Community Review: PlayStation Plus

78 responses to “Community Review: PlayStation Plus”

1. 

   wintersoldier

   August 11, 2014 at 11:03 am

   It’s a cool service love the discounts and sales Rogue legacy greatest game ever, my only problem is there has not been 1 game on ps4 besides Resogun and Don’t starve that I have played, they seem to get worse every month. need more variety

   Reply
   1. 

      evilmonkey

      August 11, 2014 at 11:06 am

      To be fair though, the console is only 9 months old, can’t really expect them to be putting new release AAA games up for free. Launch games like Killzone and Knack would be nice though.

      Reply
      1. 

         wintersoldier

         August 11, 2014 at 11:15 am

         I know but just want more then just the same indies, don’t mind if there indies but different genres, like some rpgs, no more pixelated platformers

         Reply
         1. 

            transientmind

            August 11, 2014 at 12:45 pm

            Yep. Putting in a vote here for getting pretty bloody sick of always being able to count on seeing some bloody indie pixel-art platformer. Hell, any time Steam updates its new release list, you’re bound to see one. Feels like they’re disproportionately represented for their popularity.

            Reply
            1. 

               letrico

               August 11, 2014 at 1:07 pm

               So true, I think the 8 bit / 16 bit crap got to stop. It is overhyped to extreme state and every indie developer is releasing “ground breaking GOTY” 8 bit/16 bit games.

               The hype train is over and it is getting rather ridiculous.

            2. 

               Poe

               August 11, 2014 at 2:23 pm

               I’m from the other camp and I am more than happy seeing pixelated games everywhere. I am more than happy that there has been another flood of pixel graphics.

            3. 

               weresmurf

               August 11, 2014 at 1:56 pm

               Got to agree. They threw 12 months of PS+ in with my ps4 at JB for free. Thank fuck I didn’t pay for it. At this point it just hasn’t been worth it. (Ok MAYBE Strider was…)

            4. 

               letrico

               August 11, 2014 at 2:09 pm

               The only thing that was worth it was resogun and contrast which I completely missed because I did not managed to secure one during launch and only got mine February this year :(. everything else was not even a close contender.

            5. 

               weresmurf

               August 11, 2014 at 2:22 pm

               Strider Ive found fun personally, given it wasn’t a dodgy pixel art game. I, like many others, am SICK of them, completely over them. 100%.

            6. 

               letrico

               August 11, 2014 at 2:28 pm

               Agreed 9000%. Pixel game need to stop. I bought paper please and thought it was gonna be some fun but got turned off by the pixel art. FEZ was getting uber rating how it was platformer of the year but I close it 30 seconds after playing it.

               Indie have access to UE4, Cryengine and Unity. I don’t understand how they ended up making a pixel art game. They could even use free tier Unity to build their game. I guess one reason is they don’t even require resource to do graphics, just mash up some pixels that maybe look like a face and job done.

            7. 

               weresmurf

               August 11, 2014 at 2:32 pm

               Careful @letrico I voiced that opinion once and the pixelart brigade here crucified me with downvotes lmao. But I imagine it’s because it’s easier to pump out a game faster in 2d than it is making a 3d based game. So many good unity based games are out now it’s proven itself a great engine to use. Hell, Shadowrun uses it gloriously.

2. 

   evilmonkey

   August 11, 2014 at 11:04 am

   I think it’s good value, but personally I would rather own the games, so I can still play them if my subscription runs out.

   Might renew my subscription when I pick up a PS4.

   Reply
   1. 

      bens_jammin

      August 11, 2014 at 12:14 pm

      I understand the viewpoint but for most (I think) with a PS4 you will be forever subscribing to plus for MP anyway.

      Reply
3. 

   redartifice

   August 11, 2014 at 11:04 am

   Great value (PS3). Played a lot of games I probably would never have played otherwise.

   Truth is, I’ve bought… one? maybe? new release game in the last 9 months, subsisted on cheap preowned and PS+ for the rest of it

   Reply
4. 

   drcurlytek

   August 11, 2014 at 11:07 am

   A fantastic service and innovation. Decent quality games right from the start, and pretty much a must have for owners of both a PS4 and Vita.

