What worries me about this isn't that existing features might get sucked up into the pay categories, but that new features/updates to the system and interface that should realistically be available to all users will only be available to "gold" subscribers.
The game update "perk" would seem to confirm this is a likely scenario.
I'm not going to argue with you, because the price doesn't seem outrageous to me. However, think about some of the features. Early DLC? You're not getting early DLC. The're holding back DLC for non-subscribers. The content providers aren't going to suddenly start working harder to get it out earlier to you. You know those betas currently on PSN? Prepare to see some of them go away if you're not paying extra. Exclusive demos? Are you going to start seeing more demos than are currently on the service? I doubt it. The real story here to me is that unless you start spend $50 a year, you're going to be seeing less content on your PS3. "
Not to be confrontational here, but all you did was flip around my adjectives to make them seem a disadvantage to nonsubscribers. I understand and respect your point, but I can't say I have such a pessimistic attitude about it. Honestly, the real draw for me personally is the "free for a month" game service. If you're playing a single game for more than a month, you're probably gonna buy it anyway. If you lose interest in it a week into the game, you just saved a ton of cash. All a matter of perspective, I suppose. =) "
What? It's not that the new features are something that non-subscribers will be unable to take advantage of. It's that CURRENT features will disappear for them. It's not a matter of perspective, you just ignored what I said. That's like your cable company adding a new tier above yours and seeding it with some of the channels that used to come in your package. Now you have to pay extra to get access to what you had before.
Uhh, what about cross game chat? This does not seem like something I want to pay for so far, and I play my PS3 more often than any other console. Where are the good features!?
So it's an upgraded Qore basically. That's nice and all, but I'll wait to see the actual content we'll be getting with PSN+
Odds are I'll stick with PSN free, but I'm all for having more options, so we will see.
EDIT: @immike: Sounds like Cross-Game chat is in too, if Joystiq is to be believed. That makes it a bit more useful. Interestingly, you can have a crossgame chat with free members as long as one participant is PS+
I can see that if I was a regular online game player, this may be a sweet deal. As I am not a regular game player as I’d like to be, not sure it is worth the cash-ola. Cross-game chatting sounds neat, yet confusing (i.e. mega multi-player games).
"But PSN will never be able to hold a candle to Xbox Live, regardless of if it's paid or not. "
Umm... It's been "holding a candle" to Xbox Live for awhile now. Ever since it got Netflix streaming, it's basically had equal parody to Xbox Live (the only exception being cross-game voice chat.) I know Xbox Live fanboys love to argue that they still have superior matchmaking, and server stability, but that's just a load of BS. I regularly play online with friends, and it's smooth as silk, and never a hassle.Even the Giantbomb guys have said in previous podcasts that PSN offers for free what Xbox Live makes you pay for, and that Xbox Live needs to step it up to make that fee worth it, because right now it's not. So... Never say "never" I guess, because they're basically equal. Anyone who tries to say that Live is "vastly superior" to PSN is a sensationalistic prat. It might be a little better, but the key phrase here is "a little." "
Yeah, but I didn't mean any of the points that you bring up (though they are accurate). I'm just fucking pissed that I can't have a 1-on-1 voice chat with a friend without having to drop everything I'm doing and enter some stupid chatroom program.
Wait a second,sony said that cross-game chat would be free for all users,whether you got psn plus or not.That it would be for all ps3 users.WTF,did sont change their minds?!Please PM me if you understand what's going on here.
