PlayStation Plus Update

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PlayStation Plus Update

Happy (almost) New Year! The PlayStation Plus team is gearing up for another banner year in 2013 as we continue to deliver free games, discounts, and access to events, betas and more to give PlayStation fans the edge when it comes to their gaming lifestyle. This week, we welcome PS3 Game NBA JAM On Fire Edition and PS Vita Game Chronovolt to the Instant Game Collection. You’ll also find deeper discounts with the last week of the PSN Holiday Sale.

Important note: We’ll be updating the PlayStation Store today (Monday, 12/31) due to the New Year holiday. Therefore, this Plus update will be live later today when the update has published.

Don’t have PlayStation Plus? Go to the PlayStation Store on your PS3 or PS Vita or click here to get access.

December 31st PlayStation Plus Update

NBA JAM On Fire Edition (PS3)

Free for Plus members

You don’t have to be a basketball nut to have a blast with this one. If you’ve played NBA JAM before, you know it’s all about fast-paced arcade-style basketball action. Of course it features all your favorite NBA players and legends, but with all the fun and irreverence that has hooked countless gamers and tons of trash-talking multiplayer sessions. Crazy modes, secret teams, and rock-solid online play make this a great addition to your collection. Take a look at the video above to check out a match up in the game in the classic ‘big head’ mode, and play it yourself to see why IGN.com gave it a 9 out 10.

Chronovolt (PS Vita)

Free for Plus members

Chronovolt is a puzzle-platformer with steampunk influences where players control the Chronosphere, a discovery that contains the energy that powers time. You’ll guide it through levels using all of the PS Vita’s controls including tilt, the analog sticks, and rear-touch to have a completely unique experience. Not to mention that by collecting power-ups known as Chronovolts, players are able to manipulate time, such as rewinding the game to save yourself from a fall that would have otherwise resulted in death. Set in three distinct worlds including a lush Mayan world, a snow-covered Chinese landscape, and a futuristic setting; PS Vita gamers will find plenty to love with Chronovolt.
PSN Holiday Essentials Sale (Week 3)

Various discounts for Plus members

The PSN Holiday Essentials wraps up this week with great deals on games you might have missed out on. Notables include the unique and completely charming Tokyo Jungle, Sound Shapes, and the remastered HD version of Shadow of the Colossus. Take a look at the full breakdown below:

Game

Normal Price

PSN Sale Price

Plus Sale Price

Batman: Arkham City

$29.99

$20.99

$14.70

inFAMOUS Festival of Blood

$9.99

$6.99

$4.90

inFAMOUS 2

$19.99

$13.99

Free in Plus

Assassin’s Creed 2 Deluxe Edition

$19.99

$13.99

$9.80

Shadow of the Colossus

$19.99

$13.99

$9.80

Bulletstorm

$19.99

$13.99

$9.80

Sound Shapes (PS3 and PS Vita Cross Buy)

$14.99

$10.49

$7.35

Sound Shapes (PS Vita only)

$14.99

$10.49

$7.35

TOKYO JUNGLE

$14.99

$10.49

$7.35

Skullgirls

$14.99

$10.49

$7.35

Touch My Katamari

$24.99

$17.49

$12.25


[poll id=”30″]

As the last Plus post from 2012, I also want to extend a sincere thank you to all those who leave their feedback week to week. Whether you’re excited about an update, or giving your feedback about what you prefer, it’s always great to chat with you all. With PlayStation fans like you guys, I’m looking forward to an awesome 2013, and I hope you all will continue to bring the feedback; positive or critical.

We’ll be back next week as usual, but make sure you make your voice heard in the comments below, and also make sure to vote in the polls. You can also delve into the PlayStation Community Forums in the PS Plus space to continue chatting about Plus, or find other great sub-forums to participate in and build your PlayStation community cred. See you in the comments!

PlayStation Plus Update: 12-31-2012

Comments are closed.

505 Comments

7 Author Replies

  • This is getting to be pathetic, is the NA+ team even trying anymore? What’s up for next month Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing? Morgan, when you promise your community games that are going to rival EU+ you best at least deliver with something more than a remake of a 20 year old sports game and more fighting games. The last game that I was actually excited to download was Just Cause 2. Can we at least get an RPG for once, instead of fighting games, sports games, and beat em ups?

