Plus Points: Sony's PS Plus humiliates the game industry

Jim Sterling writes:

'Sony shows subscription services how it's really done

Sony has made a lot of mistakes over the years, and I've cheerily called the publisher out on many of them. For all its hubris, however, and for all its missteps, the PlayStation brand owner is prone to having some really quite brilliant ideas now and then, proving itself surprisingly savvy and innovative when the need arises.'

[Irishguy95]

PS+ is by far the best thing i've subscribed too.

Got Infamous series, Arkham City, Bioshock 2, Motorstorm Apocalypse and more Ps3 games + the Vita instant games...all for 37 quid. Just amazing. And that is only in the 4 months that i've had it.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

"humiliates the game industry"

Also it the only supported current last gen system!

Nothing happening on xbox.

[realiks]

I am sure nextgen MS will do the same.

[AAACE5]

I like plus and would easily pay for another year just on value. Free games and discounts on stuff i wanted to buy but the price was too steep. I know this gen is ending but sonu did something good with psplus.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Being too biased can really make a person stupid.
Do you still get access to movies, tv shows and videos if you cancel your monthy cable or netflix subscription?? I think NOT.
hell, do you even get offered free movies and discounts while on your cable tv subscriptions??
Nope...also can you get access to N4G if you cancel your internet subscription?? lol!

S0 why is PS+ an issue when its almost exactly the same as any other subscription service, but better!??

[3-4-5]

Only logical step once you've humiliated yourself. And Sony has done that.

I won't hate on them though, they will pull through and be fine...so will the Vita.

Sony NEEDS the PS4 though to kind of restore the confidence in their fans.

I mean I'm just guessing maybe they don't.....but it couldn't hurt. It helps that Sony has Loyal fans though. They complain way too much and get way too defensive about dumb stuff.......but they are good loyal fans.

[OpenGL]

When PS+ was first unveiled I admit that I was skeptical but now that I'm a subscriber I can say that it is definitely worth the price. Sure some of the features like the auto-updates and cloud save system should really be part of the default PSN package but the instant library feature is awesome and is easily worth the $50 a year.

[sensor21]

Funny how this generation is coming to an end and Sony is sticking out their chest all I know is I never went a month without playing a game online its in the past but it is what it is.

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

Stop paying for it, and let me know how fun playing those games still is.

Seems to me you paid for something. Like I pay for something. It's called Live. The better service.

[Imalwaysright]

Yeah you're paying to play something you already payed for: your games.

[3-4-5]

Remember when Sports Illustrated wanted all their magazines back once you stopped subscribing ?

O yea they didn't / don't and nobody else does.

[Mikeyy]

stop paying for LIVE and let me know how COD online is treating you.

Please once and for all, prove how live is a better service, simply reading the article trashes live beyond believe, you can't even deny it.

You pay yearly for cross game chat. thats really all.

[-Alpha]

You are being impractical:

Most the games I have on Plus I enjoy playing, but when I am done playing them, I dont really go back to them. If I want access to those games, I pay up again, or I'll just buy it. The $50 I pay is still justified by the sheer number of free things I get (and enjoy)

The value doesn't change:

I get to play the games I download with Plus, but the point of resubscribing is to invest in the future 12 months. I don't feel cheated if I stop paying and don't get to access old Plus games, because most of the time, I am playing something current.

Plus is fantastic, people pay to access a wide variety of features, no one is saying anything is free, but the value you get when you invest is through the roof. You pay for something because as an Xbox owner, you have no choice. I pay for Plus because I have an option to enhance my experience. The difference is that I genuinely enjoy paying for Plus, I am willing to bet that if access to online became free for Xbox, Gold subscribers would plummet. If you genuinely enjoying paying for the Xbox features, then more power to you, but undoubtedly, the argument here is that Plus is offering a better value while MS takes advantage of their position as market leaders of the online brand.

[LOGICWINS]

Jim hits the nail on the head once again. Its because of Plus that I'm getting a Vita.

[JoGam]

Glad u are making the move.

[USEYOURFIST]

im strongly considering a vita becuase all of the free games...no doubt this was a big factor in sony offering vita stuff on plus for no extra cash

[azshorty2003]

It's also that benefit that makes me regret not jumping on the amazing $179 bundle they had in black Friday. But it still might persuade me to get one

[gaffyh]

This article was written by Jim Sterling! He's usually such a Negative Nancy. I totally agree with him on this and always thought XBLive was a ripoff, just a pay wall to access things that should be free.