   Reply
   1. 

      braaains

      August 12, 2014 at 12:22 pm

      I wonder how much worse off the Vita user base would be if it weren’t for PS+?

      The only reason I bought one was because I had a huge stockpile of games built up for it thanks to PS+ and cross buy versions of PS3 games. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great device, but a handheld isn’t something I particularly need or use a lot. I never would have bought it except for the fact that the list of games I had for it became so long that it didn’t make sense to NOT have one.

      Reply
5. 

   poita

   August 11, 2014 at 11:09 am

   Absolutely love PS+, great value for what you get

   Reply
6. 

   dansdans

   August 11, 2014 at 11:10 am

   Ive been a plus member for almost 4 years now. I love it

   Reply
7. 

   thecracks

   August 11, 2014 at 11:16 am

   Remember that PS+ is necessary for multiplayer on PS4.

   Reply
   1. 

      aliasalpha

      August 11, 2014 at 11:36 am

      And there has never been so neat a demonstration of the fact it’s now just an arbitrary paywall as PS4 Watch_Dogs. You can play the 1v1 hacking & tailing stuff without PS+ all you like but if you want anything else, you have to fork over the cash.

      Reply
      1. 

         piat

         August 11, 2014 at 12:00 pm

         Completely worth it and hardy arbitrary. Look at the ps3 online services vs the 360, the 360 could maintain such high quality support due to the funding from that “pay-wall”.

         Reply
         1. 

            greenwarpy

            August 11, 2014 at 1:06 pm

            gold was pretty ridiculous in some cases though, like internet explorer.

            Reply
            1. 

               piat

               August 11, 2014 at 1:25 pm

               Gold want always up to snuff in all its areas sure, but for enabling multiplayer online it outshone the PSN by miles

            2. 

               aliasalpha

               August 11, 2014 at 1:31 pm

               I think gold needs breaking up into 3 different services, gaming, media & a combined one. Let people like me who don’t give a toss about any of the TV bollocks just pay a smaller amount for the MP gaming service, let the presumably mythical people who buy an xbox as a media machine buy a cheaper gold sub focussed on media delivery and let the people who want the lot buy the gold sub we have now.

         2. 

            aliasalpha

            August 11, 2014 at 1:28 pm

            Oh yeah, if the end result is quality, that I’m actually okay paying for. One of the main reasons didn’t play any multiplayer on the PS3 was that almost every time I tried the end result was a steaming pile of laggy shite whereas at least XBL worked most of the time. The point I was making with WD was that the hacking/tailing demonstrated that PS+ was clearly not necessary for the multiplayer functionality but the game mode segregation was artificially enforced.

            In many ways it was actually a good thing since it meant you got more of the game’s functionality but it also served to highlight the rather obvious partitioning of functionality when you stepped back and looked at it through a more analytical lens.

            Reply
8. 

   brodiek

   August 11, 2014 at 11:18 am

   I do love the service – but I’m getting tired of JUST indies being there – At least having 1 substantial PS4 title would be a nice filler until Destiny… Aside the fact I already own most indie titles on steam it’s still great to have them on PS4 too.

   Reply
   1. 

      letrico

      August 11, 2014 at 2:19 pm

      Same. I have so many copy of FEZ I don’t know what to do with it. I have it from GOG as DRM free, got one on Steam, got another in Humble Bundle steam key ununsed, now I have another copy on PS4 and Vita.

      Reply
   2. 

      stevorooni

      August 11, 2014 at 2:22 pm

      I have a sneaking suspicion that the first full retail title will be something like Knack or Killzone.

      Reply
9. 

   dinoking

   August 11, 2014 at 11:18 am

   My only problem is that does the ps4 version of playstation plus have moderators, which have the power to check if the player using the service is using it for good, not extreme evil (read the kotaku article about the ps3 plus being used by modders playing gta online modding themselves to use the ability to rape other players), I mean if there are moderators on this version of playstation plus, will they be able to crack down on any kind of illegal act being committed using this system & will these violators get permabanned from multiple accounts if they reoffend using these accounts? That is my only problem with ps+

   Reply
10. 

    vanit

    August 11, 2014 at 11:19 am

    PS+ has been a great companion to my PS Vita. Only game I’ve bought so far is FFX|2, but otherwise I’ve been living off the awesome games I get every month!