  • The only things that I might get are the specials on Assassin’s Creed 2 and Batman: Arkham City (great prices for PS Plus members on those). But I don’t care about either of the free games this week.

  • For what it’s worth, I much prefer the weekly PS+ updates. It’s nice to have news to look forward to every week even if it’s minor updates.

    The NBA Jam thing is still bothersome though with it going offline in 2 weeks.

  • lol at some of these people who can’t read obviously… its the RETAIL version of NBA JAM that is losing the online servers – the 2010 edition that EA Sold in stores – NOT the downloadable only NBA Jam: ON FIRE EDITION. Another great offering SCEA. PS+ is worth EVERY penny.

  • It looks like many of you are truly miserable, just put an end to your excruciating pain and don’t renew for another year. I’m not thrilled with the updates week in and week out but I certainly feel I’ve been getting enough content (either free or discounted) to stay onboard. If I didn’t, I’d simply save my $50 for something else, no need to act like an arrogant prick on a blog and make a fool of myself in the process.

  • this is the WORST update ever. no one wants nba jam, give us some real games.

  • judging by the other votes no one even wanted nba. horrible update

  • That is a horrible way to start the year with plus. Seriously, plus just continues to disappoint. As of right now I am quite sure, I will not be renewing my subscription when it ends.

  • Well it’s a good thing my plus is expiring in a couple weeks, looks as if it doesn’t do anything for me anymore. Already roll a ball around in two other freebies and NBA Jam is being taken offline…. not that it matters since I never play sports games on my PS3. The only freebies I played in 2012 were Infamous 2, Borderlands, and Bioshock 2… I could have got them all from the bargain bin and traded them all in by now. Plus isn’t a hand out, it’s supposed to be a premium service. Make it so.

  • Just one more time, I’ll try to explain the poll to the simpletons who can’t figure it out on their own.

    See, the 3 options below “nothing for me” all represent content of some sort that people decided was worth their time and/or money this week. The percentages from those 3 options combined equate to 52%. That’s greater than the number of people who felt like there was nothing for them – 48%. A lot closer than last week, but the crybabies still lose this argument.

    Or perhaps this would be the easiest way to look at it: You take all 3 options in the poll that relate to content – Holiday Sales, NBA JAM, and Chronovolt – mash them all into one, and re-name it, “Something for me this week”. Then the poll would look like this:

    Something for me this week:
    ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 52%

    Nothing for me this week:
    ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 48%

    Understand?

  • And last week it looked like this:

    Something for me this week:
    ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 61%

    Nothing for me this week:
    ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] 39%

    Try to have a good new year, whiners. Maybe you could suggest to your mothers that she make a New Year’s Resolution to change your diapers more often so that you won’t be as cranky as you were in 2012.

    Good night. :)

  • Still the numbers are climbing Prime, even you have to admit, that’s not good.

  • What up Donkey. See, I told you NBA JAM was fun. I knew you’d see the light if you just opened your eyes… and your heart… awww….

    I’m outta here. See you next year.

  • Yeah Prime, I’m almost done with West Coast On the Tour thing, this really isn’t a bad game, would I pick it up for the money, probably not even give it a second look, but with plus I’m able to play it.

  • @ AriesSiren,

    Make sure you don’t renew your subscription if you don’t like what you are getting, that’ll show em’!

    That’s what they get for trying to screw us over, right!?

    /s

  • @ PrimeroIncognito and DonkeyKongKilla it’s funny to see you two act somewhat friendly towards each other after last week’s (or make that “last year”‘s lol) episode

    @nolo451 how’s it feel to have first comment of the year? And it’s not a complaint, 2013 is off to a good start!

    Happy New Year everyone!

  • Dear Sony,

    I suggest that you go back to the old ways, give us 3 PS1 classics each month along with two PSN games and 1 full game, and I will be a very happy consumer, I really miss the monthly PS1 classics, also remember, quality always wins over quantity.

    Another remark is the situation for Europe, the difference of quality of games between NA and Europe is becoming ridiculous and I extremely doubt that is because of some contracts or problems releasing the same games in NA, I know how the business works and these games were planned from the beginning.

    I can see the reason for such a strategy is to make consumers create a European account and get a PS+ subscription there, it costs more than NA PS+ which will mean more profit for Sony, and even if an European account was created, the consumer will be forced to keep his NA PS+ subscription alive so that he will be able to continue playing the games he had on the HDD from the NA account.

