PlayStation Plus Update: Guardians of Middle Earth Free; Karateka 50% Off

Posted by Morgan Haro // Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms -

Welcome to this week’s PlayStation Plus update, where we’re excited to bring news that the Guardians of Middle Earth MOBA greatness will be coming free to PS3 for PS Plus members! If you’ve never tried this unique genre that’s taking the gaming community by storm, give Guardians of Middle Earth a download and see what all the excitement is about. While you’re at it, check out a handful of discounts on some pretty amazing games you may have missed out on for both PS3 and PS Vita.

[Omegabalmung]

Almost bought Big Sky and Knytt yesterday too lol.

[Donnieboi]

America: Guardians of Middle Earth (some $15 arcadey game -_-)

Europe: Sleeping Dogs (?!)

I'm not hating on EU, but why can't we get Sleeping Dogs TOO? Why not?

[blackblades]

Most of everyone on ps blog is so ungrateful, you guys are going to be the same, and Donnieboi like literally its the first week we don't know what we're getting this month stop comparing to EU.

[admiralvic]

Not really a fair comparison. since EU also got Guardians of Middle Earth.

[MrBeatdown]

We will likely get a full retail game at some point this month. Our first game in January was NBA Jam, but we ended up getting Darksiders just a few weeks ago.

[cleverusername]

U got Street Fighter and NBA jam! Why can't we have them?

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Well, I still want Counter Strike! Why can't we get that too? Why not?

[DivineAssault]

S.O.B.!!!! i just bought Knytt underground last week & havent played it yet.. Damnit! They got me for $5 lol

[Merrill]

Blah, terrible update. I would have re-subscribed for Sleeping Dogs, like the EU just received.

Apparently everyone is very easily pleased, even by a turd update like this. Maybe next's month update will finally give me a reason to subscribe again.

[FunAndGun]

Just get a EU Plus account already.

Why is everyone so caught up with what EU gets? When did Sony ever say the content from US, EU, or JAPAN Plus subscriptions would be similar or comparable?

They are different and were never advertised as being the same.

Why is that such a hard concept to understand.

Do you also compare all your other purchases made in the US to how people overseas buy things? its just absurd.

[JP1369]

It's not all that absurd when the content is sitting on a server instead of in a plane or on a truck. And no, they never made any guarantees about similarity in content, but such a thing is implied when everyone is paying for the same service. I understand both sides, but to say it's absurd is just foolish.

"For all of you so called gamers out there, you should have been had the majority of these games in the first place before they ever even reached Playstation Plus."

Some of us so-called gamers have social lives and jobs. I simply haven't been able to get around to playing every game I'm interested in that came out recently.

[lodossrage]

But to add to it, people need to look at the reality here.

The U.S. also has the cheapest gaming market in the first place. EVERYONE else has to pay more than we do. So yes, that combined with licensing does factor into what each region gets with Playstation Plus.

When EU got Guardians of Middle Earth last month, people in the U.S. complained about them not getting it. Now, you're about to get it but now the complaint is "we want Sleeping Dogs".

For all of you so called gamers out there, you should have been had the majority of these games in the first place before they ever even reached Playstation Plus.

And it's just like FunAndGun stated ever so clearly, stop whining and just get EU's version of Plus if you're so disgruntled. Nobody is stopping you from doing that.

It's that simple.

Edit- and for the record, the U.S. pays less than EU does for Plus. Their price for a year is 39.99 EU. That translates out to about $55 a year to our 49.99 a year.

[vickers500]

"When EU got Guardians of Middle Earth last month, people in the U.S. complained about them not getting it."

I never heard any complaints at all.

"For all of you so called gamers out there, you should have been had the majority of these games in the first place before they ever even reached Playstation Plus."

If this were 3+ years ago I might be inclined to agree with you, but there are an ass ton of worthwhile games out there to buy nowadays, even if you were to just spend money on $20 dollar games, most of us wouldn't have the time or the money for every single good game there is.

[lodossrage]

We all have lives. But that has no bearing here. I have a wife, daughter, and a job too. But that doesn't give me the right to complain about something someone else gets overseas. Especially when they actually pay more than we do over here.

If I can't play every game I'm interested in, then I just can't. That's life. We compromise.

I feel you both about not having time. I feel the same way. But we make our own choices on how we spend that time.

The problem here is there is this extreme sense of entitlement going on within the confines of PS Plus. EU actually pays more, but the U.S. customers still feel they get shafted, which actually isn't the case at all.

[delboy]

Why is everyone so caught up with what EU gets?

Grass is always greener on the other side :-)

[FunAndGun]

@JP1369

Different territories have different rules. It is not a matter of flipping a switch to have a game appear on the US server. There are TONS of approvals and restrictions that must be made, in each territory, before every single game is green lighted.

NOTHING is implied because we pay relatively the same amount of money for a Plus subscription. YOU assume that.

