Jim Sterling says PS+ humiliates the game industry

[Signa]

I liked the article, but PS+ still sounds like a scam compared to what I'm used to getting with Steam.

50 bucks a year on Steam gives you a bunch of free games(ok rented.)? Where is this option?

Well, there isn't one, mainly because Steam pays for keeps, or gives you the games for free without a charge. Beyond TF2 and Tribes, I've hardly played a free-to-play game, but I've heard a lot of praise from my friends for games like Spiral Knights and Vindictus. Neither force you into a monthly/yearly service payment.

I use steam as well but PS+ is a service, not a program that I can buy stuff with. Don't try and compare them because as a service PS+ is much better. You could argue that Steam is a better program compared to PSN, but as a service no PS+ is so much better.

But Steam is a service. It manages all your games for you while keeping track of achievements and playtime, lets you chat with your friends, share photos and videos through the community, browse the internet while in-game, download games anywhere you can log in with cloud saves, [footnote]protects their customer's personal details at that, but I'm not here to throw below-the-belt shots at Sony[/footnote] and lets you keep all the games you own forever, provided you don't get banned. They've recently added a Gamefaqs/wiki system too, though I'm yet to try it. Now, my expereince with PS+ is zilch, but what could the possibly offer beyond that that makes it a better service than that? This is still a console we are talking about. A 12 button controller just can't offer the same level of interactivity a full keyboard and mouse will grant. So fill me in: tell me exactly what PS+ has to offer that Steam doesn't if its service is as inarguably better as you say it is.

Edit. Forgot about the Seam Workshop, but still that is not enough to call it a better service.

Never used it either, but the concept is sound. I'd still like you to tell me what PS+ gives the user for a charge that would fully negate instant modding or the ability to share your creations. Keep in mind, you're going to have to not only point at amazing features, but also justify why a customer has to pay for them. As far as I'm concerned, if PS+ and Steam were the exact same service, PS+ would still lose due to the fact that they ask you to pay. Being free brings value to a service, even if the features are inferior. They just have to be as drastically inferior as you are implying they are if the free service is to devalue itself.

 

[octafish]

You know sometimes I wonder what I'm missing not owning a console, it turns out that Red Dead Redemption is the only thing I am really missing. I don't get Xbox Live I really don't.

 

[MPerce]

Yeah...this is why I'm probably gonna pass on whatever console Microsoft rolls out next.

They've been going out of their way make me want to quit. The only thing stopping me right now from dumping Xbox Live is that all of my friends have Halo.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

You know sometimes I wonder what I'm missing not owning a console, it turns out that Red Dead Redemption is the only thing I am really missing.

You're going to have to get over RDR not being on the PC eventually.

 

[crazy_coug99]

I have a PS3 and have PS+. And you know what, IT WAS THE BEST PURCHASE FOR THE SYSTEM I EVER HAD. With the first few downloads, one can legitimately make up that $50 price tag with what's on there now. The most notable title now is Darksiders, which is a really good game which that alone is $20. One game takes up almost half of the yearly cost and every week something different is added. I completely agree with Jim and I support the article, Sony, and this incredible service that they provide.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I liked the article, but PS+ still sounds like a scam compared to what I'm used to getting with Steam.

50 bucks a year on Steam gives you a bunch of free games(ok rented.)? Where is this option?

Spending $50 a year on Steam could net you an arseload of games if you only spend it during the big sales.

 

[octafish]

You know sometimes I wonder what I'm missing not owning a console, it turns out that Red Dead Redemption is the only thing I am really missing.

You're going to have to get over RDR not being on the PC eventually.

NEVER!

Well maybe if Call of Juarez becomes Far Cry 3 with a better story in the Old West...but Ubisoft will fick it up and I'll be stuck with my regrets...so...

NEVER!

 

[Mabster]

50 bucks a year on Steam gives you a bunch of free games(ok rented.)?

So you're saying that a service that you pay money for gives you free stuff in return? Hm... I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like there might be a slight flaw in that bit of logic.