  • Smart but desperate attempt to milk the consumer out of cash, I know that Sony is going through hard times with all the losses in the last fiscal year, but this is not how you make profit, you make profit by gaining the consumer’s trust, for example, the Vita IGC made me actually go out and buy a PSVita and I have serious plans of buying a 32GB memory card to able to save all these great games (Initially I was planning to buy a Vita when the price drops), do the same with PS+ for PS3 and give us quality games and you will see your PS3 consoles flying from the shelves.

    I hope you read this care
    Sincerely,

  • Nba jam is great but still… Was expecting something better then some puzzle game for the vita :( But still this is my first week on Plus so im hoping there is more to come. 2013 is the year of the video game :P

  • Gotta love people whining about whiners, it can only get better eh.

    As for me, it remains ‘Nothing for me this week’. I tried Chronovolt thinking ‘Maybe’ but I hated it. Looking forward to January hoping my vote would change.. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  • #357,

    I’m not even referring to the polls. Just my personal thought and feelings about Plus. And frankly the “instant game collection” seems to be a way to grab new members. But really, in the long run, it offers us less, much less. Almost all the games I’ve been able to download since plus started, I can still download. Means nothing to me that they can have a few titles available most of the year now. Not to mention most were titles that many people have already. But really, it’s more about quality over quantity. We don’t want crap games that we’d look at once and delete.

    Sony, you need to get a clue about what the consumer wants. I’m not so much complaining about getting a sports game. They are few and far between and it’s a popular genre. An old one on it’s last leg is very disappointing. A PS1 sports game that doesn’t need to connect to a server would have been more appreciated.

  • Looks like another shabby update. :(

  • You know, I’ve been coming here every week hoping to see a good selection of games and yeah, it’s been a pretty disappointing month of December. However, to complain about the PS+ subscription is just ludicrous. Heck, just the fact that I got Uncharted: Golden Abyss was worth the price of membership for me.

    My one regret with the PS+ service so far was not taking advantage of the killer sale on Assassin’s Creed III. (I thought my wife might get it for me for Christmas so I couldn’t pull the trigger.)

  • This is getting old.

  • to create an EU account is quite complicated eps if u want to buy something, or getting the 30% off for the 1 year membership. Look at this way fellas, you have paid 52 bucks tax included for the entire year- Most likely you will get at least 3 games that will rock your socks off or will be a great collection for your gaming library. So basically those three titles might cost anywhere between 10-15-20 bucks – if u get 3 which are worth 20 in the current retail market that’s enough to satisfy the amount you spent.
    Personally I would prefer some ps2/ps1 classics than beat em ups > never was a fan of beat em up games – (3 button games) those games should be left for those who suck at gaming.
    But oh well, hopefully we will get much better titles in the upcoming months, keep our fingers crossed.

  • BTW morgan n co, y is bulletstorm is 8-9 bucks u can get it for 5 on amazon!!
    And dont just include one from the trilogy just included the entire trilogy. That’s y i didnt buy journey, MGS, and Shadow of C! Next time please included the entire trilogy for a decent discount.
    Btw to the lads FYI – EU members not only get’s 50% perfect off brand new games but also another 10 % off some slightly older games or even some brand new titles.

  • Morgan, Have you guys considered increasing the number of PS3 console Activations for us, the PS+ subscribers? It would be great if we could have at least 3 or 4 active per PS+ account. I got 3 myself in my home (Living room, Bedroom and the Man Cave) with one recently upgraded to 1TB HDD. Please pass this suggestion to the Sony Overlords. Thank you

  • Also noticed something, if you take a look at the EU blogs, their content managers or blog managers replies to every other messages, where as from 360 + comments morgan only takes the time to comment ONLY 6 different times. HA! there is not only a huge disparity between the contents, but also the service (as in replies)! ha!

  • Forgot to Add, on the NBA Jam servers going offline…that’s for the old Not on Fire first NBA Jam release. The on fire edition is the best edition and is quite popular. Then again, it’s EA we’re talking about here and they’re notorious for shutting down servers.

    Anyways…NBA Jam on fire edition is great game to play with your buddies on the couch/same Tv.

    My .02

  • @sincrin,

    If you are going to lie, at least try to be truthful…but since you are already lying, what’s the use I guess?