If you have ever traveled around Europe you would be very surprised to see how things differ from the US. If you order a Coke from McDonald's it doesn't come with ice like in the US. They have items on the menu that are not served in the US and vice versa here. Things are just different. Products are marketed differently, Packaging is different, they might have more chocolate chips in their cookies, who knows.

The point is YOU want that ONE thing you purchase in the US to be the same as EU, but what about all the other THOUSANDS of items you buy every year in the US that differ from EU? I don't see you comparing all your other purchases to how people across seas buy things, just your Plus membership. IT IS ABSURD.

They are NOT similar, they NEVER were advertised as being so. These are your OWN expectations that get shattered every week when EU gets something you want.

[JP1369]

Look, I said I understood both sides. I understand that no promises were made and that there is an approval process to be mindful of, but to compare cultural differences at a McDonalds is ridiculous. Different stores have different policies and even chains will observe this behavior across regions and certainly in different countries. That these stores are affected by cultural norms has very little effect on a digital product. The only two things holding it back are popularity and the legal process. My point is that Sony should be a little more transparent about their selection process, because they have released a game in one region, and then released it in another the following month. This is most likely due to the approval process, but it adds confusion the next time it happens. People are waiting around thinking, "Are we getting the game next month, or not at all?". It's for this reason that I can understand why people get upset.
Now about all of us having lives, you're comment made it seem as though we all have unlimited time to play all the games we want. The fact that I haven't been able to get to all the games I'd like to play simply means that I don't have the time and that I like a lot of games. I don't think that means I'm not a real gamer, so don't make such a stupid comment next time.
P.S. Sorry if this post doesn't make much sense. I'm between classes and typing in a hurry.

[lodossrage]

"Now about all of us having lives, you're comment made it seem as though we all have unlimited time to play all the games we want. The fact that I haven't been able to get to all the games I'd like to play simply means that I don't have the time and that I like a lot of games. I don't think that means I'm not a real gamer, so don't make such a stupid comment next time.
P.S. Sorry if this post doesn't make much sense. I'm between classes and typing in a hurry. "

lol my comment didn't make it "seem" like anything. You just ASSUMED what you wanted and think it was a stupid comment simply because you didn't comprehend it.

[JP1369]

I was exaggerating to show how asinine your statement was. Nothing of note to comprehend. You may have the time to play all the games you want, but I don't. Doesn't mean I'm not a real gamer.

[lodossrage]

See, once again, you're assuming. Why don't you READ what I said instead of coming to you're own baseless forgone conclusions. You seem pretty smart so you SHOULD know better than that.

Where in my comment up there did you see me say that just because you don't have time to play these games makes you an non gamer? Do you know the difference between have and "have time to play"?

See, it's why we gamers have what we call BACKLOGS lol.

And on a side note, considering I'm already finished school,already in the work force, and raising a family, I'm willing to bet I have even less time than you do. And that's not even counting the other major things that need my daily attending. So please, do you really want to talk about who has time for what between the two of us? lol

[vickers500]

"The problem here is there is this extreme sense of entitlement going on within the confines of PS Plus."

People have every right to feel entitled about things they pay money for. I feel entitled to a working, fully functional game when I pay money for it, and will complain and be upset if it has a lot of glitches, and I'll be upset if I pay full price for a game that doesn't give me my moneys worth and is only 3-4 hours. The reason I mention these is that the same concept applies to plus. People have the right to complain if they aren't getting the best value for their money, and they're not wrong in any way for doing so.

If Sony were giving all this stuff out for free, then I'd agree with you that there's a problem of entitlement, but this isn't some simple spoiled-child mentality, people are paying their hard earned money for a service, they have every right to complain if it's not up to the same quality in their region as it is in the others, seeing as how we're all paying for the same service.

[vlonjati77]

You are right man.Its what I did a couple of months ago.I have both EU and NA PS+.

[lodossrage]

"If Sony were giving all this stuff out for free, then I'd agree with you that there's a problem of entitlement, but this isn't some simple spoiled-child mentality, people are paying their hard earned money for a service, they have every right to complain if it's not up to the same quality in their region as it is in the others, seeing as how we're all paying for the same service. "

No, that's EXACTLY what it is. Why you ask? Because as I've already proven, EU pays more for their version of plus compared to what we do. Go to a currency calculator and tally it up yourself if you think I'm talking nonsense.

And if they pay more (which they do), then why do most of the US audience feel they should get the exact same content?

If you and your girlfriend went to a restaurant right now and ordered a meal that cost you $40, then another couple came and sat next to you, ordering the same EXACT thing you did and paid $30, how would you feel?

[vickers500]

@lodossrage

So you're paying a very SLIGHT amount increase in money, yet believe you deserve an insanely higher amount of quality? There's still differences between our countries that balance out the cost, we're basically paying the same price, where it might cost you a tad extra for ps+, something else you have in your country offsets that cost.

