PlayStation Plus (and the PS Store in general)

[Alex79]

General PS+ thread? Don't know if there are many subscribers or not on here, but I quite often wanted to mention little things about PS+ that don't really warrant a thread of their own.

So, Bioshock 2 then. Worth playing? It's free on Plus at the moment. I enjoyed the first game - aside from being a bit on the long side and starting to drag a little in the final third before pulling off a decent enough ending. Is it true that in the second game you only play as a Big Daddy? It's nearly 12GB in size so don't want to waste time downloading it if it's rubbish.

[mik]

Bioshock 2 is wonderful--it improves on the gameplay of the first game in every way (I preferred its story and, especially, its conclusion as well--but that's more controversial). And, since it's free, you can justify the $10 to buy the Minerva's Den DLC, which is one of the finest pieces of singleplayer content ever released for a game.

[Buckled Kipper]

Played Bioshock 2 when it first came out but decided to re download it on plus just so I could then buy Minervas Den as I seem to remember Tony raving about when it came out. Haven't had time to play it yet, but plan to in the next week or so.

[NokkonWud]

BioShock 2 is good, not great, not as good as the first but does have a better Audio Diaries sub-story and the MP was (surprisingly) great (although not populated much now.

It does however have the best DLC ever created in Minerva's Den. Worth it for that alone. Play it!

[Sean]

I second Mik's post entirely.

So, yeah, definitely play it!

[ratsoalbion]

Whereas I second Karl's opinion; A good game that lacks the brilliance and astounding atmosphere of the first. I wasn't as crazy about Minerva's Den as some either, but it was certainly decent.

[mikeleddy83]

The blog update doesn't say this but there's actually an unlock for pinball arcade for the PS3 version (the vita version is the one publicised and the unlock is hidden inside the vita option) this week for PS Plus members out there, just tried it and the trophies installed.

[ratsoalbion]

Yes, in fact you get both, which is nice.

[dezm0nd]

PS3 back in my grasp come Saturday. Where is the best place for PSN+ codes?

[mikeleddy83]

PS3 back in my grasp come Saturday. Where is the best place for PSN+ codes?

I started off with the 3 month £11.99 back in summer until a deal came up for a year at £29.99 (which has popped up a couple of times since), not sure on where's best to get PSN cards on the cheap though.

Welcome to the dark side come Saturday!

[Alex79]

If you don't manage to get it at a discount, it's WELL worth the forty quid anyway.

Cheers for Bioshock feedback, ready to start it when I've I finished Saints Row 3. Also cheers for the heads up on pinball Mike, there's often stuff free on Plus they don't mention on the blog or bother putting on the PS+ page on the store.

[James]

I'm going to replay Minerva's Den soon to do some much-needed research before I write about why it's one of the best things of all time, ever, in anything... ever!

Here's a clue:

[dezm0nd]

PSN+ codes for 30 day trials are in febs GamesMaster mag. StuGarrard kindly offered his on twitter and I snapped it up.

Bargain!

[Ghost World]

Bioshock 2 is wonderful--it improves on the gameplay of the first game in every way (I preferred its story and, especially, its conclusion as well--but that's more controversial). And, since it's free, you can justify the $10 to buy the Minerva's Den DLC, which is one of the finest pieces of singleplayer content ever released for a game.

Everything Mik said, I might have to send you podcast invite Mik so you can back me up that the Bioshock 2 is the better game in series

[richie_in_japan]

I haven't bought a game at retail since joining Plus. In fact, the only none-Plus related thing I've bought is The Walking Dead season pass. That means everything I have on my Vita so far has been "free". They are doing this PlayStation Mobile promotion too, one free a week for 6(?) weeks to try and get people looking at that part of the store. The two games so far have been ok bite-size time killers on my commute.

[delb2k]

The above post raises an interesting question I have always wondered about Plus, and maybe one not suitable for this thread but I thought I would ask it anyway. With the amount of titles it does give you for free I wonder how much lost revenue that eventually ends up becoming for publishers. Probably not a huge amount, and of course they will get a fee for providing the game on the service (whether that be on a per download or flat basis) but if this became more popular I wonder if it would ever end up harming sales to a greater degree.

[Alex79]

The only game I've paid for since getting Plus is Far Cry 3. I'm also downloading all the free Vita titles, despite not owning one, so I've got them all ready should I ever get one.

[NokkonWud]

The above post raises an interesting question I have always wondered about Plus, and maybe one not suitable for this thread but I thought I would ask it anyway. With the amount of titles it does give you for free I wonder how much lost revenue that eventually ends up becoming for publishers. Probably not a huge amount, and of course they will get a fee for providing the game on the service (whether that be on a per download or flat basis) but if this became more popular I wonder if it would ever end up harming sales to a greater degree.

I've mentioned the negative side to Playstation Plus before. They do get a cut for their games to appear and, in terms of retail games, they're games that have had their life on the shelf, so additional money isn't that bad, it also gets a series out there in the hands of people who were maybe reluctant to buy it originally and may put up the money to buy the sequel (because games publishers will always look to franchise.)
The other interesting side to PS+ is where it goes on PS4. They won't be offering retail PS4 games for a long time and will people be looking to play older PS3 games? I'm intrigued to see what their business plan is in this regard.

[countstex]

A fair few of the 'big hitters' that you get on PS+ are heavy with DLC, and given profit margins are higher on DLC I'm sure there is quite a high incentive to be a part of PS+ for the publishers.

[Dante Fireseed]

February PS+ update is looking quite nice! Shocked to see Sleeping Dogs on there so soon after release. Impressive.

Leaving the Plus Service in February:
6th February: BioShock 2
6th February: Ratchet and Clank All 4 One
6th February: Cubixx HD
13th February: Jet Set Radio
20th February: Pinball Arcade

Entering the Plus Service in February:
6th February: Sleeping Dogs
6th February: Quantum Conundrum
6th February: F1 Race Stars
13th February: WipEout 2048
20th February: Lumines Electronic Symphony