    Reply
11. 

    cheshirecat

    August 11, 2014 at 11:22 am

    Have it almost since launch. Generally love the service,although haven’t cared much for the games of late (sport bores me, some indies i love, many i loathe, sorry i don’t want to play side scrollers anymore and please quit it with the vita Lego titles).

    but the service even with those gripes is great value, i cant hope to keep up with the games released and only buy must haves now. I think borderlands 2 was my last purchase and borrowed last of us off a mate.

    and when i eventually get a ps4 i will have a great back catalogue.

    Reply
12. 

    edenist

    August 11, 2014 at 11:42 am

    I got it when it was first released on PS3 a few years back…… mainly because it came with quite a few games which, on their own, totalled more than the 3 month sub.

    Of course, after that, I got annoyed by the little ‘features’ which only PS+ members had, which didn’t really warrant the cost. Mostly cloud saving and daily-backup checks [cloud saving, OK, there’s *some* cost to that, but enabling the PS3 to turn on once a day and check for updates? the fuck?].
    Paying to unlock local features on the console rubbed me the wrong way.

    Of course, now for PS4 it’s compulsory for online gaming…… The ‘free games’ are just there to lube everyone up. Sure, it may be good value to get the free games, but it’s distracting everyone from the fact that they are forcing us to pay for something which should be free [the ability for my games to connect to my friends over the internet].

    That’s a deal breaker for me…..

    Reply
    1. 

       piat

       August 11, 2014 at 12:02 pm

       Should be free? As I said above, compare the ps3’s abysmal online services vs the ps3, that’s free vs paid.

       Reply
       1. 

          edenist

          August 11, 2014 at 12:28 pm

          The ability for software I have paid to use, on hardware I have paid to own, to communicate with another person on an internet connection I have paid for access to, should not be dependant on another subscription service just because the system is closed.
          If there are extra costs involved, incorporate those into the developer licensing and/or the cost of the game title itself, which will reflect the actual use of said service more than an arbitrary barrier put up by sony.

          EDIT: The other kicker here is that does this paid service lock out developers from offering a LAN mode for online? At the very least, this allows us to route our multiplayer gaming over our own infrastructure. I would make a good bet that Sony wouldn’t be happy with that……

          Reply
          1. 

             piat

             August 11, 2014 at 12:36 pm

             Yeah no console had supported LAN since the xbox/ps2 era, cmon.

             And I would much rather pay a single subscription fee to access all online services rather than what would turn into individual subscriptions or fees which is what happens when there isn’t a subscription services. Remember online passes? Yeah we saw the back of those because of ps+ multiplayer “pay-wall”. These services aren’t cheap to run, someone has to pay for it.

             Reply
             1. 

                edenist

                August 11, 2014 at 12:51 pm

                Yeah no console had supported LAN since the xbox/ps2 era, cmon.

                lol…

                https://support.us.playstation.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/828/~/play-ps3-games-in-lan-mode

                While not every game supported this, of course, many did. Even AAA titles. Many of my uncharted 3 and Read Dead Redemption games were using the LAN feature, even if we tunnelled the connection over a VPN.

                PSN down? Lol oh well…..

                Subscription fees? Yeah no thanks….

                Online passes have nothing to do with the paid multiplayer. Online passes [which, FWIW, I actually agreed with] were a method of preventing retailers effectively double-selling a game, when the actual developer/publisher was only receiving a single sale.

                And I’m not talking about subscriptions for each game…. Games have development costs, server infrastructure can be budgeted, even roughly, and put into the purchase cost of the title. I am by no means convinved that the PS3’s online multiplayer experience was down to lack of a subscription fee….. it was the way in which it was engineered for the PS3.

                If they lock me out of online matchmaking, fine, whatever. But give me the option of a LAN mode, so I can at least use the software I have paid to use. And if it was REALLY just about the cost of running the online the service, Sony would have no problem with this.

