Xbox Live vs. PlayStation Network: comparing accessibility, content, and the future of both services

Microsoft and Sony have always been in competition for the hearts of the gaming masses. That said, one of the biggest draws for their two consoles has to be their respective online component.

Let’s take a look at Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network in some detail, checking out their strengths and weaknesses, as well as what we think they should do to ensure a bright future for the respective services.

It can be said that Microsoft and Sony have been in competition for the heart and soul of the gaming masses. In the gaming industry, it’s the company with the must-have console that wins the day.

How do they make a must-have console, though? It’s simple: by taking basic ideas and improving upon them. One of these basic ideas is the presentation of an otherwise needed feature in consoles today: the user interface.

While we could go on about other basic ideas that have been developed by both companies, such as internet connectivity, a sense of community, and games, it’s the user interface that happens to be the backbone of the gaming experience today; without it, we’d still be in the Famicom era, booting things up by blowing at the cartridge.

Of course, the navigational aspects for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are the same in certain respects. Both of them feature some form of interface navigation, whether it be via the blades system or the Xross Media Bar. Both of them take on different color schemes. Most importantly, both them have a conglomeration of all the basic ideas, which happens to show itself whenever one experiences Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

There’s a wealth of form and function in both Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, but you have to wonder what’s missing for both sides. With this article, let’s take a look at both interfaces and their respective content marketplaces, taking note of what’s there, what’s missing, and what features and refinements each should offer to make the services better.

Comparison One: Accessing the Interface from Startup

One of the foremost ways to measure any service is by looking at the ease with which a person can access that service. All-purpose accessibility for a service is needed to make it successful, and it’s here that we begin our inspection.

First off, take a look at the interfaces for the 360 and the PS3. As noted earlier, the basic functions are the same, as you have the blade system on the 360’s side, and the XMB on the PS3’s side.

What’s different in both, as you’ll notice, is the amount of information available on the screen. The PlayStation’s interface looks cleaner, but doesn’t give as much information because most of the interface uses icons as a big part of the usage. On the other hand, the Xbox 360 interface is a little bit more cluttered and difficult to navigate, but offers more information because everything is associated with words or phrases and less with icons. That said though, getting to the actual store seems to be a lot easier on the Xbox 360, as you only have to keep pushing your analog stick to the left.

Now we mentioned all-purpose accessibility earlier, so let’s add a thought experiment here. Imagine you have trouble seeing, either from colorblindness or because you have general eyesight troubles. Take your favorite console with that in mind, and see what it does for you.

If you were colorblind, you’d have some trouble seeing certain aspects of the Xbox 360 interface since your background is usually done in various colors. On the PS3, colorblindness isn’t a problem really, though people with trouble distinguishing light and dark areas might have trouble with that wave in the center of the screen.

If you have general trouble seeing things (such as astigmatism nearsightedness or farsightedness), both would be problematic. While you can adjust the screen settings on both consoles, there aren’t any options to change individual aspects of your interface, such as font types or font sizes, to make it more accessible.

Comparison Two: Content

Now that we’ve actually gotten to the respective stores for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, we have to look at the content for each. This comparison, while seemingly more important than the accessibility comparison, is definitely going to be a lot shorter since we aren’t listing anything.

What’s the status report on both? Speaking in overall terms, the Xbox 360 in quantity, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 tie in quality.

How come? Objectively speaking, both have a large staple of movies and games available for download, but the advantage here comes in the form of freebies and assorted little things. The Xbox 360 has more far more demos than the PS3 because it’s been out longer, and at the same time, there are themes and gamerpics that can be downloaded to further customize the interface for the system. The closest equivalent to downloadable themes for the PlayStation happens to be PSP themes, but those can be done through the PC PlayStation Store.

Of course, subjectively speaking, we have a mixed bag. Since we can’t exactly list all of the movies available on each side, we’ll call that a draw. Games-wise, what Xbox Live offers in quantity via Xbox Live Arcade, Sony can’t respond to just yet. Sony counters this by having a better roster of your favorite PS1-era games, though Microsoft is catching up through the Xbox Originals line.

Now that we’ve taken a look at both services in some detail, let’s talk about what each service should do to stay competitive.

One thing I’d personally like to see on both consoles would be an entirely new feature that takes its premise from the bookmarking feature of internet browsers combined with button mapping.

Basically, I’d like to see controller button combinations that you can use to switch automatically to specific areas on the respective interfaces.

For instance, pressing Right Trigger + X/A could take you automatically to the marketplace section of the XMB or Blade system, or pressing a different trigger-plus-button combo could send you to another area of your interface. It’d be fully customizable, so you could map which button combos would lead where.

Related to what we’ve been talking about previously on accessibility, it would also be nice if both consoles offered additional customization options for folks who want them or need them, as well as having further refinements to the intuitiveness of both interfaces. Additional accessibility options, such as the ability to change the font types and font sizes or the colors of the backgrounds, would also be much appreciated.

Finally, more content is good, but the emphasis on having quality titles come out instead on shovelware should be paramount. This is especially important for the Xbox Live service, which has more game titles out, thus opening itself up to more shovelware.

Of course, if both services could offer the same fun movies as well (I will love whoever comes out with “The Dark Knight” first), then everyone would be better for it.

There is one last comparison that needs to be made, and it is seen in the steps both companies are taking to make their services more popular, more accessible, and just plain better all around.

The big wild card we have at present is the Xbox Live Experience. It promises an revamped system of navigation that still offers old-school users the flexibility of using the blade system for their gaming needs. At the same time, they’re incorporating additional content in the form of avatars, introducing streaming movies via Netflix, and even incorporating an optional game installation feature reminiscent of what’s currently happening on the PS3.

The big problem with it? It’s all speculative at this point. The pictures we have are mock-ups, the actual abilities are still being discussed, and even that leaked Xbox Live Experience business we reported on earlier hasn’t revealed much yet. In other words, the announcement is a big step, but details would make it even better.

On the other hand, the PSN doesn’t have any announcements of the sort, with the closest thing being the Life With PlayStation announcement they made recently. Even then, this update won’t revamp the system to the extent that the Xbox Live Experience will. Sony should think about expanding the basic feature set via their firmware updates, and perhaps make a big announcement of their own in the future to compensate for the press Microsoft is getting with the Xbox Live Experience.

The bottom line here? Sony and Microsoft have solid services as they are. However, both companies should not rest on their laurels. There are ways to make each service better, simply by offering options, increasing features, and improving on quality output, and the one that offers the brighter future will be the one that wins the vote of the consumer.