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PlayStation Plus Perks And Goodies Explained In Detail

After 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.

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Sol
Sol
14 years ago

Plus still doesn't seem all that interesting to me. I had a plan involving the things I purchased relating to the PS3 but nothing I see makes Plus worth the trouble of me subscribing. In my current situation it is a waste of money…

godsman
godsman
14 years ago

I think it depends on the gamer that subscribes. If the free PSN games are good, I might jump in on the first year, but I got LBP and most of the PSN games I wanted already. I probably save more money by using the $50 to buy the games.

So I want to know, do you get discounts on ALL items? I don't want any fine print that it only works on unpopular games and items. It'll be a big plus for those that rent movies all the time.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

That $50 is less than one new game a year. And I believe there is a 3 month trial for everyone, so thats good news!

CrazyIrishBoy
CrazyIrishBoy
14 years ago

Yea man, $50 seems great and all but you have to remain a member to keep ANYTHING you get through plus.

Which means i wont be getting it, anything related to subscriptions has all ways been bad no matter how fun, so yea…

JPBooch
JPBooch
14 years ago

I'm a day 1 yearly subscriber…

A little bummed no cross game chat though. All the other stuff is great.

Hmm. I wonder if you can play the games through PSN+ on another account or console? Something like that would negate game sharing.

main_event05
main_event05
14 years ago

I still don't understand the need/want/use of cross game chat? why? do you really need to talk to someone playing game B while you are playing game A.

calculator
calculator
14 years ago

Well, I don't think it's very fun to have to chat and not be able to do anything except chat. Sometimes I want to chat with someone, but I don't JUST want to chat, I want to do something while chatting. It's very boring to have to sit, look at the intimidating white room that you enter when you start a chat, and not do anything else. It's like talking to a person and not being able to move at all.
I actually chat quite frequently online, and it sucks to have to be in that white room and chat while not being able to do anything else. I would like to be able to play a game while chatting — something to keep me busy while chatting. It's very boring to have nothing else to do but chatting.
Yeah, you may think that concentrating on the game is more important, or that it's somewhat rude to talk to someone while playing a game, but sometimes I just want to talk to someone while playing a game, because it sucks not being able to do anything else except chat.

Mavfan321
Mavfan321
14 years ago

I don't ever chat I mean to those who want it I guess to each his own but the most communication I do is game invites, and the occasional random message. I don't use my PS3 as AIM.

PANICinc
PANICinc
14 years ago

Meet up with your buddies in HOME if ya wanna chat without being limited to the "Boring White Screen"

Anyhoo, I'm definitely a day 1 yearly subscriber. Love Qore, so, more will be awesome!!

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Hmmm…i might just have sign up. All though im wondering how big that LBP download will be.

This is LBP for PS3 correct?

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

Yes, it's the PS3 version of LBP. Your original saves, trophies and downloads will all work with it, too.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Your existing save will *only* work if the developer supports that. Media Molecule may, but in other instances where a game is downloadable or Blu-Ray, the saves haven't been portable between versions.

fluffer nutter
fluffer nutter
14 years ago

Nowhere in tridon's post did he say that his comment applied to all games.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

@Fluffer,

And?

fluffer nutter
fluffer nutter
14 years ago

Exactly. Glad to see the recognition. 🙂

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

Count me in. Yearly subscriber, Day 1. 🙂

big6
big6
14 years ago

Granted, PSN Plus is not for everyone, but I think if you're a person who downloads a few PSN/mini/PSone games a year, then it could very well be worth it.

I'm leaning towards picking up a subscription, but I want to see what sort of selection we get in these monthly free PSN games. I also want to know what sort of discount we get with brand new PSN games (like the upcoming Lara Croft game).

If it's what I'm hoping to see, then I'll be signing up for a subscription for sure.

Clamedeus
Clamedeus
14 years ago

I might sign up.


Last edited by Clamedeus on 6/23/2010 2:30:49 PM

MyWorstNightmar
MyWorstNightmar
14 years ago

I might not.

Hexen
Hexen
14 years ago

This doesn't sound very appealing.So basically I pay to rent a couple of games here and there.

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

as i understand it those games you "rent" stay with you as long as you have a subcription. which means that those free game that you get will be yours as well as getting more titles every month.

sawao_yamanaka
sawao_yamanaka
14 years ago

Sounds like imma need a bigger hard drive. Here I thought 500 was more than enough.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Can we put more then 500gb in the PS3?

I have a 1TB external drive but i can't stream saves or games from it.

sawao_yamanaka
sawao_yamanaka
14 years ago

@Jawknee
No it has to be the internal harddrive. I used the one from my old laptop. Do they have 1TB internal yet?

