I`m getting it, but I might wait till next month since I own most of what they gave away. IMO, it`s the best idea a gaming company has came up with in quite some while. Especially, since the "boom" of DLC this generation.

I wish this site would stop with the PS3 vs Xbox 360 news and just report on Good Gaming.

WHO IS APPROVING ALL THESE DUPLICATE ARTICLES MAN?

It's p*ssing me off!

we already have more than 5 journalist writing their own impression of PSN+, how many more do we need man?

and they all talk about the same thing!

I'm sick of all these "Playstation Plus is a failure" articles. Seriously, people bitching about it are really starting to sound ignorant. NOBODY is forcing you to PAY for PSN. It's a premium service where you get FREE GAMES, DISCOUNTS, DLC, and SPECIAL OFFERS. What's so hard to understand about that?? Xbox fanboys sure as hell dont complain about LIVE where they have to pay to play online!

I think it's pretty clear that PS Plus is a service WORTH paying for if you want to. Unlike LIVE which is FORCED down people's throats... :/

sajj316+, don't hate

how dare u give more than just online access for 50$ a year!!! (heck u do it for free)

i think 360 fanboys would think it was cool aslong as sony took away the internet browser and just added cross game chat, then the fanboys would say its worth 50$.

god forbid they give away discounts and free games.

and to the whiners about u losing ur games once the sub is over....im sure a year and 3 months later u wont be playing those games anymore since thats how long a 50$ sub is, u probably woulda traded the game anyway.

second, its a rental, yeah so what, and guess what? its cheaper than gamefly still.

u get mad when we speak the truth about live then when a better service comes out that is actually optional u guys start hating.

honestly i think the console war thing is just jealousy of free online, more good exclusives, more diversity in gaming, higher system reliablity, built in wifi, being japanese, built in rechargable batteries and now PSN+

stop hating, go turn on ur live and have fun as u have been

"Xbox Live, It's good to Pay together"

OMG, torotno sun doesn't like it!! Whatever...

@La Chance you think just because you say so everyone will follow your lead NO ONE cares if u live or die ether so i would stop TROLLING the PS+ post u see not that 40+ million people don't like SONY they are more welcome to pay $50 a year for apps on XBL yea netflix is an app and if you had any common since you would realise that u can DL movies for free without paying anything for it and that stupid idea that MS came up with to get Facebook on XBL your paying for that to everything on XBL don't offer a lot except a bunch of apps people only use on PC so if i where you i would stop TROLLING around on the post made by SONY PS+ anything else that has PS3 games related FUCK OFF TROLL

is a sign of stupidity.

however, its also a sign of humanity.

all humans are guilty of this. however only a few publicize it on a website as an article xD

You know it's funny that the article talks about PLAYSTATION PLUS and what HE thinks it's lacklustre, but not once does he mention anything about Xbox Live...
Yet here we have in plain sight all the fanboys frothing at the mouth with pitchforks in hands ready to kill the man for his opinion and ranting about XBL. AGAIN.

Get over it ladies. You like PS+, great. Go download all the freebies you get for $50. Let whoever has XBL enjoy that service. Neither camp will win in bagging the other out.

F*** this site needs to grow up.

I think it's funny that PSFans are now defending a pay option for their PSN service, after all the crap they gave MS about being greedy and such, these companies need money to run the stuff you're using guys, I never understood the whole complaint about Xbox Live, either you pay or you don't, same with PSN+, pay for it and enjoy your purchase or don't pay and STFU.

I am so so so so sick of the complaints and negativity in the gaming world. *sigh* Everybody just enjoy your stuff or STFU.

"Presumably, each week or each month, they will add new freebies for Playstation Plus subscribers. There is no certainty."

Actually Sony has stated that they are releasing PS+ content on a weekly basis...kind of like the weekly updates. I would have thought that would be the plausible thing to do I just assumed everyone knew this. But anyway moving on, also the spokesperson also stated that the initial stuff wasn't the proposed stuff, like for instance there were no dynamic themes...so the + stuff keeps rolling out throughout the month like the regular updates.

that is some smooth words but anyway we get FREE shit so XBL don't offer that much i,m not a troll i actually rate the services from each XBL and PSN every time something new comes out on each console witch XBL has apps and PSN has a lot to show for it not that it has CGC BC music while playing games but PSN does deserve a place in GAMING.

p.s. would i loose my Kinection if i fart.

dont buy it. How many articles do we need about ppls opinions on PSN+. It breaks down to 1 dollar a week. so if you ppl dont see the value of free games and dlc for the price of one soda a week. well then save your money and go buy an extra soda a week. although let me warn you, you dont get to keep the soda after you drink it.

