Sony Brings Up Cross-Game Chat, Still Nothing Solid

[Sub-stance1]

As we all know, Cross-game chat the most requested feature demanded by PlayStation Network users. Sony knows this, and to appease the masses they have once again publicly brought up the feature — but still fall short of giving us anything concrete.
Lex Scheuble, PSN Marketing Manager, had this to say about Cross-game chat within a PlayStation Plus FAQ:

“We are constantly working on new services and features to enhance your PlayStation experience; however, Cross-Game Chat was not announced as a part of PlayStation Plus’ features. We know that Cross-Game Chat is a functionality our fans are extremely interested in and we are always striving to improve the PlayStation Network experience and services.”

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010...nothing-solid/

I think its safe to say we may not see any cross chat this gen for sony.

[Rapture]

If not this gen, then everything established on the 360 and PS3 need to be an absolute standard for the PS4.

[Chille]

I think we will get it this gen i dont care if we do or not i dont see it as a needed feature, but i think we will

[veedub]

I think its safe to say we may not see any cross chat this gen for sony.

But does anyone know why this feature is so hard to implement on PS3?

Personally, I'm not too fussed about X-game chat but I'd like to know why it seems such a pain in the backside to do, especially when Microsoft has had it for some time now. Is it simply because Microsoft knew they wanted it from launch and therefore built the architecture around it, rather than having to retrofit it like Sony are trying to do??

[ddPLaNeT]

I also believe we wont see XGC on PS3 this gen. I think if Sony could have done XGC easily, it would have been here already.
Sony knows very well that it is the feature that people are asking for the most.

[estpaul]

**** - even if they do bring it out then it will only be for ps plus users - ****

[Royals]

I doubt Sony will put in XGC this gen, it would be nice but it's not needed imo.

[Bitbydeath]

But does anyone know why this feature is so hard to implement on PS3?

Probably because MS patent everything they do which includes, ingame music, cross game chat etc etc

Sony would need to find a way to implement it without getting a lawsuit on their hands.

[Stoffinator]

Nice way to dance around the question.

[Staticneuron]

But does anyone know why this feature is so hard to implement on PS3?

It's probably not hard at all. But it comes down to several things that may be holding it back.

1. Memory constraints may be a limiting factor (if it takes any memory at all) for future firmware while at the same token they are trying to lower the OS footprint.

2. Management. They may be trying to figure out a way to write up legalese that protects their behinds just in case people get offended or want to start trouble.

3. The most obvious issue and one I am sure they witnessed during the Home beta.... is increased overhead on bandwidth. Voice will make thier service much more of a burden on them, without any incentive for them to deal with the extra bandwidth. They may be trying to figure out a way to either only give it to people who subscribe or find away to help pay for the added server costs if they want it available for everyone.

[radgamer420]

It's probably not hard at all. But it comes down to several things that may be holding it back.

1. Memory constraints may be a limiting factor (if it takes any memory at all) for future firmware while at the same token they are trying to lower the OS footprint.

2. Management. They may be trying to figure out a way to write up legalese that protects their behinds just in case people get offended or want to start trouble.

3. The most obvious issue and one I am sure they witnessed during the Home beta.... is increased overhead on bandwidth. Voice will make thier service much more of a burden on them, without any incentive for them to deal with the extra bandwidth. They may be trying to figure out a way to either only give it to people who subscribe or find away to help pay for the added server costs if they want it available for everyone.

Best explanations I've heard yet.

[DarkVincent07]

grrr...

at least we know it will be in the PS4 day 1 right? hahaha

[edward_moffet]

I'm not too concerned about cross game chat, it would be nice but it isn't as huge of a deal as some make it out to be. I would, however, like to see more community oriented features. I think being able to take in game screenshots or videos (in all games) and send them to your psn friends or upload them to youtube would be awesome, and/or just make it to where you can have your own "gaming moments" gallery that your friends can check out via your profile. Also having that feature where I can just join someone's game by clicking on their profile, like MW2 has, and sending game invites through the XMB should be mandatory.

[veedub]

It's probably not hard at all. But it comes down to several things that may be holding it back.

