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E3 10: Sony introduces $50 premium PSN subscription photo

Sony has finally revealed a pay subscription service for the PlayStation Network. The service, called PlayStation Plus, will run you $49.99 for a one-year subscription and $17.99 for three months; it will launch later this month. For a limited time, you'll get three additional months for free if you buy a one-year subscription. While the regular PSN services will not change at all, PS Plus will give you extra stuff and support on top of what already comes free.

Those who do decide to upgrade will get such things as early demos, exclusive access to betas, "free" content like games, themes and PSP minis, discounts on PlayStation Store games, automatic downloads of upcoming demos you may be interested in, and updates. The first month of service will feature Wipeout HD for free, a trial of inFamous, two PSP minis and the PSOne classic Rally Cross. In the second month, Qore will be added.

Of course, this is Sony, so they've gotta mess it up somehow. All that "free" content you're getting, you only own it if you stay subscribed to the service. I guess that's to keep people from signing up for a month, downloading the free games and then leaving, but man, does it still suck.








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Matthew Razak is Destructoid's Associate editor and co-founder of film site Flixist. He began as community member "cowzilla" and was since sequestered to write brainy features material. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife. Likes Games! Movies! Hats! Meet the rest of the team



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66 comments | showing # 1 to 50
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next 50 comments

Derek Oliveira's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:24
Derek Oliveira
this made me chuckle lol
superjay779's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:25
superjay779
LMAO awesome where's the cross party chat. Wow worst ever.
PixelSith64's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:28
PixelSith64
Hey look! Another reason I'm not getting a PS3 anytime soon.
Nic128's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:28
Nic128
Yeah, I'm not digging it.
llort het's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:30
llort het
There's no such things as "early demoes" and other similar features. That just means they are going to hold back the demoes longer for nonpayers. Just like how Microsoft only lets gold members get deals of the week
Volomon's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:31
Volomon
Inf mous what kind of game is that? Is it about the powerful Infinite Mouse, or maybe a mousse whos name is Inf and is trying to be cool by leaving off the se. What ever it is I want it.
Elijah Fly's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:31
Elijah Fly
definitely not enough to warrant a purchase.
Sexualchocolate's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:33
Sexualchocolate
You guys know this is optional right? It's like an optional live subscription that isn't required to get the best part of your games.

To be honest I'm underwhelmed, but i'll probably get this for the beta access and all the free games.
Videodrone31's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:38
Videodrone31
I agree with SC. And about the cross game chat. It was fun at first on live but seriously listening to 7 different people talk about the game your not playing isn't really all it's cracked up to be. Bottom line I can still play my online games for FREE!
MrBounce's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:38
MrBounce
This is how I got suckered into a Qore subscription way back when.

They start off giving nice goodies, then it drops off into giving you crappy things like GoW3 demo that was released months before, or themes that can be downloaded a month or two for free after you get it for "free" through Qore.
jawshoeuh's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:39
jawshoeuh
I'll pass, but the free stuff is tempting. If I got to keep said free stuff when I cancel eventually it would be even more tempting.
kidplus's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:43
kidplus
I was all for it until the last part when I don't get to keep my games.
Saborlas's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:48
Saborlas
And the PS3 fanboiz will say that this is totally awesome, completely forgetting that they laughed at XBox players who paid for premium access to LIVE. Just like they praised every new feature of the PS3 while laughing at that same feature when Xbox implemented it first.
JASONSPAZ's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:50
JASONSPAZ
Where is the cross game voice chat going to be? The plus service, or regular free service?
PixelSith64's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:51
PixelSith64
@Sexualchocolate

Yeah, I realize that. But it's usually a turn-off for me when I have to pay money for multiplayer.
jawshoeuh's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:52
jawshoeuh
@PixelSith64
"Hey look! Another reason I'm not getting a PS3 anytime soon."


How is an optional premium service a reason to not buy something?
Davoidbot's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:52
Davoidbot
This actually makes PSN worse for me. It's not much different than Xbox Live now.
Corduroy Turtle's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:53
Corduroy Turtle
Sounds kind of lame. Thank goodness the free PSN is being left unchanged.
Trev's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:55
Trev
@PixelSith64
Multiplayer is still free. I'm not sure what part of that you don't understand.
waypoetic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:56
waypoetic
The pricing is good, but the content doesn't interest me.
azninvasion2000's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:57
azninvasion2000
eff that, as long as i can play multiplayer for free, i'm sticking with regular psn.
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 15:59
brainderailment
They should have been giving us automatic firmware updates since the beginning, and now that they do, why should we pay for that?
JulianProxy's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:02
JulianProxy
Sorry. I don't want to pay to:

1. See a demo, so that I'll spend money to buy your product
2. Play a beta, so that you can fix your product for me to later buy.
3. Download games, that you pick for me.
4. Watch a commercial, so that I'll buy stuff from your publishers.
5. Need to delete what you downloaded for me, because you thought I may be interested in it.

This is much the same feeling that I have about XBox LIVE. Personally, I'm happy with the features of the free PSN.

