Brennan’s Blog

I am considering gearing up for some online gaming and started researching my options last night. It appears that my options include XBox Live and Playstation Online. The clear difference in that XBox Live requires a paid subscription while Playstation Online uses my existing internet connection with no additional charge.

Naturally I want the best gaming experience possible. I want to put on a headset, talk with the teammates and play the most exciting games available. I typically play Halo 2 with a group of 4 people on 1 monitor in the same room. By splitting us on our own screens across the internet it would actually allow for more sneaky tactics and less cheating by the next guy looking at your part of the screen as you move into position. It also gives you the full size of the screen.

But I am reluctant to pay for XBox Live when I am already paying for my broadband connection while running a game I own. I see that with a new XBox 360 you can use XBox Live on the Silver plan which does not even include gaming. It just includes the friends list and chat features which I already can do on my home computer.

I am leaning toward Playstation Online. I just have to find at least 1 game to make it worthwhile. I already priced the redesigned PS2 consoles at $130 which is very affordable. For a game I bet I could find something to play online for $30 to $50.

Has anyone tried either of these options? Is there a way to get play someone online without paying for XBox Live? What games on the PS2 would make it worth abandoning Halo 2?