Playstation Plus - Official Discussion

[nomore]

Today I learned you have to be a Playstation plus subscriber to get into Ass. Creed Brotherhood and Killzone 3 Beta.
I am not upset but I was glad that I got into bunch of beta for free for the last 2 years so I am little bit disappointed that comes to an end.
however I still have no intention of getting Playstation Plus. But what about everyone else? are you a Plus member or are you thinking about signing up?


here is a summary of what is Playstation Plus:

[nomore]

oh and here is the news about Killzone 3 and Ass. Creed brotherhood beta:

Today, we are happy to announce that we have worked with Ubisoft to open this opportunity to all PlayStation Plus subscribers! Gamers interested in getting a first glimpse at the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood multiplayer mode can access the beta from the PlayStation Plus category on the PlayStation Store.

Yes, the Killzone 3 Public Beta Trial really is coming! Just like its predecessor, the multiplayer mode for Killzone 3 will be put through rigorous testing at the hands of the toughest, most demanding critics in existence: you, the fans. The Trial starts on October 25th and access is limited to 5,000 U.S. Plus subscribers, so please read the following instructions carefully if you want to know how to secure a spot in the Public Beta:

• Be(come) a Plus subscriber
• With the exception of a handful of key media partners and selected PAX feedback participants, access to the Killzone 3 Public Beta Trial is limited to PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you’re not enjoying the many benefits of Plus membership yet, now’s the time to sign up!
• Download the theme
• On October 19th, an exclusive Killzone 3 XMB Theme will appear in the Plus section of the PlayStation Store. The first 10,000 Plus subscribers to download this theme (5,000 U.S. Plus subscribers and 5,000 European Plus subscribers) will receive access to the Public Beta Trial.
• Check your email
• After you’ve downloaded the Killzone 3 XMB Theme, you will receive an email on Oct. 25th containing the Public Beta Trial promotion code and further instructions through the address you registered as your PSN Sign-In ID. Make sure you’ve set your notification preferences to accept emails from SCE, or we won’t be able to contact you.

[jimjobob]

I have plus so I could get the hulu+ beta but so far beyond that its not been worth it at all and I'll likely let it expire.

[nomore]

I am surprised that there are that many Plus members here in R3d. why did you guys become a Plus member besides hulu+ beta?

it is nice Plus gives away Qore episodes, betas and game trials. but is it really worth the 50 bucks?

[plan-9]

Originally Posted by nomore

I am surprised that there are that many Plus members here in R3d. why did you guys become a Plus member besides hulu+ beta?

it is nice Plus gives away Qore episodes, betas and game trials. but is it really worth the 50 bucks?

If I were guarenteed a spot in the kz3 beta I would have signed up. But they only did 5000 NA and 5000 EU. Didnt want to risk it.

[nomore]

Originally Posted by plan-9

If I were guarenteed a spot in the kz3 beta I would have signed up. But they only did 5000 NA and 5000 EU. Didnt want to risk it.

plus members are not happy about that and they are doing it for other game betas as well:

We’re not only extending the beta for Red Faction: Battlegrounds an extra week until October 26th, but Sony Computer Entertainment is giving out 1,000 more keys to PlayStation Plus members! Make sure to check your e-mail / PSN mailbox to find out if you’ve been accepted and download the client.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/...ystation-plus/

this goes to the cons list for the plus.

[plan-9]

Originally Posted by nomore

plus members are not happy about that and they are doing it for other game betas as well:

We’re not only extending the beta for Red Faction: Battlegrounds an extra week until October 26th, but Sony Computer Entertainment is giving out 1,000 more keys to PlayStation Plus members! Make sure to check your e-mail / PSN mailbox to find out if you’ve been accepted and download the client.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/...ystation-plus/

this goes to the cons list for the plus.

I can see why theyd want to keep it smaller. But as a consumer it sucks. Maybe they should do a smaller beta for randomly chosen people at first, then later on open it to all + subscribers.
Maybe the should start adding more stuff to + as well. Right now, every saturday theyre giving away a free movie rental. Why not do that more often for + subscribers. They need to make it more enticing.

[Fuku2]

Hey look, there's 50 cents of some DLC theme I don't want even for free!
Yes, I am a suscriber...for now.

[nomore]

Originally Posted by plan-9

I can see why theyd want to keep it smaller. But as a consumer it sucks. Maybe they should do a smaller beta for randomly chosen people at first, then later on open it to all + subscribers.
Maybe the should start adding more stuff to + as well. Right now, every saturday theyre giving away a free movie rental. Why not do that more often for + subscribers. They need to make it more enticing.

