PlayStation Plus North America vs Europe vs Japan vs Xbox Live’s Free Games: Where’s the Best Value?

The Instant Game Collection offered to PlayStation Plus Members is a very compelling offer. So compelling that Even Microsoft had to adjust Xbox Live in order to offer some free games to its subscribers. PS Plus members in the US get $462 in free games if they subscribe this months. One would say doing more than that is impossible, and he'd be wrong.

[Majin-vegeta]

Lol is this for real??PS+ beats live no matter what country.

@Abriael

Notice how i said "NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY"?PS+is still better than live.

[Abriael]

Only, the comparison isn't just between PS+ and Live, but also between the different PS+ regions. May want to read before commenting.

It helps :D

edit: Yeah I noticed, but what you didn't notice is that the comparison with Xbox Live is the smallest element of the deal, the most relevant element is that what PS Plus users get in the US and Europe is a fraction of what Japan gets. Now think what would happen if Sony brought the US and European PS Plus up to par with Japan.

[Aceman18]

holy crap i can't believe the amount of games they have of the PS+ Japanese side wow. i wonder if both NA/EU will reach that that status.

PS+ is the best value for $$$ of any game service imo.

[Abriael]

At last someone that gets it :D Thank you :D

[Aceman18]

@abriael

yea after reading the entire thing it's fairly obvious that not only is PS+ the better service overall value wise, but the Japanese version of PS+ is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than NA/EU no comparison there.

[Concertoine]

steam is free.

[admiralvic]

The Japanese plus stuff is a little misleading, since Japan only recently added all those older games. Prior to the IGC, Japan was getting terrible offers / freebies and the IGC only picked up recently. Finally, I believe the push was to finally establish Plus in Japan, so they gave a bunch of older games (that work on portable systems, which do well there) and had hopes it would work out.

If this had been 3 months ago, then none of those PS1 games would have been listed.

[Knushwood Butt]

PS+ in Japan was weak for a LONG time. You just got free PS1 Classics and stuff for ages.

It's only in the last year that it has improved, and now, it kicks ass.

[PeaSFor]

@Concertoine
and your point is?

[FamilyGuy]

I prefer what we're getting here in the U.S. over what Japan gets. They have mostly small, old cheap games and just have a lot of them. Getting titles like BF3, Uncharted 3, Saints Row 3, etc seem completely out of the question for them. These big name retail titles make PS+ well worth the money for me. I don't think I'd appreciate it nearly as much if the free games on offer were only of the quality that the Japanese store get.

Quality > Quantity

Any day of the week.

[Abriael]

A lot of those are historical games that everyone should have a chance to play at least once. Besides, classic games exist in the US and Europe PSN as well, so they could simply add them to the offer like they did for Japan.

[nukeitall]

PS+ now represent great value, but it is highly misleading to use MSRP on old games. For instance, I can get XCOM for $20 new these days.

In addition, that value is only in savings if you would have bought all those games anyhow.

That said, the benefit is you might find games you wouldn't buy, but ended up enjoying and maybe buy a sequel.

[Smoovekid]

Is this a joke? lol

[nick309]

The games listed there arent worth this much this much at retail.

[Abriael]

All the values used are the official prices on the respective marketplaces.

[nick309]

Bf 3 is worth 20 at gamestop, sr 3 is worth 30. The prices arent 100% the same as retail. Not everyone wants ps plus because you dont get to keep everything. I rather finish and buy 1 game at a time otherwise im getting a huge backlog like i do now and never finish anything

[HeavenlySnipes]

Considering last I checked Bad Company 2 still costs $25, and Battlefield was $35, I'm gonna disagree with that

(Unless you meant used, because until recently the online pass pretty much forced us to buy the new version)

[nick309]

20 on gamestops site

[AznGaara]

Considering Xbl is only giving away free games until the end of the year... I'd say plus is better. Europe has always got the better gmes first though.

[buynit]

And so far its crap games compared to plus..

Imo this is how you battle used game sales..

