PSA: PlayStation Plus launch details

by JC Fletcher on Jun 29th 2010 5:00AM

In case you're still hazy on the precise services included with Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription (and, let's be honest, that's not your fault), Sony recently detailed the initial offerings on PlayStation Blog. This should help you decide whether or not to subscribe when the service becomes available later today. (Protip: You'll need the latest firmware update, 3.40.)

Basically, you pay either $18 for three months or $50 for a year (plus 3 additional months if you sign up for the full year now). Each month new games will be available for you to download and play as long as you keep your subscription active. For the initial month, you'll get access to Wipeout HD, the, Age of Zombies Mini, PSOne Classic Rally Cross, Qore epsidoes, and an inFamous "Full Game Trial" (with option to purchase the full downloaded game and continue where the trial ends).

You'll also be able to set up automatic downloads of this content, if you want to feel like you're paying your PS3 to bring things to you.

Update: Find the full list of PlayStation Plus launch content in our PSN Tuesday update.

[Thanks, Vcize]

Source: PlayStation Blog

Tags: playstation, PlayStation-Plus, ps3, PSN, PSN-plus, psp, Subscription

Reader Comments (87)

My PS3 bring things to me... Hmm

PS3, DOWNLOAD!

lol as for PSN+... Nah. lol a little superfluous for me.

@ZexionArmando
Behind the scenes at PSN Headquearters:
Ramirez! Download updates to the PS3!

I am curious to see how the PSN fan base reacts to this. I am hesitant at first, but will surly ease up as the benefits pile-up.

@TheRepublic

I'm still not buying it. I find it weird that the PS3 hasn't had a real firmware update in months, but it will now and only benefit those planning on subscribing to that joke of a "Plus" service. We've been teased with cross game & party chat since 2008 and that it was always "Coming in the next firmware update." We finally get it, but for 50 bucks. That's already leaving a bad taste in my mouth and to what they could do in the future when it comes to limiting basics user like me who refuse to buy into this crap. What's even worse is how I noticed alot of people who touted PSN being free are now jumping on the "Plus" bandwagon.

@Ronald
Missinformed Much?
Dude do us a favor and do a little research before you jump on here and comment nothing that you said is actually true. For starters the update does actually add new functionality to the PS3 other than just Plus... it adds video editing and new photo features and these new features are available to ALL users not limited to Plus members. Also cross game chat is NOT part of the plus service. Sony's already stated that the story joystiq posted was missinformed. They aren't locking people out of any features this is a games service to get you more content that is it. I signed up last night and as someone who buys a lot from the PSN I think this is great I already got a bunch of stuff that I didn't have before and over time the offerings for Plus will grow. I think this is great cause I'll probably get to try some PSN games that I otherwise wouldn't have bought.

@Victoryismine52 AMEN! It's no bueno reading all these comments based on opinion and fantasy. I too purchase a lot from the PSN and this is perfect. Why do we pay? Well when they get more moneys, then we get more stuff. It's not rocket science children. If Mom and Dad aren't going to get it for you, don't go crying on here that it is a "bad" service.

@TheRepublic Surely they'll react the same way all fanboys do. Before: "That service is stupid anyway. Ours is infinitely better." After: "Who cares if they're copying a service that other guy has been offering for years? They're still stupid because we said so. Oh and now it's the greatest thing to ever happen to a console...yea that too."

@blackangel209
Who is this copying? If your refering to XBL then I'm confused cause these are two completely different TYPES of survices. XBL is for online access this is more like a PSN game rental service with added content.

50 a year? hmm

@The MARIO

I'm debating now since I'm about to do the family account play with 3 other friends that knocks my Xbox Live down to $25 a year.... It's 50/50 on if I'll get this service.

@skeet
Do you and your 3 friends share 1 xbox?

The family account seems to be locked to the family dashboard which is on a single xbox.

I call Bullshit on getting fieldrunners. I signed up and didn't get it.

@LegPhoenix
It's on the PSStore in the PS+ section to download for Free.

@LegPhoenix - Unless they added it in the past 9 hours, it wasn't up there. I bought the service at 12:30 p.m. EST and there was no Fieldrunners.

@LegPhoenix Ya wasn't there for me too. When I signed up I was thinking "Wasn't there supposed to be 2 mini games?"

Least now i know what to look for if it was just a delayed thing.

Free games sound cool, but it's not worth paying for to wait around month-to-month for them to give you one you don't already have. I've never been an Xbox Live gold member, aside from the free time they gave me when I signed up, and I'll likely never join PlayStation+ - though I'd just assume upgrade to Gold than PS+. I'd rather use that $50 on a game, multiple downloadable games, or a few Blu-rays.