still better then the curent deal xbox has. but still dont know if im in though 50 bucks= discount on psn games would be nice but ive allready bought 26 games so theres allmost no more space on the hdd
" You dudes need to stop whining. These features are pretty cool, and the trials thing is innovative; hopefully its not just old games but new releases too. I fail to see how XBL is any better. Ooh facebook/twitter, espn, cross party chat, who gives a shit? And the last time I checked party chat required a gold subscription too. "
I'm not going to argue with you, because the price doesn't seem outrageous to me. However, think about some of the features. Early DLC? You're not getting early DLC. The're holding back DLC for non-subscribers. The content providers aren't going to suddenly start working harder to get it out earlier to you. You know those betas currently on PSN? Prepare to see some of them go away if you're not paying extra. Exclusive demos? Are you going to start seeing more demos than are currently on the service? I doubt it. The real story here to me is that unless you start spend $50 a year, you're going to be seeing less content on your PS3. "
Not to be confrontational here, but all you did was flip around my adjectives to make them seem a disadvantage to nonsubscribers. I understand and respect your point, but I can't say I have such a pessimistic attitude about it. Honestly, the real draw for me personally is the "free for a month" game service. If you're playing a single game for more than a month, you're probably gonna buy it anyway. If you lose interest in it a week into the game, you just saved a ton of cash. All a matter of perspective, I suppose. =) "
What? It's not that the new features are something that non-subscribers will be unable to take advantage of. It's that CURRENT features will disappear for them. It's not a matter of perspective, you just ignored what I said. That's like your cable company adding a new tier above yours and seeding it with some of the channels that used to come in your package. Now you have to pay extra to get access to what you had before."
No. Only good thing is the cross-game chat, but that's why my consoles are next my PC. I think alot of the updates like the auto-DL and cross-game chat should have just been updates not Plus subscribe shit, but then again the price wouldn't be justified. Anyway they should of just done the updates for free and made you pay for Betas etc. Sony I thought you had changed : (
Actually, multiplayer will still be free. But PSN will never be able to hold a candle to Xbox Live, regardless of if it's paid or not. "
People are always saying this sort of thing, but I pay for Xbox Live and I don't see it at all. What exactly does it do that is so un-candle-holdable?
The only advantage I see to XBL is the party chat, which I basically never use on Xbox but would use almost daily on PS3. If they'd launched the ESPN3 integration (something I can't believe took this long for someone to work out) prior to the World Cup I would allow that argument as well, but since they didn't I probably won't even be listening to that one for at least the next 4 years.
Don't bother saying that Microsoft enforces a standardized online infrastructure for 360 games. That really isn't a selling point unless you are going to argue that McDonald's makes the best burgers in the world because wherever you go in the world they all taste the same.
And do remember that being unable to hold a candle to something does not just mean that it is inferior but that it is so inferior as to not even be able to be compared. Also, assuming that you get that far in your justification, do include how it is that there are no possible future outcomes in which PSN could even be compared to XBL.
I see PSN doing much more than holding XBL's candle today and I'm genuinely curious how you think that could never, under any circumstances, happen. Or is it just hyperbole because you play on XBL more often, you're more used to the way it works, more of your friends are there, for some unfathomable (to me) reason you like Halo and Gears of War, etc.? Those would at least form a legitimate argument after a fashion, on a strictly personal level, though I would highly disagree with it myself.
I would say this is a bad idea but it seems that to a certain degree Sony understands what features need to be free and what features need to be "subscription only". Though the whole "Playstation+ users get demos early" is pretty sneaky. But, so far, it sounds way more logical than XBL Gold ever did.
The first thing that came into my head is why would I pay for discounts isn't a contradiction? I honestly feel like I cant judge until I see what kind of content I would be getting. I mean I think it would be cool for example if im psn+ I would get the extra costumes from Uncharted multi-player for free or the map packs from Killzone 2. That kind of content I would like yeah okay because I payed for this service it would be cool to not buy and it automatically updates so I wouldn't have to worry about going into the store and installing it. Then comes the exclusive content I have no idea what kind of content it would bring but then again it could be really awesome exclusive content or really crappy content. Im just gonna wait and see what they bring to the table.
The stupidity of people posting here is astounding, PSN REMAINS as IT IS NOW, this is an OPTIONAL service basically for those interested, if you don't like it DON'T GET IT it is as simple as that those who are only interested in playing their games online keep doing so for free and forget about this, don't diss it and complain about it because it will not affect you at all besides to anyone with a brain the value of what you will get especially with the games that will be available to you each month will be more than enough to outweigh the fee without even talking of cross game chat etc,,. also Core is Included, Betas to many games which will save you having to pre-order said game half the time to get into the beta etc..
