Hi Everyone, you may have heard in all the E3 hype that we are launching a new premium subscription service called PlayStation Plus, so I just wanted to give you all a quick heads up on what you can expect to get from this great new service so you have all the info before launch on the 29th June.
The first thing to note is that PlayStation Network is still free to join and all the current features will remain free. PlayStation Plus will be offering you a service above and beyond this, including loads of content and exclusive, member-only, PSN features.
From 29th June you’ll be able to purchase a 1 year or 90-day membership from PlayStation Store and instantly get your hands on the following premium features. Plus, if you sign up for a 1 year membership between 29th June and 3rd August, we’ll also throw in a free downloadable copy of the award winning LittleBigPlanet.
Games:
As a member you can expect to get your hands on at least four games a month at no extra charge. Each month there will be a selection of one PSN game, two minis and one PS one classics available on PlayStation Store for you to download. You also get premium avatars and dynamic themes each month, many of which are exclusive to members.
Talking of exclusive, there will also be discounts available on loads of PlayStation Store content, just for members, so make the most of them as these will change each month as well.
Finally, wherever possible we’ll be making sure that members are included in some selected demos and beta trials before they go live to the public so you can be the one to tell all your mates about the next big game they ‘must’ get.
Just the games, avatars and themes alone are worth at least £200* per year, so even before the other benefits, this service is great value for money
Full Game Trial:
This premium feature gives you the chance to try PSN and Blu-ray disc titles before you buy them in a whole new way. We are not talking normal demos of selected parts of a game here. With Full Game Trial, you can download the full game and play it as if you owned it for approximately one hour, depending on the game, before you decide if you want to buy it or not. So you can check out the online modes, play against friends or anything else you’d normally do with a game.
The other great thing is that your progress and trophies from the trial will all be unlocked if you buy the game so no need to go back and start again.
Automatic Download:
We wanted to offer members the speediest service possible so sign up and you can set your PS3 to automatically receive the latest game updates for all the games you play, PS3 system software updates and even have game demos sent directly to your PS3 without lifting a finger.
Just set the time you want to receive them and your PS3 will automatically wake up and download everything, ready for when you next want to play. No more waiting to play your favourite game because there is a new patch or having to remember when the latest system software is launching, let your PS3 do the work.
Details of this great new service, including a list of content available for the first 2 months will be on playstationplus.com between now and the 29th, but don’t forget to get on the Store and sign up before the 3rd August to get the added bonus of a free copy of LittleBigPlanet.
It would be great to hear what you guys think of this new service and I’ll be back one here on Wednesday morning to try and answer any questions you have.
Cheers,
James















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542 CommentsAdd Yours
101
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:15 pm by crusher915
and are you guys going to announce Under The Siege already, it was supposed to come out around this time
102
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:16 pm by lardteamaker
@89 Yeah pretty seems like it, only stuff you keep is the discounted and the dlc you get. The full free games looks like are lost.
103
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:16 pm by Outofathens
Can i already subscribe???????????????
104
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:16 pm by SmoggyPhil
Now, if only they posted this on the entry, we’d all be happy!
Nice find, guys, guess it is true, sorry for the doubting
Although now the question is if £40 a year is worth it for this feature..
105
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:16 pm by Peetee36
Seems like they just slipped that Cross game chat thing in about 5 minutes ago. I want an answer
106
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:17 pm by deadmeat3171
@sigmatic
surely he couldnt just mean access as the ability to download em from the store for free
107
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:17 pm by Timesplitter_01
@97
The Australian playstation plus page has no info on the cross game chat. So that makes two countries webpages that dont have info on that matter
108
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:17 pm by Timesplitter_01
http://au.playstation.com/playstationplus/
109
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:20 pm by Peetee36
@Timesplitter_01
They seem to be only updating them in the last ten minutes or so, so check back in a few minutes and it might be up there.
110
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:20 pm by BiosNova
Not really worth that price…
111
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:20 pm by frodouk
God, some people are never happy! Cross game chat brings nothing to playing team games over the PSN. Just because the 360 has it, does NOT mean the PS3 SHOULD have it.
2 very different services, 2 very different consoles and 2 very different architectures.