@Dance Love Pop

Don't forget discounts every week with Tuesday PSN updates

Seems pretty tempting as long as the "free" games aren't titles I've already bought. Would be nice to have something new to look forward to each month. I'm really hoping they keep their word on the first dibs for betas…would be nice not to worry about having a quick trigger finger on twitter in order to get those.

I don't really mind if the games are tied to my subscription, I figure by the time my year and 3 months are up, I'll be tired of most of those games.

I doubt I'll end up buying any of those full ps3 game download though…don't feel like eating up all that HD space. Infamous is 6GB, can imagine some games will be quite bigger.

Kind of like it kind of don't.

I think it would be more compelling if you got to choose a game or two every month that you wanted to "rent."

Pass.

I wish there was a cross-game chat only subscription that was on the cheaper side... Oh well, at least I know someone who's getting a + subscription, so it won't really matter anyway. but yeah, 3.40 IS LIVE PEOPLE!

Hmm my only question is should I sign up for it with my EU account or my US account? It looks like once again they'll be treated as different stores, so not sure which ones will end up with better content. If someone could do comparisons it would be great. :)

But besides that, it's fantastic value for someone like me. I save $2 on Fat Princess DLC upfront, and then get LBP for free (in Australia) so I can sell my copy for $20. First month already have $22 for a far lower cost. Win!

@PhilipJWitow

you should definitely look into getting the service for the type of game DLC you play most ...since thats one of things that they arent compatible.

So isn't XBL technically cheaper with the "Family Plan" since you and 4 friends can split $100. I'm doing that but sure as hell not doing this! "Early demos"? Yeah right, more like make non Plus users wait a week for them to get it. Nothing in this Plus thing entices me to pay for it whatsoever. I give it one year to where Sony makes people pay for this.

@psych7111 The only thing with the Family Plan is that all purchases are applied to the primary account holder, so if you share with friends you better trust them not to buy tons of games or addons and run up your credit card!

I really hope that isn't the case. But what does early access to demos and betas mean then? Betas perhaps they will be allowed in automatically instead of entering codes like the normal guys, Demos, I doubt they mean PSN+ users will get demos before the other systems, which means they might make the regulars wait till they can play. Thoughts?

@psych7111
Purchases/PS+ freebies are licensed for 5 systems so I guess you could gameshare with 4 friends so that it's only $12.50 per year per person...

@psych7111 The family plan doesn't get you free games. Also these are not your average demoes. These are trials of the actual full game. Any trophies or saved data will carry over to the full game. Then there are free PSN games to download, it will stack up month by month so by the year is over, you'll have 12 downloaded PSN games and 12 PS1 games. It just gets better and better as time goes on. You can't just hop on at month 12 and get all this though, it starts from when you activate the sub.

@meatee \

Or you could just assign multiple credit cards and avoid the entire problem

@psych7111

Live has never been more than $35/year for those who shop around a little.

I was gonna get this but for me the content so far is poor. Only a couple things I really want and I've bought them already anyway. Discounts aren't very good either. Also what happened to the Infamous game trial? I thought that was from launch? I think I might give it a miss for a while then. Don't really want that cross next to my name either.

I liked the idea, untill i saw what was on offer, i already own the psn games they were giving out for the next 2 months and im not really intereasted in minis or ps1 games

would probably be worthwhile for someone new to psn or who hasnt brought much out of the store

Maybe once the service evolves a bit i'll change my mind

I'll just stick with PSN-

@Retrad
I love it how people think they could spend $18, download $500 worth of stuff, cancel their subscription and keep everything. Kind of egoistic I think.

I'm not saying no I have a Xbox live gold account but never play online.
It pays for itself with the extra features and discounts on DLC and games.

Also if you renew your account would you get access to the games in your library again?

So I suspect that if I can recoup most of the expense back with discounts on purchases I'll be in, but I need to see what those discounts are to justify the toe in the water stage.
Also like the PS3/PSP cross account thing so my PSP will get some fresh loving.

I really don't like that automatic downloads are PSN+ instead of part of a standard system update. Everything else, even cross-game chat- can be considered fluff, but adding in some basic console functionality so that all PSN players will always be able to jump into a game without going through the wait times of both downloading and installing games. This should be a basic update to compete with how xbox live (both gold and silver) updates games quickly, almost instantly, while PSN seems to lag behind both with larger, slower downloads for updates and more importantly install times where you can't do anything else while you wait.