    Your claim about Bulletstorm being $5 on Amazon, is a LIE. It is $3.50 +$4.50 for S/H, AND it is a USED copy.

    This is just me, but I HATE having to buy stuff from third party vendors(since you aren’t buying it directly from Amazon) not to mention the much slower shipping times since sellers on Amazon tend to ship at the cheapest/slowest rates. No thanks, when I buy from Amazon I make sure its through Amazon Prime for quick two day shipping and EASY AS HELL returns

    I would rather buy it for $9.80, not have any risks with like scratches and be able to download it as many times as I wish than to buy it from Amazon from a third party seller…but then again, an extra $1.80 isn’t going to kill me since I’m not a cheap ***.

  • SOTC for less then $10!! heck yea finally!! been wanting this in HD but without ICO collection. wow im sooo glad i didnt get it last week

  • US team…you’re really going to need to step up your game in 2013. If you are unable to make the deals the EU team is making, you’re going to have to be a lot more transparent about the process so we at least partially understand why. As it is, it just feels like you’re more lazy or less caring about your customers. If subscriptions start dropping, I’ll guess you’ll care then but it shouldn’t come to that. Shouldn’t Christmas and end of the year deals be your best showing instead of your worst?

  • CHUNTEROSA!!!!

  • Dear Sony, its hard to argue that for PS Plus you do not receive your moneys worth however I feel that once my subscription ends I am not going to renew as PS Plus has a massive drop in quality. What makes this even worse is the disparity between Europe and NA Plus is just insulting. Europe has recently gotten titles such as Red Dead Redemption, Crysis 2, Bulletstorm, Batman Arkham City, Vanquish, Knytt Underground, Mortal Kombat Vita and in Janurary they are even getting Mortal Kombat. And since NBA Jam is replacing Bioshock 2 it means that is the Game of the Month which is shameful.

  • Lets compare December
    PS Vita
    NA- Retro City Rampage, Chronovolt (A cheap and terrible game)
    EU- Mortal Kombat, Knytt Underground, Big Sky Infinity

    PSN Games
    NA- Retro City Rampage, Anomaly Warzone
    EU- Big Sky Infinity, Knytt Underground, Limbo

    PS3 Games
    NA- Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Bioshock 2
    EU- Batman Arkham City, Vanquish

    Not only does EU Plus get BETTER games they get MORE games. Seriously SCEA make us on par with the EU because this is frankly ridiculous. I am appalled by the games we are getting in comparison to the EU and how Morgan only responds to a very select comments. And while it is overwhelmingly likely my comment will be ignored at least give a simple reason why we get crap compared to the EU. So unless the response from Morgan and the games start to get better I will not be renewing my subscription. And if you are greeted every week with such negativity and criticism you are obviously doing something wrong. :(

  • Biggest benefit to Plus by far is auto updates and cloud storage. The games lately have been very so-so.

    However, the main issue I have with Plus, or I guess the main issue for YOU all at Sony with me having Plus, is that I no longer buy any games off the PSN Store. I used to be a ridiculous impulse buyer and bought like mad even with a huge backlog. Now I have no desire to buy anything due to the very real possibility of it being a freebie very soon after.

    As far as the “Yeah but you won’t have it day one.” skwawkers, I’ve yet to play a PSN game period that was so good I couldn’t wait a month to try at a 100% discount. Thank you PS Plus for breaking my spending habit.

  • Disappointed. Week after week the games offered to US Plus subscribers just can’t match the ones offered by the European counterpart.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love Plus and I’ve already renewed my subscription until 2014, but I really wish you guys get it together and start offering AAA titles. Even if that means only having 1 retail and 1 PSN game a month, hell, even just 1 retail OR 1 PSN game… as long as it’s something that’ll really blow our minds.

    I honestly can’t imagine someone jumping in excitement over the games offered this week. Anyone?

  • next week the psvita free game should be assassin’s creed liberatioj

  • A little bit off topic , but help me , please . I still have Fifa 13 Early Release and I didn`t get the message to purchase the full game until today , so when I do that , a window from Playstation Store appears and it tells me that “is nothing to purchase at this moment”.