13. 

    aliasalpha

    August 11, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Hmm, good timing, I can ask the question here I was going to ask in TAY.

    What happens to PS+ games you… *ahem* “own” when your subscription lapses? I know you lose access to them but do you regain access when you re-subscribe? I got a month of PS+ for the Destiny beta and thought I might as well grab Crysis 3 since I could and find that I’m not really in the mood for it at the moment. If don’t get in the mood before my subscription expires have I basically lost my chance?

    Reply
    1. 

       mrbs

       August 11, 2014 at 11:49 am

       Resubbing will gain access to content you previously redeemed. Redeem is key here. If you don’t redeem it in the first place you certainly wont have access later.

       So yes you’ll be able to play Crysis 3 later 😉

       Reply
       1. 

          aliasalpha

          August 11, 2014 at 12:03 pm

          Ahh cool, I was hoping that’s how they’d do it. Pretty much a case of marking it as owned on the account but needing a subscription to actually run it.

          Reply
       2. 

          elwyn5150

          August 11, 2014 at 2:10 pm

          I don’t have a PS4 *yet*. If I get PS Plus this month, will I be able to get the free PS4 games when I get a PS4?

          Reply
          1. 

             letrico

             August 11, 2014 at 2:21 pm

             No, you will need to “Purchase” the game first to add it into your account then you can access it anytime in the future once you start subscribing again.

             Reply
          2. 

             mrbs

             August 11, 2014 at 4:16 pm

             If you go to the web store and redeem them sure. If not no.

             Reply
          3. 

             braaains

             August 12, 2014 at 12:27 pm

             Yes. I’ve had PS+ for years on PS3. When the PS4 released I was able to redeem all those games through the PS store (you have to do it through the website, PS4 games don’t show up on the store if you’re accessing it on PS3). So go in there, add them to your cart and “purchase” them (for $0, obviously). They’ll then be in your download list for you to download later once you get a PS4.

             So yeah, as the comments above say – buy your PS+ subscription and just redeem the games through the website until such time as you have a PS4 to download them to.

             Reply
14. 

    mrbs

    August 11, 2014 at 11:42 am

    I’ve been with US PS+ since day one back when the main draw were discounts rather than IGC. I’m still in it for the discounts but sometimes something comes along on IGC that I don’t own and am interested in which is nice.

    Reply
15. 

    mase

    August 11, 2014 at 11:53 am

    Had it for almost 2 years and I’m loving it. While the last few month’s free games haven’t been all that good, in the past it’s given me a chance to try things like Hitman: Absolution and Tomb Raider which I didn’t really want to pay retail to try out.

    For Vita it’s been the only reason to have the system. All the free Vita games I’ve gotten have been played over and over again. If Sony has to single handily keep the console alive, this is the way to do it.

    Only suggestion I have for it is maybe include a “movie of the month” or something. The PSN movie streaming service is great quality wise, but the prices are a bit steep.

    Reply
16. 

    cephalxn

    August 11, 2014 at 11:54 am

    Had it since it came out. I love it, even if I’m not going to play the games now I grab them, then they’re there as long as you’re subbed. I’ve let my lapse this month, but will definitely grab it again next pay day.

    Reply
17. 

    germinalconsequence

    August 11, 2014 at 11:56 am

    PSPlus is great when there’s content worth getting, but pretty pointless at any other time. That being said though, I’d estimate that the amount of money I have saved with PSPlus probably justifies the subscription cost. The most frustrating thing to come out of it so far is buying a game, only to have it come up on PSPlus the next month.

    Reply
18. 

    hippy

    August 11, 2014 at 11:56 am

    It seems like I have a counter viewpoint to most people… I don’t really want PS+…
    I was quite active during the Ps3 cycle, playing most of the big titles on release, as such when they came to Plus a year or so later I didn’t see the value in subscribing personally, although I can appreciate it was great for people late to the game, or with time / budget requirements…
    Then came the PS4… I have had the console since April, and didn’t bother to sub to Plus for the same reasons as above. Recently, for the destiny BETA I grabbed a 3 month sub to try out the raid function (and PS+); since then I have got a couple of indi titles on the Ps4 that I have played once and deleted, and if not for almost being forced to sub to play online multiplayer this generation I would likely just let the sub lapse… I think I’ll but buying short term subs as required although this is not great value, mostly because I’m not sure I want to commit to long term use of the service at present.

