Ben-DutkaAfter announcing it at E3, many of you have had questions concerning Sony's new PlayStation Plus "premium subscription" service for the PlayStation Network.
Well, this detailed post at the European PlayStation Blog should answer any questions you may have. They clear up the important issues first: Plus launches on June 29 (obviously in both North America and Europe), the current PSN features will all remain free , features awaiting Plus subscribers include exclusive discounts, full game trials, automatic downloads and exclusive items on the Store, and membership can be purchased through the PlayStation Store on the PS3 for either three months or the full year. And if you decide to jump in early and sign up for the 1-year subscription between June 29 and August 3 you will receive a free downloadable copy of LittleBigPlanet . There's a lot more, too, like games and "special offers:"
"As a member you can expect to get your hands on at least 4 games a month at no extra charge. Each month there will be a selection of 1x PSN game, 2x minis and 1x PS One classics. A list of the games available in month 1 and 2 can be found below. You will be able to download these games during the month they are available, until the new selection replaces these."
Any games you get through Plus are yours to keep so long as you remain a member. If your subscription expires and you lose access to them, simply re-subscribe and the games will reactivate. If you accidentally delete a game you want back, simply log into the Plus section of the Store and grab it again. In addition, you will receive 2 dynamic themes, 2 premium avatars and premium game elements/add-ons, so that's great for avid PSN fans. Those discounts? They'll range from 20-50% off anything you buy, so that really helps to defer the overall cost of the membership. Personally, I'm most interested in the preferential treatment Plus subscribers get regarding select demos and beta trials…bad-ass.
There's lot more, though, so make sure you check out the full update through the link above. For American gamers, the three-month Plus subscription will cost you $17.99 and the one-year subscription has a price tag of $49.99. And no, cross-game chat is not a feature of Plus.
>_<
Do we get to keep the free dynamic themes and avatars, even after we unsubscribe?
Yes, it's laid out in the actual linked article. You keep the avatars, dynamic themes and add-ons forever, regardless of your subscription status.
The thing about this that is interesting is how we will look at this in a year or so. If a subscriber buys into this and gets a lot of the content, themes, avatars, minis, PS1 classics and PSN games and all the rest, it's going to be very hard to see the games you obtain through Plus going away, the automatic download service and all the beta access.
I can see people getting hooked by this and not wanting to unsubscribe because they want the content. It's not a huge cost per year, less than a full price retail game, but you get a heck of a lot for that $50. Kinda makes it an easy sell, and once you're hooked, it's cheap enough that most will elect to continue service. I think this is a very smart service for Sony. Also if you think about the games that are 'free', they are PSN, PS1 and Minis, all of which match the definition of casual gaming far more than anything else. PlayStation Plus is a cheap way of driving a lot of content into the hands of families and making the PS3 with move an attractive choice for them. But once they have it, they're hooked.
I do think that this is smart for Sony, really smart and a better offering than Live. Live offers updates and online gaming. You pay for pretty much everything else. Not only that but Live acts as a gate keeper for things such as Netflix or their ESPN tie-in. PlayStation Plus isn't about charging more for someone else's service it's about content. Sony's model keeps all the fundamental services free to the user creating a foundation for other pay services.
This is an excellent service offered by Sony. They kept the current PSN that I love and use, and added some cool (optional) features for the yearly service.
As Bones from Star Trek would say —
"It's (Xbox Live) dead, Jim.
I love it how Sony is able to give us pretty much everything Live has for free and then some if we choose to pay.
With the exception of cross game chat.
But who needs it right? 😉
Not sure if anybody asked yet but are the PSone games and minis playable on a PSP. If so then how could they stop you from playing them if you cancel your subscription if the games are on a memory card.
Besides that I'll be signing up anyways because it's just a great deal. Plus I just sold all my 360 gear and picked up a PSP. I've finally decided I can get all the gaming I need out of my PS3. I may miss a few exclusives but it won't bother me. I hadn't touched my 360 for gaming in about 3 months.
Never mind about the PSP thing. I'm an idiot and didn't think about reading the full article.
Is the plus subscription for the whole ps3 system or just one account either way im fine with it im just curious
Once the master account on a system subscribes and downloads something it is available to all users of the system as long as the master account is subscribed. Though that obviously only covers things purchased through Plus. Some content on the PSN has different usage restrictions.
I'm actually interested especially the demos and free games ect.. completely worth the amount, nice to see that you can use a PSN card to purchase it, guess I'll be getting one of those this week. Other question same as Kr3sn1k is this only per account or for the whole system? cause I know my hubby would love this but wouldn't want to pay twice a year?
Once the master account has it, the other users on the PS3 gain access to the downloaded content as long as the master account is still subscribed to PlayStation Plus. This is one of the things that makes it even more attractive to multi-gamer homes. We also have multiple PS3s, (my wife and son play, and we fought over PS3 time…), so I am hoping that I don't have to subscribe more than one time to cover multiple units.
Damn the games you'll get for free aren't forever 🙁
But hey, I guess they were still free.
What happens to the Trophies to unlock while having them?
The games are forever, once you have paid for them you never lose them, the restriction is that you must be a PlayStation Plus subscriber to use them. So if your subscription lapses and you have to resubscribe, your previously purchased content is still available to you, you don't need to re-purchase.
You keep all trophies regardless of your subscription status. You also keep all dynamic themes, avatars and game add-ons purchased through Plus, whether or not your subscription is active.
im still not convinced on this, there going to have to give me more details on what im paying for before i throw down 100AUD+ on something.
if you had a xbox 360 you'd understand how great cross chat and the chat party system is.i'm not saying that the ps3 is in dire need of this feature but it would make a great feature none-the-less.cross chat was the deal breaker for me seeing as i don't really care about free dlc and all that jazz.i like how sony is giving you some incentive to buy into their plan,it's like saying the subscription more then pays for itself.the problem is well i want or even care about the free stuff their giving away?….now a subscription perk that would get my hard earned crash is dedicated servers for all my multi player games and cross chat (i know the first one is a stretch,lol).if they add more features i care about then i'll bite,but until then i'll stick with the free plan.
Yes, but there is a difference between a nice to have and a need to have. Cross game chat is a nice to have, nothing more, nothing less.
The discounts alone might be worth it to me because I purchase a lot of games off PSN. I'm well over 100 now.
Well sounds great for the people who are interested in permanent rents. Personally I'm not interested in not owning something I own. Just think about this for a second. What happens when the PS4 is released? Although it may not be anytime soon when it does release in order to access your downloaded content from your PS3 you'll have to resubscribe.
this was just posted on the us blog and there was no mention of lbp for free with it. only that NA gets 3 free months.
Game updates and demos will also automatically install and the next time you turn on your PS3 you will see a brief on-screen message letting you know what has been downloaded and updated.
Here are some more answers to frequently asked questions from the last blog post:
Cross-game voice chat is a feature we know our passionate user base has asked for and we’ll continue to look at as a viable offering for the PlayStation Network.
You need to be the master account holder on the PS3 and be over 18 to purchase PlayStation Plus, but other accounts on that PS3 will be able to play the games you download for as long as you are a subscriber.
The “free†games you can download each month are yours to keep for as long as you are a subscriber.
PlayStation Plus is for PS3 owners as subscribership can only be purchased on the PSN Store. However, some of the content – minis and PS One Classics – available each month will also be playable on your PSP if you have one. Download them on the PS3 and transfer to your PSP, or download directly from the PSP Store or Media Go for PSP.