IGN: Why We Heart PlayStation Plus

IGN: If you're like us, you need a nap because today has been too damn crowded with PlayStation 3 awesomeness. PlayStation Plus is out, and it's packing free games, avatars and the promise of loads of content for the next year. On the other front, Firmware 3.40 is out and allowing PS3s to upload pictures to Facebook and videos to YouTube. It even displays your Trophy levels on your Friends list.

It's too much goodness!

[colonel179]

It´s good to see PlayStation Plus is getting the love. It is indeed a great value for gamers.

[Keltik82]

Totally agree bro, Very nice addition. They did a great job!

[Trey_4_life]

Who doesn't heart PS plus?

It is a new defining, DLC membership offering hundreds and hundreds of dollars of games and DLC, as well as exclusive beta's and free trials to full games.

The playstation brand is at the strongest it has been for years and is still continually evolving, first the victory at E3 and now this, so trust me when i say..........

The futures bright, the futures playstation.

[TheGamer]

Gonna go home buy it today.

*keeps reminder*

[morganfell]

I gave them some love this morning as soon as I logged on...15 months worth of love for starters. And my fellow commenters are correct. More than worth the price in the first week alone.

[IHateYouFanboys]

its only 'more than worth the price in the first week alone' if you were going to buy those games/content this week WITHOUT PS+ even being around. so let me ask you this - were you, this week, going to buy WipeoutHD, Field Runners, Age of Zombies, Destruction Derby, and then some of the sale items, before youd even heard of PS+?

if not, then no, its not worth the price in the first week.

look, i can see that IF you are a HUGE spender on the Playstation Store, this will more than likely be a very good deal for you. but for those like me, who have bought 2, maybe 3 things from the PSStore since it opened, PS+ offers nothing. im not going to commit to US$49 a year for an undetermined amount of years just to play some games that i wouldnt have bought and probably dont even want - and thats essentially what youre doing, renting all these games for US$49 a year.

[morganfell]

Yes I was going to buy Wipeout HD, MK, as well as the Fat Princess addition. This is the first week. Now get the f*ck back under your bridge.

[moparful99]

Cynical much? Maybe you havent purchased anything from the store not because you have no interest in the content, rather you are frugal and dont like the idea of spending that money.. Well with psn+ you get to try a myriad of games you otherwise might have ignored.. Your narrow opinion reflects the people your name suggests you despise.. I applaud sony's approach...

[Redlogic]

PSN+ is much more than just renting games for $49 a month. Check out this link below, it does a better job describing the value in PSN+ than I have the patience for.

http://playstationlifestyle...

[Carl1412]

Right...So...Say you have NO INTENTION at all of buying a brand new Bugatti Veron. Someone comes along and says to you they'll give you one for free. By your logic, this is not a good deal.

[BkaY]

early demos and beta access ... thts all i want .. anything else is bonus...

peace

[DigitalAnalog]

There's a thing in marketing called "Value". Look it up.

-End statement

[Cenobia]

How the hell could you have only purchased 3 PSN games ever?

A statement like that makes me wonder why you even have a PS3. Do you use it only as a bluray player just based on principal or something? I think its pretty rare to have people on this site that don't actually play games.

I need an explanation! IT BOGGLES MY MIND!

[EVILDEAD360]

'How the hell could you have only purchased 3 PSN games ever?

A statement like that makes me wonder why you even have a PS3. Do you use it only as a bluray player just based on principal or something? I think its pretty rare to have people on this site that don't actually play games.'

Why is so strange that the guy only bought a couple of games from the store..

I own a Slim and I use the hell out of my Blu-Ray and buy the big exclusives for it.

GOW3, Both Uncharteds, MGS4, Demons Souls, Heavy Rain and upcoming Gran Turismo 5..THAT is the heart of PS3 gaming..why does someone have to 'explain' to you that you can be a PS3 Gamer without buying Fat Princess or Flower?

The guy explained his position on why he felt their was no value and Morganfell actually called him a troll..