    Reply
19. 

    xiihorus

    August 11, 2014 at 11:58 am

    While I love the service overall, what I find to be crap is that the EU/AU stores tend to get screwed over when compared to the US store in terms of game availability in general. :/

    Reply
20. 

    piat

    August 11, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    I’ve been an off and on subscriber since it started, if something good is up that month I’ll sub, then I’ll usually let it lapse until it’s worth it again. Although with my ps4 I’ll probably continue to keep my sub up now. The 360 has shown what can be done with a subscription based online service for multiplayer, hopefully Sony can compete now.

    Reply
21. 

    pointzeroone

    August 11, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    I haven’t bought a game for my Vita for a while now because of PS+

    It’s a great service.

    Reply
22. 

    cufcfan616

    August 11, 2014 at 12:07 pm

    PS Plus is great. Got a few Vita games saved up for when I buy a Vita. There’s plenty of PS3 games for me to go through as well, I just need a larger HDD and more free time to go through them all. I little bit disappointed so far with the PS4 games on offer. Resogun was amazing, but I haven’t really played much since then. Most games have that, hand painted, indie/retro thing going on which I’m just not a fan of. I understand there’s not a great deal of games available for the system yet, but hopefully after the turn of the year we can start to see some of the bigger games on there (although I’ve got most of them already). I’m really hoping for New N Tasty to be on there at some point though. I’d buy it now but money is tight

    As for everything else, I’d love to see (as a lot of people would I imagine) a proper sale like the Steam sales. If they did it just for PS Plus people, sure it’d piss a lot of people off, but it’d make a fair few sign up, even just for 3 months. I can’t imagine they will though and knock down the prices of the majority of PS1, 2 & 3 games though judging by the prices they’re renting to ‘rent’ out the games on over Gaikai

    Reply
23. 

    arkayn

    August 11, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    I have a Vita, PS4 and PS3 and have had PS+ since day one. Love it and will keep it.
    Even though a lot of games I bought new end up on their I still keep the physical copy only because 20 years from now I want to dig the PS4 out and play these games regardless of the online being up or not just like I do with the SNES and Mega Drive.

    Reply
24. 

    transientmind

    August 11, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    It was cheap enough that I paid for a year and promptly forgot about it. Every now and then at least once a month I am reminded to go register the free games to my account. Including the Vita/PS4 ones, on the off-chance that I ever get one or the other. *shrug*

    It probably paid for itself in some of the discounts I got earlier in the year with games I really wanted.

    Reply
25. 

    foggy

    August 11, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    I’ve been on it for only two months, having just acquired a PS3 to play through the Last of Us and signing up for a 3 month subscription.

    It’s been interesting, as someone who planned on buying a PS4 but who just can’t quite justify it yet, my first plan was to buy some cheap PS3 classics expecting they’d be linked to my account and that once the PS4 got a BC solution I’d be able to download them again.
    That’s not happening now because Sony wants to implement the worlds least practical BC solution so they can charge an hourly rate to stream games, so my interest in acquiring a back-catalogue of (semi) free PS3 games has declined significantly and with it the value of PS+.

