Tired of Sony

Sony All But Admits to PSN Monthly Online Fees

Here we go again with Sony’s infamous bait-and-switch mess. This time, I’m going to let the quotes speak for themselves, complete with unspoken, but yet included truths. **truths are demarcated with 2 stars**

…In an interview with Nikkei Japan Sony Computer Entertainment executive vice president and chief technology officer Masayuki Chatani was asked how Sony was managing the high costs associated with running a service such as the PlayStation Network. “We would face difficulties if our business depended solely on the sell-and-forget model. After we sell the hardware **that we’re still taking a significant loss per console on** though we continue to sell **by sell I mean ‘push onto comsumers as if they have to have it to breathe’** products such as content and services ” he said. “We can **and soon WILL** also accept payment in a growing number of ways ” he added. “In addition to single-payment packaged software there are also schemes like monthly fees **like the ones we said we’d never charge you, but this statement is vague enough that we can deny anything you throw at us** or per-item charges.” Although there was little context to his answer it may be that in terms of monthly fees Chatani was only speaking in reference to specific titles such as massively multiplayer online games. However there have been persistent rumours that Sony may be considering an Xbox Live style subscription model **since Sony has no original ideas in it’s collective head** for the PlayStation Network a whole. Last month Kaz Hirari stated categorically that current services would continue to be offered free of charge although the company may begin to charge for unspecified new premium content and services - some using a subscription model.

Thank you. That will be all.

source @ gamesindustry.biz