And even if you were paying more, the difference between the content you guys get and the content we get doesn't even COME CLOSE to justifying the difference. For your supposed TINY increase in price, you get almost a brand new, AAA quality game that hasn't been out for very long. We however get some mediocre pile of crap that almost nobody has ever heard of. You get gold for that small amount more that you pay, and we don't even get silver, we get trash throwaway games that almost nobody wants to play(or games so old, popular and cheap that everyone and their grandma has already played, and only benefits lazy people who would rather run the game off their hard drive than get up and put in their disc that they, in all likelihood, already own ).

Even if you are paying more for plus, we in the U.S. are still paying a lot of money for it too. 50 bucks is still a lot of money to spend on a service like that, and we still have every right to complain that we aren't getting our moneys worth, and anyone who pays for anything that doesn't get their moneys worth, has every right to complain, and they aren't entitled little brats for it. Being entitled means expecting sh*t for free or for nothing, except we're the ones actually playing for plus, so we aren't expecting something for nothing, we're expecting something for our hard earned money. People who don't pay for things have no right to expect things for free, but people who DO pay for things have every right to expect things from the thing they paid for.

[NicSage]

WOOT GOME! so excited now i can play it on the ps3.

[SlyFoxC]

wtf....first the game goes on sale and now its free...

i bought GomE on sale to find out this game is now free....why do this...i pay for the game and i pay for PS+. The idea of putting something on sale then having it free for a service someone currently pays for is ridiculous.

i better be able to get credits refunded to my wallet

[jdktech2010]

I learned my lesson with the ultimate editions a while back....just because something goes on sale doesn't mean it's time to buy if you have PS+.

It's a balancing act you just have to time correctly

[porkChop]

Yeah they do that on purpose. They know the contents of each update a couple months in advance. They do this all the time. They're dumb though because they don't seem to understand that while ripping people off they're actually alienating their customers and convincing them to stop buying games. They're very short-sighted.

[SlyFoxC]

i agree. From now on i will not be purchasing games until i know for fact that every deal has been done

[admiralvic]

Actually, they probably don't know these things that far in advance. What probably happens is that they have an idea or a number of deals being worked out. It's completely possible that Guardians of Middle Earth sold poorly, so they did a sale. Numbers were still low, so they asked Sony to "cash" them out by scoring a few bucks via plus. Something similar happened with Shank 2, so don't be surprised if that's the case.

Sure this sucks, but you should buy games you WANT, not games that are cheap. Also a lot of people forget that online games have a "best played by" date, so while you might have paid 6x more for Singularity (just a random cheap game), getting a ranked match online is virtually impossible now. (if the servers are even up) It all works out to what matters most to you.

[vlonjati77]

Sly-last july I bought a '55 3D TV for $2200 ,and 5month later price dropped down to 1500 for christmas.Was I mad?Hell no.I like something I buy it.There is nothing to be mad about it in your case.The problem with people like you is that you take things for granted.YOU bought that game cause you were interested to play it and you had to pay.Before wasting more time I say one thing-Patience is a virtue.

[SlyFoxC]

Dr. Phil before you tell me how i live my life why dont you take a step back and literally FUCK YOUR OWN FACE

[ShAkKa]

Ew.

[brettyd]

Welp theres always next week...I find myself saying that a lot...

[SAE]

they should provide new things not the same stuff that uk get . it's stupid if you ask me ...

[kingPoS]

For some reason Karateka reminds of Avatar... I keep getting those two confused.

[TheLastGuardian]

Why couldn't Knytt Underground and Big Sky Infinity just be free? EU got those in the IGC weeks ago. Oh well, my Plus membership just ran out anyway. I might resub soon and buy Knytt Underground.

[Tres21]

hey i just upergraded 2 plus & im tryin 2 figure out how do they do there deals? is it every week or every month i just upgraded & missed that Tiger Woods deal & was pissed.lol

[Ripsta7th]

Updates every month, 1 new game every week. Usually theres one retail game available and 3 arcade games. I think

[Tres21]

o ok thank u i bought 2 $50 cards thought i had till the end of the month & i wanted that machinarium & a few others & missed em all was so mad would of just used my mnth from gow saga if i knew it was gonna happen but thanx again 4 the info ill do better next time wit this info.lol

& pyshonaughts for that 2.50 ahhhh do they redo deals at all lik ms?

[Ripsta7th]

@Tres21 idk if they redo deals but there are some full retail games available right now like infamous 2, LBP, Sf4 arcade edition and a few others that have havent yet expired but i beleive they will soon, and i missed that deal too! i was pissd lol

[Ripsta7th]

Sony should have similar games come out for PLUS, like if their full retail games or arcade and release them how they do but at the same time, it doesnt have to be the same game but something that is as good as the other. Some people might get pissed and maybe resubscribe if they think its not fair.

[Siren30]

Almost as good as the free foosball update.

[kingmushroom]

i has to make a E.U account, damn ,

[vlonjati77]

@ slyfoxC-

I wanted to do that but unfortunately your mom/gf/wife's (')pu$$y was attached to my face.