[Nicaragua]

I just bought a Vita because of plus. I couldn't stand having Uncharted & Gravity Rush sat there doing nothing on my plus account, and now I've just found out that Wipeout and Lumines are coming in February, and on top of that I've got a Vita download of Playstation All Stars which came with my PS3 copy.

If you have a PS+ account then its almost madness not to own a Vita now.

[profgerbik]

You guys will probably get Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus later on also, we are getting that today in NA PS+.

That isn't including other games they give you like a free PSP game, Jet Set Radio and other games like Retro City Rampage which are all fun.

EU PS+ users getting Sleeping Dog and then we just got Bioshock 2 not too long ago I mean those are AAA games here they are letting you play for free basically based on the entire value of what they offer you.

[Gamer1982]

Funnily enough its the sole reason pushing me to Vita. I'm building up a nice collection now. So its a double winner for Sony as it will probably sell Vitas.

[izumo_lee]

Jim actually has a good point. In a gen that has asked to give more for content (DLC,on disc DLC,microtransactions) that makes a $60 game actually cost much much more.

Sony with PS+ are actually giving stuff away for consumer loyalty. Your $50 a year subscription can amount to as Jim states over 2K worth of content. That is worth you money that is all i can say.

Sony has done a lot of mistakes this gen but the presentation of PS+ shows that Sony are quite capable of great things.

[TongkatAli]

Sony has done the best job this gen, keeping it real. Sony gives you nice hardware that doesn't feel cheap and a awesome library of games. PS+ is the icing on the cake.

360 and Wii/WiiU are awesome too.

[Hellsvacancy]

My PS3 slim feels cheap, I much prefer my old fatty PS3, still, "its whats on the inside that counts"

[iamnsuperman]

I agree and I love it. The rewarding system works and it also gives me some games I would never had bought/play because of several factors but now I am more interested in their sequel. (Infamous was a big example of this).

There are other schemes other companies have done. For instance, watching trailers to unlock several hours of free gameplay which are also an interesting idea and I wouldn't mind being introduced in gaming as a whole in the future but Plus is a good, underrated service. Okay it is a glorified rental service but I never felt like I was being cheated with my subscription.

[hennessey86]

There is no doubt
Ps plus is an out standing service, I'm looking forward to getting sleeping dogs as I didn't buy it. I hope Microsoft start something similar soon or next gen to at least try and justify the Xbox live fee.

[hades07]

Microsoft definitely needs to do follow Sony's online strategy next generation. Free app usage and online gaming, the extras you pay for. For example, I have netflix, nhl gamecentre and other apps that I use on my two xboxes but only have one live gold account because my girlfriend never plays xbox, so when she wants to watch netflix in one room, I cant play online or watch netflix in the other. We are seriously considering getting a PS3 right now just for this option.

[GusBricker]

Out of curiosity...
Do plus members get better download speeds, etc?

[iamnsuperman]

Nope. It is just content like full game trails, betas, full games/DLC, discounts, online saves...

[ABizzel1]

There's also scheduled updates, patch downloads, etc... that are taken for granted, but really nice. It's good being able to ALWAYS put your game in and play without having to wait for a new patch to download and install.

[ABizzel1]

I doubt it. I think that's more of a infrastructure thing. However, PS+ allows your PS3 to update all aspects of your console and games, such as patches, firmware, and even download FREE content (demos and I think videos) depending on the time you set it up, which prevents the need to worry about download speeds in most circumstances.

[GusBricker]

Thanks...

[Kratos_Kills]

I wonder if Gaikai will help with Sony's download speeds? Gaikai said a while back they can download as you play other than just streaming I believe. You wait just maybe 5 min and start playing as the download continues. That would help greatly.

[vlonjati77]

Marcus-Hopefully it will be like that,same concept I think as Uncharted 2 and 3 that while u watch the cutscenes it downloads the next level etc.Im just guessing im not technical about these stuff just of wehat i've read.

[profgerbik]

I don't know about that.

Would be nice for the PSN store but seems unnecessary when you can stream an entire game in general what would be the point in downloading it?

Also why would you stream PS Vita games on a PS Vita or same goes for PS3 for PS3 games?

[Kratos_Kills]

@profgerbik

I believe your wrong. See some people's connections arent super fast and can't stream the entire game. If they also added the tech where Gaikai downloads as you play with very minimal wait it would be much more logical with connections not fast enough to stream the entire game.

