), you my good sir are a dumb ass. For one hundred dollars more an out of the box PS3 offers wireless, larger hard-drive, online-service and blu-ray, which, if you were to get a 360 you would have to pay extra for all of those things. Also, the only reason why Sony charges the publishers that amount is to subsidize the cost transferring info through the internet unlike Microsoft who charges the user 50$'s to pay for that AND just to make a profit off of it's users.
March 21, 2009 at 6:39 am
Shut up matt Sidwinders a top 5 posters your the dumb ass for trying to make a name for yourself.
March 22, 2009 at 9:40 pm
The $50 a year for the online service is well worth it. According to this site MLB the show is pretty much unplayable online. Blu ray whopdee damn doo.
March 21, 2009 at 10:35 am
people are just modding the Xbox360 and getting their games cheaper
March 21, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Matt is right. Sidewinder is a dumb ass.
March 22, 2009 at 5:32 am
Shutup dogg he's a top 5 poster kiss the ring
March 21, 2009 at 1:34 pm
yup but suprise suprise they dont mention the charges M$ make to the devs for every disk they use.
thats why devs are reluctant to increase game sizes and just release it on several disks.
imagine how much its going to cost square enix to produce FFIX.
thats been said to be 10 disks on the 360
March 21, 2009 at 2:42 pm
All companies have their hidden charges for things. It seems though anti Sony developers or just anti Sony 'coffee fetchers' are breaking NDAs to further their private little agendas. Little people just chew at the bits for these dew droplets of insignificant sludge.
March 21, 2009 at 8:59 pm
PP,
Now you knwo this is just an excuse from EA.. we didnt want to pay for PSN bandwidth, but they'd secure a 2 billion dollar loan to buy T2 Interactive.. Again EA is lazy.
March 21, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Well EA didn't come out and blame Sony so I'm not sure how you'd label it an excuse. I just think it could go to reason that this is why various companies aren't releasing some demos, DLC, or downloadable games on the PS3. The MME was just the most recent example that came to mind.
March 22, 2009 at 3:45 am
What are you talking about exclusive to PS3? I just downloaded the update on PSN
March 22, 2009 at 3:46 am
What are you talking about exclusive to PS3? I just downloaded the update on PSN, unless you are talking about the standalone version of the game.