Sony to Introduce PlayStation Live?

The company looks like it could be verging on swapping its hands-off approach for another, more hands-on one more similar to that of Microsoft.

Sony's silence on almost everything to do with the PlayStation 3 has bedevilled all since the console's revelation, and nowhere has the company been more enigmatic than how it will handle network play. New rumours suggest, though, that Sony has big plans.

Xbox Live was a hit with owners of Microsoft's original console, but Sony decided to take a more hands-off approach with PlayStation 2, letting game makers decide how to handle online play. For PlayStation 3, Sony is looking to not only borrow but also outdo Microsoft's idea, or so a story in US magazine PSM would have us believe.

At E3 2005, Sony briefly touched on its online plans, but there's been little concrete information since. PSM reports that Sony is working on a centralized network plan similar to Xbox Live but more far-reaching. It'll even incorporate the PSP, much like Sony suggested at E3 last year.

At last year's International Game Summit in London, Sony's David Reeves spoke about Sony's plans for the future, one where online is the centrepiece.

Without directly naming them, Reeves suggested that the PSP and the PlayStation 3 would be interacting in a big way, bringing content from all of Sony's businesses (music, movies and games) to owners.

Right now, though, in the face of Sony's stone-faced silence, there's little to go on but speculation and hearsay. The PlayStation 3 is still set for launch (in Japan at least) this spring or summer, so expect big news soon.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games