Whilst lazing around in bed having some multiplayer fun (split screen Blur is our game of choice) my beloved asked an interesting question, “Is PlayStation Plus good value for money?”
When Sony release details of an upcoming month’s PlayStation Plus games the complaints are immediate; “Very disappointing update (again),” “You’re giving us lame arcade puzzle games like Critter Crunch,” and “I’m so fed up with the content so far,” are just some of the comments on the EU PlayStation Blog. Are the complaints justified?
Below is a list of the gaming content from the first six months worth of PlayStation Plus. I have not counted avatars, special offers or themes. Any price in italic is an estimate (from my admittedly sketchy memory) as the games are no longer available on the PS Store. If you can confirm any of these prices then please mention it the comments section and I will update the table accordingly.
- July 2010
- LittleBigPlanet – £15.99
- WipeOut HD – £19.99
- Fieldrunners – £2.49
- Age Of Zombies – £0.99
- Destruction Derby – £3.99
- Killzone 2 DLC – £4.79
- August 2010
- Zen Pinball – £7.99
- Alien Zombie Death – £2.49
- Blast Off – £2.49
- Destruction Derby – £3.99
- Motorstorm: Pacific Rift DLC – £4.79
- September 2010
- Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playground – £19.99
- VectorTD – £2.49
- Echoes – £0.99
- Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey – £3.99
- UFC Undisputed 2010 DLC – £3.19
- October 2010
- Streetfighter 2 HD Remix – £11.99
- Aeroracer – £2.49
- Yeti Sports – £2.49
- Kula World – £3.99
- Fallout 3 DLC – £39.95
- November 2010
- Critter Crunch – £7.99
- Bloons – £3.49
- Vempire – £1.49
- Syphon Filter – £3.99
- December 2010
- Cuboid – £7.99
- Bubble Trouble – £3.99
- Dracula: Undead Awakening – £3.99
- Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus – £3.99
- Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves £4.99
If my beloved had subscribed to PlayStation Plus back in July, after the initial outlay of £20 (six months worth of PS+ subscription) he would have received £191.02 worth of content. I have calculated how much money I have personally saved and even though I already have some of the more pricey items such as the Fallout DLC I have saved £105.02. In terms of ‘value for money’ PlayStation Plus is a no-brainer, in just six months a single pound of gaming investment has an interest rate of 930%.
This leaves the question of quality, paying £20 for £180 worth of horse manure is not a good idea unless you have a very large garden. Let’s take a look at the Metacritic scores for each month’s main game.
- WipeOut HD – 87%
- LittleBigPlanet – 95%
- Zen Pinball – 80%
- Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playground – 81%
- Streetfighter 2 HD Remix – 87%
- Critter Crunch – 87%
- Cuboid – 79%
PlayStation Plus has provided exclusive beta to access to blockbuster titles such as Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Killzone 3, full game trials, automatic downloads, DLC, seven top Playstation titles with an average Metacritic rating of 85%, DLC, minis, themes, avatars, money-off offers and bonus items such as Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves, all for the price of less than a Big Mac meal a month.
Is PlayStation Plus good value for money? Absolutely.
Note: As many of you have pointed out if you cancel your PS+ subscription then you can no longer access any content you many have downloaded. My apologies for not mentioning this, I did assume this was common knowledge. I still think that for the cost of a pint a month PS+ is excellent value.
flatspikes
Some really interesting views here CC’s comment got me thinking so I’ve worked out quite simply which of the downloads would I have bought regardless of Plus? Simply LBP and Wipeout… None of the other stuff would I have gone for. So £30 spent on around £30’s worth of content I would have bought but with the added benefit of trialling dozens of games and getting bonus DLC. Shame I’ll only get to keep LBP when I don’t renew in June.
Yup I’m not renewing… Well not until a month comes about with content I do want then I’ll happily join in again.
Worth the money… It can be!
InternationalGamer
I find it annoying how you lose your content when your subscription ends, however what they give you is very nice with a lot of stuff free(Good Stuff)
colmshan1990
It is annoying, my 3 month ran out on me, but I was able to redownload everything when I renewed a few months later (when I had the money to subscribe for 15 months)
The PS+ downloads were even moved to the top of my previous downloads list on the store so I didn’t have to go searching for them.
XisTG
nice! after mine expires I’ll only resubscribe in a month with offers of my liking, so it’s good to know it will be easy to download everything back :)
btw, all plus stuff get’s automatically wiped out of the hard drive or did you do it manually? i currently have no space problems so i might as well let the games linger in there :)
stueeeee
Deapite wanting more services from the ‘service’, When u look at it that u get all that content a month for £3.30 if they did it in monthly instalments rather than a year I would happily click that button onthe store each month if that was the case. I am still happy so far, but prefer to see more services available rather than just getting stuff that is available to everyone anyway, albeit at a price…
RedStarGlow
I agree.
endlesscupsoftea
Overall, I feel have had a good amount of value from my plus subscription. Having lbp on my hard drive is great, have it on disc yes, but it’s just brill to have a game with such varied content sat there is great. I have enjoyed some of the games and minis too. That said, services provided would really make a lot of people sit up and take notice or support it even more! I will resubscribe but I do think Sony need to look at getting more people to join through services offered :)
SpikeyMikey23
Im 50/50, im enjoying the content, finding the time is another factor, Cuboid is AWESOME! but as with many other posts, i want more features
gaffers101
I’ve been very happy with the content I’ve received on PS+. There’ll always be some fillers but I think generally I’ve had a very good deal on my initial investment.
thedriffter50
No it isn’t. I don’t know why people would join it. This maybe the last gen that you can play for free online and your paying for it just for some poxy games you may not even like ?
I’m a huge Sony fan and even I know this is a rip-off. Only the biggest Sony fanboys will buy psplus. you will regret buying it next gen believe me.
Yahavage
Um, you’re a little off there. I think it’s great value, and I’ve got a good deal of content out of it. It maybe rubbish if you’ve already bought loads of stuff, but for someone like me who hadn’t, it’s great. I’ve been able to try loads of games I would never have bothered with before – some have been great, some not so much.
It’s not a question of being a fan boy, at all.
icuyesido
Yeah it’s great value for money, now would I have bought the things I’ve got through it, no. I still argue that SCEA provide better content than SCEE do for us but I can’t complain.
hol
I’m happy enough with what’s been offered so far, however, I’m a bit annoyed the USA peeps get so much more and refreshed with new stuff more frequently! Still, nice to see Sony supporting their 2nd biggest Market like that :(
My favourite feature is the automatic downloads without a doubt!
flatspikes
I’m wondering if a USA sub would be better… Any draw backs?
Klart
DLC-add ons won’t work (well, if they’re gonna bring some more DLC).