If you have read our Sony Conference round up, you will have seen that after months of speculation, PlayStation Plus was launched as the PS3’s premium online service.
We first dug out the PlayStation Plus branding in March, but yesterday was the first time it was all pulled together and revealed officially, and as promised, PlayStation Plus will sit on top of and not replace the current PlayStation Network service at the end of June.
But what about details? Well, the EU Blog has been rather kind and confirmed European dates: PlayStation Plus kicks off at the end of this month, on the 29th. So what’s PlayStation Plus all about?
Games.
PlayStation Plus members will be able to get their hands on at least four free games every single month, these will be at least one PSN game, two Minis and one PSOne Classic. In the US, the first month’s content includes the excellent Fieldrunners, Age of Zombies, the entirety of wipEout HD and a PSOne Classic.
Full Game Trials.
These aren’t your average demos, no, this is full unrestricted access to full PSN and Blu-ray games. You can download the full game, and play it any way you want just as if you owned it – for up to an hour – potentially saving a fortune in purchasing games you just don’t get on with.
All it requires is a download of the content and away you go, although it is not confirmed which games you will initially be able to try out.
Automatic Downloads.
PlayStation Plus members will be able to set a time on their PS3 for it to wake up and download any available firmware updates, patches and demos, as we’ve said in the past, meaning they’ll never have to wait again. You set the time and date for your PS3 to download a demo, for example, it will turn itself on and by the time you’re home from a hard day at work the process should be complete.
Discounts, Demos And Betas.
Members will be entitled to exclusive discounts for a whole range of games and content, get early access to demos (hopefully in-line with Live Gold subscribers) and exclusive early beta access. Members will also be entitled to a range of free and sometimes exclusive Avatars and dynamic themes.
If you’re wondering how much all these benefits are going to cost you then it’s €14.99 / £11.99 for 90 days and €49.99 / £39.99 for a whole year, and if you choose to sign up between 29th June and August 3rd then Sony are giving away a downloadable copy of LittleBigPlanet.
Consider me signed up.
Charmed_Fanatic
I would get it if it was not for losing the games when it ends
poulter653
It makes me laugh about everyone moaning about not being able to keep some of the stuff you get when signing up. The whole point of a subsription service is to offer products and extras you will get as long as you continue paying if you stop paying you lose access to the content.
And if you think its a waste of money dont sign up for it. You are not being forced to.
BetaGhast
LBP PS3? Mm said it was a 40GB game, are you sure its not the PSP version? (which would make VASTLY more sense).
Kevling
They confirm in the comments in the EU blog that it IS the PS3 version, but they’ve made language specific versions – stripping out the alternate languages make it considerable smaller. Allegedly.
Dexter17
Undecided. Might wait and see the reception before taking the plunge.
gazzagb
At first I thought this was a bargin, but now I realise its actually a rip-off. You dont actually get the games, all your doing is merely ‘renting’ them. As soon as you stop your subscription, they’re gone. And while background downloading is useful, we’ve not had it for so long that I dont care anymore. The demo’s are only going to be about a week early I bet, and the beta’s will only be for Sony’s games. I only get into about 3 betas per year, and only 1 of those was a Sony game (MNR), so actually its a waste of money.
Id rather spend £39.99 on a game, than sign up to PSN+.
blond_man6187
hey, i assume this will only be for ps3 and not for psp?
thanks