PlayStation Plus Launches (Paid Subscription Service)

Full details explained here: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/06/23/playstation-plus-explained/



At its E3 press conference today, Sony revealed the rumored upgraded PlayStation Network package PlayStation Plus is a reality. The service won't effect the current PlayStation Network, but instead will add more content and features to the experience.

PlayStation Plus will provide subscribers with access to "hundreds of dollars worth of exclusive digital content" including early access to demos and betas, free game downloads, discounts at the PlayStation store and more. It will cost $49USD a year or $17.99 for 3 months, but Sony is planning on a free three-month trial period for the service.

From 29th June you’ll be able to purchase a 1 year or 90-day membership from PlayStation Store and instantly get your hands on the following premium features. Plus, if you sign up for a 1 year membership between 29th June and 3rd August, we’ll also throw in a free downloadable copy of the award winning LittleBigPlanet.

An interesting note from the press conference: The content you get through the service will be available to you "for the duration of your subscription." I guess you sort of rent any demos you download instead of buying them.

Core Benefits:

•Exclusive in-game DLC and other content
•Free full games, changing each month
•Early access to demos and betas
•Auto-patching feature, which will detect, download and install updates

..more may be coming at launch..

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010...ches-next-week-check-out-what-it’s-all-about/

Playstation Plus website: http://playstationplus.com/ (not active at the time of post).

 

Not bad but not as much as I wanted. I guess the most important thing is you don't lose anything by not subscribing, which remains one of the PSN's greatest strengths.

I buy quite a lot of content normally anyway, so this is a no brainer for me, but I can't see it will appeal to as many people as I originally thought.

On a positive note, we know things like cross game voice chat are almost certainly coming, so it's a relief to see Sony didn't do something stupid like include it in PlayStation+. I discussed the possible features in this thread earlier:

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=875766

 

$49 USD... way too expensive for what you get

 

Not quite sure I follow. You may not want what's included, but it's certainly worth it. This is what they are offering for starters here in Australia...

Games: enjoy loads of PlayStation Network games, minis and PS one classics plus premium avatars and dynamic themes, all worth at least $340* a year. You'll also get exclusive PlayStation Store discounts and early access to demos and beta trials. Content is updated every month on PlayStation Store, so there will always be something new to enjoy.

Full Game Trial: try before you buy with a one-hour trial of selected PlayStation Network titles and Blu-ray Disc releases.

Automatic Download: receive the latest PS3 system software updates, all your game updates and even game demos without lifting a finger.

* Approximate value based on average RRP of available content, excluding discounts, calculated using exchange rates as at May 2010. Actual value may vary. Access to some content, excluding discounted content, terminates at the end of the subscription period.

Unless $49USD becomes $340 AUD then it's certainly value for money, assuming you want what they are offering of course. If not that's a different story. The good news is, you lose nothing by not subscribing.

 

I reckon they will try and price it cheaper than Xbox Live subscription, just to make it sound like they are cheaper.

Xbox Live for 12 months is around $88.

 

Sounds like Cross Game Chat is coming, and it is tied to the subscription - but it's not all bad...

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/15/c...oming-to-ps3-with-strings-attached/2#comments

I'm not sure where Joystiq are getting this information, but it ties in with some other rumours floating around.

As someone who will sub to PlayStation+ anyway (for the free stuff), this is good news, but I can see it annoying some people down the line.

It also seems a firmware update is coming on June 22nd, 3.40 should hit in time to allow PlayStation+ to rollout on the 29th.

 

Oh my bad

I thought it was 49USD per month

49USD per year. I'm on board.

 

Haha, I thought you were being a little harsh .

They also mentioned that for a limited time you'll get the first 3 months free when you sub for a year. That may just be North America though, hard to tell with these E3 announcements.

 

I'm on board, aslong as its less then AUD$60 for the year.

 

Depending on the games they release in the first couple of months, I might consider signing up for this.

 

Isnt it a huge waste of bandwidth to download a 20Gb bluray game only to play it for an hour? With a fast connection, it will still take more then an hour download. I thought that was one of the reasons for demos, download the 500Mb demo, then buy the multi Gb disc. It will be good for the PS network games though.

Looks like the opposite of nickel and dimeing. Interesting that they have decided to do this, when the rest of the industry is doing the opposite.

 

Given the amount I use PSN (not at all), and that I have a Live gold subscription (and my Xbox gets all new games, my PS3 is for PS3 exclusives only), I most likely won't be getting this.

Trial games is a fancy word for Demo... They're offering a Trial of inFamous first up... inFamous is already available as a demo on PSN.

Yes, I know eventually they will offer trials that aren't available as Demo's, but it's still a pain. There's also the fact that they offer an hour... What if the first hour of the game they choose for the trial is boring... Like Heavy Rain.

 

Yeah doesn't give me any reason to get it. The free game a month would be nice, but if that's the most I'm getting from it then I'm really just paying for games every month that I probably don't really want and probably won't really play. Not a bad package though, just nothing for me.

 

Things are usually about a third dearer in Aus dollars to US dollars. eg Joe Danger is $15US and $20AUS so i'm predicting the PSN+ will be rounded up to $70 AUS.

 

i reckon i'll sub to it. the automatic update feature is a no brainer, almost makes it worth it just for that!
I hate waiting for updates when I've only got a limited window of playtime.

But the free stuff will be worth while for sure!!!. and one hour demos sound pretty bloody good, sus out playstyle & online etc... there's some weird looking games on PSN, that i'd probably buy if i could try them and they were fun

 

Dunno, but one hour demo seems pretty cheap when you have to download the demo to start off. Might spend more time downloading than you do playing the game lol.

 

Doesn't seem worth it to me.

Considering how little I value things like avatars & dynamic themes, the rest becomes quite expensive.

How often does a good PSN game come around? I can think of 3 or 4 worth buying. Unless its a significant discount to the cost of PSN & DLC packs, I think I'll pass.

 

the fuck?!?! you have to pay $50 USD/yr just to update the PS3?

 

Thats just auto-updating games.

this new Plus is not changing the old PSN I believe.

You can pay some money for "Plus" features if you so desire.

 

we'll see how it unfolds.