[moparful99]

I tried to determine how this can be profitable for all involved i.e. Sony and the respective developers of said games.. But I realized that it's probably very profitable. First of all they don't offer BRAND new games so devs already made money but I'm sure they get royalties from Sony for every download, it increases exposure, larger audience for dlc and future games, and Sony gets a constant influx of money.. They've received $150 from me alone since this program began that they wouldn't necessarily have otherwise. Now that the service is established and very popular having to have Plus in order to play online with the PS4 won't be as hard of a pill to swallow for people because of the Instant Game Collection helping to boost perceived value.. All I have to say is Sony hit a MAJOR homerun with PS+

[latincooker214]

just wait for FAKE ninja to come on here and say XBOX LIVE IS better lol. PS4 FTW:)

[buynit]

Im in north america and pleased to say I get way better value with ps+ over live.. ive only had plus for 2 months and I simply cant keep up with all the games and since I have a vita and they give games for that too its just to hard and I need more hdd space. I cant believe ive been paying for live for yrs but never again.

If plus keeps going the way it is then its plus for life..

[truthteller]

PS+ EU > NA >>>>>>> Xbox Live

[MasterCornholio]

Overall PlayStation plus no matter which region provides a ton of value in comparison to Xbox live.

Motorola RAZR i

[gazgriff2k12]

ps plus eu rocks. im loving it my 320gb hhd is not

[wenaldy]

Singapore region sucks :( lol

US + Europe all the way!!!

[Abriael]

Isn't that quite redundant?

[NeoRatt]

Everyone focuses on the free games, but as a subscriber to both services I find that XBL brings out more good prices than PS Plus. So, while you get "Free" games more often on PSN Plus, the general cost of games comes out cheaper on Live.

Also, on PSN Plus the games are only free to use as long as you subscribe, whereas on Live Gold they are giving you the games to own even if you are no longer a gold subscriber.

For me though, the cost of games is only one part of the subscription... Things that are also important to me are:

- Chat and cross game chat
- Being able to buy the games from my PC for my console as well (I almost never buy using the annoying console interfaces)
- The achievement/trophy systems
- Cloud saves
- Online Multiplayer
etc. etc.

I don't subscribe to either service for the free games. There are much more important reasons to subscribe to both services.

[Funantic1]

I didn't know that the free content with PS+ was only playable as long as you were a member. I could have used that in a debate last week. Thanks for the info. I'll remember that one.

[trenso1]

That point is invalid in any debate, because even though we cant play the free games when we arent subscribed, you cant even play online when you are not subscribed. And that is way worse then notplaying thefree games you downloaded. Also all the free games on xbl dont even compare to the ones on psn+, lkke really AC2 and halo 3? You would be hard pressed to find someone who owns an xbox to not have either have owned or played either of those games.while on psn+ we are getting battlefield 3 a game which didnt come out 4 years or so ago and many other games. So yea the losing free games thing is an invalid argument.

[Funantic1]

@trenso1 but the PS4 does require PS+ to play online. Truth be told both Xbox Live and PS+ offer sorry old free games. Nothing on either list impress me. I've either played them already or they just suck. But it is stupid that you need to continue paying for PS+ for you to enjoy your free games. Is that really free or are you just renting the games? If I collected free games for months and then got deployed somewhere without internet I wouldn't be able to play my "free games". That's too close to "always online" for me.

[trenso1]

@Funatic1 i was talking about current gen not next gen since that is what the article is comparing, current gen services.

[fattyuk]

Funatic stop trolling!

PS Plus is a subscription based service.

Like your phone bill, your Internet bill, Netflix,cable tv etcetc.

as a member of Netflix I pay £6 a month so that's £72 a year whilst I pay £40 for PS plus... I know exactly which 1 is better value!

And before anyone says but netflix isnt a gaming service so how can you compare... it is a subscription based service

[AceBlazer13]

-ps+ has online storage
-u don't need ps+(on the ps3) to play online
-don't need it for acheivements
-you can buy games from your computer for your playstation systems
-ps+ offers damn great deals(mortal kombat and arkaham asylum for only $10.00 this week get it quick)
-you can chat without ps+

so seems like all ms has going for it is cross game chat

[NeoRatt]

Who said I was comparing the services?

Istarted with a comparison of some things then went on to say that I subscribe for a lot more of the other services.

I was simply stating things I used and making the point that there is a lot more to these services than getting free games.

[Funantic1]

360 and PS3's time is almost up. I was referring to the next gen. Once I buy a X1 I'm getting rid if my 360. I'm the type of dude that doesn't look back when the newest game or console comes out.

[HeavenlySnipes]

If you have PS+ those games are even cheaper

Shadow of the Colossus for $5 but Mortal Kombat and Arkham Asylum were both $5 as well for Plus users. I already played Arkham Asylum on the 360 so I passed on it but still, great value.

