Sony: Cross-Game Chat Never Coming to PS3

Mike Kayatta

Minister of Secrets
Aug 2, 2011
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Sony: Cross-Game Chat Never Coming to PS3



It's not that Sony doesn't want to let you talk to people still playing Call of Duty: World at War, it's that it can't.

For as long as I can remember, people have argued about which console is best. "PS3 has the best graphics!" "360 has the best games!" "Wii has the best ... um, controller wiggling!" While there are many gamers who've happily purchased more than one system from the plastic pantheon, there are also those who will never let you forget the one and only machine they'll ever buy ever (ever!). For those of you on Team Xbox, you now have one more factoid with which to prod and irritate your PS3-loving friends: Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has revealed that the PlayStation 3 doesn't offer cross-game chat, one of the console's most desired features, because it doesn't have enough memory.

During an interview with Eurogamer, Yoshida explained that "once a game gets RAM [they] never give it back. It's not possible to retrofit something like that after the fact. The game has to use its own memory to do [in-game voice chat]."

"There's always voice chat in the game," he later continued, "but it's a part of a game feature. It's not a part of an OS feature. That's the reason in terms of the ability to have voice chat across different games." Translation: You don't have it now, and you're never going to.

Interestingly, the PS Vita, Sony's upcoming hotly anticipated handheld, will actually have more RAM than the PS3. That shiny black box beneath your television is sporting only 256MB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM, while its portable counterpart coming out early next year will boast 512MB of system alongside 128MB of video. This advantage will allow the Vita to offer cross-chat, something its older brother never can.

For me, the lack of cross-chat, or a comparable "party system" to what Xbox 360 currently offers, has always been a serious downside to PSN multiplayer. I don't generally want to harsh my buddy's mellow while he wafts through Flower and I'm in the last few minutes of a close Uncharted deathmatch, but this feature can be used for other things as well. Communicating before matchmaking and creating isolated chatrooms for use in the same game (I hate having to individually mute twenty people just to hear my friend's voice) would both be welcome additions that my much-loved PS3 will never be able to offer in a firmware update or otherwise. Bummer.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-19-why-the-ps3-cant-do-cross-game-voice-chat]


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King of the Sandbox

& His Royal +4 Bucket of Doom
Jan 22, 2010
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inb4 flame war

OT: I, myself, find it kinda sad, and I actually feel sympathetic for those exclusive to the PS3 because of this.

Without cross game party chat, I'd never talk to some of my friends.
 

Dogstile

New member
Jan 17, 2009
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"256MB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM"

Wait really? That's it?

Christ I was expecting a hell of a lot more than that.
 

Warrior Irme

New member
May 30, 2008
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I am disappointed that I won't see this on the PS3, but when necessary Skype fills the gap. Though cross game chat should show up next gen.
 

Handbag1992

New member
Apr 20, 2009
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This is why I'm moving to PC gaming, with consoles I'm tethered to the limits of the hardware, on PC the only limit is my budget. Then again.... I am unemployed :(
 

FogHornG36

New member
Jan 29, 2011
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Aw but my ps3 is so powafull, always wondered this, not that i care so much, my ps3 is collecting dust, and my xbox got put out to pasture by ole kalashnikov after it red ringed. Good thing i can do all the things on my pc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTTF8S6fkEc
 

Druyn

New member
May 6, 2010
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dogstile said:
"256MB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM"

Wait really? That's it?

Christ I was expecting a hell of a lot more than that.
Its a five year old system, and the industry moves fast.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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DO IT ANYWAY.

Somehow. FIGURE IT OUT!

Maybe if we plug the PS Vita into the PS3...
 

Scizophrenic Llama

Is in space!
Dec 5, 2007
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I find this insanely ironic given the PS3 being dubbed the stronger of the two consoles. Somebody is doing something wrong here.
 

Smooth Operator

New member
Oct 5, 2010
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Bullshit, either they got incompetent engineers or he's lying, I bet my bottom the games don't get all of the RAM some of it is always saved for the OS overlay so it would be no problem to squeeze something in there... if you wanted to spend money on it that is, or you just make a silly public announcement and be done with it.

But damn these machines have poor figures, it's pretty astounding the way developers still manage to squeeze some life out of em.
 

ProjectTrinity

New member
Apr 29, 2010
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"Wii has the best ... um, controller wiggling!"

Whooooot! So much potential for spice in this topic! That said, it kinda sucks for those who value conversations with online peeps while gaming. =<
 

erztez

New member
Oct 16, 2009
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I just love the fact that my cell phone has more power and memory than the durr*mos powaful conzole dudz*durr on the market:)
Also, it allows me to talk to anyone I want to, any TIME I want to, even when there's no power socket in sight:p
 

-Samurai-

New member
Oct 8, 2009
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I never understood the point in cross game chat. Why the hell would you want to talk to someone playing a different game? And isn't that what phones are for?
 

Xersues

DRM-free or give me death!
Dec 11, 2009
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My sincere guess is they allocated certain parts of RAM early on for games to use from the OS that they can never get back in favor of not supporting some old labels and effectively getting in trouble for contracts.

Remember that whole Harry Potter game conspiracy from way back when that blamed EA for why cross game chat will never come around? While I don't like rumors and generally dismiss such accusations, this one might hold a little truth as enough pieces of the puzzle are seemingly coming together:

1. Sony does not integrate in game Music playing for all games as mandatory
2. Sony does not integrate cross game chat for all games as mandatory
3. Sony does not integrate Trophies for all games as mandatory
4. Sony adds in game music but only NEW games or PATCHED games can take in the resource (Probably a smaller allocation of memory)
5. Sony adds Trophies but only NEW games or PATCHED games can take in the resource (Game side responsibility)
6. Sony cannot add cross game chat because it would mean Cross game chat with CERTAIN patched or newer titles? (OS responsibility, cannot ask game makers to free up the space and get into 60FPS or 1080p arguments)

My guess is they screwed themselves by not making the developer practice early on and it became unwieldy and impossible to enforce back on older games. Publishers/studios did not go for it.

Then again, we all knew this a long time ago didn't we? I don't understand why we assumed it was coming or Sony ever teased it.