... by leaving a comment! Understand though, that the results probably won't be seen by Sony. Here's the survey in question:



And now, what I think of the items listed:

Exclusive Sony stuff: Sure that seems fair.

Extended Warranty: Again, fair... but pointless for those who've had their PS3 for longer than 3 years.

Access to Beta Games: That's fair if the access is simply early access and not denying non-subscribers the ability to be a part of a beta at all.

Early Access to All Store Content: M$ is making the same stupid mistake, and nobody is happy about it. Please, get this dirty thought out of your head Sony!

Cross Game Voice Chat: This should be available as a basic PSN service. I could see them putting a time limit on the basic service (~5 minutes @ unlimited sessions/day or maybe a solid 1 hour/day) and limiting it to one on one chats. If the premium service expanded upon the basic service by allowing unlimited with groups, that'd be fair.

1-hour Full Title Trial: This is a fair and interesting incentive for premium users, however, I've always felt that Sony should make trial versions of d/l only games on PSN mandatory just like they are on Xbox Live. I typically don't buy a game with out trying it out first, and a demo can sell me a game.



User to User Challenges: This sounds like it should be a basic PSN service to me. It'd be neat if they kept track of the info, like who you played against in a certain game and your w/l stats, or your stats against a specific player in all the games you've played together... I guess that'd make it "premium". I wouldn't be too interested in it, but I'm sure there are people that would be.

Free Access to PS1, PSMinis etc...: That's genius! It kind of reminds me of Sega Channel! Definitely a premium feature worth paying for.

Discounts on Store Content: That's fair, since you're already paying Sony a yearly subscription fee.

Member only in-game content: Boo! Hiss! Terrible idea! Unless the content is purely aesthetic (like a unique skin) or unless it's content that's available to be bought as DLC, then that's fine. But member only levels, characters, weapons, etc. would feel like denying the base customer something rather than adding something for the premium customer. Example: Premium users get the new RE5 content for free = good idea, Premium users get a new level where Leon Kennedy and Jack Krauser fight Bill Gates for control of the W virus with a little help from these enchanted blades they found in a greek temple = bad idea

Cloud Storage Space for Games: A good, fair incentive, that's got some decent value. I'd load my HDD up with music and video, then move all my games over to cloud storage. It'd be really nice if the mandatory installs for some games could be stored on the cloud.

Online Music Service: I'm completely indifferent about this... my musical tastes are eclectic and eccentric, and I doubt Sony would be offering anything I'd be interested in listening to. It's a fair incentive that I'm sure some people would be interested in.

Automatic Downloads and updates: This one should definitely be a PSN standard service. There are times when I don't realize I'm running old firmware until I go back and check old Dtoid posts. Not that I've missed anything important.... yet, but the option should be there to allow you to automatically d/l firmware updates. I feel like I might be misunderstanding this one though.

Facebook Connectivity: Again, couldn't care less... no facebook. I'm sure this would add value for someone.



Catch-Up TV: I guess it depends on how long we'd have to wait to catch up... a week max before this becomes irrelevant. Unless it's HD, then I might be willing to wait a little longer.

Netflix without Disc: As soon as this is possible, it should be a standard PSN feature. You're already paying for Netflix, and other Blu-Ray players can play Netflix out of the box with no additional charge. Putting this feature in a "premium" package, like a few other items on this list, feels more like denying it to base customers than adding it for premium customers.

Finally, there's the price point. Is anything in here worth $70/year? I think that there's two ways it would be worth that price. First, if they give us free access to all the PSone and PS Minis, plus all the themes, and threw in the Cloud Storage and the Extended Warranty and Sony Exclusive stuff, I'd feel it's worth $70/yr. Likewise, if we got Catch-Up TV, the online Music Service, purely aesthetic member only in-game content or free optionally available-for-purchase DLC, Discounts on Store merch, Full Title Trials, and early access to game betas along with the Warranty and Sony exclusive stuff, then I'd pay the full $70/yr. In my eyes, any other combo (aside from including them all for $70) would only be worth the $30/yr price tag.

That being said, a lot of those features should definitely be included in future firmware updates, and shouldn't be tied to a subscription service. I hope Sony isn't getting greedy with PSN now that the PS3 is finally selling. The optimist in me feels that Sony will come to it's sense and offer a service that provides content rather denying it to the basic customer. The cynic in me keeps picturing Kaz Hirai with big, bulging dollar signs for eyes.