IGN loved Playstation Plus and I'm sorry but these peoples opinion means nothing compared to theirs.

The "Killer app" for PS+ is that it's OPTIONAL and if you choose not to adopt it you still play online for FREE. Yet people whinge about it...

Gold subscribers
* gets discounts on XBL titles and etc but only for a short period (usually a week)
* gets denoes earkuer than silver accounts
* gets to play their games online
* every xbla game have a trial before buy option
* social things like facebook and other internet service, soon ESPN

PS+ subscribers
* gets a free game but only have it as long as they are subsribers to the service
* will get discounts on things on the PS Store
* will get demoes and such earlier than none subscribers
* more will probably be added soon

The PS store in many cases dont have try before you buy on the PSN titles but hopefully that is going to change with PS+

The way i see it the major difference between thoose too is that on one you have to pay to play online and its free on the other but otherwise the two prenium things offers much of the same thing.

I pay for GOLD and im not sure if i will pay for PS+ since the beef with both is the online gaming and since you dont need to pay for that on PS3 i see no reason to give Sony the money they charge for plus

Ahhh I love the smell of bitterness in the morning. Bottom line is, a PS+ subscription gets you extras and an XBL subscription unlocks a major feature that's included in any game with online play. Spin beyond, and jump around.

Support the 360 over the PS3??? there really isn't a reason.

So according to the article (I don't have PSN+), when your subscription expires and you don't renew it, you lose pretty much all content that came with it? I'm specifically asking about DLC such as map packs, new levels & characters, etc. Somehow I doubt this... would appreciate if someone can bring this to light.

as i stated when the articles about how great playstation plus is....well here it is the negative/haters that does not like playstation plus.

I don't think that many people are going to go for it

And its going to become yet another Sony failure

Sixaxis essentially failed
Home definitely failed.

I was on my PS3 last night to watch a movie, and saw that out of my 62 friends, only 3 of them had PSN Plus, lololololol

And bare in mind, almost all of them are hardcore PS3 fans, most of them from the official EU Playstation forums.

I downloaded ps plus for wipeout hd and some free dlc content not bad at all for $17.99 for three months awesome stuff. Compare psn and ps plus too xbl I will say psn and ps+ got xbl beat. The only thing xbots talk about is xgc so much because thats the only thing xbots think that wat makes there system superior. Psn does the same thing as xbl.

Most of the people who get upset about these articles are the ones who are paying subscribers. This guy didn't even compare PS+ to XBL but immediately people are saying "it's a better deal than XBL blah blah blah." That's fine but the point is, in its current state, PS+ does not offer enough quality content in people's minds. All I hear is "you get Wipeout HD for free!" So you paid $50 to get a 'free' game......? I'm not saying that I wont become a member at some point, but right now I'm just not interested.

I find this sentence kind of funny:

"Unfortunately there’s fine print. A catch. An enormous one—if at any point you let your [PlayStation Plus] subscription lapse, you lose all of the stuff you previously got for free."

- Chris Vandergaag, Toronto Sun

Since this is a Torontonian I'll keep the analogies Canadian, lol. So when subscribing to Rogers Digital Cable channel package(s), what do you - Chris Vandergaag - think happens to your channels?

I don't think this person understands subscriptions, but if he does have the movie channel like me, Chris will know once you stop paying, all those free viewings of selected movies are gone, it's in the fine print, lol? When the logic doesn't make sense, you know the author is desperate to make Sony look bad.

Bookmarked

It's hard to take any 'Sony will fail' articles seriously. It's almost like everyone was glad to see Sony stumble. And now they are catching up again everyone seems to be doing all in their power to trip them up at every turn. I mean did you people think that they would be satisfied with third place forever? That they would just give up and go away? They seem to forget that Sony is still a gaming giant with years of experience. But these losers,including Microsoft, seem to believe that if you predict that every endeavor Sony gets into will fail,sooner or later they will get it right. LOSERS!!!!!

allow you to play online multiplayer games for free.

yea right now its pretty lame

whoever thinks ps plus is stupid, you are a stupid:)

I don't see why they can't add in like $5 worth of home stuff free to it, its not
like it would cost them anything.