Anyways, I'll pass on PSN+. I buy all the games I really want and hardly have the time to play all the ones I buy as it is, so the free monthly games are kind of a waste to me. Cross game voice chat would be nice, but I don't really have any friends that actively use their PS3's online.

I've had my 360 alot longer than my PS3, (4 years vs. 3 months,) and don't have alot of content for the PS3, I can't help but feel that this has some good things, Such as the fre~ "rentals" each month and other gubbins.
The Demo's thing doesn't surprise me one lick though, They have to entice you some how and Live has been doing the tiered Demo system for a while now (Silver gets alot of demo's one week after there Gold counterparts.)
The crux of the matter is this, they say it will be worth £200 over the long run, But I already own LBP GOTY edition, so why would I want a download only copy that is minus the DLC? (Unless I am mistaken and the DLC is indeed fully installed onto the system, thus meaning the Download edition would have access to the Metal Gear packs and other gubbins,) Also the games that are available for free would have to be interesting enough to really make me reach for my wallet, something I doubt will happen.
Saying all this though, It does however make me think why isn't Live offering a little more for my hard earned quids? Maybe a yearly XBLA, Xbox Original or GOD game on the house would be a nice incentive to grab that 12 month card.

@Shadowm4nX It looks like PSN+ and XBL have almost nothing in common. PSN+ is basically a subscription based PSN arcade rental service where Sony gets to pick the games you play at this point. PSN+ doesn't include cross-game chat or anything like that, which apparently everyone is failing to realize here.

They also seem to have put discounts on almost every new piece of DLC that is hitting the store. Although full PS3 games becoming downloadable on PSN is a big surprise as well.

I got it and I don't mind about. I pay for gold as well so it ain't a problem for me. I'm just adding 25$ more because I used to pay for Qore. Now Qore is in PSN+ so 25$ extra to get free games is nice =)

@TypeF

I'm similar in that I was planning to re-up Qore so it's more like $25. Coupled with the free DLC for Magic Orbz and Mahjong and I'm well on the way to paying for the entire thing. My only slight concern is that as someone who has purchased a lot of PSN games over the past couple of years I'll already own most of the free stuff. Hopefully they'll throw some newer psn games in there.

@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar

Wow so they must be giving out a load of content in the second/third month to reach that $500 figure! Free Full price full games? Free Controllers?

Or are you over exaggerating to try to make a point?

I think many people really don't like the words they are using. They say that you get a free game each month, but actually your not, since you are paying for a rental (as proven by the whole, once you stop paying no more game thing).

If they didn't use the word "free" there would be a lot less hassle.... but of course thats not so good marketing wise.

I feel bad for those who think this is a good idea and get's PSN+ as someone else mentioned somewhere above my comment " if you got to keep the games it would be good but you just rent them "

i wanna buy my games too keep to download at anytime i want. i don't want " Frentals " or do i wanna PAY MONEY FOR A DISCOUNT on things i'm sorry but as much as i want Cross Game Chat so i don't have too go to XMB Chat to use voice i wanna chat while i play a game so i don't have to give up one thing for the other.

none of this interests me i love Sony and the products and all that but i hope PSN+ Fails and is NOT Successful so they know how bad of a idea this is.

@Retrad - It's the same as any subscription service. You pay to use their services. It's the way it works with MMORPGs, your cable internet, etc. You stop paying, you lose the services. Pretty basic. Getting the PS+ is essentially like buying a MMORPG, you just have more variety.'

Although, any themes, avatars or discounted DLC you buy remains yours after your subscription runs out. Only the free games are tied to the subscription end date.

This is certainly more then Live would offer. Offer? What offer?

33% off Fifa 2010 DLC for a week.

Sony is doing a nice baiting technique, and I'm certainly nipping.

what no cross game chat announced?

I am not interested in paying monthly fees at any time to play my console.

@(Unverified)

Your loss. Get a job. Money isn't sacred, it's a means to entertainment.

So the big noticeable missing feature here is cross-game chat, which apparently is no part of PSN+ at this time.

The other disappointing thing is the "full game trial" thing, which they initially announced to make it sound like you would get a 1 hour trial of every game available. Rather, in reality, it looks like it'll be a 1 hour trial of a random old game or two that rotate through every month (this month it's inFamous, and inFamous only).

So yeah, the list of what this thing actually includes seems to be completely different than what they initially made it out to be. Basically it's $50/yr to get "free" versions of some arcade games you probably weren't planning on playing anyway.

Signed up for PSN Plus last night. Didn't see Fieldrunners or the Qore . Maybe they will get added today.

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PSA: PlayStation Plus launch details

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Posted: Jun 29th 2010 5:02AM ZexionArmando said

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