    Another thing I’ve found (and this is less of a PS Plus issue and more of a PS store one) is that downloading games from Sony’s service is about as much fun as gouging your eyes out with a fork.
    My experience in getting Little Big Planet 2 (which is great) is a good example:
    1/ Buys game from PS Store for $25ish. 8gb download. Seems a good deal for my wallet and download cap.
    2/ Turns off console overnight expecting it to download on standby like the 360 does.
    3/ Wakes up in the morning and the game isn’t downloaded.
    4/ Leaves console on overnight the next night and it finishes downloading
    5/ Boots up PS3 the next night for a quick session and the PS3 needs to install a game that it’s already downloaded (WTF?)
    6/ 30 minutes later and I start the game up: “This game needs an update” No f*cking idea why it doesn’t download an up-to-date version in the first place.
    7/ 17mb update is ridiculously slow for some reason but not a big real.
    8/ IT’S UPDATE 1/24?!?! The 3rd one is 800mb plus! No way of determining how big the rest will be?!?! What’s this going to do to my download cap?
    9/ Leaves console on AGAIN overnight to download patches.
    10/ Wakes up to find that its failed on update 17/24. Update 17 is 900mb that now has to start again. No idea what it’s doing (or planning to do) to my download cap.
    11/ Next night it gets a bit further before crashing again. By this point my advertised 8gb download is ruining my monthly cap.
    12/ About 7 nights, 20gb and $25 later, I played LBP 2. It’s really good.

    One more whinge, I downloaded Vessel early this week from the free game list in the PS+ store. The game was listed as free until I selected it at which point it proceeded to charge my $15 for it. Largely my fault (I was being impatient trying to download it fast) but it still sucks a bit.
    I’m guessing they were in the process of switching the free games over for the month but hadn’t yet updated the main page.

    So my thoughts on PS+? It’s lost a bit of value for me now that the PS4 is going to have the worlds greediest BC solution, but the games that go up monthly do seem better than XBL. It’s not very expensive at about $8 a month either, so I’d think you’d be crazy to have a PS3/4/Vita and not have a subscription.

    Wow that was long.

    Reply
    1. 

       elwyn5150

       August 11, 2014 at 2:19 pm

       You kind of sound like one of those Xbox 360 people who doesn’t realise that downloading and installing are two separate steps because the 360 do both together.

       It’s poor usability/laziness that the initial download didn’t include the patches.

       Reply
       1. 

          letrico

          August 11, 2014 at 2:25 pm

          Yeah it is one of the bad things of PS3. A little retarded and download speed from PSN is slow as hell as well. It took me 3 days to download Puppeteer from the past PS+. PS4 speed on the other hand is awesome. Downloads like 2Mbps on my ADSL2+ and ready to play once it is downloaded.

          Reply
       2. 

          foggy

          August 11, 2014 at 4:28 pm

          I do realise that they’re two separate steps.

          It’s just completely ridiculous that they should be two separate steps on a console, let alone take as long as it does it install.
          If you aren’t used to it then it does surprise you how sh*t it is.

          The PS+, PS Store combination might give you better free games than XBL Gold does but the underlying systems, for the PS3 at least, seem significantly worse. I guess all those years Xbox owners forked out for multiplayer games actually paid off to some extent.

          Reply
    2. 

       braaains

       August 12, 2014 at 4:55 pm

       Fair criticisms for the most part but, as you say, more of the PS Store itself rather than PS+. And for the most part it applies to PS3, not PS4 – when you purchase a game on PS4 it downloads the updates simultaneously with the game itself so you generally don’t have to wait around for the updates after downloading the game.

       As far as the PS3 goes, if you start downloading the stuff you want then shut down the PS3, you’ll get an option to shut down after downloads complete. You can select this then go to bed and the PS3 will finish downloading (and installing) the games and then turn itself off. Depending on when the downloads finish and what time you’ve got your PS3 set to automatically check for updates (i.e. if it finishes downloading and installing before it checks for updates) then it will check for updates and download and install them automatically so it’ll be ready to play the next day.

       Reply
       1. 

          foggy

          August 12, 2014 at 11:17 pm

          Cheers man, much appreciated advice.

          Reply
26. 

    jasoncrenshaw

    August 11, 2014 at 1:06 pm

    I’ve had PS+ for almost 2 1/2 years and I’m loving it. I got it initially for the IGC, and is still the main thing I use it for. Every month I jump on and redeem all the games for the month so I can play them in my own time.

    Added bonus that I currently don’t own a PS4 or a Vita, but when I do get them I will have access to a decent collection of games from the get-go.

    Reply
27. 

    greenwarpy

    August 11, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    PS+ is great, but I’m not a massive fan of this months games, Fez, Proteus and Metrico are all varying degrees of mediocre and pretentious.