 

[Eddie the head]

snip

Although I do take some issue with what you said due to some of it being largely irreverent mostly the surf the internet well in game, because well you on a console why dose that matter? Your right for the most part. I don't use this things so I don't think about them, but I still think calling it "A scam compared to steam" is silly. It's not something you have to subscribe to get the basic service. It's something you sub to for extra bits. So, yeah your right but I still don't like you calling it a "a scam compared to steam."

50 bucks a year on Steam gives you a bunch of free games(ok rented.)?

So you're saying that a service that you pay money for gives you free stuff in return? Hm... I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like there might be a slight flaw in that bit of logic.

I don't know that might be why I put in brackets "rented." Witch still somehow feel better to me then "renting" a game from steam for full price. That's a different conservation all together but when you get down to it you don't "own" your steam account, or the games on it. Anyway different thing don't want to get into it, and I qualified myself by putting "rented" in brackets.

 

[sXeth]

Yeah, if I had a bigger PS3 HD to hold downloaded games) I'd probably be all over PS+. While Nintendo's online is basically based on re-selling me games I have sitting over by my SNES and could play at any time, and Microsoft just straight up wants to add an extra ISP bill to me for no especial benefit.

Playstation + meanwhile is tossing out free games and constant sales in the closest competitive level to Steam that you can get console-wise.

 

[Signa]

snip

Although I do take some issue with what you said due to some of it being largely irreverent mostly the surf the internet well in game, because well you on a console why dose that matter? Your right for the most part. I don't use this things so I don't think about them, but I still think calling it "A scam compared to steam" is silly. It's not something you have to subscribe to get the basic service. It's something you sub to for extra bits. So, yeah your right but I still don't like you calling it a "a scam compared to steam."

Is that all? I mean, I could say compared to having sex, day-to-day life is agony. That doesn't mean day-to-day life is all that bad or genuinely painful, it's just not on the same level as other experiences might get you.

 

[Treblaine]

Still a shitty solution compared to Steam/GoG/App-store pricing model of pile-em-high and sell-em-cheap.

It's not like these games are finite resources, there are INFINITE copies, to maximise returns you want a lower price, because as any economist will tell you, if you double the price of something - unless it is a non optional purchase like vehicle fuel - then consumption will drop off to less than half you'll usually end up with less money.

But even that makes SOME sense for finite resources as sure you've made slightly less but you've only had to deplete half as much of your stocks.

But with strings of code your stock is never depleted. You have an infinite supply!

Or even better than cheap on PC is the FREE model. Tribes Ascend, Team Fortress 2, Planetside 2, all freaking free to get into but a load of small little incentives to start paying. You don't have to, but you do, and you don't feel that shit about it.

Sorry, PlayStation Plus is a bad deal for me as it expects me to pay $50 up front to get savings that I can only just

The problem is PLAYSTATION STORE JUST DOES NOT HAVE THAT MUCH CONTENT!!!

It's just not that feature-packed, if it's $50 of savings I've got to make up, I have to buy a lot in a year. I'm sorry but there are better deals ELSEWHERE.

I'm sorry, but I am NOT forking out for Playstation Plus. It's nothing but pointlessly committing to a purchase from one company.

Also it's just so transparent that all the new services popping up will be locked behind this pay-wall, when the PC equivalents will be rolled out for free. I don't need to pay a special fee to Apple or Microsoft to use netflix on my PC. When Steam rolled out big-picture mode I didn't have to fork out.

But some people don't get how consoles operate still

Penny arcade: "Playstation Plus exists because running a free service might be good PR, but it?s terrible business,"

No it isn't, because the playstation "network" is not a service, it's a bare bones authorisation service and a poorly made webstore, the likes of which Amazon crushed on the much more competitive PC market. WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS WANT TO CHARGE ME FOR EVEN LOOKING IN THEIR STORE?!?!?!

The actual "service" of hosting games is taken up by EACH INDIVIDUAL GAME! They have either dedicated servers, or they licence/build the code to use YOUR MACHINE to host the games. YOU THE CONSUMER pay your ISP for the internet to connect you machines together. Playstation Plus and Xbox Live do almost nothing, they keep track of a few names, one or two servers for the entire world could do this job. Google literally does a billion times more work every time you search something on google. It's the simplest job automated for millions the cost per user is so minescule you would charge them a 10 year lease for about $1 to make a huge profit.

