Sunday Thoughts: PlayStation Plus
Can Sony do no right?
Published: 12:00, 24/10/2010 by Dan Lee.
28It has certainly been an interesting few months for PlayStation Plus. When it was first announced I could see the potential, but I could also see the big fat elephant in the room; what if paying Plus subscribers already have the content being given away for free? Sure enough when month one started there was an influx of “got that, got that, THIS SUCKS!” that could be heard in forums across the land.
It’s a fair point though; as a paying subscriber shouldn’t you be entitled to something you actually want? I was in seventh heaven though, because as a total utter stingy git I had none of what was being given away, as I tend to hoard my money like a mistrustful Dwarf. The cries haven’t died out though as the months have gone on, to the point where the team at Sony must be feeling lower than the bumper on a boy racers Nova – a point that EU Blog man James Gallagher seems to agree with:
“ I sometimes feel like I could announce the apocalypse and a few of you would be underwhelmed!”
This was said the day that it was announced Plus members would be getting ALL Fallout 3 DLC for free. What I thought was an amazing deal seemed to ignite Twitter into a frenzy of “how DARE you get our hopes up over this crap”. The same can be said for the much touted Plus demos and beta access.
We got the Mafia II demo a day early, which annoyed people as it was just a day; we got the Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood beta a week early, which annoyed people as they wanted a Plus only beta; so then we got the big one – the Killzone 3 beta, almost exclusive to PlayStation Plus. As soon as this was announced I saw people literally cursing Sony’s name for making it a Plus only affair.
So we want Plus only betas…that are available to everyone…but not? Heck I’m confused, and I bet Sony are too, which leads me to ask – will Sony ever be able to please everyone? It seems that now there are Plus and non Plus people Sony can do no right. Do you subscribe? If so have you been happy with the items made available to you?
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24/10/2010 at 12:03
Member since: Forever
I don’t subscribe and don’t ever plan to. One paying online service is enough and Sony were too slow to get Plus off the ground, so it’s Live Gold for me.
24/10/2010 at 14:14
Member since: Feb 2010
Yeah same. I’d rather not pay for Plus AND Gold.
25/10/2010 at 00:57
Member since: Nov 2009
I never plan on paying for a service that doesn’t offer anything substantially different to the free service already on offer.
If Sony want to please everyone simply lower all the pricing in the store by 20% and get rid of this stupid “PLUS” nonsense.
Take a look at Apple and their games on the app store. The best selling are all under $5.
EA realized this and altered their pricing accordingly.
We the consumer do not have to put up with over prices downloads.
25/10/2010 at 09:41
Member since: Jun 2009
Sony in my opinion have fecked this up. It might be a good idea for those who want the stuff they offer, but it also puts many people off the idea of Sony trying to make money out of stuff, we would of got free before…..but because people have now signed up, it has caused a major rift between those who haven’t signed up and the people at Sony who decide to give the beta access on Playstation Plus, and other things. I have thought about signing up just for the KZ3 beta, but then I thought, NO, this is exactly what Sony wanted people to do, and the more people that do sign up just for a certain beta, the more they laugh and get away with doing these things. I personally think its crap for all customers in the long run.
24/10/2010 at 12:05
Member since: Aug 2010
Day 1 subscriber. Worked out that without Plus I had bought over £150 worth of games prior to subscribing. I must be one of the lucky ones as I have yet to see anything that I already own. I’m already well up if I had bought the stuff individually that I’ve played regularly from Plus.
24/10/2010 at 12:06
Member since: Jul 2009
I don’t subscribe but that’s because my PS3 remains boxed still since its second YLOD. However, I would be classed as a heavy user when it comes to the PS Store. I regularly bought all manner of titles so PS+ simply wasn’t of interest to me.
I don’t want to sound harsh but if people made the mistake of signing up to PS+ then realised that they had all of the content surely that’s their own fault for diving in before researching what was going to be made available.
24/10/2010 at 15:49
Member since: Oct 2009
how can you no whats available for a whole year?
24/10/2010 at 18:10
Member since: Jul 2009
T’is a fine point, fella. The way I looked at it was “if you’ve not shopped on the store for the last two months then it’s probably a good time to join”. That’s what I went with. I’ve hit the store very hard since having my PS3 30 months ago or so.
As it happens, I’m far more in line with the others asking for better services and then discounts on games with loyalty points.
24/10/2010 at 18:19
Member since: Oct 2009
get that PS3 out of its box lol.
25/10/2010 at 00:45
Member since: Apr 2009
I subbed to Plus last month and regretted it instantly, however the Fallout3 DLC won me over. I’m also a BIG fan of services rather than free/discounted stuff. Give Plus the Cross Game Chat (dont shoot me!) and I’ll be content with keeping my sub for good.
24/10/2010 at 12:08
Member since: May 2009
Nobody can ever please everyone. Is Xbox Live the same though? Are there people moaning they have to wait a week longer for demos and can’t see the justification of paying $40 to play online when PS3 has it for free?
24/10/2010 at 12:11
Member since: May 2009
It’s simple. If you buy all the films you have a passing interest in, you don’t then take out a subscription to Sky Movies or LoveFilm, do you? No. You’d be a fool to do so because it would duplicate 90% of what you already own.
SO, why is it that people have bought into PS+ expecting that it won’t duplicate things that they already own? You knew before hand that this would be the case, and you were stupid enough to buy into it?
As a subscriber, you’re entitled to and are getting exactly what you paid for. if that’s not good enough for you, then you shouldn’t have subscribed.
24/10/2010 at 12:12
Member since: Jan 2009
I subscribed, and for me it’s great. Previously I had bought about 3 things from the store, so I get loads of stuff I didn’t already have.
24/10/2010 at 12:13
Member since: Aug 2009
This should’ve been implemented much quicker. I like the idea but I’ve spent more than I care to add up on the PSN, so I will not be subscribing.
I am by no means, dogging the service, it just isn’t right for me at this time.
24/10/2010 at 16:37
Member since: Nov 2009
Agreed. They took way too long to get this started. I bought what I wanted already, so maybe I’ll sub next year when there might be some new things and Sony might have realized by then that they need to step up the game.
24/10/2010 at 12:18
Member since: Aug 2009
Day 1 Subscriber for me too, I did it more to support Sony. I like the PSN and regularly use the store, and yes I may have a few of the bits that they have given away free. But there’s just as much that I didn’t have and have downloaded for free. I see it as a service that will hopefully grow in time and didn’t mind paying for a little extra. But whatever they do they will never be able to please everyone with whatever they do.
24/10/2010 at 12:19
Member since: Jun 2009
Also day 1 subscriber and I still like it as I have not had any of the content thats been given away so far. I can see where people are coming from though with the 1 day early demos, theres no point. But I thought fallout 3 dlc was really good value. They could of just given us broken steel but no they gave us the lot. Come xmas and hopefully they will do something even better then that. (and new year sale)
24/10/2010 at 12:22
Member since: Aug 2008
Ironically I didn’t subscribe because I thought a load of stuff would be duplicated and actually very little has. I fully expect I will subscribe in time but I haven’t been tempted yet. It may be a xmas request. Do they do a gift option?
24/10/2010 at 12:42
Member since: Oct 2009
Just ask for some PSN cards, or even just the money. That way you can get the PSN cards cheap and keep the change :)