Also to stream games the ping and other things matter just as much as the speed. To download as you play the speed is the only thing that really matters.

[Riderz1337]

Nope but we do get things such as automatic updates. You know how sometimes you have to update your PS3's firmware? If you have PS Plus it will download it for you while you are online playing games. You don't have to sit and look at the download screen. The speed of the download is completely based on your internet connection.

[InTheLab]

Speeds are the same but you do get automatic updates. I have the Borderlands season pass and content is there the next time I turn on my PS3. I set it up so It downloads between 2-4am. PS+ will automatically update any game you recently played with patches or dlc...and it's awesome.

Now, Xbox does allow for downloading while idle but it's all manual. Had to go find my Blops 2 maps and set up the dl instead of turning on my console and playing...

[hazardman]

No. Its the same, but does it matter. Xbl gold doesn't give you faster DL speeds either. Although Dl have always been faster on xbox I don't think it has anything to do with the service.

[Karpetburnz]

I have never had any problems with download speeds on PSN.

[abzdine]

i love PS+! and if you have PS3 and Vita it's X2 combo with the same PS+ account..

i got it in the beginning just for the online storage and the auto updates it's so confortable in case i lose all data, but with the games, betas and exclusives they always offer i'm hooked forever.

thank you sony for caring about gamers!

[iamnsuperman]

"thank you sony for caring about gamers"

Sony have gotten a lot of stick this generation but they have actually given gamers what they want. From this service to releasing new ips. How many companies could you say have released new ips consistently over this generation? It is a rarity.

[abzdine]

imagine 3 new AAA IPs in one year i couldn't wish for more!! I throw my wallet violently at the screen everytime i see a trailer of one of these :D

Beyond
The Last of Us
Ni No Kuni

2013 will be a great year for PS3 owners.

[Kratos_Kills]

^ you left God of War Ascension out! Lol

[kayoss]

You think gow 3 will come to ps+ before ascension is released?

[N4Flamers]

I believe sony has done a lot of things right and some things are lacking. No one can argue with all the great exclusives we get except for my wallet.

I think some of the mistakes they made this gen will help them with the ps4 and I'm glad they have an online strategy that rewards gamers instead of penalizing them.

[Smurf1]

PS Plus is an amazing service, glad to know Jim likes it. I think it's one of the best things Sony has ever done.

[juandren]

That was definitely worth the read. Sony is working with a risky strategy to increase loyalty and consumer base, but damn it will work out well in the end

[Nelson M]

Whats not to like about PS Plus
The Service is A+ with a PS+ thrown in there for the hell of it

[Bar_Brothers]

Ps Plus give you alot of games for only 60$ a Year
Its a Great Value, Microsoft should do the same with Live Gold, it will be much more worth the money.

Live is an awesome service but lacks the vision Sony has for Ps Plus, to play online Live is King but if you just want to enjoy games Ps Plus is the best thing aroud.

Giving you shittons of games a year for 60dollars... you are saving hundreds of dollars by having that service.

Applauses Sony!

[cee773]

$50 a year

[DwightOwen]

Don't forget the discounts on certain games as well.

[GribbleGrunger]

I never ever intended to subscribe to PS+. There was no WAY that I would pay £39 a year for a list of random games. It felt like a punt to me. There was too much risk involved. Would I actually WANT the games they offered? Nope! There's no way on earth that I would EVER SUBSCRIBE! ... but

I'm good to go until 3/4/2014! How the hell did that happen?

[Riderz1337]

They started giving out quality games, that's what happened.

DarkSiders, Bioshock 2, RE 5 Gold Edition, inFamous 2, LBP 2 etc... Eagerly waiting to see what we get this month.

Edit - @GribbleGrunger, I know the feel bro...I'm almost done Bioshock 2 and haven't even touched DarkSiders. Then next week we will be getting another PS3 game. Sony is suffocating me with games and I love it.

[GribbleGrunger]

this is what I'll be getting!

6th February: Sleeping Dogs
6th February: Quantum Conundrum
6th February: F1 Race Stars
13th February: WipEout 2048
20th February: Lumines Electronic Symphony

That's Europe. How the friggin hell am I supposed to fit these in around Ni No Kuni?

[solidjun5]

It's really an amazing service. I can't wait for Sleeping dogs.

