PS+ Jan (Jan 7th): Infamous: First Light, The Swapper (PS4) Ducktales, Prototype 2 (PS3) Whoa Dave, Duke Nukem (Vita)

[Timmo]

Treble said:

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/264955-ps-plus-august/?p=9188168

This thread gets a lot of questions about PS+ subs and I was bored, so here's a basic guide to PlayStation Plus subscription service ((hopefully) correct as of 5th August 2013). First off, here's the official Sony PS Plus Introduction page with a lot of useful info. My take on it all:

You can subscribe for 3 months or a year at a time. Standard costs are £11.99 for 3 months or £39.99 for a year. There are often deals around, though, so check the thread (and places like hotukdeals.com) for bargains. GAME recently sold year-long subs for £30, which is a significant saving.

Subscriptions are stackable i.e. you could buy, say, 3 x 1 year subs, register all three codes on day one and have three years worth of subs that start immediately after the last code expires. If you buy a sub from a retailer online, they mostly email you the code which you simply enter into the XMB to redeem.

Your Account Manager tracks when one sub ends and the next begins. If you want to check when your sub finishes, check in your account manager.

You can also disable automatic sub renewals in there, which is great if you're planning to hunt around for bargain subs. From the PS website: "You can cancel your PlayStation Plus subscription by going into 'Account Management' under 'PlayStation Network'. While in 'Account Management', go down to 'Transaction Management', go to 'Services List' and select 'PlayStation Plus', from here you can select, "Cancel Automatic Renewal' or 'Restart Automatic Renewal'."

The sub itself gives you a stack of free games, as well as discounts on some releases and (occasionally but not frequently) access to demos before non-subscribers.

Free games are split into a few types...

PS3 Annual free titles
Refreshed once a year, these titles updated in June/July to:
Uncharted 3(Single Player only - Multiplayer is already FTP to a certain level)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
LBP Karting

PS3 Monthly free titles
These appear on the first Wednesday of the month (no fixed time, although after 17:00 GMT seems to be the sweet spot) and remain on until the next months update.
These titles are currently:
Spec Ops: The Line
Mafia II
NFS: Most Wanted

Vita semi-permanent free titles
As per the PS3 releases, there are some that appear to be up semi-permanently and some that are monthly.
Two flagship Vita releases Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Gravity Rush seem to be up there permanently.

Vita Monthly Free titles
These update on the same timeslines as the PS3 titles, and are currently:
When Vikings Attack
Lego Lord of the Rings

Other features of PS Plus are:
Discounted titles
Many popular titles get discounts. In fact, Plus discounts are pretty widespread across the Store as a whole, and especially in the Sales.
Their value depends on how old they are and whether they've had a retail release, natch, but this is a particular boon for download-only titles that normally command high prices. Sales discounts are quite often 10% or so, while discounts off of recent titles or more promoted titles might be anything up to 30%.


FAQ

When and how do I get all the free stuff?
Once you have a PS Plus subscription, go to the Store on either your PS3 or via the Website and go the PS Plus section to see all the PS3 and Vita content available. You can also use the Store on your Vita, but you will only be able to see the Vita content from there.

You need to, at the very least, be a subscriber to PS Plus and 'download' the content once during the time the title is available in order to access it later.

The thing that's won Sony a lot of followers (on top of all the free-ness) is that you can start downloading a title, cancel it, then download it at any point in the future (as long as your sub is still active). So say you want some of that Okami action but have no space on your HDD? Simply start the download, cancel it, then fit a bigger HDD and when you're back up and running with your account, re-download. Want Golden Abyss, own a PS3 but not a Vita? Just do the purchase process for it, buy a Vita and it'll be available for you to download on the little handheld when you login with your existing account. Of course, with the PS3 games you can choose to download them all right there, right then if you have mega bandwidth/a massive HDD choice is yours.

What happens if I stop my subscription?
Once your subscription runs out, you will no longer be able to access the Free titles you've accessed previously. Discounted titles or discounted DLC remain yours regardless. However, if you decide to re-subscribe at a later point, access to all your Free titles is re-enabled.

