DC's Daily Discourse 3: PSN: Back in Inaction!

Alright people, looks like I didn't get to update yesterday mostly due to the influx of PlayStation Network tasks. Namely, the PlayStation Network store was finally relaunched a couple of days ago in a barely functioning state...for now. Whether the high concentration of network traffic is too much for their servers or whether their system isn't as stable as it was two months ago is irrelevant, the store can't remain this way for long. Sure, it's not the first time an online storefront has been ravaged by traffic, and it won't be the last, but it's always a killjoy when services we take for granted, their genuinely fragile structure visible for all of us to see.

Anyways, with the return of PSN in earnest means freebies! The Welcome Back package Sony outlined is up and ready for grabs. Included in the package are: 2 free PSN games from a choice of 5 (slightly different selections for different regions, yes if you had multiple PSN accounts you can get more games), 2 free PSP games from a choice of 4, PlayStation Plus service for 30 days starting from the time you activate it, and 3 free movie rentals for Ghostbusters (the original), Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Bad Boys (looks like a terrible movie staring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith). If you're one of the sad sacks who uses PlayStation Home then apparently you get 100 freebies.

I owned several of the games already but I got myself copies of inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Nation, and WipeOut HD+Fury. Unfortunately, WipeOut appears to be broken, at least for me it is, and I can't upgrade the software and access the Fury expansion pack at all which encompasses more than half of the content.

PS+ had a few notable perks. I got a free copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, there's a free copy of Oddworld 2: Abe's Exodus, both DLC expansions for MAG are free and there's a few free DLC packs for other games but I don't own them. Mostly I just wanted the MAG expansions while I could get them. MAG is a great game by the way, if you're a PS3 owner looking for a military competitive shooter not unlike Battlefield or Call of Duty then try out MAG. I'll review it in earnest at some point but honestly the most I want from MAG is a sequel that fixes all the issues I have with it. Fortunately, one of the expansions has plenty of traffic but the other has very little traffic.

So, I remember PS+'s introduction last year right around E3. I was unemployed and thought that it was a silly idea unless you're spending a lot of money on PSN games regularly because chances are you'll end up saving money based on how much you buy. A year later and what has Sony added to sweeten the deal in the meantime? Pretty much nothing. There's a couple of PS3 features that are reserved for PS+ users but they're not features that are worth paying for, they're just features that either have little practicality or should be a standard feature. You get 'automatic downloads' which is a function that downloads program patches and 'recommended' stuff at a designated time not unlike Windows Update or something. However, it's some ass backward process that it uses that I can't get to prompt at all. Secondly, you get the option to upload your saves files to the Cloud, however you have only 150MB of space and strict limits on how often you can download files. Neither are particularly useful. It's worth noting that Steam does both of these functions, and does them better, for free.

So I'll probably get to play MAG's expansion packs for free for a month and I got to play Sonic 2, again, and Comet Crash for free. Neither of those games I'd buy because I already own Sonic's Genesis Collection and tower defense isn't really my thing. The MAG expansions are pretty neat and I definitely want them more than I did before.

Is PS+ worth anything? When you pay for Xbox Live you're paying for a service, namely multiplayer gaming and access to apps like Netflix and Hulu. On PSN you get all of that for free so are you paying for a service with PS+? No. Basically you're paying to be Sony's friend. You're paying for a sophisticated coupon book. Pay a little now and get discounts on stuff and plenty of free stuff...for as long as you're subscribed. It may be worth it to you or it may not. Last year I said I'd wait a year and see if PS+ became more substantial and worth its price. Little has changed so it's worth no more in my opinion than it was at launch. But hey, a month for free I'm not going to argue I'm just not going to renew either.