I think the issue is Sony's marketing department once again. Besides 'it does only everything' ads, they don't know what to offer or how to make ps3 products/services attractive.

I don't expect them to excite us like Oprah and her audience with free Kinect bundles. But at least they can get us excited about + by offering every + subscribers the same services.

[nomore]

it seems like PSN+ is getting better and they are going to give Killzone 3 dlc for free:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/...-plus-members/

I never thought they would give Killzone 3, Uncharted, infamous and etc. DLC for free through +.
if they start giving uncharted, infamous dlc for free I would definitely become a member.

[Sharkfood]

I got PS+ about a month or so back as at the time it was a total no-brainer.

Stacking (which I wanted) was $14.99, or free with PS+. So, I got the $17.99 3-month and got it along with a slew of other games "free with PS+."

So now I have like 7+ games for the PS3 and PSP, and even a few PS1 Classics, plus enjoyed a few Qore episodes for like $3 bucks.

[Shark]

the PSN has more to offer than Xbox Live, but the latter offers better online experience in terms of interaction and gameplay connectivity.

[kakarot]

I got it a while back too. I've grabbed quite a few free games and saved a bit on discounts but not really sure it was really worth it yet. 15 months for $50 comes out to a little over $3 a month so not too bad

[nomore]

I think I am going to become a Plus member so I need to change my vote.... and this is all because of getting that free membership for a month.

I really enjoyed the two free Qore episodes. they are done really well and have detailed game information.
I thought it was better than GTTV overall.

getting Killzone 3 DLC for free also affected my decision and I am looking forward to free or discounted Uncharted 3 dlc as well.

[nomore]

now I am officially a Plus member and because of the deal they have right now I am getting another 3 months of membership for free.
and since there was a Plus discount for Shank, I grabbed that for 5 bucks as well.

[nomore]

IGN did a very detailed evaluation for Plus and if anybody wants to read it:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1179543p1.html

here is the verdict:

Between free games, discounted games and DLC, Avatars and Themes, demos and Full Game Trials, PlayStation Plus has posted 286 separate pieces of content. And just between the free games, discounted games and discounted DLC, your maximum savings in PlayStation Plus' first year amounts to $881.57. That's approaching 18 times the cost of a 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus and doesn't take into account Avatars, Themes, Full Game Trials or demos.

Is the premium subscription worth it? I think so. I've been a loud advocate of what I think PS+ offers for a year now, whether it be in articles and editorials or Podcast Beyond.

[TenFour]

Do you lose your free games if your membership expires? I signed up for the free trial, but I haven't seen much personally that would even justify me spending two bucks a month. That's partially because I don't have the particular games that they're giving away DLC for.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by TenFour

Do you lose your free games if your membership expires?

free,yes. you keep games you purchase with a plus discount.

[nomore]

Originally Posted by TenFour

I signed up for the free trial, but I haven't seen much personally that would even justify me spending two bucks a month. That's partially because I don't have the particular games that they're giving away DLC for.

the free games, the discounted games, DLCs are great some weeks, but not so great other weeks.... so you are not going to be pleased with what Plus offers every week.

for example:
besides the free Killzone 3 DLC that was for $5 and the free Qore Epidoes for $3 each, I didn't see anything that was for me.

but recently I saw Shank was discounted to $5 for Plus members and that saved me $5 since it was going for $10. this week I got Bomberman for Free and that saved me $10.

so in two months, I saved $15 on games, $5 on dlcs.
and that is great, but I will keep a track of the benefits of Plus and I would not be surprised if I get back somewhere around $50 after a year of membership.

[spindoctor]

it's not free if you have to pay a subscription for it

it's especially not free if you lose all your 'free' content/games when your subscription expires. that just means you rented that content for the duration. the only benefit to plus is that you can get some discounts. and even then, it's only money saved if you were planning to buy something at full price and then got it at a discount. if someone thinks, "hey this game usually costs 10$ but right now it's 5$ so i'll buy it", that's not 5$ saved, it's 5$ extra spent

[Progression]

Originally Posted by spindoctor

it's not free if you have to pay a subscription for it

it's especially not free if you lose all your 'free' content/games when your subscription expires. that just means you rented that content for the duration. the only benefit to plus is that you can get some discounts. and even then, it's only money saved if you were planning to buy something at full price and then got it at a discount. if someone thinks, "hey this game usually costs 10$ but right now it's 5$ so i'll buy it", that's not 5$ saved, it's 5$ extra spent

You got it.

