https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/02/28/ps-plus-games-for-march-additional-service-changes/

"Starting next year on March 8, 2019, the PS Plus monthly games lineup will focus on PS4 titles and no longer include PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita titles."

I'm sure most people have long since put away their vita, but this was the one thing that kept me using mine, still a year away though, wonder if they will be giving away some heavy hitters as a send off.

I think they ran out of "good" games to give away. The constant moaning from people about the quality of PS3 and Vita games being given away probably convinced them to stop all together. Its a shame nothing is planned to replace them like a PSVR or additional PS4 game.

I'm thankful my subscription expires a couple months before then, or I'd feel seriously cheated. Sure, it's probably time to officially put those systems to bed, given than Sony doesn't really support them anymore - which makes trying to find a suitable Dualshock 3 replacement infuriating, let me tell you - but I feel like Sony is quickly falling back into its rut of hubris. Their implied attitude of "nobody gives a shit about playing old games/stop living in the past" has a really shitty Mattrick/Orth tone that Sony might want to check, given how that worked out for Microsoft.

Be interesting to see how/if they compensate for that loss of content.

If only there were some establishments who sold used copies at reasonable prices.

It's understandable for sure, but as they have raised the the price and are now dropping benefits, if like to see where they go with this.

Understandable, especially in another year, though I do wish they would give us another PS4 game in exchange.

I haven't really felt into much of the Vita stuff that has popped up on Plus, but damn if it isn't still a fine little plane distraction when I want to hop into some Spelunky.

Tangential to the topic, I know, but it if you have any good sources for new-in-box official Dualshock 3's besides the nightmare that is eBay, I'd love to know about them.

I got the email other day and I kept waiting for the part that says "and here how we will benefit the consumer now we are taking away one of the things you are paying for" but sadly it never came.

Honestly, I’m cool with this because I haven’t touched my PS3 in years and I don’t really use my Vita aside from the occasional power on to see if it’s operational. Given how Microsoft is including essentially four games every month, I’m hoping they include a third PS4 game or may be up the ante in terms of quality like this months.

The only time I'm excited for PS3/Vita stuff is when it's cross-buy with PS4, so that month I technically get more PS4 games. That said, I wonder if they'll up the PS4 stuff to make up for the cut.

Eh. Those "free" games were never really free anyway. Did enjoy my time with Wipeout 2048; never got around to buying it, though.

Time to move on.

@gundamguru: Sadly, I've had no luck finding a trusted source for official Dualshock 3 replacements. I've started contemplating trying third party options, if only to clear out of backlog of PS3 titles. Not ideal, but when you don't have any other options... (I have a similar complaint with Microsoft discontinuing the Xbox 360 controller. Of course, at least they're making efforts to get those older games playable on the new system, thereby circumventing the need for the old controller. Though, damn, that 360 controller really was perfection and I don't know what I'll do on PC when I need to find a replacement.)

@cursethesemetalhands:

Seems you can use the Dualshock 4 with the PS3

@werupenstein: Unfortunately, it doesn't work with every game. Or, at least, it didn't last I checked. Plus, it has wonky functionality; you still need a Dualshock 3 to access the XMB, the vibration doesn't work (which I'd miss, but could manage without), and there were a few other minor quirks, I believe. If Sony did the work to patch the PS3 so the Dualshock 4 was fully functional with the system and across all games, I'd be thrilled. Plus, that would go a long way toward making me feel like Sony actually does care about their consumers, regardless of which system they're on.

I remember buying my Vita and having like 20 games ready to go day one because of PS+. Which was fine, until Muramasa: Rebirth came out. Which was fine, until it became a Spelunky machine to this day.

There was a time where I played the Vita more than any other system, so I have quite a bit of fondness. The Switch is taking over the indie niche now but I still prefer the feel of the Vita.

I want to say it's fine, as my PS3 has been boxed up ever since I got my PS4, and I can't even remember the last time I turned on my Vita.

However, with that being said, I still think it's not great as there may be people out there that don't have a PS4 and signed up for PS+ because of the free games for PS3 and PSV they were still getting. On top of that, paying the same amount for less is never a good thing. Hopefully between now and then, they'll make some kind of announcement about new features they're adding, or perhaps an extra PS4 game per month as some others have already mentioned earlier in the thread.

With all that out of the way, how 'bout the PS+ free game offerings this month?? I mean, I already own and have Platinum'd Bloodborne, but that is a helluva game to get for free!

