Sony to Charge Monthly Fees For Online PlayStation 4 Gaming

Yep that was an announcement this summer at E3. Lots of the headlines I have seen about this have been really misleading because they focus on the $9.99 monthly option. Anyone who is even semi-serious about online gaming will be paying the $49.99 yearly price.
 
Yep that was an announcement this summer at E3. Lots of the headlines I have seen about this have been really misleading because they focus on the $9.99 monthly option. Anyone who is even semi-serious about online gaming will be paying the $49.99 yearly price.

Not to mention some of the other deals available, such as the $10 PSN credit folks in October received when purchasing through the PSN, and the $30 Black Friday deal at GameStop.

But when you think about it, the free Plus games alone are worth well over $10/month, especially if you game on all 3 platforms (PS3, PS4, Vita). This November you already get Dragon's Dogma with the Dark Arisen expansion (PS3), Resogun (PS4), and Soul Sacrifice (Vita)--just three of the seven games available free this month (though admittedly, this is a particularly good month for Plus if you don't already own the games).
 
Not to mention some of the other deals available, such as the $10 PSN credit folks in October received when purchasing through the PSN, and the $30 Black Friday deal at GameStop.

But when you think about it, the free Plus games alone are worth well over $10/month, especially if you game on all 3 platforms (PS3, PS4, Vita). This November you already get Dragon's Dogma with the Dark Arisen expansion (PS3), Resogun (PS4), and Soul Sacrifice (Vita)--just three of the seven games available free this month (though admittedly, this is a particularly good month for Plus if you don't already own the games).
One has to wonder though if Sony will keep up the pace with these games once everyone is basically "forced" into doing it. The free games were a great selling point to get people to upgrade to Plus, but now that it's "required" I hope they don't pull a d*ck move and skimp on the benefits.
 
One has to wonder though if Sony will keep up the pace with these games once everyone is basically "forced" into doing it. The free games were a great selling point to get people to upgrade to Plus, but now that it's "required" I hope they don't pull a d*ck move and skimp on the benefits.

I think the outcry would be tremendous at this point and one of the worst PR moves in the company's history.

On the PS3/Vita side, it should be less costly for Sony to keep giving decent games, as those backcatalogs of games that have yet to make it to Plus hit the bargain bins. Of course, 2-3 years out from now, we'll start seeing a greatly diminishing number of new games added to the PS3 catalog that could find their way into the IGC, so at some point, a few years from now, Sony naturally will have to pull the plug on a rotating PS3 IGC.

On the PS4 side, I think full versions of retail AAA titles will be quite rare if non-existent for at least the first year. And it doesn't seem like they've made any commitment regarding the number of PS4 games in the IGC--or if there is even such a thing as a PS4 IGC. Instead, I see there being a steady dose of smaller downloadable games, indies, and stripped down versions of full retail games, like DriveClub was supposed to be.

Of course a lot of this will depend on heat from competing game systems and mobile platforms and how much Sony wants to keep pouring money into their gaming division if console gaming starts to go the way of the dinosaur.
 
It is a fine line, there's no point buying anything new on the Vita unless you're in love with something because it will be discounted or free within months of release with few exceptions.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
It is a fine line, there's no point buying anything new on the Vita unless you're in love with something because it will be discounted or free within months of release with few exceptions.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I'm still anticipating a switchout of the 3 longer-term games in the Vita IGC (Uncharted GA, Gravity Rush, and Wipeout 2048) as it's been a full year now. Though Sony hasn't made any announcements confirming a switchout is imminent, I'm reluctant to buy anything right now. If anything, I would've bought Soul Sacrifice, which is of course free this month.
 
It is a fine line, there's no point buying anything new on the Vita unless you're in love with something because it will be discounted or free within months of release with few exceptions.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Same with PC games, especially those on Steam.
 
One interesting side effect of tapatalk on this forum being broken is being sent to these old threads. 8 years ago we were talking about the instant game collection which Sony then abandoned (along with their cross-buy and play anywhere-style efforts that never caught on) only to watch Microsoft unleash Game Pass and other similar programs with unparalleled success into the gaming landscape. With the launch of the PS5 we've seen it return in some form with the PS4 classics they've made available - but even these are limited by the PS4 emulator as Microsoft brings higher framerates and HDR to old titles.

2013 is also a year after they bought Gaikai, the service that formed the foundation for PS Now, only to watch others come along many years later and exceed the capabilities of that service, IMO largely because of their unwillingness to expand beyond their own hardware ecosystem. They've improved in that area but it remains a tough value proposition, while it's simple bundled with Game Pass by their competition.

Sony also brought Vue online before many IPTV services, and was so outmatched once the competition gained steam that they shut it down.

They've made bags and bags of cash from their consoles over this time, but hard not to wonder what could have been with perhaps a different vision at the top for their products and services. An argument could be made that many were ahead of their time, but lack of follow through and xenophobic-execution were much bigger issues IMO.
 
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