Survey Suggests Potential 'PSN Premium' Plans
$29.99-$69.99 a year for optional benefits.
Here we go again. Following loads of instances where Sony has hinted at providing premium subscription services to those using the PlayStation 3's online network, an IPSOS Online Research survey has appeared online that details exactly what the company could be offering in such a scheme.
Kotaku obtained a copy of the survey, which suggests several premium plans that users might be willing (or unwilling) to splash their cash on. Such benefits handed down to paying players would include one-hour access trials to full PS3 games; user-to-user challenges; free access to PSOne Classics, Minis and Themes; PlayStation Store discounts and cloud storage for game data.
Those worried about potentially paying for online multiplayer – a service Sony has repeatedly advertised as free in the face of Xbox Live – should put those fears away, as the survey suggests benefits that aim to expand the online experience. Says the introduction of the survey;
“Sony is considering offering a premium PlayStation Network subscription in the future. The subscription offering would provide new premium features you could choose to pay for and are in addition to the features currently available for free such as access to online multiplayer gaming (current features would remain free).”
Other options include loyalty-reward programs, member-exclusive Facebook Connectivity, online music services, member-only content and sharing demos with friends. For US users, Hulu access and the ability to use Netflix without inserting a disc were also presented as possible features.
Controversially, one suggestion for premium users was cross game voice chat. Considering the number of people constantly requesting for the feature, it would annoy a lot of PS3 owners if Sony was to package the functionality in a pay-only scheme.
The prices of the four plans suggested were $29.99 a year (or $4.99 a month) for a couple of the proposed features, and $69.99 a year/$9.99 a month for the other three plans, which contained a lot more benefits.
What would you pay for out of the list? Would you even want to pay at all? Let us know in the comments box below.
Kotaku obtained a copy of the survey, which suggests several premium plans that users might be willing (or unwilling) to splash their cash on. Such benefits handed down to paying players would include one-hour access trials to full PS3 games; user-to-user challenges; free access to PSOne Classics, Minis and Themes; PlayStation Store discounts and cloud storage for game data.
Those worried about potentially paying for online multiplayer – a service Sony has repeatedly advertised as free in the face of Xbox Live – should put those fears away, as the survey suggests benefits that aim to expand the online experience. Says the introduction of the survey;
“Sony is considering offering a premium PlayStation Network subscription in the future. The subscription offering would provide new premium features you could choose to pay for and are in addition to the features currently available for free such as access to online multiplayer gaming (current features would remain free).”
Other options include loyalty-reward programs, member-exclusive Facebook Connectivity, online music services, member-only content and sharing demos with friends. For US users, Hulu access and the ability to use Netflix without inserting a disc were also presented as possible features.
Controversially, one suggestion for premium users was cross game voice chat. Considering the number of people constantly requesting for the feature, it would annoy a lot of PS3 owners if Sony was to package the functionality in a pay-only scheme.
The prices of the four plans suggested were $29.99 a year (or $4.99 a month) for a couple of the proposed features, and $69.99 a year/$9.99 a month for the other three plans, which contained a lot more benefits.
What would you pay for out of the list? Would you even want to pay at all? Let us know in the comments box below.
Companies:
Sony
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Comments
Nofuckingway 21 Dec 2009 15:13
1/5
I wouldn't pay for any of it. The reason ive got a PS3 is that PSN is free for f**ks sake. FAIL Sony.
realvictory 21 Dec 2009 18:17
2/5
Ok, if it was free, I wouldn't mind! But, on the other hand, if there are substantial new features, not game-related, e.g. online storage, movie rental, I'd pay for them, as long as it wasn't a huge price... It's, as usual, dependent on what you get for the price.
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DrkStr 21 Dec 2009 19:01
3/5
realvictory wrote:
Ok, if it was free, I wouldn't mind! But, on the other hand, if there are substantial new features, not game-related, e.g. online storage, movie rental, I'd pay for them, as long as it wasn't a huge price... It's, as usual, dependent on what you get for the price.
Looks like monthy fee for unlimited access to downloads and som extra services. might be worth it, online gaming's still free.
Bad math? 22 Dec 2009 17:57
4/5
$4.99 a month for 12 months is $59.88. $29.99 for a year is $2.49 per month. Unless you mean that buying a year's worth would cost $29.99 up front and would be increased to $4.99 per month if you paid on a month by month basis. Same argument stands for the $69.99 per year vs. $9.99 per month.
PyroPsychotic 27 Dec 2009 22:11
5/5
not really, why would you pay year on year to pay for old ps1 games when you can just pay a one off fee.
as for cross chatting i would not pay for that, as i have a 360 and the online storage just get an external hard drive.
honestly its all useless and most of these can be solved with one off purchases. anyway why would you want to chat to people on a different console, its not like you can play with them ?
as for cross chatting i would not pay for that, as i have a 360 and the online storage just get an external hard drive.
honestly its all useless and most of these can be solved with one off purchases. anyway why would you want to chat to people on a different console, its not like you can play with them ?