    Reply
    1. 

       elwyn5150

       August 11, 2014 at 2:21 pm

       Those are the games that sound interesting and innovative!

       I am also keen on Road Not Travelled even though I don’t have a PS4 yet. I really enjoyed some of the games from that developer, Spryfox, on mobile phone: Steam Birds and Triple Town.

       Reply
       1. 

          greenwarpy

          August 11, 2014 at 9:15 pm

          Those are the games that sound interesting and innovative!
          disclaimer: my previous post was purely my opinion and I had played all 3 games by the time I had wrote it.

          also “interesting and innovative” and “mediocre and pretentious.” are not mutually exclusive.

          Reply
28. 

    ben4214

    August 11, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    I just got a PS4 at launch, coming from an Xbox background I think PS+ is excellent value. I pay $20 for the 3 months, I spent 2 weekends last month playing Doki Doki Universe and Strider (both excellent games), that’s more time then I have put into Watch_dogs (major disappointment) which cost me $100. Obviously I don’t expect AAA games yet considering there is only a handful of big releases out on PS4, but at least it’s not ancient games that are garbage and cost nothing already. I definitely find it better then getting nothing from the years of XBL I used to pay.

    Reply
29. 

    maffrew

    August 11, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    I think it’s an excellent service. I’ve played a TON of indie and smaller games that I would never have bothered to buy. Actually, maybe now I would buy them since they’ve turned me around on those kinds of games, however I take the policy of waiting for stuff to come to PS+ since a lot of will almost certainly will.

    What I want from PS+ is for it to crib some ideas from EA’s Vault thing and become a platform-owned service that does similar. I would happily pay a higher annual subscription in order to have access to a (worthwhile) selection of newly release (or at least very close to newly released) ‘big’ games. If I could pay that annual fee then have access to that selection of games as and when I wanted, I might do that. But I gather that the business side of gaming will prevent a Netflix type service for games from being viable so I may have to keep hoping.

    Reply
30. 

    beavwa

    August 11, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    I’ve never bought a Vita game* but I have plenty to play, that’s been the greatest value of the system.
    I got my PS3 for platform exclusive games that I’ve gone out and bought, so the ps3 offering hasn’t really done too much for me.

    One thing is that you eventually lose the back catalogue of redeemed games if you unsub for long enough AFAIK. I don’t like the feeling of that collection being held to ransom like that. Hopefully with EA Access offering the full selection of games even if you unsub and resub (so they say at the moment), this competition might drive Sony to make their offering more consumer friendly in this way as well.

    *Sorry, I bought one game when it was a PS+ sale item (Muramasa), then a few months later it was free. That’ll learn me.

    Reply
31. 

    shepard

    August 11, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Honestly – While PS+ offers more “value” in terms of games on my PS3 and PS4 (although i have yet to play any of the games other then Resogun because most of them don’t look like my cup of tea) compared to Gold, i wish that they would spend more of the monthly sub on improving their basic online service.

    Now that PS+ is a requirement for PS4 multiplayer, i should expect top notch online service – i am paying to keep the servers up and to a high quality like Xbox Live. However PSN still pales into comparison to Xbox Live even though the subscription fee is a requirement for PS4 online because:

    1)Downloads are unbelievably SLOW. While downloads go faster while wired, it still dosen’t beat XB1/360 over Wi-Fi in my experience and is also further hindered by a lack of pause/suspend download option.

    2) Multiplayer connectivity is hit and miss – which was forgivable on PS3 because it was free but not on PS4. Everything from what i see as a higher latency (even on the same game, over the same network when comparing PS4 to the X1) to random drop outs to menus.

    3) Messaging system is garbage. If i want to get a message on PS4 i literally have to refresh if i want it within the week it was sent. So i am finding that i am having to manually refresh my inbox once i log on and before i log off to ensure i didn’t miss a message.

    IMO i would rather see Sony start investing more in their online infrastructure then continue to give these indie games out for the PS4 and then once they have a couple of years down the track, then start handing out launch titles like KZ etc…

    Reply
    1. 

       monkeyno100

       August 11, 2014 at 2:34 pm

       Agreed.
       Improve the core service rather than the bling.

