There’s a lot to love with PlayStation Plus in December. Perhaps you’ve already thought of what a great gift a PS Plus membership makes for your fellow PS3 gamer. Or maybe you’ve been diving into the games in the Instant Game Collection with new additions like BioShock 2, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, and Rochard. Either way, you’ve got more great content on the way with this week’s addition: Anomaly Warzone Earth! You’ll also find some amazing holiday deals on games that you might have missed. Read on to find out more.
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December 18th PlayStation Plus Update
Anomaly Warzone Earth (PS3)
Free for Plus members
Holiday Essentials Sale
Various discounts for Plus members
You may have seen the announcement already, but this week marks the first week of the PSN Holiday Sale! You can check out the full announcement here, but here’s the breakdown of all the games that you’ll be able to get an amazing sale price on for this week:
| Game | Normal Price | PSN Sale Price | Plus Sale Price |
| Catherine | $39.99 | $27.99 | $19.60 |
| Counter Strike Global Offensive | $14.99 | $10.49 | $7.35 |
| Dyad | $14.99 | $10.49 | $7.35 |
| Escape Plan | $14.99 | $10.49 | $7.35 |
| I am Alive | $14.99 | $10.49 | $7.35 |
| LittleBigPlanet 2 | $19.99 | $13.99 | $0.00 |
| LittleBigPlanet PS Vita | $35.99 | $24.99 | $17.49 |
| M:tG Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 | $9.99 | $6.99 | $4.90 |
| NHL 13 | $59.99 | $41.99 | $29.40 |
| Rayman Origins | $19.99 | $13.99 | $9.80 |
| Rayman Origins PS Vita | $29.99 | $20.99 | $14.70 |
| Resident Evil 4 | $19.99 | $13.99 | $9.80 |
| Retro/Grade | $9.99 | $6.99 | $4.90 |
| Street Fighter: Third Strike Online Edition | $14.99 | $10.49 | $7.35 |
SEGA Holiday Sale
Various discounts for Plus members
Our friends at SEGA are also bringing more great games to all of PSN at some truly great prices to celebrate the holidays as well. Just like the PSN Holiday Sale, all PSN gamers get to enjoy some price breaks here, but Plus members get the best deals on the following content:
| Game | Normal Price | PSN Sale Price | Plus Sale Price |
| Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (Game Only) | $14.99 | $9.99 | $6.99 |
| SEGA HERITAGE COLLECTION (BUNDLE) | $36.95 | $19.99 | $14.99 |
| Sonic 4: Ep1 & 2 Full game Bundle | $24.98 | $14.99 | $11.99 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 | $14.99 | $9.99 | $7.49 |
| Hell Yeah Full game | $14.99 | $9.99 | $5.99 |
| Hell Yeah DLC Pimp My Rabbit Pack | $2.99 | $1.99 | $1.00 |
| Hell Yeah DLC The Virtual Rabbit Mission | $4.99 | $2.99 | $1.50 |
| After Burner Climax | $9.99 | $4.99 | $2.50 |
| Crazy Taxi | $9.99 | $4.99 | $2.50 |
| Daytona USA | $9.99 | $4.99 | $2.50 |
| Crush, PSP | $9.99 | $4.99 | $2.50 |
| Sonic Rivals, PSP | $9.99 | $6.99 | $4.89 |
| Sonic Rivals 2, PSP | $9.99 | $6.99 | $4.89 |
That’s it for this week’s update, and remember that the above updates will be in effect once the PlayStation Store updates tomorrow. See you next week for more on PlayStation Plus!
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While we definitely want you to let us know your thoughts in the comments below, make sure you’re digging in to the PlayStation Community Forums in the Plus space where you’ll find great new information and perspectives from your fellow gamer. Enjoy the update, and see you in the comments.
I got a PS3 1 1/2 year ago. They were too expensive when they 1st came out & had no HD memory. I figured I’d try PS+ a month later & have been a member ever since then. Now I have a collection of over 250 games. Theres tons of stuff on PS+. Im sure some of the people who have had a PS3 for 6 years+ might have a hard time finding a game but Im loving every minute of it! I dont know if Ill like the game this week but I will atleast try it. As for the sales, I think I will get Rayman: Origins for Vita. I dont own one yet but if I dont get one from Santa I’ll get one from Gamestop cause I already have too many games NOT to get one if you include all the free PS1 games for Plus last year & some of the games compatible for both systems. The ‘statistics’ I’d like to see is how many people that said ‘Nothing for me this week” actually download something.
Keep up the good work, thanks for reading & Merry X-Mas!
thank you sony and ps3 for keeping us with games and more games. even with games i have already i get them anyway with my woman with a sub-account its fun to play with her in different rooms now that we have 2 PS3s. We are on our 3rd PS3 system since release. Can hardly wait each week to what’s not only free, if any, but to see what new temptations are upcoming. I rarely post but I wanted to say a big thanks and a very Happy Holidays to everyone at Sony!
vita games pls!
Just to clarify, the Sega Heritage Collection is a bundle that contains NiGHTs, Sonic Adventure 2 (both probably without their DLC packs), and Jet Set Radio (PS3).
Seeing as I already own 2 of those 3 games on different platforms (1 of them being the Vita – thank you Plus!), I won’t be buying it.
@38
Death is a good solution, put a cork in it.
Morgan, you saying that the PS+ free games are planned weeks/months in advance (which they have to be) just underlines how shady it was this summer when PSN put out a bunch of Ultimates, and the very next week offered about 80% of those games as a part of the new free game lineup. Just Cause 2 & Infamous 2 were among them. I spent about $200 on games that I would have gotten for free if I’d waited a week. And of course, as you just admitted, you guys had to know you were doing this as it was happening– which means you were aggressively manipulating your customer base to get the last $ out of anyone you could before the games were then put up for free– the very next week. How is this not a horrible problem and an intentional buggering of your customer base? I can understand if an Ultimate deal goes up and then several months later it’s decided to make that game a free game. But the very next week? And a large handful of games that represents the majority of the initial free game offering? It definitely seems that there are reasons the PS+ Updates are not being published more than a day in advance, and they have to do with manipulating the customer base.
I can see how you might have reached that conclusion, but its simply not true. There are a number of different teams that work with our publishing partners to get deals on the table. The instant game collection was a brand new thing then, so there was a bit of friction with regards to looking at the whole picture as we were on the fast and furious road to E3. It was certainly an oversight, but the notion of it being planned? Not true in the slightest. We heard the feedback, and I don’t think you’ve seen anything like that since. I also frankly, would never work for a spot that engaged in the practices you hypothesized, so take heart my friend; we’re not a bunch of evil dudes looking to scam you =). But just like anyone else, we might miss a thing or two. Thanks for your comment.