PlayStation Plus Thoughts

For three-plus years I worked at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Aside from sating my bookworm desires and giving me complete control over the Star Wars 'bay' in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Department, I was also required by management--and corporate policy--to advertise, inform, and sell our customers the Barnes & Noble Membership Card. For twenty-five dollars (plus sales tax) you were given discounts on books, movies, music and more. The membership program was a major component of a cashier's job, and I could understand the reason --  most studies show that people don't use member cards much, and thus don't recoup the cost of the initial investment -- but it was a chore to sell the damn things. Why, you ask? Because most people don't use member cards much, and... yeah, you know where I'm going. People are smart, and most won't shell out money for discount programs, even those who would probably benefit most from such things.

PlayStation Plus... sky-rockets in flight?

I mention all this because last year Sony introduced PlayStation Plus to the PlayStation Network (PSN), which at first glance is reminiscent of programs like the B&N Member Card. Unlike Xbox Live Gold,* the PlayStation Network is a free online service that allows PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable users access to a number of services, including but not limited to access to the PlayStation Store (where you can purchase games, demos, add-on content, avatars, etc...), the ability to play online multiplayer games, watch movies and television shows via Netflix Instant Streaming, Hulu Plus, and VUDU services, stream tunes through Music Unlimited by Qriosity, and download online comics to the PSP Digital Comic reader. All of those services are free to access, with no annual fee or subscription required. But most (smart) companies aren't in the habit of giving things away for free forever, since it isn't cheap to run online servers (among other reasons). There's where PlayStation Plus would seem to come in: for $49.99 a year (with three extra months included for early adopters) or $17.99 for three months, users receive free access to at least one full PSN game, one PSP mini, and one PSOne Classic each month, discounts on PS3, PSP, PSOne Classics and mini games, free PSN avatars and themes, access to exclusive beta invitations for select games, and--just introduced with firmware update 3.60--cloud-based Online Storage of up to 1,000 PS3 saves or a maximum of 150 MB of saved data, with more PS+ exclusive content to come.

Got all that? Okay, so it isn't quite the same as B&N-style programs, but the initial context is similar. Spend some money, get discounts and some free stuff as long as you're a member. So why is a program like this important for PlayStation? A few reasons immediately stand out. First and foremost, the value of this program is incredible. If you choose the $50 option, you essentially get 15 free PSN games, at least 15 minis, 15 free Classics... that's a LOT of money you DON'T have to spend! Granted, if you allow your PS+ subscription to lapse, you won't be able to play those games anymore... which essentially amounts to a rental service. But as soon as you renew your subscription, you'll be able to access all that content again, with no loss of save data or Trophies or anything. Through nine months of my subscription, I've downloaded every free PSN game that has been made available (not so much with the minis, and only a select few PSOne Classics that I played when I was younger and didn't hold on to) -- among those games were highly-rated titles like WipEout HD, Zen Pinball, the full season of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse in December (a $35 download if not a PS+ member) in addition to Sackboy's Prehistoric Move (a PlayStation Move title tying in to January's LittleBigPlanet 2 release), and exclusive free access to Stacking, DoubleFine Studio's latest game, on the day it released to all XBLA and PSN users.

I feel the need... the need, for FREE! (Bad Top Gun pun, I know)

One of the most valuable benefits of the program, and most important for the PlayStation brand, has no inherent monetary value at all. Online beta testing has become a powerful tool for developers looking to whet the appetites of customers before releasing their product, in addition to working bugs out of their game before launch (and also useful for publishers who can push another title out the door with the added incentive of a beta invitation for pre-ordering their system's copy of the merchandise). One of the earliest announced incentives for the PS+ program was access to major AAA-franchise beta testing exclusives. So far, Sony and its partners have held up their promise, with titles like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Dead Space 2 being the first place that fans of those franchises could test and play the new multiplayer functionality of those games, while Sony gave their first-party faithful first crack at Killzone 3 multiplayer and DC Universe Online. With key PlayStation-exclusive franchises like Resistance and Uncharted seeing new additions this fall, as well as third-party blockbusters like Portal 2, Battlefield 3, and (the yet-unannounced, but likely in-development) Modern Warfare 3 coming down the pipeline, the possibility for future blockbuster beta access is certainly enticing.

The final draw for PlayStation Plus is also the newest: the Online Save data, or saving games 'to the cloud.' Cloud-based gaming is becoming the standard for PC gamers, with outlets like Steam and Direct2Drive providing instant downloads and streaming of everything from major games like StarCraft II and Civilization V to more casual games, and new gaming services like OnLive providing a streaming, cloud-based console experience, making it one of the first of its kind in the console gaming landscape. The PS3 is the first of the consoles this generation to bring cloud-based anything to the traditional console arena, in (initially) a very limited capacity. As noted before, up to a thousand PS3 save files, or a max of 150 MB of save information, may be copied by PS+ users from their PS3 console into an Online Storage folder, which may then be played on any PS3 console that your PS+-linked PSN account is logged in to. This is a major advantage for users worried about the possibility of a console dying, save files being corrupted, or other concerns.

For all of the upside, there are still questions about PlayStation Plus that linger, and have caused some potential buyers to pause. One major concern, for all PSN users, has been a lack of cross-game chat, or party chat, a function that has been available for Xbox Live Gold users from day one. The chat functions of the PSN have been vexing and troublesome, to say the least, requiring players who wish to chat be in the same game, at the same time, in order to organize a play session. Not being a multiplayer gamer myself, this isn't the most requested function for me, but I can see how others would hope that--at least--PS+ users would have this functionality added to the benefits of subscription. The other issue I've seen mentioned is regarding the ownership of games downloaded as a PlayStation Plus subscriber. As stated, the monthly slate of free games are only free so long as your PS+ subscription is active. And yet, many of the titles available to download free are also released with downloadable content, some of which is likewise discounted (not made available free, but at a lower price) for PS+ users. However, if that subscription lapses, that titles is gone... yet you've still paid for a piece of content that is no longer accessible? How does that work out? This is a somewhat minor issue, but still one worth considering. And finally, what use is this program to a PlayStation owner that buys a lot of PSN games? Most of the titles made available for free, or at discount, are older ones that prospective PS+ buyers may already have purchased. What incentive is there, then, to throw down $50 for games you already have access to?

I sold Barnes & Noble Memberships for three years, and I believed in the program. I bought a membership even before I worked there, so I knew the benefits of such a program. But I studied the cost, I knew how much I'd have to spend to make it work, and balanced that against my love for the material I was investing in. Similarly, I am a PlayStation Plus member now. I weighed the cost, saw the benefits, and believe it's a good deal. Is it perfect? Of course not, but what is? In the end, I've found a number of benefits that work for me, and that was enough to earn my buy-in. Ultimately, Sony and the PlayStation group will have to continue to honor that investment, with new functionality, better games, and more reasons to make what once was a free online experience into a necessary purchase every year.

* Xbox Live Gold is a paid subscription that allows online multiplayer functionality, party chat, use of Netflix Instant Streaming, ESPN 360, and other exclusive features; however, a free Xbox Live Silver membership is available in order to make purchases from Xbox Live Arcade and text chat with other XBL gamertags