I wish they'd a PS Classics sale. I'd love to get HD versions of San Andreas, Persona 3 and Liberty City on my big screen

[FamilyGuy]

For comparisons sake, which is the entire point of this post/story, what you're getting on Live is a lot less than what PS+ offers. Most of the Xbox Live Gold features are free on PS3 and even when compared the PS+ it cost more at its base $50 a year compared to $60 a year.

You may see the value in paying for Gold but you're not really given much of an option considering how barren a Silver account is.

Also, you were comparing game prices and Sony has great sales too. There are some PS titles that are being sold for $2-$3 for PS+ members currently. Saying Xbox Live Gold get better deals is not necessarily true.

[nunley33]

all good reasons for sure and will all be present on ps4 along with sonys gaikai cloud making everything fast and nearly instant,no waiting. playstation plus had cloud saves before live did and then ms followed,like theyre following sonys lead with the ps4.

[admiralvic]

Every argument has two sides and ultimately I like the Plus free side more. Sure you need to pay to keep your collection ($50 a year isn't much and as you continue with plus, the overall cost is outweighed by what you have and can expect), but Plus basically offers people a chance to play something unique with no risk involved.

Like a while back Vanquish released and no one cared. Over time it dropped in price and ultimately went OoP. This resulted in a lot of people missing out on it, unless they bought the $20 dollar digital or found a used copy at GS for $13 dollars. However, since it was free with Plus, many people were given a chance (at no real cost) to try the game out and see why fans loved it.

On the other hand, you have Xbox sales, which are a mixed bag (like all sales and Plus offerings). One of the best deals I saw was El Shaddai for 400 MSP ($5) a while back. Now El Shaddai is an interesting looking game, but I wouldn't consider it exactly awesome. Even at $5 dollars I would question picking it up, which means I might miss out on something great. For this reason alone, I like that Plus basically gives you the game and you're free to try it or wait till the next one. I mean, once you start picking things based off cost, you're going to soon exceed the price of simply joining Plus, but no assurance that you'll enjoy those games anymore than what Sony would give you.

[desertpunk86]

games i bought from the sale.

borderlands 2

crysis 3

forza horizon

gears of war judgement

the witcher 2

hitman absolution

a total of $95,at regular price it would have been $250 i saved $155.
i don't care about old free games to me xbox live is the better service.

[BillytheBarbarian]

You get to keep your games when Xbox Live Gold runs out too.

[AceBlazer13]

you keep the discounted games you buy only the free ones require the ps+ subscription

[Hicken]

Why didn't you compare the discounts for the games on sale for PSPlus?

And define "old," as there are some fairly new free games on Plus, such as Sleeping Dogs and Battlefield.

[Underworld]

Just subscribed to PS+ a few months ago. Just curious. Does Sony have to get permission and pay the developers to put their games up for free? I would think they developers would lose sales, so would they?

[moparful99]

I'm pretty sure that Devs get royalties off of downloads paid or not...

[RedSoakedSponge]

if i made a Japanese account on psn could my UK based account play the games i get off there?

[Hicken]

Yep. As long as they're on the same system. Except for with a Vita, where you'll need different memory cards.

[RedSoakedSponge]

thankyou for the info.

also, is the japanese store actually written in japanese? because i would struggle if it is lol.

[Hicken]

I believe it is. Haven't used it myself, honestly.

Best way to navigate would probably be to Google Translate what you want to say into Japanese, then match the kanji/katakana.

If it's something with an online pass, that might not go through. Then again, I'm assuming you just put it through for the correct region, and it'll still count for the region you want to use.

[Geovanny]

Japan users get like 100 games whattheefak

[tarbis]

If only the games in Japanese PS+ are in English. I would be sure to subscribe right away. I usually use my Japanese PSN account for trying new game demos on PS3. :/

[blackberty]

You're forgetting the value of games is based on RRP, when most of the time you can pick it up pre-owned for next to nothing.

[Silly gameAr]

Trying to get a fight started between Plus regions here or something?

[H3ADWOUND81]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, plus pisses all over xbl.. There's no comparison..

[TotalHitman]

PS+ Europe is the best. It's just a shame that most of the time, I already have the PS+ games that are offered. Sleeping Dogs, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3 are amazing games, no doubt, it's just a shame when you already have those games though.