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

I don't believe they do. Not one that will fit inside the PS3 anyway.

frostface
frostface
14 years ago

Well I wasn't too bothered about this before but discounts ranging between 20-50%, and I do buy quite a lot on the PSN, maybe I'll reconsider. In the long run it could pay off. Have to think about this one.

godsman
godsman
14 years ago

Somehow this feels like an all-you-can-eat buffet. If you can eat more, it'll pay itself off. I'm a light eater, I'll have to see what other benefits are there, before jumping in.

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

Hmm… now that I'm looking at the games/deals available for the first two months, I'm debating my Day 1 purchase. I already own most of the games that Sony offering.

Also, it says you can play the first hour of a game and then if you decide to buy it, keep playing from where you left off with all the trophies you earned unlocked. Take inFAMOUS for example; apparently it's becoming a downloadable game via the PS Store. My question would be, can I buy the disc version of inFAMOUS and continue on that way, or must it be the downloadable version?

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

The PSN downloadable and disc based copies of games are considered different games from the point of view of game saves because each version of the game has it's own identifier. I think that the trophies are the same regardless of version though.

TEG3SH
TEG3SH
14 years ago

@ highlander

I don't know about that, saves and trophies worked fine for me after switching from the disk based Warhawk to the downloadable one

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

As I said in a comment further up (that Fluffer took such exception to) it depends on the developer. If the developer doesn't implement the ability to load saves from alternate versions of the game, the save files can't be loaded because the games have a different identifier. It kinda depends on how restrictive the developer is in the way they handle save files and how they choose to secure the saves.

TEG3SH
TEG3SH
14 years ago

my bad didn't read all of the comment as they are a bit too many

JMO_INDY
JMO_INDY
14 years ago

Quick question with the DLC you get while being a member will that de activate if you drop your membership the same as the games and Minis do? Are they only valid if youre still a member?

Mamills
Mamills
14 years ago

thats actually a great question,

i think PSN plus is still a wait n see situation

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Any content we get for free for being a Plus member will expire if not renewed.

Any content purchased, even with the discounts we get for being a member, we get access to forever.


Last edited by Jawknee on 6/23/2010 3:32:39 PM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Had you clicked the link and read, you would have read this;

"Each month there will be 2 dynamic themes, 2 premium avatars and premium game elements/add-ons for you to download and many of these will be exclusive to members only. These are yours to keep forever once you have downloaded them."

fluffer nutter
fluffer nutter
14 years ago

Seriously? You're really asking this? Ben put up an informative link to the original post. Please, do yourself a favor and read it before asking questions.

JMO_INDY
JMO_INDY
14 years ago

Ok sorry guys I was on my PSP and it wouldnt click the link, damn what happened to you guys today get off my ass.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Ah I got ya. Sorry, I will have to do something to my trigger finger, it's become too itchy for words recently. I'm a tad bit crispy at the edges too. I should probably see what's cold in the cooler tonight.

JMO_INDY
JMO_INDY
14 years ago

Its cool no hard feelings, I was just wondering what happened to you guys, you're never like that when someone asks a question.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

Too must stress, too much to do, no time to decompress or relax…

::wild eyed stare::

Mamills
Mamills
14 years ago

ummmm, u lose access to the games when you're no longer a subscriber? not sure if i like that, but so far so good, i wont sign up right away though.

i just sold LBP so i really don't want it back again, especially when part 2 is coming.

PS1 classics are good, but they look horrible on HD.

the discount isn't really a discount since im paying, but i get where they coming from.

the free PSN game is good, but lets hope its a good 1 (some have been awful) (just bought joe danger as well, IT IS AWESOME!)

I dunno, i think i'll wait until they have a better free game offer for me signing up. (Dont get me wrong LBP is a great game, but i just sold the damn thing and it will b useless once part 2 comes out this year)

kraygen
kraygen
14 years ago

actually ps1 games look better on HD, they just look bad in general.

JackC8
JackC8
14 years ago

What happened to the three months for free statement?

StangMan80
StangMan80
14 years ago

Im prety sure thats still going to happen. I'm going to try this for sure.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

the first 3 months are still free although i believe its only if you sign up for a year.

StangMan80
StangMan80
14 years ago

hmm… I might have to subscribe. Sounds very good specialy the PSN and PSone games. but I'm not sure yet.


Last edited by StangMan80 on 6/23/2010 3:26:44 PM

TheOldOne
TheOldOne
14 years ago

They should offer another game instead of LBP since I already got that one.

tridon
tridon
14 years ago

I personally think it'll be cool to also have a digital copy of LBP. That being said, it would've been cool if they put up four games or something and let everyone pick one for free. They do have a lot of Greatest Hits that could've been used… or they could've took this opportunity to get people to play the games that they might've missed out on, such as Heavenly Sword, Folklore, Genji, etc.

On a sidenote, I just realized how much I'd love an HD version of the PS2 game, Drakan: The Ancients' Gates. 🙂

JackC8
JackC8
14 years ago

Drakan is my favorite PS2 game of all time – I think I played it about 6 times 🙂