Few can argue that of all current-generation gaming consoles, Microsoft has taken great pains - both financial and otherwise - to help make their Xbox Live the most cohesive, consistant online gaming ecosystem currently available. But while largely consistent online match-making and a plethora of multimedia content should be enough for most users, it appears that the service's more inclusive nature may be holding it back from one of the industry's most interesting options: user-generated content.
A developer for RedLynx, the developer of Xbox Live Arcade title Trials HD and released just last week exclusively for the Xbox 360, has posted (via the game's official forums) his take on how Microsof't console measures up, which despite its progressive nature in many areas, in others sounds positively Nintendo-like.
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Content-sharing for Trials HD limits sharing to the user's friends, similar to the system employed by Nintendo and their online structure. His comments on why this is:
"Little Big planet has global sharing system between all players. Everyone can access content made by everyone without knowing them. A system like this requires huge server capacity and lots of paid moderators to check out all the levels before they can be available to all other players. In a system like this, the moderators are checking that no levels contain any vulgar stuff or break any copyrights. No Xbox 360 games yet have a system like this, and I am not sure if Microsoft is going to announce any this generation, as it requires lots of server capacity and work force."
The developer went on to further praise Sony's efforts, which should come as no surprise, especially given the efforts made to give Trials HD media-sharing capabilities. Here's went on to explain:
"Sony has made a huge financial effort to provide the server network for the LittleBigPlanet content sharing system and all the work force that monitors and moderates the content every day. This is only possible as LittleBigPlanet is a really high budget AAA title and Sony considers it a vital part of promoting their console and improving their console sales. It's kind of a test case for user created content sharing for consoles. I am pretty sure that in future we get more open user created content sharing in consoles too, as we get more and more games that have used various means for user created content sharing without any major legal issues. It just requires some more time for the big players in the industry to adjust."
While its interesting to see an Xbox 360 developer speak so openly on the merits of the PlayStation 3, his comments demand attention. Currently, the Xbox 360 is the only home gaming platform that charges users for full access and online gaming options, while competitors PlayStation 3 and Wii offer their access virtually free. The title in question, LittleBigPlanet, has become a noteworthy adovacate of user-generated content and (more importantly) global sharing since launching on the PlayStation Network last November, and by all accounts has been a success for both Sony and developer Media Molecule. Of course, Sony is blessed with the financial means to help moderate their growing LBP online community, so perhaps direct comparisons to Xbox Live vs. LittleBigPlanet isn't as cut and dry.
Microsoft has mentioned that Xbox Live enjoys the largest online console gaming community, with 17 million subscribers, although exact numbers of free (Silver) and paying (Gold) memberships is unclear. The company has also made efforts to integrate in-game advertising in both select titles (with help from developers), and has introduced direct advertising on the console's Dashboard for all Xbox Live users, which include both free and paid subscribers. With news of relatively free services like PSN developing stronger infrastructures and global communities to help expand content and the user experience, the future of paid subscriptions for access will be an interesting one to watch.
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