1. Memory constraints may be a limiting factor (if it takes any memory at all) for future firmware while at the same token they are trying to lower the OS footprint.

2. Management. They may be trying to figure out a way to write up legalese that protects their behinds just in case people get offended or want to start trouble.

3. The most obvious issue and one I am sure they witnessed during the Home beta.... is increased overhead on bandwidth. Voice will make thier service much more of a burden on them, without any incentive for them to deal with the extra bandwidth. They may be trying to figure out a way to either only give it to people who subscribe or find away to help pay for the added server costs if they want it available for everyone.

Thanks for this, makes sense. +rep

[Stoffinator]

grrr...

at least we know it will be in the PS4 day 1 right? hahaha

Knowing Sony, I wouldn't bet on it.

[Jaeger]

That's just pathetic.

Xbox 360 has had XGC for a while now so why can't Sony get off their backside and enable it on PS3? I doubt it's that hard to do. I hope that, if they don't have it on PS3, then it comes as a standard feature on PlayStation 4, along with Youtube and in-game music support for ALL games on the system.

[edward_moffet]

In terms of PS4, I'm almost certain it will be easily expandable and feature rich in the online/community department. I don't think sony would make that mistake twice, if I was them that would be a top priority for PS4, because the hardware isn't that hard to figure out this time around, "Cell X2", 8gb XDR ram (ram upgrade), and a graphics card. But they were talking about how cell originally was meant to not have a separate graphics card and have the memory built into the processor, I can't remember where I read that so i can't provide a link but that's what it was saying, and the only reason they put in the graphics card the first time was so devs would have an easier time with it since not having a graphics card period is huge change in design on top of cell's unique architecture. But regardless, the hardware aspect is practically a no-brainer, so software should be a key focus.

[SolidSnakeUS]

Meh, it still doesn't bother me that much.

[bfd_josh]

it didnt bother me until i get an xbox and found how god damm good it is, its a shame ps3 cant implent the same as i am a huge fan of it

[A7MAD]

Not fussed, I can do with one of my two main consoles not having cross game chat.

It's awesome when you get used to it, however those of you without a 360 won't miss anything as you're not used to using it anyway.

[jakster123x]

Yeah, lol, MS patent everything they do.

I doubt this is an easy thing to implement. RAM, bandwidth, patents and the fact that it would have to work retrospectively make this possibly too big a task for Sony. Could Skype maybe be used as a medium for Cross Game Chat? I have no idea if that would work lol. Maybe if Sony could work out a deal with Skype, the bandwidth wouldn't lie with Sony, but with Skype's-- wait, that wouldn't work would it?

[sportjames23]

I'm not too concerned about cross game chat, it would be nice but it isn't as huge of a deal as some make it out to be. I would, however, like to see more community oriented features. I think being able to take in game screenshots or videos (in all games) and send them to your psn friends or upload them to youtube would be awesome, and/or just make it to where you can have your own "gaming moments" gallery that your friends can check out via your profile. Also having that feature where I can just join someone's game by clicking on their profile, like MW2 has, and sending game invites through the XMB should be mandatory.

This.

[Pez_555]

stuff like this should be standard on all consoles. this is 2010 ffs. Until Sony have cross game chat/party chat i will always prefer Live for this very reason.

[Lethal_NFS]

Not fussed, I can do with one of my two main consoles not having cross game chat.

It's awesome when you get used to it, however those of you without a 360 won't miss anything as you're not used to using it anyway.

People like to cry about what they do not have. I have a 360 and i really never use the cross game chat feature. It is hard to talk to people while both of you are playing different games. I do not see why people feel the need to talk to someone while playing.

[sportjames23]

People like to cry about what they do not have. I have a 360 and i really never use the cross game chat feature. It is hard to talk to people while both of you are playing different games. I do not see why people feel the need to talk to someone while playing.

Same here. I never could figure out why PS3 fans think cross-game chat is the biggest thing in the world for the same reason you mentioned. I don't even use it on my 360. I'd rather focus on communicating with whomever I'm playing with/against, or concentrate on whatever single player game I'm playing than chat with someone.