Playstation Plus and Playstation Now becoming one service

[DaHeckIzDat]

Sony has announced that in June, anyone who subscribes to Playstation Plus will also receive a subscription to Playstation Now. Playstation Now is their online library of games all the way from PS2 to PS4 that, for a monthly fee, anyone can download or stream.

Gotta say, I'm pretty excited for this. What about you guys?

[Voor]

How’s the game selection on average, pretty good?

[DaHeckIzDat]

How’s the game selection on average, pretty good?

Pretty decent! They've got a few real good choices, a lot that I'm at least a little interested in, and I can't think of any stinkers off the top of my head.

[VideoGameCritic]

I assume Bubsy 3D is available??

[DaHeckIzDat]

I assume Bubsy 3D is available??

I don't think there are any PS1 games at all

[BlasteroidAli]

I assume Bubsy 3D is available??

I don't think there are any PS1 games at all

What no Busby 3d? I am out then.

[DaHeckIzDat]

I assume Bubsy 3D is available??

I don't think there are any PS1 games at all

What no Busby 3d? I am out then.

They have Woolies Strike Back, if that's any consolation

[Retro STrife]

My first thought was "what's the catch?", along with an assumption that PS+ prices were rising to support this. But this blog from Sony sets it all out:

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/03/29 ... than-ever/

The gist is that PS+ will now have 3 tiers. Tier 1 is your usual, same-old PS+ at $60 a year. Tier 2 adds access to a library of 400 PS4 and PS5 games, for $100 a year. Tier 3 includes all that, and adds another ~350 games from the PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP consoles, for $120 a year.

[Retro STrife]

Overall, I think this is a good thing. Clearly, Sony is doing this to boost the number of users on their digital game service (currently, PS Now). You gotta figure, a large percentage of PS4 & PS5 owners have PS+ to play online games. A much smaller percentage have PS Now, even though it's a great value. But the ones that do have PS Now are the type that would also have PS+ already. So why not just roll it into PS+ as an upgrade? That puts it right in the face of a larger user base when they renew PS+, and seeing the value will mean more subscribers to the extra service. Plus they'll have the human nature to want "the best" working in their favor. Ya know, the same crowd with 800 TV channels, despite watching the same 5.

For us retro gamers.. I think streaming services may be the key to preserving digital games that otherwise will disappear when the digital marketplace permanently closes for PS3, PS4, etc. someday. On the downside, the quicker streaming services grow, the greater the chance that physical media meets its inevitable end faster.