Neither Sony nor Microsoft fork out for dedicated servers and offer them up for any and all games releases on their systems.

How in 2013 there is still not the acknowledgement of the lack of dedicated servers on console compared to PC?!?!!? Yeah, free games with dedicated servers, vs $50 for a few meagre savings spread so wide and thin.

Playstaion Plus might be worth it for 75% discount on recent games... except it wouldn't as Steam already offers that TO EVERYONE for NO STARTER FEE AT ALL!!!

And absolutely nothing bars me from going to Gog, Amazon or even Origin (well, other than common sense). Consoles lock you in and bleed you dry and expect you to say "thank you sony for giving me the opportunity to pay you to charge 15% less".

I can only admire what Sony is doing as an outsider for how they brilliantly exploit utter chumps out of their money.

 

[Treblaine]

50 bucks a year on Steam gives you a bunch of free games(ok rented.)?

So you're saying that a service that you pay money for gives you free stuff in return? Hm... I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like there might be a slight flaw in that bit of logic.

Without even having a credit card or paying anything you can get all this stuff on Steam:

-Team Fortress 2
-Planetside 2
-Star Trek Online
-Blacklinght Retribution
-Tribes ascend

Hell they have a whole free to play section.

Now THAT is free.

And I think his point is you can spend $50 to get a load of games, or spend only $10. And you aren't committed to spending $50 on steam, you can then go onto Gog if they have a better deal, you are never locked into steam, at any time you can go to your web browser and see if someone has got a better deal.

But have you any idea how good the deals are on Steam?

The point is if you have $50 to spend on games, you will get A HELL OF A LOT MORE spending it on Steam. Or Gog.

The thing is unless you pay $50 a year to Sony every year, YOU WON'T EVER SEE ANY DISCOUNTS!

What Sony has done, they have realised that everyone else will discount their games to sell better, and said to even have the option of that privelage you have to pay for that.

Bullshit.

You spend $50 on Playstation Plus... you still have nothing. You have only opened up access to basic deals like a meagre 20% off, when other more competitive companies like Steam and Gog are offering 66% to 75% off.

(Dust 514 is officially still in beta, that means unless you get a special code from CCP you need to be Playstation Plus to enter. But there is no guarantee at all that the final post-beta version will be available to all non PS-Plus subscribers.)

 

[Treblaine]

I've subscribed to psplus since sept of last year. I have over 35 games in my instant game collection for my 4 bucks a month. I've managed to purchase over 30 digital titles with the absurd 75 percent discounts and such that show up with little wallet impact lol. It's awesome and truly makes the xbox live service look like a homeless man under a bridge peddling for change.

Valve didn't charge me for the "honour" of being offered endless 75% discounts on Steam.

If I tried walking into a store and guard at the door demanded $4 from me to even see what offers were available I'd give him a message to pass up the ranks that they can shove it!

Why this false dichotomy with Xbox Live?

And if Sony starts fucking you around, what are you going to do? Oh yeah, nothing, because there are no alternatives to the Sony store and your games are locked to PS3. If you don't play by their rules they ban your from PSN, they've essentially ripped out your wireless card as your machine then can't do anything on the internet.

If Steam doesn't give me a good deal I will go to Gog.com and nothing is stopping me.

See why do you think Xbox Live got so bad? Because IT COULD!

Once you are locked in, once you have invested in a console they have you by the balls. You are in their store, in their world, there is no competition, they are the masters and you can either play ball or abandon your investment. The same will happen with Sony, it's just a matter of time.

Once enough are in there is not incentive to keep up the deals.

Steam has sales to CONVINCE you to use their store. But on PS3 you don't have a choice, there is only one store on PS3. This is the difference between capitalism and corporatism. Corporatism hates competition, it hates consumer choice, it loves monopolies and locking consumers in. Then it's not about the free flow of money it's about power and control of your money against your free choice.

 

[bandit0802]

I've had PS+ for a few months now and I love. It's cheaper than XBL and offers real incentives (I mostly take advantage of the free games. I've got Borderlands, Darksiders, and Payday: The Heist because of it). The best part about it is that you don't need it! You don't feel forced to use it! You have all the essentials available for free; the same services that Microsoft insists it needs to charge for!