112
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:21 pm by Timesplitter_01
I just find it weird that they would type everything else in their own language and put the info on party chat in english.
[DELETED]
113
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:21 pm by TwinD404
Thanks James for answering my question earlier. Super hyped now
114
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:22 pm by Roxas598
you guys should over firstplay for free with this
since the US get qore or w/e it’s called
115
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:22 pm by xchris2008x
looking at james’s 2nd comment id say its worth it now since you keep the content
116
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:23 pm by Timesplitter_01
Sorry about using the last acronym
I apologize.
*bows down and begs for forgiveness*
Its just E3 always brings out the worse in me
117
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:23 pm by ozjad
any word on Aussie pricing?
Posted on 16 June, 2010 at 11:14 am by James Thorpe
Hi, 1 year membership is 69.95 and 90 days is 20.95 in Australia
118
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:24 pm by izekial27
I understand that if your subscription to PlaystationPlus ends then you lose access to the free games you have gained, but what if you then re-subscribe at a later date? Would you regain access to the games you previously had on your prior subscription, or is access to those games lost forever if your subscription ends?
Posted on 16 June, 2010 at 12:42 am by James Thorpe
you would regain acess to all the games you previously had if you re-subscribe at a later date
119
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:24 pm by deadmeat3171
more people saying you lose access to playing games
why not this instead of youre usual 5 redownloads you get as many as you want as long as you subscribe but if you stop you can no longer download it.and untill i read other wise from an official thats how im reading it
120
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:25 pm by frodouk
Criminals for offering you a choice. Logic? None at all.
You STILL get PSN as it is today FREE of charge.
121
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:27 pm by Peetee36
Well, I think I’ll be getting this.
122
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:29 pm by Sigmatic88
“surely he couldnt just mean access as the ability to download em from the store for free”
He could, but there’s no way he does unless you think Sony and game devs can make money by having their games almost given away at less than £1 each. What Jack Tretton said combined with the terms and conditions on the PSN+ site makes me 99% sure that you don’t get to keep any of the “free” games you download when your subscription lapses, but you do get to keep any games you’ve bought at a discount as a PSN+ subscriber.
Sony need to clarify the cross-game chat thing too, because that’s a big draw for a lot of people.
123
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:31 pm by StrongerThanYou
CROSS GAME CHAT IS IN PSN+
http://de.playstation.com/playstationplus/
124
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:31 pm by Genki-Rocket
why does the NL version of the site say it has chat???
what aren;t you telling us?
http://i45.tinypic.com/2ekkihd.jpg
125
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:31 pm by Sigmatic88
“Criminals for offering you a choice. Logic? None at all.”
It’s not that you don’t have a choice. It’s just that people expected better of this service. All of the top most wanted features on Sony’s Blog Share have been ignored. People wanted cross-game chat, cross-game invites in all games, auto-syncing of trophies, a party mode, custom music in all games (basically, they wanted an Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, lol), but Sony have delivered something else that many people are not seeing any value in.
126
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:32 pm by sebsta
Sounds great, good features and not too exclusive. I don’t like feeling like a second class PSN citizen if I don’t join. Especially like the full game trial idea.
But I think it’s a big mistake to make automatic download part of a paid service. Sony, don’t you want everyone up to date incl. system updates – this is not going to encourage that when you have to pay for it. Some of my casual mates disappear off PSN simply because they don’t bother running system update.
At least offer scheduled turn on/off of the PS3 so downloads can be manually queued as an option for standard PSN users.
127
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:32 pm by Calumba
@SmoggyPhil check http://at.playstation.com/playstationplus/ there it says Cross-game Voice Chat: invite your friends to chat online no matter what game you’re all playing, even if they aren’t members of PlayStation Plus
128
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:32 pm by JoystickJedi
Cross-game chat may be coming after all!
playstationplus.com in the top-right says 3.40 firmware is needed, and apparently on the official Portugese playstation site, there is a note saying 3.40 is coming 22/06 and will allow cross-game voice chat, even for non-users of Playstation Plus!
To be honest I hope there is an XMB re-design more- it is really very slow these days in-game.