[nomore]

Originally Posted by spindoctor

if someone thinks, "hey this game usually costs 10$ but right now it's 5$ so i'll buy it", that's not 5$ saved, it's 5$ extra spent

then that should apply to Steam sales as well.
but seriously even during Steam sales, I consider I saved a lot of money by buying games for less than 10 bucks rather than thinking I spent extra money.

Originally Posted by spindoctor

it's especially not free if you lose all your 'free' content/games when your subscription expires.

I think most people will finish those games during their membership, so even if you lose that game it was free at some point.

for example, I am not going to play Killzone 3 online MP two years from now on, so I don't really care whether the Free DLC I got goes away after two years.


Plus is great if every year you keep getting more stuff that was worth more than 50 bucks.
I am planning to keep track of what I get through Plus to see whether it will be worth to keep Plus.

[Progression]

Originally Posted by nomore

then that should apply to Steam sales as well.

It is, hence why they do it.

[nomore]

Originally Posted by nomore

besides the free Killzone 3 DLC that was for $5 and the free Qore Epidoes for $3 each, I didn't see anything that was for me.

but recently I saw Shank was discounted to $5 for Plus members and that saved me $5 since it was going for $10. this week I got Bomberman for Free and that saved me $10.

so in two months, I saved $15 on games, $5 on dlcs.
and that is great, but I will keep a track of the benefits of Plus and I would not be surprised if I get back somewhere around $50 after a year of membership.

in the last few weeks I got all these for FREE:
Astro Tripper ($3),
Golden Axe,
plants vs Zombies ($5),
Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves,
Burn Zombie Burn($4),
Hydrophobia($4) and got a $2.10 discount for Gatling Gears.

Also got bunch of free themes and etc, and watched God of war Game directors interview for free.
Continue to enjoy Qore episodes and got early access to few betas.

so after being a PSN+ member for four and half months, overall I am pleased...
my savings on games jumped to about $33 and savings on DLC remained at $5(not a fan of dlcs to begin with, so that is not surprising).

I like the fact PSN+ is completely optional and I am not forced to pay for it. Most of the free games I got were games I actually wanted to buy for some time, and the discounts help out on the games I want to get.

I have still 7 more months to complete my first year of PSN+ subscription and with $38 of savings I am already close to reaching to $50 of psn+ fee.
if you count the fee for Qore subscription, I am technically over $50.... but I am not taking that into consideration.

so at the moment, it looks like I will keep the PSN+ subscription and renew it before it expires.

I will update in few months again about the benefits/savings of PSN+.

[nomore]

apparently Target made a mistake and sold 1-year subscription for $15.... so I went to ebay and bought another year of PSN+ subscription for $26.
that's a good deal considering I paid half off the original price.

so if anybody is interested go to Ebay, and you might be able to get 1-Year PSN+ subscription for $25-$30 or less.

[nomore]

this has to be an Aprils fool day joke or something... I can't believe Shank 2 and Shift 2 Unleashed are the free games for April...

This April, we’re preparing some great offers for PlayStation Plus that will make you think twice about going outside. For starters, we’re happy to announce the free games coming in April to Plus: PSN Game Shank 2 and PS3 Full Game Shift 2 Unleashed! You’ll be able to get these titles free in Plus starting on April 3rd and throughout the month of April. In addition, we’ve also got more free content including PSone Classic Silent Hill, PS minis Cananbalt, Farm Frenzy 2 and Mystic Garden, as well as PSN Game Frogger Returns.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/...-soldier-beta/

[logical]

There are a lot of free things on PSN plus right now for people who dont have it: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/...ystation-plus/

Walking dead is gonna be free this Tuesday with a slew of other games they already had free. I got 2 free 30 day trials if anyone wants to get some free games(at least for 30 days.) All these are free too

[Progression]

Damn it, I need to get my PS3 back.

[jimmt]

Originally Posted by logical

There are a lot of free things on PSN plus right now for people who dont have it: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/...ystation-plus/

Walking dead is gonna be free this Tuesday with a slew of other games they already had free. I got 2 free 30 day trials if anyone wants to get some free games(at least for 30 days.) All these are free too

i would like a pass

[ViN86]

Originally Posted by logical

There are a lot of free things on PSN plus right now for people who dont have it: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/...ystation-plus/

Walking dead is gonna be free this Tuesday with a slew of other games they already had free. I got 2 free 30 day trials if anyone wants to get some free games(at least for 30 days.) All these are free too

I would like the other pass.