Since it was announced at E3 last month there have been many debates on whether Sony’s new subscription service is worth the asking price. While I’m confident that PS+ will be beneficial for me that may not be the case for everyone, particularly does who do not use the PS Store very often. If you’re thinking about throwing down 50 bucks a year to join or would simply like to hear more about what PS+ has to offer sit back and relax because The Koalition are here with a brief rundown of everything you need to know.
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PS+ is not Xbox Live
Xbox Live Gold is a service that charges you for things you can do for free elsewhere (play online, use Facebook/Twitter, stream music etc.) and forces you to pay to use services that you already pay for (Netflix, Sky Player and in the future, Hulu). PSN already offers most of what Live Gold does for free so the very notion of PS+ being introduced to compete with Xbox Live Gold is ridiculous. Instead, think of + as a savings club for PSN Store shopaholics. If you frequently buy content from Sony’s digital store then it’s extremely likely that you’ll make your PS+ membership money back with the savings alone. If you don’t download games regularly or have yet to see the value in + simply don’t subscribe yet, you will still continue to receive Sony’s excellent free service without feeling as crippled as Xbox Live Silver members are. For those who do join you’ll be able to enjoy an array of both free and discounted content each month, the former includes free access to specific PSN titles, PSone Classic, PSN Minis, Themes, Avatars and DLC. Any discounted content you purchase will be yours to own, however the free games will be locked from use if you let your subscription lapse. (please note, supported content such as PSone classics and Minis can also be used on a PSP system)
Loyalty Rewarded
If you signed up to Xbox Live the day it was made public 7 years ago all you’d have to show for it is a silly badge beside your Gametag. However spend seven years with Sony’s premium service and you’ll have hundreds of games plus a countless number of additional content at your disposal. Sure you’ll lose access to a majority of your free content if your subscription lapses, the same way you’ll no longer be able to watch Burn Notice on USA if you stop paying for cable. Obviously it would be great if Sony let you keep all the content you download forever but what would stop users from signing up for 90 days, downloading $100 worth of content and then cancelling their subscription? The fact is Sony is a business, and letting subscribers keep content once they’re no longer contributing to your bottom line makes very little business-sense.
More than just games
PS+ is just 3 weeks old, there are still several features that Sony can implement at any moment via firmware updates. Speaking of which, with + you’ll theoretically never have to suffer through a firmware install or game update ever again thanks to Automatic Downloads. Simply choose a two hour slot in which your PS3 is likely to be on stand-by and during that time your console will become self-aware and automatically download any available updates for either your system or any game in your library. Sony has also stated that some game demos and additional content will also be automatically pushed to your console, both of which can simply be deleted if they don’t tickle your fancy.
Of course PS+ won’t appeal to everyone but I hope this article will be helpful to anyone who is still sitting on the fence. If you have any more queries regarding PS+ feel free to hit me up either via the comments or at cdaniel@thekoalition.com