You DON'T need a separate sub for your PS3 and PSV (or even PSP or, so we've been told so far, PS4): one account gets you all of the above.

The sub also gives you cloud-based saves, which is great for anyone who is worried about their old machine dying, or wants to upgrade their HDD. From the website: Online Game Saves are accessible via the XMB. They are stored in a specially marked folder along with your other PS3 Game Saves. You can move files between the cloud and your PS3 HDD at will. In addition, when you start a game for the first time, you can elect to upload the game's save files automatically with Automatic Updates.

You also get automatic PS3 firmware updates when you're a subscriber. Yes, it should be a standard feature but hey-ho. You can elect to have the machine update automatically on a date/time of your choice. If the PS3s in standby it'll switch itself on and do this; if the machine was switched off it'll update the next time its switched on (even to standby). With the Vita, I think you're always prompted to download the latest firmware update when you switch the machine on (?)

[Camel]

You're not tricking anything. Once you've 'bought' the items they're yours to keep and play as long as you're a member. You just have to 'checkout' and don't have to start the download process at all.

I thought once your subscription expires you lose those games?

You do.

[Yasawas]

He means you don't have to download them as they become available. You could queue Red Dead Redemption now, but not download it, then in a few months when it's been replaced by something else you'd still be able to "redownload" it via your PSN download history whereas a new subscriber couldn't.

[Camel]

He means you don't have to download them as they become available. You could queue Red Dead Redemption now, but not download it, then in a few months when it's been replaced by something else you'd still be able to "redownload" it via your PSN download history whereas a new subscriber couldn't.

Yes, I'm just pointing out the fact that you don't have to start and then stop the download, in case anybody then goes on to do just that with everything they grab as PS+ members.

As you were.

[Hitcher]

I still don't get it?

There are 45 game a year and you can download all of them for £29.99 and keep them as long as you subscribe?

[Garwoofoo]

Yes.

[Camel]

I still don't get it?

There are 45 game a year and you can download all of them for £29.99 and keep them as long as you subscribe?

Yes. Each month a new bunch of games become free to download for PS+ members. As long as you stay a member, you can keep these games. As soon as you unsubscribe, they become demo versions.

[Looper]

Not 45 all at once, it's the list Timmo posted if you subscribed today, but over the course of the year it'll be 45 free games.

[Superunknown]

Yes, I'm just pointing out the fact that you don't have to start and then stop the download, in case anybody then goes on to do just that with everything they grab as PS+ members.

As you were.

It's worth knowing though, because the larger downloads take a while to queue because the PS3 is allocating file space in the background, which for the full PS3 titles can add up to minutes waiting for store to become responsive again.

My sub has just lapsed and Borderlands won't launch at all - presumably because there's no demo. Need to decide whether to buy some sort of 360 controller adapter as I can't use a dualshock.

[SMD]

Basically Sony have managed to go from having a laughably poor online service to almost crushing any reason to have Xbox Live Gold in one generation.

Nintendo are lucky people have no expectations of their online service because Microsoft really need to pull their finger out.

[Epcotman]

Xbox Live is in full coasting mode now, isn't it? Without the competition from Xbox, Playstation Plus wouldn't exist, though. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft respond. Playstation has certainly recaptured me at the end of this generation.

[moosegrinder]

As long as CoD and Halo and Battlefield remain top of the online heap Microsoft are going to do fuck all.

PS+ really is stunning, the only reason I'm not taking advantage is I don't have time to play the physical pile of shame as it is.

[scottcr]

PS+ is the best. I love it. My live subscription is coming up and I'm not renewing.

[SMD]

As long as CoD and Halo and Battlefield remain top of the online heap Microsoft are going to do fuck all.

PS+ really is stunning, the only reason I'm not taking advantage is I don't have time to play the physical pile of shame as it is.

Yep, I have plenty of games to get through and my 160Gb PS3 is practically full. Once my Gold sub expires I might switch over, though.

[Epcotman]

Same. I've had a Gold Subscription since Xbox 1, and for the 1st time I have not renewed.

[SeanR]

£30 for 45 games?

Tempted to get it out of the box now!

