The Value Of PlayStation Plus
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
When I first got my PlayStation 3, it was to play Final Fantasy 13. The game hadn’t come out yet, but as much as I love the Final Fantasy series, I knew I would have to have the console. So I got my Christmas present in 2009: a console and the HD television I needed to play it on.
I am not a rich person by any means; I live on a very limited income, so I am not one to spend money without a lot of value for what I buy, and it has to be something I will use. I don’t buy a lot of real life clothing or makeup (I probably have enough of it to last the rest of my life already). I rarely go to the movies or out to dinner, preferring to wait until the movies come out so I can rent them and eat at home. So, most of my entertainment comes in the form of the games I play on my PlayStation 3.
The PlayStation Network is a free to play service. Unlike others who will remain unnamed, you can play most online offerings for free here. I use Home a great deal, of course, and I am enjoying playing some online games as well. Before I got my PS3 I had never played a game with another person online. Red Dead Redemption changed that, as did a cute little game called Peggle, which I still love to play with a friend or even alone when I feel like relaxing.
Pictured: Instant gaming, made instanter.
All of this is leading to the reason I actually purchased PlayStation Plus, which some might think is like paying for a free service, but it truly isn’t. Yes, you pay $49.99 to use it for a year, and yes, you otherwise can use the network for free, but the benefits you receive from the service far outweigh the price tag. I held off buying it right away because I didn’t really see the value at first; many of the offerings weren’t games I thought I would be interested in.
The first reason I bought Plus was the added enhancement it gave my avatar in Home. I love being able to modify my makeup and hair colors to suit my outfits. I am not one to usually get too crazy with my color schemes, but I love being able to make my makeup match my clothing choices. When they added this to the Plus regimen I immediately bought it.
But once I had the service I started to see a lot more than just the small benefits it gives in Home, benefits that I hope they expand upon in the future. I have been able to play some awesome games and try others with hour long free trials to see if they suit me. When you get a Plus membership it more than pays for itself in a matter of weeks. It has opened my eyes to games I never thought I would enjoy playing. They have given away a lot of huge hit games in the past — games like Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet 2 were free to Plus members, as an example.
PlayStation 4 free game
Some of the games I have gotten free so far are Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Borderlands and Borderlands 2, Zen Pinball, Dragon’s Dogma, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Uncharted 3, Oddworld: Munches Oddysee, Deus Ex and the iconic games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. All of these games, and many more, have been given to me basically free of charge over the past few months alone. And there are many more out there that are not to my taste, but nonetheless they are wonderful free choices for others. Games like Dyad, Grid 2, Binary Domain and Poker Night 2 are some of the ones now available.
These games, if bought, cost between $59.99 and $9.99, so the value of a membership becomes quite obvious very quickly. Recently offered were Devil May Cry and BioShock Infinite as free additions, which cost $39.99 apiece, so that alone more than pays the yearly fee. The incredible choices we are given here run the gamut and are sure to please everyone somehow. Not to mention the one-hour time trials that are given so you can check games out before buying them.
They are now adding games for the PlayStation 4 as well. The newest one is a little gem called Don’t Starve, which looks like a cute little survival game with an interesting use of graphics.
I have also been able to purchase several titles like Journey and Unfinished Swan for greatly reduced prices because of my membership. Half off (or more) at times. And this a regular feature of Plus membership, not just something that happens occasionally. There are many games for Vita as well as the PS3, and also hundreds of other small discounts available on things like 
avatars for your login name plate and many other goodies to look for.
Needless to say, I am entirely sold on my Plus membership and will continue it as long as I can afford to. The only drawback to it is that you have to keep it in good standing each year in order to use the games you download from the store under its wings, but I believe that it is a small price to pay for the true value you get from it.
So consider what the gain is to the money spent and you will see that PlayStation Plus is a huge value. For people like me who can’t afford to get every new game that arrives, it gives a great Instant Game Collection for a small price, so I will continue to pay this fee each year and enjoy the benefits.
February 6th, 2014 by Burbie52 | 1 comment
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
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I’ve been a plus member from day 1 and have got approx 700 mb of free games over 2 ps3’s, loads I’ve only played a few times as 700mb of games is a lot of playing time. Well worth it especially as you can top up membership whenever theres a deal and it just adds it to the end. Going to have to watch the ps4 free games on plus though as they are releasing the free games as digital editions not the full disc based game. So they are better than demos but missing parts from the full games