[nosferatuzodd]

Amen brother preach .. Lol

[jjb1981]

I just renewed and got 3 extra months on top of the 12

[vlonjati77]

I hate PS+,I will stop subscribing after my grand grand son becomes a father.I am 35 now and have only a 3 year old kid.:b

[CommonSenseGamer]

I think PS+ is fantastic and provides great value for money. Only question I have is what it does to lifetime sales of many of the games that are covered by the subscription. Do developers get a percentage of PS+ subs based on how many times their game was downloaded? How does it work?

[lovegames718]

lol at gribble...

But yeah some haters say"but but you dont keep your games" which may be true but i do keep thse games massively discounted as a plus member. That doesn't disappear . That alone is worth it to me. Sometimes plus members get up to like 40% discounts thts awesome .

[Hicken]

There's a bunch of stuff up to 50% off right now. I'm gonna need to add more funds to my wallet REAL soon.

[mayberry]

And some forget that ALL PS1 games are free FOREVER after being downloaded from PS+.

[Picnic]

So they should be. I bought Crash Team Racing and it looks like a garbled mess.
My advice is to only play games that have been converted in to HD on a HDTV. Otherwise it will not be as good as what it was like when you played it on the PS1 on a non-HD TV.
Most PS1 games won't look very good regardless so I'd stick with PS2 HD conversions if anything.

Also, if you play a game like Silent Hill 3, which is all about confined spaces and deliberately grainyish graphics, it will still feel better now on a non-HD small TV.

[r21]

Wait what? For real? I thought all games downloaded from plus arent playable after the subscription ended?

[mayberry]

ps1 games, mini games, premium themes and avatars and some vids that can go on the HDD. so the arguments concerning not being able to keep games after ps+ subscription expires is really weak, imho, for the simple fact that a subscriber does in fact get 'free' games forever, and also, the 'ps3' games are usually finished and not played again.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

OffTopic: Well lets get one thing clear, the only reason why MS hasn't sold say 85 to 90 million consoles by now is because of XBL. If XBL gold was free it would be outselling PS3 by now. Especially with games like Halo, gears Fable and many, many AAA XBL titles. MS does indeed lock out its customers by gambling with the likes of XBL, unless they pay for XBL. But just imagine if that was lifted now or next gen?

On topic: PSN+ does offers allot more than XBL. And PSN is good for people who just want to go online right away with out any hassle. But with XBL is for the online gamer who wants the best online experience that you can get on a console. So they can play Halo and Gears online and set up sessions its a compelling and powerful thing N4G, trust me. people say its the same as PSN when its really not.

Especially with UI enhancements and security upgrades along with F2P making its rounds its only getting better. With PSN+ you don't get to keep your games but that doesn't matter as long as you stay subscribed which I'm sure allot of people are doing. PSN and XBL owners are happy regardless. Both PSN+ and XBL will be monsters on Next gen systems.

[nosferatuzodd]

You're right in some ways Psn can only get better, and i like what sony is doing. Microsoft need to stop being cheep and give the gamers a bang for their buck .

[Y_5150]

I've been a Plus supporter since day one, I like that service since day one as well.

[gamingmaster2013]

ps plus humiliates the game industry? free games with a monthly/yearly subscription that saves you, the gamer, a shitload of money is humiliating the game industry?

this stupid journo is talking out of his/her arse and him/her and such websites are the ones humiliating the game industry!

[s45gr32]

Compare to STEAM I agree and you are right the media are humiliating the industry

[gamingmaster2013]

oh yeah i forgot about steam, my bad

[strickers]

There still seems to be some confusion for some.
With PS+ you do not keep the "free" games if you lapse in subs(like all other subscription services-Netflix,Spotify etc) but you keep anything you bought discounted. Any money at all spent and it remains yours.
PS+ is fantastic and owning both systems makes it a crazy deal.
Only the lightest of users won't benefit from it and save money.

[lovegames718]

Here ppl come with the xbl is better online blah blah . Listen thts complete bs their inteface may be diff. and liking tht is a matter of preference but last time chked most of these games dnt have dedicated servers and your exp. gaming online on ps3 is the same as on xbox so stop the bs this isnt 2006.

[TheObserver]

PS+ is an optional service that really gives you bang for your buck. The only reason that I don't subscribe is because I have no time to play ALL THAT GAMES. Also, I am mainly a PC person. However, even I can see the worth in PS+. PC and PS3 exclusives is a killer combo. Maybe it will be a PC, PS3, and PSV combo in the future. XBL, on the other hand, has been a scam and a black mail right off the bat.

[s45gr32]

That I agree use the PS3 to play its exclusives and the pc for its exclusives and multiplat titles. Also the pc is great for transferring movies and tv shows onto the ps 3..........