Maybe--MAYBE--I'd be interested in paying to be able to "rent" downloads PSOne Classics one or two at a time, a-la Gamefly.
PvPPY's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:06
PvPPY
Eh... losing your games if you quit the subscription has me on the fence. I would hate to get real "keepers" for free on the service instead of buying them directly, and then not be able to play them without internet, or years down the road when PSN isn't even a thing any more.
I still whip out Mars Matrix and PSOne discs so it's a fair concern, right?
KwikPwn's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:08
KwikPwn
They're really going to have to beef this up if they want it to become popular.
CelicaCrazed's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:10
CelicaCrazed
Well I'll see after the initial 3 month trial if it's worth it. Though did we already knew it was going to be called PlayStation Plus?? I called the name out a good 3 seconds before they said it on stage....
Elsa's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:11
Elsa
... but what about those of us who already subscribed to Qore?? What happens with our free betas, early access demos and the rest of that crap??


... and where's our cross game chat????
Netnavi's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:24
Netnavi
still no cross game chat, and not being able to keep your games. So does that mean that ALL the discounts will be for subscribers? Maybe I should get Sam and max before it's too late.
DF's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:35
DF
They're not gonna take away features from regular free PSN for this, right?
TristanMike's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:42
TristanMike
I'm really concerned about the idea that the content I buy via the Plus service only remains mine until I no longer pay for the service. Getting free stuff like themes and even games yanked out from under me is one thing, but because I get 20% off the game, I still lose it if I choose not to continue my subscription ?

I call shenanigans !
TheJesusNinja26's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:43
TheJesusNinja26
Key words about this, "WHILE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION LASTS"!!!

Meaning once you stop paying, you stop having access to the stuff you already downloaded/played.

STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPID!!!!
LittleBigD's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:46
LittleBigD
It definitely sounds like a good deal, but I'm still going to have to wait a bit past the free trial and see what I might be missing before I bite.
garethxxgod's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 16:47
garethxxgod
Well once I get everything squared away with my 360 I may infact try out the PSN Plus for 3 months. If it ain't my speed I probably won't renew.
mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:06
mix
"Infmous"

I don't like the idea of "renting" those PSN games at all.
If I sign up for 3 months and you take away those games I got in those 3 months you can go rape yourself Sony with a spiked club.

The idea of added stuff is cool as for $5 a month your getting a decent deal in free stuff but taking that away is NOT cool. Not getting if I don't own anything from it.
Live by the Sword's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:14
Live by the Sword
Sony steals ideas from M$ & Nintendo. M$ steals ideas from Sony & Nintendo. Nintendo remains the most innovative!
Fullmetalfox's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:20
Fullmetalfox
@Live by the sword.
How is Nintendo innovative? They've been doing the same 3 games the last 20 years lol.
NyghtcrawleR's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:25
NyghtcrawleR
@ Live by the Sword

Except Nintendo should steal ideas on how online should work because their idea of online is piss poor.
hpv's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:34
hpv
Leave it to Sony to get everything 90% right and blow it at the very end. I was pretty much on board until he said you only get to play the "free" games as long as you're a subscriber. Though really, maybe I don't care about that stuff at all. Definitely not if they think Rally Cross for PSX is something anyone would care about.
bastardmaster's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 17:55
bastardmaster
First taste is always free. Then they slowly start stripping away features from the unpaid service.
Mr Andy Dixon's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 18:26
Mr Andy Dixon
So... $50 a year to play demos and RENT games I could just buy for a lot less?

No.
Shadowiii's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 18:41
Shadowiii
Not doing this. If I got to keep the games? Sure. Or, if they had some thing where, if you were subscribed for a whole year you'd keep the stuff (to prevent people from signing up for a month and getting the freebies), that would also be fair.
This is just dumb.
Corak's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 19:30
Corak
Not doing this either, early beta access doesn't interest me. So I get to pay to play a game that isn't finished yet, early access to demos is the same thing. I'll keep my free features thank you very much, however if you could include cross game chat in the free service I'd love you even more.
Monco Vega's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 19:34
Monco Vega
Zzzzzzz.....
broonor's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 19:45
broonor
And for those of us that already have wipeout hd :(
vs8's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 21:01
vs8
Awesome... NOT!!!!
runtheplacered's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 22:15
runtheplacered
@ PixelSith64,

"Hey look! Another reason I'm not getting a PS3 anytime soon."

Wow... what?

The only thing worse then the services this seems to provide is your comment about it.

Let me get this straight.. you are not buying a PS3.. because you don't want to buy something you totally do not need to buy? OK then.

But wait, there's more.

"Yeah, I realize that. But it's usually a turn-off for me when I have to pay money for multiplayer."

Now this begs the question... what the fuck are you talking about?
runtheplacered's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2010 22:18
runtheplacered
Anyway, this really is a pretty sad deal. I just hope that they don't start taking features from the free service and then magically apply them to the paid service. That would definitely be a dick move.
Kaden101's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/16/2010 01:01
Kaden101
If it's "free" games that you lose when you stop your subscription, I don't see the problem. It's only like having a subscription to Love Film, or any other rental system currently out there. You don't pay your subscription, you don't get to watch any more films. Makes sense to me.

If, on the other hand, you lose games you paid for, even at a discount, that sucks arse.

I think we need clarification about what you can keep, & what you lose before we bitch & moan too much.

On the other hand, I'm still not interested in paying for this, as I'm happy with the standard free PSN. Personal preference.

At least I have the choice, & can still play games online for free if I want.
shindubhe's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/16/2010 05:34
shindubhe
as long as you can still play online for free whats the problem? i would really like cross game chat bring forth the free trial! . as for free games that get taken away.. meh i doubt anything of great value will be free anyway.
necrozen's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/16/2010 09:03
necrozen
For me it depends on how good the discounts are. I'll check out the free trial and then decide.
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