Let's backscroll to at least twenty 360 articles and see who you find chimimg in..people giveth but they cant taketh

I'm not interested at the moment..but if PS3 gamers are excited for it then Sony and PS3 gamers win...bashing people for something they want or are fans of is silly

But I'm just laughing at the last four years of all of the hate the 360 got for Xbox Live charging 50 dollars a year..and everytime it added more services it got bashed..funny how times have changed

I'm hoping Sony has something else under it's sleeve to lure the rest of us towards plus..but only time will tell

[nycredude]

Evildead

You know what the difference is? Stop paying for your Live subscription and try to play a game online. Tell me what happens..

[Montrealien]

but all this value you get out of plus is the same thing no? If you stop paying for plus, you lose all those games.

Don`t get me wrong, I like the idea of plus, even thouhg I don`t feel the need for it atm since I actualyl have most of those games already, but people who get access to those games with plus, lose access to those games if they stop paying right?

[morganfell]

No Montreal, you are wrong. You only lose the titles that were completely free. Anything that was bought and was discounted due to your PS+ membership is yours to keep forever and ever.

[Montrealien]

and ever? hehe

its cool, I missunderstood that then.

[darthv72]

I was wondering that same thing. I believe the free items are really the ones in question. Free for the extent of your membership. Purchased items are purchased items whether they are at full or discounted cost. If you let your sub run out, the free items no longer work.

Live gives away freebies (or they used to) and if you choose not to renew you can still play those games fully offline. Ageas wing, undertow are just a couple of games they gave away for free to members when live was having issues and people complained about it. Didnt matter if you were silver or gold.

If you are someone who purchases lots of content through the psn then the PLUS service is a boon for you. Discounts are always good. If you are like me and only buy a few games on psn then it doesnt pay for itself to be a member.

In either case i like that you can still game online and that is a "plus" against live.

Although...rumor has it MS will be bringing some type of online play to silver members. Not sure if it involves a family system where if one person is gold, the rest can game online on the same system under different gamertags. OR, they will offer up a set amount of time per month. Like 24hrs or 48hrs that you can spend any way you want. Meaning in a single session or broken up in 1-2-3hr segments until you have reached the total amount allowed.

[kidalot]

Wow just because 1 person can't justisty spening $49 on ps+ you can't accept that. It's not for EVERYONE. I personally can't justify spending any money on it yet because how much time I get to play on PS3, I'm not going to pay for service I probably won't use.
It's the main reason I don't have the 360, I want the online features but I don't use it enough to warrant $xx a month/year.

[badz149]

and brings great values for subscribers. What's there to hate??

[sikbeta]

PS+ Gives you More for What You Pay, that's the Best Thing Ever, no-1 can go against it, for $50 a year you got loads of things + free stuff + discounts, This Service Deliver Greatness...

[ABizzel1]

They have my $50 and will continue to have it as long as they keep up with what they're doing, and add new features like they promised.

This is by far the best value ever.

$50 for 1 year, and just the first month alone I would have spent $37.50 had I bought the games separate. Well worth the $50.

[Somnipotent]

i see potential in the concept, so i up'ed to plus. we need to get a group together of n4g plus members.

[tplarkin7]

I don't understand how anyone can defend PS Plus. You'd be better off spending $50 on stuff you really want on PSN.

PS Plus is the Bally's of the video game world. You pay a monthly fee and won't use the service.

[dragon82]

Who the hell are you to tell me what I will or will not use?? I consider myself a real gamer and therfore want any and every game i can get my hands on. Not only that but I am more than happy to support Sony with my $50 so they can continue to provide free online gaming for the rest of you. I pay microsft a yearly fee to use their online features so its only fair. If Nintendo had an online service I would gladly pay them for it too. Take off your fanboy goggles and become a productive member of the gaming community.

[Christopher]

I bought games I normally wouldn't have... and I actually enjoy them and I am not upset about getting them at all.

If I had one complaint about PS+, it's that the free DLC is also reliant on maintaining my PS+ subscription as well as the usual free games I get from it.

I did already own some of the games, but getting the DLC for half off or for nothing at all was a great bonus.

[jaysquared]

PSN+ Is truly a great value what I dont get is how Sony will make money to put into improving PSN?

[vhero]

You cannot deny for value its more value than live for what you get but with live you are forced to buy it to play online. I am not saying it has more features just better value for money. I mean online play and cross chat are worth nothing..

