Sony - PlayStation Plus 12 Month Membership

Every month, Sony gives away digital copies of at least two games (two on PS4, two on PS3 and two on Vita, with some of those being available on multiple platforms) to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Typically, the two most expensive games being offered are worth more than the price of an annual membership. It can be a bit of a gamble, but at the very least, I'd recommend keeping an eye on the rotating lineup and picking up a membership when some games you would otherwise pay the same price for are being offered. Keep in mind that free games are only available as long as you're a member, so if you let your membership expire, those games will essentially be 'locked.' However, PlayStation Plus also offers you a further discount when games go on sale, and anything purchased with a Plus discount is permanently tied to your account. I don't think I can recommend this enough.

Ok obviously I give this 5 stars not only because if you decide to join the PlaySation family with number 4 this is an absolute necessity to purchase along with your PlayStation 4 console and your games and any accessories. That's because with PlayStation 4 Sony is doing the Xbox approach basically made it so that if you want to use online multiplayer in most games (with the exception of free to play and games with monthly subscriptions like Final Fantasy XIV) Basically they adopted the Xbox approach. Because this is the equivalent of an Xbox Live Gold Membership. Also however besides the necessity there are perks to being a member like cloud storage save data, auto-downloads for patches and most importantly just like Xbox (don't ask which one did this first I have no clue) two free games a month exclusive for PlayStation Plusemembers and and after download it's yours forever as long as you maintain your plus membership. So just get this.

Sony requires a paid subscription for online content, which is sort of... eh, but a bane of the modern console era. Like Microsoft, the best price is $60 a year, with the privileges given from it. PlayStation Plus offers exclusive deals and free games (mostly AAA titles, which is fun), which make the price a lot more bearable. My first month I was given XCOM 2 and Black Ops 3, which is neat since I was likely never going to buy them, but I get a free digital copy. Remember though, these are only accessible as long as you keep the subscription. I got mine on sale during the Days of Play E3 sale, which bumped the price down to $50, which was more palatable. If you like playing online with friends, and like the allure of a free game each month, its worthwhile.

If you want to play a ps4 game online, you need playstation plus, which is unfortunate (but that's Sony's fault, not BB). At least it's very easy to redeem the subscription code. Other benefits of PS Plus are cloud storage and free monthly games (the caveat there being you only have access to the cloud and those games as long as you are still subscribed to PS Plus). So far this year's selection of free games has been decent! And occasionally PS Plus subscribers will get slightly better discounts on Playstation store sales than a buyer without a subscription. It makes the price tag a little easier to swallow, in my opinion. Check around Black Friday; this usually gets a bit of a discount.

Overall, the big benefit to PlayStation Plus is the ability to play online multiplayer games. PS Plus is absolutely worth it if you want to play multiplayer games on your PlayStation 4. Paying for this feature is now pretty standard. Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold pioneered charging for online multiplayer with the Xbox 360, and Sony’s PS Plus now costs the exact same amount of money as Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Even Nintendo will soon begin charging a subscription fee for online multiplayer on the Nintendo Switch. Every game console has started charging for online multiplayer, so the only way to play online games for free is to switch to a PC—or stick with a PlayStation 3.

Yes it has gone up by $10 for a 12Month subscription and this is a way to purchase the item without having to put money into you Playstation wallet. To be fair Sony hasn't increased the price of the Playstation Plus membership in years. PS Plus provides subscribers not only with online gaming services, but also special discounts on PlayStation Store products, as well as access to a set of free games each month in its Instant Game Collection. It is required if you want to: Play together with friends in co-op adventures, go head-to-head in multiplayer matches or squad up with players worldwide in epic team-based battles of coarse the game has to support these features

I got accustomed to the days of the free PSN account for many years. At first, I was really irritated with the direction Sony decided to go. But it was an ignorant irritation. After a few months of game play, I changed my tone and realized that Sony did in fact invest millions of dollars on a completely new server system which was MUCH faster and more reliable. The added benefit of free games and discounts on games is another PLUS (pun intended). It is pricey but save your money and buy a couple years of membership when they go on sale ($10-20 off).

If you're an occasional gamer that sticks to solo RPG's and the like, it's probably not worthwhile to invest in PSN. There is DLC included with the membership but it goes dark if you're not current; haven't found many games I've enjoyed through that. Limited interactions within the social aspect of the network, but, again, it's because I prefer one-player games more than anything. I could see this being worthwhile for an avid gamer that is active within the virtual community; watching that stuff with friends is what made me get the membership in the first place.