So far PS+ seems to feel alot better then XBL Gold, more of the lines of getting more for what I paid for.

Which right now I only had the money to get 3 months, in no time I should have over 17.99 of stuff for free.

P.S. Hoping that MW2 Map Pack is going to be listed as free or cheaper as a PS+ user.

Happy paying for Live and so are millions of others. You either choose to pay or you do not its as simple as that. I choose not to pay for PSN+. All multiplatform games are bought for my 360 anyway. Sony failed to give their customers the one thing they have been asking for and that is bullshit.

It just started.
Stupid articles.

All I know is that. I have no real idea what PSN+ offers. I know that I'm quite content with playing games online for free. Other than that I don't much care.
And since I'm about to get an Alienware as a Christmas gift (Christmas isn't that far away). I may leave the console gaming behind completely. Well, not really. There are going to be those rare games MGS4 that you can't play on any other platform.
And really, imo. MGS4 is the BEST damn game I've played this gen so far.

But, no I don't plan to purchase a plan from Sony. I pay $50 a year for LIVE, that is so I can play games online with friends. But once that Alienware gets in no more of that shit. I'm all giddy like a school girl...

OP is obviously either a fanboy or an idiot... no one should rely on the newspaper for stuff like this anyhow.

Does any of the money you pay for PS+ go to making the online gaming better? Making sure that you rarely experience lag and drop outs? Or did I miss that part? I believe that xbox live does allocate some of its fee to the actual infrastructure of playing games.

PS+ is a discount card? Are you really justifying getting "FREE" stuff that you had to buy membership to? No matter how you shake it down. Wait, you are now allowed to DOWNLOAD demos? and then TRY before you BUY? Did you know that XBOX Live has Digital Download as well? FOR YEARS NOW? And practically every game gets a demo? And most of the time B4 Playstation? But I digress...

the jump to Xbox Gold seems worth it because Xbox Silver has nothing

can this not be on here anymore.... please

If your a heavy PSN download user it could save you a great deal of your cash each year. I dont see how thats a bad thing?

And its entirly optional.

Someone needs to explain to this guy what 'subscription' means.. Which is that once your no longer paying you dont get the benefits. Companies have done this of years upon years.

I got PS+

I mainly got it for the discounts they offer on games and for Qore access. Plus it's nice having something to look forward to each month.

If you don't like it, don't buy it. Simple as that.

I think many ppl fail to see that the TorontoSun is a daily newspaper, not a gamming mag.
With that in mind, I'm sure that the average readers of the Torontosun is Mr. Casual.
For Mr. Casual PSN + is a waste of money because Mr. Casual isn't trying to get a rebate card like gamestop.
Mr Casual don't care about early demo and Mr Casual has better things to do, then wait 14 hours (7 gigs) to sample one hour of Infamous.

The fact that I already have at least 5 of my friend on psn+ says otherwise, I think psn+ is brilliant value for the money, at least they are not charging us for services which should be free and far superior fror example online play via p2p isn't it ment to be dedicated servicers to justify that kind of charge, so basically they charge you for hosting your own games online, yeah ms is pretty greedy if you ask me.
JUST WAIT TILL CLOUD STORAGE COMES AND CROSS CHAT IS RUMORED TO BE ON THE FREE STANDARD VERSION OF PSN, THIS WILL BASICALLY KILL ANY ADVANTAGES THAT XBL HAS OVER PSN, AND GUESS WHAT CROSS CHAT FOR FREEE, DEDICATED SERVERS FOR FREE, YOU CANNOT GET A MUCH BETTER SERVICE THAN THAT

ANYTHING Sony related boggles the mind. it's like a dirty shit stain that just won't come out.

i think PlayStation Plus has been explained a little more than thoroughly by Sony.

it's a discount service of sorts. each month you get free content, and discounts on contents.

considering how much content is released a month on the PSN, the $50 a year is a steal.

i've yet to get PlayStation Plus, because this months particular bargains don't do it for me (i don't particularly want WipeOUT HD, and i already own inFAMOUS), but i'm simply waiting to see what the future holds for the service.

if Sony throws in an MMO subscription (like DC Universe free to play for a year), then i'll more than likely hop on.

articles like this are doing nothing but spreading FUD and disinformation. it's fucking 2010, not 2006. i had actually convinced myself that we were beyond this shit by this point.

Xbox LIVE FORCES you to pay for it's service if you want to actually, you know, PLAY the online portions of the games you ALREADY SPENT $60 on.

