Heres the details from Eurogamer (which have now reappeared).

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=63292

 

The interesting bits.

 

"The free service will support a host of communication and community features, including voice and video chat, messaging, unique user IDs and handles, and matchmaking, ranking and data upload and download service for games.

 

Crucially, the basic service will allow users to play games online - a factor which sets it apart from Microsoft's equivalent free service, Xbox Live Silver, which enables community features and content purchases, but doesn't allow users to play multiplayer online games".

 

The not so good bit ?

 

 

"Sony's system will be handing off significantly more control to game publishers, who will be able to run their own game servers as they see fit. Although Sony will be creating a standard infrastructure for the service, with data centres in Asia, North America and Europe, the system will still run over the conventional Internet and publishers will be able to connect their own servers to it.

 

This opens the possibility that game publishers could charge their own fees for playing games, which is indeed likely to be the case for titles such as massively multiplayer games - a genre which will be well-served by Sony's more "hands-off" approach to the network service, since some MMOG publishers have opined that Microsoft's approach is too restrictive on their business models.

 

However, Sony is pushing hard for publishers to use the network to generate revenue through selling content, rather than through charging users for multiplayer functionality, and the PlayStation Network Platform is designed from the ground up to support a wide range of content sale and payment methods".

 

 

Another good bit

 

"What exactly will be sold on the marketplace system is still the subject of some speculation - but after we revealed last week that Sony has been speaking to its publishing partners about the technical issues regarding distributing PSone and PS2 content online, three more important hints have been dropped which suggest that this content will indeed be on the menu for PlayStation 3".

So it is like X Box Live but free to the users unless they buy online content, which would be under the control of the developer/publisher and not by Sony. Cool.

Edited March 16, 200619 yr by Judge Hades

"The free service will support a host of communication and community features, including voice and video chat, messaging, unique user IDs and handles, and matchmaking, ranking and data upload and download service for games.

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So, Sony is entering the dating game?

 

Move over friends-reunited!