The only reason I still pay for XBL is so that I can get DLC. I barely play multiplayer. I got a year's subscription to XBL at a discount through Amazon Local, and I'm starting to consider not renewing it. I need to cut back on my spending anyway, and this just might be the next thing to go.

 

[fix-the-spade]

I just don't like the idea that PS+ removes the idea of ownership, in place of a psuedo-rental system.

That more or less describes all of gaming these days anyway.

On the consoles your online components lasts as long as the publisher says it does, under a year now for a lot of sports games.

On PC it's reached the point where even the single player is attached to some kind of online authentication, so when 'support' is dropped you're shit out of luck. The idea of owning something seems to be long gone from video games, unless you pirate it.

 

[The White Hunter]

Ugh 4 $ a month isn't much , people spend more than that in coffee in a day . Plus i find XbL has a better internet connection than PS3, so if i'm paying 4$ a month to have a better connection with online games , i'll gladly pay.

Since when has that been the case? I have owned both in the past, and they each had equal internet connections.

I have both currently, and the Xbox is simply the better console for online play.

How? I have played online with both my consoles and I haven't had any noticeable difference.

I never used PS+ but it sounds great so good job Sony.

Cloud saves (forget how much i think a few gig now), free games, tasty discounts (often on new titles), fee themes and avatars, early beta accesses, etc.

PS+ is a pretty good service and I don't mind paying the £40 a year for it, I easily make that back on the indie titles and stuff alone. I do own most of the full-retail-copy games they put up though so that's very rarely benefitted me, but it's still good value and you get your money back several times over.

So bravo Sony, you can do things right when you try.

I won't even cover Live, it's a terrible rip-off for the consumers and I despise it.

 

[Treaos Serrare]

Treblaine: Steam and GoG are all well and good for the PC community but what about people who don't have nor care to have a high end PC most new games REQUIRE, consoles don't have this problem and really all the complaints of a pay wall you mentioned are only a problem on Xbox, not PlayStation. you don't need PS+ to get at netflix, Hulu,or any of the other myriad video streaming services on offer, you need to pay THOSE companies for THEIR service but not PlayStation as well, the PA comic you showed is one of the very few i disagree with because like you they are giving what i feel to be a faulty view of the subject. You do get $50+ of value for the service the 20% savings you belittle is constant and ever growing to expand more titles both old and new, how often are sales on Steam and gog, not constant I'll wager and not consistent in the savings either. I have about 20+ games I downloaded for free from PS+ that are easily worth 10-20 bucks retail or more so that's roughly $100-$250 in savings right there, then there's day one downloads of new games if you buy them on psn.
As to your credit card complaint, um there are point cards, buy yourself a $100 allowance or however much you feel is a decent or adequate amount to have in your virtual wallet and go from there, no need to worry about lost credit card details or fraudulent charges, unlike steam where you HAVE to input a CC, GoG at least takes paypal if I remember correctly

 

[The White Hunter]

SNIP

Last time I read the Steam EULA if you don't play by their rules they will ban you and you will lose your games too. And I've never known anyone to be banned from the PSN outright and have their stuff stripped from them either, I was banned for a week because I got reported for telling a troll to go die in a fucking hole and they never stripped me of anything.

As for stores on PS3, you're right, there is only one place to buy digital titles from, though (at least in the UK) you can buy keys from other places for less quite often. Honestly with the exception of indie titles and download-only games in the £5-£10 bracket you'd be insane to pay the publisher dictated £60 for the game rather than toddle out to the shops or order from Amazon cheaper.

Or just buy a retail copy from amazon, shopto, zavvi, game, gamestop, etc.

At least you use GOG when Steam doesn't give you a good deal, there's no need to rag on Sonys store, apart from for the atrocious new UI they forced upon us all recently.

If the store rips you off, it's your fault, there are plenty of alternative ways to get your games, consumers need to be aware and if you think a price is unjustified then by all means, vote with your wallet.

Example: I think that Dead Space 3 charging £45 upfront and then having the audacity to have day-one DLC, an online pass, DLC within a month of launch, and microtransactions, is taking the fucking piss, so I'm just not buying it.