[Majora]

Yeah but... Most of those games are fairly old aren't they? The reason I keep going to sign up and then stopping is because by the time a game is 18-24 months old, which most of those games are, I've either bought it or rented it if I had any interest by this point. The list is impressive from a value perspective purely in terms of the amount it would cost to buy them all but I'm still uncertain as to whether it would actually represent value for someone who tends to play or rent games they're interested in reasonably quickly.

[Timmo]

Oh definitely, it's not for everyone. I'm going on it to try and curb my spending on new releases.

[Wickedkitten]

I just took a lot of the games that I already had but are being given away to Tesco on Saturday and traded them in for £46 which more than paid for the sub.

[BeeJay]

My perspective is that I love the PS+ model as a service but I just haven't really bonded with the PS3 which reduces its value somewhat. If MS did copy the service then I would probably go back in a flash.

The thing about all old games isn't entirely true either. Infamous 2 was available not that long after full release and plenty of the download only games have been free on day 1 like VF5.

[bradigor]

I need to get a PS3 again. I have a crap ton of stuff from PS+ going to waste

[Ketchup]

If you let your sub lapse, what happens when you resubscribe later on? Can you access all those games again you had before or not?

[Timmo]

Yeah.

[MW_Jimmy]

Not interested - I like to own my media, preferably physical, and this is true for music and films aswell.

I realise I'm in the minority but from my perspective PS+ represents a further erosion of consumer rights and gives Sony a lot more freedom to take access to content away.

As long as there is a choice it's fine, but I do worry about where things are heading.

[Dandy_Sephy]

It's a great deal but it helps when half of the games are from Sony, and most of the rest can be bought for very little outlay on disc. I think the 3rd parties see it as advertising as they can then sell the DLC to more people after having already profited on the game through disc and initial online sales. Borderlands 2 will certainly benefit from the first being given away.

[Camel]

Not interested - I like to own my media, preferably physical, and this is true for music and films aswell.

I realise I'm in the minority but from my perspective PS+ represents a further erosion of consumer rights and gives Sony a lot more freedom to take access to content away.

As long as there is a choice it's fine, but I do worry about where things are heading.

I prefer physical media too, but an annual subscription currently costs 30 quid. That's £2.50 per month. Surely that's worth paying to have access to a bunch of digital games *in addition* to your physical stuff?

[SeanR]

pros:

I see games I want to play, that I've not got on the 360.

I can't bring any more physical media into the house atm. She'd notice.

It's £30!

Cons:

That controller

I'd have to get it out to play, and then pack up when finished, so she don't notice, until the gamesroom is finished.

[Dandy_Sephy]

Not interested - I like to own my media, preferably physical, and this is true for music and films aswell.

I realise I'm in the minority but from my perspective PS+ represents a further erosion of consumer rights and gives Sony a lot more freedom to take access to content away.

As long as there is a choice it's fine, but I do worry about where things are heading.

The thing is, by the time the content is 'taken away' through discontinuation of the service the disc will be pennies.

[SMD]

Fucking hell, no one is saying that Sony's online is suddenly perfect and all hail the Kaz but given that you can pay less to Sony for more features and games than you get just for the right of playing online multiplayer on the 360, it's a no brainer.

[klargon]

I think it certainly serves as an indicator for the potential of subscription-based gaming. There are a number of factors that need to be considered for the ongoing feasibility of similar services, though. The reason it works for me is because I treat the PS3 as my secondary console, so would always give the 360 preference for buying non-exclusive games. The price and reasonable quality of games is what is key to drawing people in, with the understanding that people will remain subscribed in order to keep their game collection. The reason I buy physical copies of games on the 360 isn't because I like to own a physical copy, but because it has a resale value. Therefore, each title in a game library subscription would have to have a negligable value in order for me to subscribe.

If we see similar subscription services on the next generation of consoles, it will be interesting to see how the service could commence without a back-catalogue of games from that generation. It's certainly further steered me into the belief that there is potential in this form of delivery. I never thought I'd be willing to pay for a subscription to watch films, yet I pay for Netflix. I never thought I'd pay for non-physical copies of music, yet I'm on the verge of paying for Spotify.