[AdmiralSnake]

Are people still complaining about plus ? Might as well complain about Netflix and gamefly while you're at it.

You're getting some free games while you're subscribe to them...

Xbox live gives you what ? The main thing is the ability to play online, which is free on the ps3.

I know a lot of people who went to Sony just because they to tired of paying to access the online portion of their games, when on the ps3 you can do it without paying an additional service.

[s45gr32]

Well PS Plus is a nice subscription service; however, compared to STEAM it falls apart. Due to one service being opened another a closed service. Besides steam offers deals and free games without a subscription. It allows its users the ability to mod or run their own servers. It allows gamers to vote for the games they want to play on steam. So is like no need for ps plus when a better service like steam exists.

[AdmiralSnake]

Yes, but steam isn't available on consoles.
So in my opinion, Playstation plus is a decent alternative.

Steam is for only the PC, it's not available on consoles, if Steam WAS available on consoles, then I would agree with your point of view, which I partially do.

But in my opinion, Plus is still a great service for what it does.

[ARIJayden]

Speaking of Steam, I wonder if Sony has any plans to further Steam + PSN's relationship.

[Ulf]

MS could go a looong way with XBL Gold, by offering free titles from XBLA, and a few full-size titles from time to time.

Why they don't is beyond me. It's not like people will stop paying, if they make the service better, and its not like MS is going to lose a lot of money by giving away old (but great quality) games like Crackdown, Alan Wake, PD Zero, and Gears 1. At the very least, they'll be hurting used sales of those titles, while gaining subscribers, and hence, real income and loyalty.

[MasterCornholio]

The answer to that is simple.

Because 40 million people are willing to pay for online multiplayer on the 360. I bet if you offered online multiplayer for free on live most of those people would stop paying for it.

You get what you pay for and without ads that is how it is with Playstation plus.

:)

[DAS692]

Leave it to douches to complain about a service that literally GIVES you free content and games...

[ThePsychoGamer]

Yea, I can't believe this guy is complaining about plus, I mean look at these quotes from the article.

"PlayStation Plus is one of the most consumer-friendly, convenient, and worthwhile ideas to hit the PlayStation 3"

"It sounds almost ridiculous to say it, but Sony has been pioneering the practice of giving stuff away in exchange for consumer loyalty."

"Even as a "rental" service, it's a killer deal, and the discounts are nothing to sniff at."

"PS Plus stands as a shining example of how you deliver a compelling, rewarding videogame service"

Wait, I can't believe he's complaing because he's not.

[DAS692]

I was referring to the people in the comment section...

[jukins]

I'm surprised there isntbany common trolls in here demonizing he PS+ service lol. Have we found the troll solution?!?!?! PS+ ftw!!!

[MysticStrummer]

Some may have offed themselves when PS3 passed 360 in WW sales.

[Ritsujun]

WW3 will be over soon

[Karpetburnz]

Xbox gamers have nothing to say, They know PS+ is the better premium service.

[s45gr32]

Ummm well if we are talking from a videogame console perspective then yes ps plus is a far better service than xbox live gold plus wii u online service offerings. As a better service as a whole in this industry no, that would be STEAM. It offers both gold and ps plus offerings for no subscription requirement and able to play steam games on laptops and htpcs along with gaming rigs also free. Steam has proven time and time again how to run admimister and expand a gaming service

[BitbyDeath]

Not really, Steam doesn't regularly give you games that cost money in stores away for free. Steam is a great service but not really compareable to PS+.

[Bladesfist]

Yes but you pay for discounts that go up to 40% off while steam sales go up to 90% off and they even have packs where every game in the pack is 75% off and then an extra 75% off the pack making 20+ games cost about £30 which sounds a little like plus except you keep your games. It does compare to PS+ is all I am trying to say, it is a very good deal. I am going to subscribe to plus again on feb 7th when they have the discount.

[vlonjati77]

OH man,I've left meny games unfinished,now they are giving Sleeping Dogs (I loved the demo).Sony I hate you :)

[ShinnokDrako]

I don't know if it's a bit of OffTopic, but i didn't want to get a Vita yet. Then i saw all the games offered by plus (i'm already a subscriber with my PS3 and i had 1-2 cross-buying)and i bought one. Great portable, having lot of hours of fun with it.

/OT =P

[Playstation4LyFe]

Thru all of the free trials ive gotten with plus i've had a great experience. I love it.