129
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:32 pm by Adambarker96
Looks great but when is cross game chat coming? and we need some new cool things in a big update
130
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:32 pm by nemesisND1derboy
James can you comment on the rumours of firmware 3.40 and cross game chat? a not true will do for not true, or no comment if its true
131
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:33 pm by seany1
if it has cross chat ill pay this is what wWE WANT
132
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:33 pm by Genki-Rocket
http://i45.tinypic.com/2ekkihd.jpg
why did this say it had chat?
133
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:34 pm by geshxd89
what if i own the stuff you give away each month?
134
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:36 pm by Genki-Rocket
I’m just going to keep posting until you reply…
the other euro regions say it has chat
http://i45.tinypic.com/2ekkihd.jpg
will you please state why the uk and USA sites don’t?
135
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:37 pm by Peetee36
To be honest, I don’t mind that you don’t get to keep the games when your subscription runs out. I mean, these companies have to make money, and they can’t do that if they give away games for virtually nothing.
136
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:37 pm by nemesisND1derboy
Irish site doesnt, my bet as its the only thing in English, the sites were hacked…
137
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:38 pm by V_Ben
One more thing James,
It’s rumoured that cross game chat is only for PSN+ subscribers. If this is true, it’s kinda silly. Please clarify the situation
138
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:38 pm by nerdlegend
Looks good
Can’t wait for final details
Hope some sort of card system like xbox live
139
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:38 pm by Peetee36
@Genki
I don’t think you’ll annoy him enough for him to reply by constantly posting. Maybe it’s a mistake or maybe they’re keeping it under wraps. You’ll just have to wait and see.
140
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:39 pm by crusher915
“James can you comment on the rumours of firmware 3.40 and cross game chat? a not true will do for not true, or no comment if its true”
lol even if the sony playstations sites say there is.
141
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:39 pm by Timesplitter_01
@134
Same thing on the AUS site
@128
On every other playstation plus site the release date for 3.40 says 29 June. So could u provide a picture or link??
142
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:39 pm by hindahouse
How come an extended Warranty was not included? I would have bought this for sure if it was included!
My PS3 has broken twice, so its worth the money in my eyes if the warranty was including
143
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:41 pm by KingofUniverse
Is cloud-saving part of the plan? I’m getting more and more nervous about my launch PS3 getting the YLOD, and seeing as some saves are impossible to back-up (Killzone 2 and Demon’s Souls come to mind), a centralized saving-system/storage would alone make the £40 worth it.
144
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:41 pm by Timesplitter_01
@123
Cross game chat is no longer listed
145
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:42 pm by Timesplitter_01
Just had a look on the other sites
All references to Cross game chat have been REMOVED
146
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:42 pm by Genki-Rocket
i have it on good authority that chat was in until the last minute…. why did you take it out?
the marketing content prior to sign off had voice chat as a psn plus feature so i know that for some reason they took it out
….seems like whoever does the uploads to the other scee countries didn;t get the memo
http://i45.tinypic.com/2ekkihd.jpg
please explain why you took it out?
147
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:42 pm by crusher915
“no no, the free copy of LBP is the PS3 version!!” wait, wait, wait, how large is that!?
Posted on 16 June, 2010 at 11:21 am by James Thorpe
haha, don’t panic we have divided it up into different languages versions in the code to make the file significantly smaller than the disc version.
148
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:42 pm by Sigmatic88
“Maybe it’s a mistake or maybe they’re keeping it under wraps. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
It it’s a mistake, they should clear the mistake up ASAP so people don’t get the wrong idea of what PSN+ offers. If they’re keeping it under wraps – well they’ve already done a bad job of that, lol, and they’d be better off just clearing up the confusion.
“How come an extended Warranty was not included?”
Because they charge £131 for a refurbed PS3. If an extended warranty was part of PSN+, if your PS3 dies you would pay £11.99 for a 3 month subscription just so you could get the extended warranty. People did that sort of thing with Continuous Play to the extent that they had to pull the service.
149
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:43 pm by Genki-Rocket
i have the picture saved for anyone that wants it…
watch as these comments all get deleted now – in the spirit of being open with the community.
150
Posted on 15 June, 2010 at 11:44 pm by Bauer007
Awesome news James, im loving Playstation Plus!
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