Another Year of PlayStation Growth? #3 – PlayStation Profiles

by Tom Hardman - 2008/09/08 2:25pm

A key branch in the evolution tree that Sony could be climbing, we ponder over the possibilities of furthering the relationship between console and PC.

There's little doubt that Sony has taken a considerable chunk of the electronics consumer market and turned it into a self-reflecting conglomerate beast to be reckoned with. From the classic Sony Walkman, to the Sony PSP, each device owes a little of its success to the compatibility it has with others. Nowhere is this clearer than the bundle of options supplied with the PlayStation 3.

The PS3 has indeed been the swiss-army knife of this generation; offering everything but the kitchen sink in an attempt to please connoisseurs of all technology havens. Whilst this hasn't led to the cheapest of initial purchases available in stores, it has provided an unbelievable all-in-one package that with a little work can be fully utilised to justify the original cost.

Sony has been trying in earnest to meet us halfway in this plight. Providing us even the coolest of functionality like Remote Play, has received further enticements to ensure that the option is used. The growing number of PSN titles able to play on your PSP through this connection is testament to their support of all those reasons why you laid your hands on the box in the first place. Running the console as an ever-growing experience it's become more apparent that the battle Sony is currently fighting is one of capabilities, their console has changed little with each subsequent SKU, with technical functionality actually dropping from the original design rather than increasing. Instead they aim to provide greater usability and enjoyment on their current hardware.

The last two years have resulted in a lot of these highly desired 'add-ons' being delivered to us at no price. Trophies, in-game messaging and XMB have been two of the latest updates to have a high impact in the way gamers are playing. They add quality to the system, whereas functionality like Remote Play and the new Youtube support for some titles, simply help to widen the effective 'range' of the PlayStation 3's influence.

We ask: Why stop there?

There's something we like to refer to as the 'complete gaming experience'. No, it's not a theme park, it's our way of describing the sort of possibilities open to any gamer with the relevant equipment. It's a list of the things you can do, and an idea to the sorts of ways that will impact you in your pastime. Sony ranks pretty highly on the scale, offering long lists of functionality, but that means little if the overall picture they create isn't a tiny bundle that the everyday gamer can fathom.

Think of it like this, the complete gaming experience to which we refer, is in fact a list of life indulgences. The average par for consoles is to offer you the equivalent of a nice chair, a TV, some snacks and a cool drink. In total you have a comfy night in either on your own or with mates. It may not be ground-breaking, but it's certainly a tidy bundle of joy.

In comparison though, Sony is offering a two week holiday in New Zealand, free dance classes, and a deluxe popcorn maker. It's no doubt a more exciting package, taking you far beyond the limits of your own living room, but it's safe to say that the novelty would soon wear off. Take all the objects and stick them together and it could hardly be considered functional, and as they've proved in recent years, a tough parcel to advertise.
So, boring background narrative over, what do we propose they do about it? In a two-part effort we believe the Sony experience can be made a much more logical affair by 1) increasing the levels of services offered currently and 2) providing a conjoining element to build that desirable package.

PlayStation Profiles are our envisage of a sensibly drawn world of combined effort, where actions in one area of Sony's offering, enable or increase the benefits of another. In short it's the combined 'package' of an individuals PlayStation experience. It all revolves around your PSN ID, it's a unique identifier that can provide you the services that define how you game, watch films, or listen to music.

If you've made it this far in the article, you'll be pleased to see we've simply taken the liberty of listing the areas of improvement that fall under our self-made title. They need little explanation and we won't claim any as being particuarly innovative, but each of these little alterations would help complete the bigger picture thinking we want to see from Sony within the next year.

Compatibility with more music and video file-types

Youtube support in more PSN games

Ability to synchronise PSN details between your PS3 and PSP

Trophies and Friends lists for the PSP (to tie in with existing PS3 accounts)

The ability to take snapshots ingame and save/upload them to a site (still only a rumour, but a good one!)

PSN account pages available on the internet, to include the following:

• Ability to create an extended profile


• Access to your Friends list, and the ability to see their profiles etc.


• Current status (online etc. perhaps even say if you're playing a game, or watching a film)


• Full Trophy support, to show trophy comparisons between multiple people in your Friends list


• Access to a regional forum through your PSN details. The forum should have a purpose-built mirror that is designed to run through the PS3 itself


• Private message function, allowing you to message a PSN friend from a computer, and they can pick it up on the console, and vice-versa


• Game statistic support for developers to build online ranking schemes etc. This should be linked to the following feature


• 'My Game' support, showing which games you've been playing, for how long, and where possible, show associated stats

So whilst this may seem like an all-intro, minimum content affair, it's plain to see just how many small updates would benefit the global perspective on the market. Sony has room for improvement and in a world where the man on the street wouldn't be seen without his integrated GPS-camera-browser-organizer mobile phone, it's evident that whilst last weeks episode laid out the possibility for the big and bold changes, these smaller ones are just as enticing.

What would you add to the list? Throw some comments down as we'll be striving to cover all updates that Sony throw to us now and through into the new year. With a bit of luck we'll see a good portion of these on our various screens soon enough.

Next Time

In our next episode we give Trophies a spit polish and shine. Sony may have won us over with this update, but it's still level pegging at best on the market. With HOME currently out of the picture, what else can Sony do to make Trophies one of the defining parts of PlayStation gaming? Catch us next time, or head down to the forums to push us your thoughts.