It’s understandable I guess as I imagine ther is still some sort of payment to devs whose games are given away and no doubt the number of people downloading them continues to dwindle to the point where it’s not worth it anymore.

I wonder what eventually happens with the digital stores for the older platforms. As was mentioned on the Aftershow this week the prices in the digital stores are outrageous for old games. Of course you can get used physical copies for almost nothing but do we see a point where Sony permanently discounts everything on the Vita store to $5-10 for PS Plus members as a sort of replacement for the monthly free games? This seems like it would be a win for everyone

Sometimes they're outrageous, sometimes they're not. It really depends on how small the physical print run for a game was. For example, the copy of Persona 4 Golden I bought last week was $19.99 on PSN, but my local Gamestop was charging $35 for their only used copy (and that was after all my loyalty discounts).

I bought a couple of Gioteck VX2 pads, one wired one wireless, after I became a bit paranoid about my two DS3's (one decent, one nearly new) longevity. They were dirt cheap and I'm pretty impressed - Dead zones, which have put me off countless 3rd party pads in the past, were fine and they've got rumble, but no Sixaxis.

Honestly, even though I play very few of the vita plus games and none of the ps3 games at this point, I think that that this is a huge loss in value, they are adding nothing else to the servive after cutting off a huge portion of the program (40% if you count the online aspect and the plus discounts as equal portions) without adding anything else, like a PS4 game or a PSVR game as others in the thread have suggested. To top this all off, they are still charging the same price as XBOX, and while I don't own an a XBONE the 360 online infastructure seems better than the present day Playstation infastructure. Playstion is constantly down, when its not down it is semi-frequently plagued by problems, and not only that basic online functions like using media apps (netflix, hulu, ect) or the store never load (for me the apps don't load maybe once every week or two, the store doesn't work probably 80% of the time).

Fact is, Sony is winning the generation, so they aren't interested in providing a neat evolving service like Microsoft is doing now, and frankly it doesn't matter, they will continue to dominate until new consoles come out, where a pissed off, chip on their shoulder Microsoft will probably roll. I just really miss the Sony of the late PS3, early PS4 era that seemed like they had something to prove and brought great stuff to the table.

It's a shame but I'm not surprised. Last year I bought a new PS3 just so I could get Yakuza 5 from PS+ and play Drakgenard 3 eventually. I'll always be thankful that they did at least that.

They have to add some kind of replacement because just taking stuff away is kind of bullshit in a way that could lead to a backlash.

So they raised the price and dropped the features? I stopped paying for plus like 2 years ago now and haven't really looked back since.

@dave_tacitus: I welcome any and all recommendations on decent Dualshock 3 alternatives, so I'll put the Gioteck VX2 on the list on controllers to try. I guess the one good thing about third party controllers is I can probably get three different ones to test out for what a Dualshock 3 used to go for.

They're the only ones I've tried which didn't have horrendous deadzones in the analogue sticks. From memory, the wireless pad cost me ten quid and the wired was a couple of pounds cheaper.

So does this mean that they will give us six games a month in place of the four we lost on PS3 and Vita? Hmmm??

@haruko: unfortunately they hold all the cards in this situation. You want to play online you gotta pay, and irregardless if how shitty the deal most people will probably pay. Remember the backlash on multiplayer going behind a paywall after being free all PS3 generation long? That was huge and how long did that last.

Seems like Sony is about done making good with the community and is back to making money.

As soon as i seen the article i pulled the trigger and hit the trade-in button on Amazon for my vita wifi, trigger attachment, and 2-8gb sdcards for bout $90 havent actually used the vita in over a maybe 15 months...plan on doing same wit the 2 ps3's i have also but 1 disc drive doesnt work anymore and the one wit the sliding door ontop freezes like 30min or so.

Really want to finish yakuza 3 4 5 i have before i do tho might bite the bullet and try out psnow before i do.

Will the price of PS+ go down? No? Bummer.

@stocksy2097: it’s especially disappointing since this was always a great PR billet point for them. It’s not like people are still actively buying tons of old PS3 games, and if they are getting them it’s probably used. Adding some old classics every month to the PS Plus lineup was a way to artificially inflate their offering each month. Now they’ve raised the price and dropped the content and it’s not a good look any way you slice it.

Actually, PS+ is how I play Spelunky on my Vita, which I do very frequently. This is moderately distressing. I'm gonna have to actually spend fifteen dollars on a game that easily deserves my money. Damn.