       Reply
32. 

    imahippy

    August 11, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    Had it for ages.
    Love it!

    Reply
33. 

    stevorooni

    August 11, 2014 at 2:20 pm

    It’s pretty nice. I’ve been grabbing all the free stuff on PS4/PS3/Vita.

    I don’t even own a Vita but I figure if I ever pick one up I will have this huge catalogue of games to play instantly.

    I can’t wait for full retail releases to appear on PS4. The Indy stuff is nice but I want full games dammit.

    Reply
34. 

    monkeyno100

    August 11, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    They really ought to plan it better. This month (and last) has been a drought of new release titles that have resulted in my consoles gathering dust aside from the moments where I crank up an old favorite. This month would have been a great time to drop some big awesome bombs and made people go oooo and ahhhh as there is nothing else to play.

    I get that the PS4 line up is limited but the PS3 and Vita could have better choices than just more ‘cross buy’ = good. They (Sony) are also selling this to many new fans who have migrated from microsoft…sure you need it for online play, but couldn’t they make it shinny?

    Pretty sure whatever they drop next month will be largely ignored thanks to some decent titles coming along *cough*destiny*cough*Diablo3*cough*.

    The discounts are cool and have gone a long way to covering the cost of the membership along with the few great titles still makes it an outstanding service. They really could do better to plan their FREE game releases around other major releases.

    Reply
35. 

    trikeabout

    August 11, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    I’ve had it for a while.

    I agree the PS4 titles haven’t been great so far, but we’ll probably start seeing AAA titles soon. They had AC3 on PS3 in the run-up to AC4 being released, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Black Flag is on PS+ in October just before Unity and Rogue release.

    It’s been worth it for me with PS3 and Vita as well as PS4.

    I only wish the automatic updates worked on more than one console and the game saves did a proper cloud sync – I have a PS3 in the lounge and one elsewhere in the house, and when I want to go use the “spare” one I have to wait for it to update and then go download the save game I want. That’s about the only negative for me.

    Reply
36. 

    jimu

    August 11, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    I tend to have already bought the games that are offered beforehand.

    I was given a PS+ sub for my birthday and it has worked out in letting me play Dead Space 3 & Strider.
    This month, apart from Fez (which I am still on the fence about) I’m not interested in anything.

    see how I go over the year.
    It will be nice to be able to multiplay for a year, since I do it so little I don’t like having to pay for it.

    Reply
    1. 

       monkeyno100

       August 11, 2014 at 5:06 pm

       That is a fear I have coming into PS4 AAA tiles… I have bought almost all of them since launch apart from battlefield, Knack and call of duty… guess which one of those will drop on the ps+ first…

       Reply
37. 

    klanky

    August 11, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    As a PS3 and Vita owner, I love it. Although my subscription ran out last month 🙁

    Reply
38. 

    chappy3350

    August 12, 2014 at 2:12 am

    I’ve been a PS+ subscriber for over 2 years now and I don’t see how you can not for less than $10/month? Here are just some reasons why I find it such great value.

    – I only ever shell out cash the must have launch day titles, which are few and far between given I’m not a FPS fan.
    – I download all the free games, even if I’m not interested in playing them. With an 8yo nephew we’ll quite often go through the back catalouge I’ve downloaded to find something of interest for him.
    – I’ll give every game a go, Far Cry 3 was a highlight even though I shy away from FPS and the characters were the worst I’ve ever had to “save” before.
    – My pile of shame is continuing to grow because of PS+, there are some games I’ll dismiss from my pile because I’m not interested in completing, but other I’ve had to put to one side because the next months downloads have arrived and I’ve become hooked.
    – The list of Vita games is now so large it’s almost a shame not to make use of them and purchase one, well played Sony for making me want to go out and purchase that extra piece of your hardware.

    Reply
39. 

    chappy3350

    August 12, 2014 at 2:14 am

    The only downside to PS+ from Sony’s perspective would be that I’m holding off on purchasing a PS4 until the quality of the free PS+ games increases.

    Reply