But what can you expect when half the morons posting negative things here are either Xbox fanboys or retarded illiterate morons who keep saying "no cross chat, lame" over and over when the comments are full of links and the article itself points that it is included and coming....
BTW why should cross chat be free on PSN and fault Sony when it is pay for use in the Xbox aswell?
Oh and for those making fun of the free costumes for Home, don't you all have "Avatars" that you dress up as dollies in the Xbox? doesn't Microsoft sell clothes and accessories for said Avatars? it is time for you all to grow up and realize it works both ways.
So... even though they claim to not take anything away from "standard" PSN members... they're really gimping demo access. If you wanna try-before-you-buy, it sounds like you'd better be ready to pony up that subscription fee :/
Why all the hate? You get 4 games every month, early beta access and probably cross game voice chat for 4 bucks per month. And online is still free for everybody. They dont force you to buy it. I dont understand the shitstorm.
The stupidity of people posting here is astounding, PSN REMAINS as IT IS NOW, this is an OPTIONAL service basically for those interested, if you don't like it DON'T GET IT it is as simple as that
[...] I dont understand the shitstorm.
The more popular PS+ gets, the more features will slowly be pushed to subscriber level. And every single new feature from this day onward will also be made subscribe-only. This is what always happens and this is what will happen with PSN now.
By 2012/2013, more than half of the interesting content will be PS+ exclusive, beta tests for any games will be PS+ exclusive, and the difference between PSN and PSN+ pricing will be so dramatic that they will some day get you.
The long term plan is to slowly make PSN+ as attractive and PSN as unattractive as possible. Of course they won't introduce this concept with a hard hit - but this IS the beginning of a dramatic change, and not just the introduction of a nifty little optional feature.
People Ban together and make this fail. I knew they were going to pull a stunt like this. How is this a good idea? If they wanted people to pay they should've started this at the beginning, now they are taking services that should be for free, (Like updates) and making people pay for it. At lease MS told you they would take you to the cleaners in the beginning. But I saw this coming, I wish I had betted some money.
Uhm, don't like this at all, reminds me of that Simpson's skit when "Diz-Nee" buy some historical park and the announcement outside is "Sorry, but there's a profit to be had." Oh well at least online play won't be charged for so no biggie, doubt I'll be trying it though.
The stupidity of people posting here is astounding, PSN REMAINS as IT IS NOW, this is an OPTIONAL service basically for those interested, if you don't like it DON'T GET IT it is as simple as that
[...] I dont understand the shitstorm.
The more popular PS+ gets, the more features will slowly be pushed to subscriber level. And every single new feature from this day onward will also be made subscribe-only. This is what always happens and this is what will happen with PSN now. By 2012/2013, more than half of the interesting content will be PS+ exclusive, beta tests for any games will be PS+ exclusive, and the difference between PSN and PSN+ pricing will be so dramatic that they will some day get you. The long term plan is to slowly make PSN+ as attractive and PSN as unattractive as possible. Of course they won't introduce this concept with a hard hit - but this IS the beginning of a dramatic change, and not just the introduction of a nifty little optional feature. "
Yup and one other thing as well. The problem I see is that they can't offer some of what they are claiming without taking things away from the free users. For example a demo. Demos have release dates associated with them. Either Sony has some super secret backroom deal going on to get them out for PSN+ before anyone else or the more logical conclusion that they will delay the release to the free users much like some demos on XBL.
Plus members will have exclusive discounts on items various items in the PlayStation Store (PS3 and PSP!) that will cycle month to month.
cross-game chat functionality to the PS3
Those three are the only features I see being worthwhile. I'll have to see what the discounts are like to really decide though. If they're giving you discounts on avatars and crap games then I won't bother. If they're just flat discount rates or on big games/DLC I might consider it.
Since I can still play online for free I'm ok paying if there's alot of multiplayer betas and worthy downloads dlc disctounts and stuff. As long as playing is free.
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