[r1sh12]

This article did a good job of comparing both xbox live and PSN in terms of value.
They also made the point that the free games are really for "rent",
they spoke about the value, drawbacks and benefits.
Usually IGN are pretty biased.
the PSN is not far from over taking xbox live, they just need a large community, cross game chat and some sort of party chat system.
Then its pretty much over, although how many people are gonna use PSN +, when they could play free.
Cross game chat etc...Doesnt really matter if a group of friends are in playing the same game.
But its good to see PSN+ has so much to offer, andit can only improve from here.
My only other concern is since I pay for PSN+, other people who are using the free service, get accommodated on my expense, and improvements to the service, a small amount of cost will come from my subscription.
Not sure how I feel about that.

[smoothdude]

For me it is too early to decide if it is a good value. I just see Sony making PSN+ games ones that they are having a hard time getting people to buy. Avatars and backgrounds are not enough to pull me in, and the games that they are offering for free, I already have or I am not interested in.

I think that I am going to wait and see what is in store for the future before I put my money into this.

[jeseth]

You still get all the current features for free, so it remains free to game online.

But the Playstation Plus package is making it really tough to resist with all the free swag and discounted content.

I didn't think I would get it but after scrolling through all the stuff you get for free from the PS Store, I think I'm going to sign up.

[avengers1978]

FREE STUFF...That I actually want. My main reason for loving PSN+ right now.

[HSx9]

This current month, I really don't see much of a difference other than the discounts, lets be honest here, if I can afford $50, why are they cutting $4 content to $2? It literally makes no difference. It seems kind of pointless, hopefully we get more exclusive things in the future.

[DamonTheMoney]

:)

[hazeblaze]

You seem to be missing the point... in this first month there is over $60 of savings once you add all of those discounts and free games up. That's just in one month... That $50 that "you can afford to spend" buys you discounts like that for 15 months... So your comment is full of fail. You're acting as if this month's content is the only stuff you will have access to for $50.

[Army_of_Darkness]

"why are they cutting $4 content to $2? It literally makes no difference."

yo, thats half price rite there buddy! its like this weeks sale at my grocery store, $4 watermelons on sale for $2!!!
instead of paying $12 for 3 watermelons, I can now get like 6!!!! awesome sweetness!!
yo, you craaazy bro!!

[HSx9]

The thing is, i'm not going to buy the same DLC "6 times"

[Ilikegames76]

You really are slow, instead of buying the dlc 6x, use the money elsewhere to buy other things in the PSN store. You must be a new gamer or in elementary school.

[Donny]

i heart ps+ for the wipeout hd game. more people need to play this! its worth every penny signing up for ps+. also you obviously get tons of other features and games :)

[darthv72]

i already own wipeout hd. Now I really want to know if after you let your sub lapse, will your copy of wipeout be made into a trial or will you be told you have to pay for it or delete it.

I know mine wont.

The whole thin line of "you can keep the content for the length of your subscription" has me a bit perplexed.

[Redlogic]

Once the sub runs out, you won't be able to play the "free" monthly PSN game unless you re-sub. Read the IGN article, it does a good job of putting the situation in lay-mans terms. So much so I'm really leaning towards getting PSN+.

[jneul]

if you read the terms and conditions it sasy any content that you have purchased, you get to keep, it is only things like free trial's, so i presume if wipeoutHD was bought before psn+ ou will get to keep it.

[darthv72]

I like the discounts on stuff. It is like a costco membership for consoles.

[Dojan123]

Looking forward to the months to come.

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

That means one thing....

Trolls and Fanboys will start submitting articles downgrading and bashing the PS+ because IGN gave some love to PS+.

[squallheart]

i am surprised how well they liked psn+. I for one am loving it, its great.

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

its more like a sams club membership

[LiquifiedArt]

its a membership where the savings come over time. Ofcourse you'd have to actually SHOP at sams club for it to be worth it.

This month wasn't too exciting for "ME", since i own most of the stuff, but i'm keeping an eye on it.

[blasian]

I heart it for infamous. Never played it but that 1 hour demo had me pulling out my credit card pretty quick.

Man sony is trying to rake in that online money. FFXIV/DCUO + PS+ + HULU.

[Lord_Ranos]

Trust me the game is worth all of it. Also it prepares you for the events in inFamous 2.

