Actually, the official’ish b-day bash was a few nights ago (June 28), but I am just getting around to finding a few minutes to share some thoughts on year one.
PSN’er markburleson85 maintains a spectacular list of all the prizes, trinkets, discounts, and other miscellaneous crap offered to date by Sony as part of the PS+ program.
Of course spreadsheets are pretty and all, but for the graphics whore in you, check out IGN’s PS+ recap, replete with plenty of pretty graphs.
In my opinion the PS+ service has been well worth the $50 “investment.” While I have played many “free” games that I would have never purchased, I consider that a nice little bonus; sort of a way to round out my gaming experience. The discounts have been nice, but could be better – I would love to see a monthly coupon for a 20% discount on any PSN store item. Of course more exclusive avatars, themes, Home items, and sundry trinkets would be appreciated.
I am not sure if Sony considers the PS+ program a success, or if Sony is still trying to dip their foot in the water for pay-to-play network services. I do know that a hidden gem in the PS+ offering is the “automatic download” feature, which has been a fantastic timesaver. It is also readily apparent that Sony is moving towards more “cloud” type services, as this has been implicitly implied as part of the core Vita offering.
As PS+ moves into its second year, I hope for newer games, more day one discounts, and previously mentioned shiny trinkets.
Sony’s online offerings still leave a lot to be desired. Basic functionality like being able to communicate with people on your friends list easily to organize games is still missing.
In FIFA 11, I can’t see where people on my PSN list are. You can send them messages but there’s nowhere to meet. Home doesn’t offer real game-launching from what I hear either.
Ironically, back in the PS2 days, EA had their own friends list and it would show exactly where people on your list were, even if they were playing different games.
PSN made everyone get rid of these other lobbies and friends list but it’s not better. Instead, Sony is trying to find ways to sell more DLC (well so is Microsoft). It must be a cultural thing because people aren’t happy with Nintendo’s online setup for the Wii U either.
I don’t see paying for XBL but when the next gen comes, I’m going to be way more wary of Sony’s hype. I got a new version of the Sony Card, which I used to help offset purchases of the PS2 and PS3. There’s no annual fee but I haven’t activated it. Have enough points to get a couple of Blu-Rays. But I don’t see buying a Sony product except for a next-gen console. Maybe a camera or something, maybe a Blu-Ray player. I used to covet XBR TVs but plasma seems to be the way to go.
Sony has never been strong in software and services, which explains their problems with iPods and online networks and stores. They’ve always had hardware that stood out, even something as simple as a little radio. But they’ve lost their way somewhere — maybe they just never adopted to the Internet and will be left behind.