PS+ simply gives you discounts on items via monthly promotions. even though the promotions change every month, you STILL get to keep all the stuff you've got for the duration of your subscription, and some content you keep PERMANENTLY (like the avatars and themes, and any games you actually BOUGHT, not the freebie games).

unlike Xbox LIVE, PS+ isn't a requirement to play the games you've already purchased.

i simply don't see how these PS+ stories cause so many non-PS3 owners to flock to them and troll.

i could understand the hate if PS+ was required to play online. THAT would be reason to bitch. however, it DOESN'T, and the only thing that is worth evaluating concerning PS+ is it's value.

what does it offer? i covered that above: discounts and free shit for a full YEAR. if you, like me and many others, purchase a fair amount of content per year on the PSN, then this is a steal. even if you DIDN'T, the four free titles you get a month anyway make it rather enticing.

the haters are truly grasping at straws at this stage of the game. the PS3 has come a long way, and it continues to evolve, while, not to stoke the fires, the 360 is STILL practically the same damn machine it was back when it launched in 2005. can't say the same for the PS3. a new dashboard for the 360 isn't nearly on the same level as the constant improvements the PS3 has undergone since November 2006.

There seems to be too much fine print surrounding PSN Plus. Also, I don't think that it offers enough for people to make the subscription jump. Sure, many people will sign up now, considering there is a 3 month trial, but once that finishes I think the numbers will significantly decrease.

XBL Gold is a must for Xbox 360 owners, mainly because it is the only way to play games online. Sony could easily follow suit and make online gaming a PSN Plus feature, but then it would inevitably anger the PSN community that was promised free online gaming. I guess Microsoft were smart by introducing XBL before the competition in this instance.

Now that Jim Ryan is gone just need to remove Herman Hulst from his position! And maybe give Shuhei the position he deserved.

This gen hasn't been the best for games, last gen consoles are still out there and now there's been talk of the PS6 and Xbox Two for a year or so. Many games this gen will be ported to next gen and the cycle will continue. The re-release of the Neo Geo AES+, games on cartridge for £70 ($95), gaming is going back in time. Gaming has gone pricing mad with the high cost of games, consoles and controllers. The men and women at the top are clueless.

It’s always interesting to hear behind-the-scenes stories like this, especially involving veterans like Shuhei Yoshida and leadership figures like Jim Ryan. That said, there are usually multiple sides to decisions at that level. It could be less about not “listening” and more about differences in long-term vision for PlayStation. Yoshida played a huge role in shaping the brand, so whatever the reason, his impact is undeniable.

If true, and I'm inclined to believe it is, it goes to show that Sony lost their way when they became more western/didn't respect the PlayStation origin story. Andrew House and Jack Tretton did great work, but they also didn't try to fundamentally change the PlayStation DNA. Ryan oversaw the death of Japan Studio and a live service direction.

I already figured this, good lord imagine if Shuhei took over instead, would've been a platinum era 😩

I miss the first three generations of PlayStation. The way they turned PS3 around, we knew they meant business. We were all worried for a bit there around launch. Eventually from 2008 they started shifting slowly. But since Yoshida was fired, it's never been the same. Still enjoy my PS5 daily. I got a backlog dating back to PS2 lol So I'm fine but new games aren't as appealing anymore.

It seems like we were thrown on to the worst timeline possible where everything is too expensive and the wrong people were put in positions that makes the world a shitty place. We could have had Shu as the head of PS but we got the shitty alternative. Same goes for everyone in power around the world. Doesn’t matter the company or country the majority of us got the shitty picks and the world is declining like never before. I do think PS can come out of this because of their studios, talent and IP but they need someone more in touch with gamers leading things like Shu was. They’re still the best place for console gaming imo but it could be much better than it is especially without the massive live service failures. The rest of the world I have a lot less hope for right now. Hopefully the pendulum swings back towards the good ole days but I’m preparing for the worst.

There goes illuminati distraction story

So now there's certifiable proof that Ryan was in fact "fired", as opposed to when it was first announced that he "retired", in order to save face.

There's another guy who recently "retired" as CEO of another large gaming company, after doing a dismantling job as lead for well over a decade.

seems legit, the business man, fires the one who has ideas to move the business forward.

Jim Ryan is the reason why we are entering year 6 since the PS5 launch and many of us don't feel like the PS5 has gotten started as yet.

I hope going forward, we will see a return to form.