[IHateYouFanboys]

there was a free demo for infamous on the PS Store for EVERYONE like 12 months ago......

[SmokeyMcBear]

this is the entire game... number one.. that demo was not really indicative of the final game, number two, you can actually start the actual game if you like and then buy it and have it on your hard drive. There have been many a game where I played the demo and hated it, but then play the full game somewhere else and its a different experience, and vice versa, so ... there you go.

[IHateYouFanboys]

it doesnt matter if its the entire game, you only get to play it for one hour. the demo can be played for that long, multiple times, and is 99% the same as the final game.

[squallheart]

you still dont get it. A demo is abouy 10 min or so of a game, this "full" game trial its the actual whole game no restrictions. It basically gives the player more of a sense on what the game offers as a whole. Yes you can play a demo a whole hour but its the same 10 bloody min.

[dragon82]

Actually the demo that was on the store back then was only ONE mission that takes place pretty far into the actual game. Yes it was exactly like the full game it lacks the entire build up and story to get you to that point and beyond. By your logic there is no point in renting physical copies of games because a ten minute demo off the PSN store is all you will ever need.

[darkdoom3000]

What I love is that it's not essential. Theres no big features that are exclusive to it and whatnot.

-if you dont have LIVE, then you're missing out on a huge chunk of the X360 experience
-if you dont have PLUS, then you aren't missing out on too much.

Lets hope they keep on adding new features to FREE FIRMWARE updates. and add more deals and better games on PSN+

PS: I have PS+. I like my shiny golden '+'. I'm actually the only ive seen on my friends list that has PS+. Feels good man.

[Focker420]

lol I know its a beautiful thing. Only 2 of my friends have it.

I've been getting messages all day "How'd you get that gold deal by your name?"

Almost all of them haven't heard about PS+.

[maddhatter123]

that is exactly what it is like. on live you are paying for basic things and on ps+ you just pay for extra content. it is funny 360 owners say it isn't a good deal because you don't get to keep everything if you cancel the subscription but have no problem losing lots of things like playing online if they stop paying for a gold membership.

[Spenok]

I needs to be getting my PS+. Must get the PS3 plugged back in.

[blazBlue]

I like it as well. I bought Mortal Kombat II. Haven't played MK in such a long time though. xD

Couldn't even make it pass Scorpion. ^^;

[Hellsvacancy]

Sum good ol mofo already game-shared WipeOut HD with me (ages ago) i think ill give it a while till i sign up to P+ ive bought no end of stuff off the PSN so theres no way in hell im payin 4 it all again, im not sayin i wont, just not yet

[ActionBastard]

I liked signing up and grabbing $25 worth of content off the bat (Wipeout + Age of Zombies). And still have more out there waiting for me. Nice job Sony!

[Focker420]

Age of Zombies is hilarious. I've been having a blast.

[Pumbli]

Typical, my PS3 gets the YLOD after 3 years of being all awesome and cool. And on the day PS+ is out...

All right, no time to waste! Better just get a slim at a reduced price for my 60gb model and move on. I wouldn't want to miss out on all this PS+ awesomeness. :P

[Mr Tretton]

Next one will be "Why We Hate PS+"

wait for it

[ravinash]

I think I've already seen a few of those.

[earthbounding]

It's a solid deal, but still needs some work to be a must have. But I'm looking forward to what they're doing.

[Wolf873]

it does sound like a good deal, well if you think of it in long term rather than short term. You will eventually save some money, but I guess this only applies to those players who are heavy PSN users. But, this confuses me, even if we do spend $4 a year to rent (I know 3 months are free for this time around, let's just say a year for now)Wipeout HD, won't that eventually amount to $20 in 5 years time, and in all that time the game would still not be ours. However, I think what would be neat is that however much percentage of that subscription is for that particular free game, eventually when that amount reaches its original retail value, that game should become yours. Installments.

I know there are other games to consider, but we can think of them in the same way. I only see the discounted games as a big plus in this, where you can really save money. I'm not bashing the service, I'm just trying to do the math here according how much I use the PSN.

[Red-Dead-Roar]

if you're trying to spend $4 a year to rent wipeout hd you are looking at a different deal than the rest of us...