  • Chronovolt, just like the last week Retro is best for me, just because I’ll never buy them, so it’s a great addition for me.

    don’t worry just keep the pace you are doing good, will see until next 3 weeks later for January’s vita games.

    by the way, looking at gamefaqs list of vita games I’m getting goosebumps…
    that’s just sooooooo little of list.

  • A part of me wants to download the demo for Sound shapes and if I like it than buy it. But than another part of me is saying it might be free through plus down the road. This has happened to me before which is very upsetting I don’t to buy a game on sale now than a couple months later its free through plus.

    I would suggest discounted games are not given free later on in Plus.

  • Why is the European playstation plus so much better than the one in the United States? I tried plus when Sony started the instant game collection. In the 3 mons. that I had it the games stayed the same and didn’t change at all ,and when they did start to change it was for bad games or really old games. However in Europe their Playstation Plus is allways changing ,and their are giving good ,and fairly new games in the instant game collection. What is going on?

  • @ nolo451
    yo first off, it’s quite easy to seat behind a computer n curse someone – grow some class!
    second off, it was 5 when the holiday sales were on! when i stated that, i was asking morgan. So butt off!
    If u r that rich my goodness go for it. I was talking in behalf of those of us, who likes to get the best deal possible on okay games such as bulletstorm (doesnt require a brand new game since it isnt so great)
    I have bought plenty of games from amazon, and I never had any problems with any, and they states which one are new, and which one’s are used. They have one of the best customer service ever cant say the same for PlayStation (although they try their best, but they are usually clueless!)

    It is never a lie, it’s a statement – a lie would be – “There will great contents that will match EU’s content in the upcoming updates” > (paraphrasing) stated by our’s truly Morgan.
    At least half of us, can agree that it hasnt been matched, they did okay i guess, but nothing great, nothing to tell my XBOX friends to make them wish they had a PS3 instead of an XBOX!

    @ Rainwater indeed man! Indeed

  • @adam 1730 right on man! our comments will just be ignored, Morgan has far better things to do than comment!! And if he does, that means the world is coming to end haha!
    So watch out!!

  • @saab01 (#388) I would do it, I took the plunge and bought Sound Shapes and I must say it’s definitely worth the $7.35 price of admission. Good parts, platforming, music, and challenge all rolled into one. And just from the tutorial it looks like you can do some pretty interesting things with that create mode. I haven’t tried it on my PS3, but it does feel tailor-made for the vita

  • Why is EU PS+ better than NA? Why, why, why… Why ask why, drink Bud Dry!

    Happy New Year all you invalids

  • How about another sale on Music Unlimited 1yr subscrption??? :-)

  • Can’t you guys just admit you’re mistake and put Lumines at the price it should be? It was listed as part of the Holiday Sale and then you all removed it because you couldn’t be bothered to know the real price of the game. So let me help.

    The Price dropped permanently in retailers ages ago to $30 and most recently on PSN as well. So it is $29.99 and not $35.99 as the base price.

    So therefore the price for the sale would be:\\

    30% for everyone – $20.99

    50% for plus members – $14.99

    You guys got the 30% one right so obviously it was meant to go on sale, but someone dropped to ball and forgot to add the Plus Discount as well. Just fix it and call it even.

  • Out with 2012 so i hope this applies for the absolute crap we have been receiving in the past 3 months. You would think Sony would put a little more effort into making plus better. Seeing as it is the holiday season and with all these new PS3s/Vitas firing up you would offer something good for new subscribers. :L I will give you one small break for the first 6 vita games (the last two are sub par).

    You are probably wondering why the Europe version of plus is doing so well? I mean it couldn’t have to do with the good games or anything right? Probably a good chunk of NA ps3 owner are probably getting EU’s plus instead.

    I hate to point out the blatantly obvious stuff but there are so many other people who would kill for this job out there and would do a whole heck of a lot better.

    At this rate i foresee NA loosing more than 50% of it’s plus players. It’s very hard times for people in NA so offering crap service is not a good way of picking up any business. I much rather put the $50 for plus into games that i actually enjoy.

    So i do hope NA will step it up, if not playstation plus will fall hard. Your loyal fans will go else where and will be leery of anything like this on the next generation of playstation consoles.

  • Ah, with my Plus subscription having expired (and unable to renew it at this time due to funds), I was worried I’d miss something I really wanted. Not into sports, and I don’t have a Vita, so so far so good. XD … Watch, the rest of the month is going to have me drooling. U_U

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