Be Excellent To Each Other

Official Sony list of current Instant Game Collection titles.

Latest service updates

Entering PS Plus in July:
3rd July: Battlefield 3 [PS3]
3rd July: Payday: The Heist [PS3]
3rd July: Saints Row the Third [PS3]
3rd July: Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus [Vita]
3rd July: Unit 13 [Vita]

Entering PS Plus in July/August:
31st July: Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS3)
31st July: Mafia 2 (PS3)
31st July: Spec Ops: The Line (PS3)
31st July: Lego Lord of the Rings (Vita)
31st July: When Vikings Attack! (Vita)


One of the nice things about games like BF3 going into Plus is you'll have a decent chance of playing it with your mates, because everyone will have it.

Overview of service

You pay a sub (£12/3mo, £40/yr) and you get access to:

• Instant Game Collection -- "free" games. These come and go from the service, each game having a window during which you can download it.
  
  • Games are for PS3, Vita, and (one day) PS4. One sub gets all of them.
  • Most games come and go on a monthly basis.
  • Some games last an entire year. The current PS3 annual titles are Little Big Planet Karting, XCOM, and Uncharted 3.
  • The games are a mixture of released-on-disc titles, typically 1-2 years old, and smaller PSN digital download titles, sometimes older but sometimes brand new. You always get one disc-type game per month, minimum, and often two or three.
  • Some of the digital games are cross-play, and work on both Vita and PS3.
  • Once you download a game, it's yours to play as long as your PS+ sub lasts -- it doesn't stop working once the window for that game closes. You can also delete them from your PS3 and download them again later.
  • Each game works on up to two PS3s or two Vitas, or two of each for cross-play games.
  • Games can be played on any account on the two consoles you download it on. If you have PS+ and your significant other doesn't, they can still play your PS+ games.
• Discounts: each month, PS+ owners get (sometimes very steep) discounts on various things in the PSN store. Often, this will be DLC for the free game.
• You also get cloud save syncing for Vita and PS3.
• The PS3 also grows an auto-update ability. It'll turn itself on overnight and download game and system patches.

FAQ

You might like the excellent PS+ FAQ on rllmuk.

Can you still play the July games once they've "left"?

If you've already 'purchased' them, then yes. They stay linked to your account until you unsubscribe from PS+.

FFS, AE made Myp come back.

I wanna PS3!

Also, if your sub lapses and then later you resubscribe, the games come back.

Ooh.

I came back because people seem to be talking about games. So.

There seem to have been new in-jokes during your absence.

So it seems Payday: The Heist is a co-op four-players-versus-computer bank robbery game. Shades of Left 4 Dead crossed with Heat. 8/10 from Eurogamer. Sounds like a good candidate for a Bezzie game?

I've never played Saints Row, so it's time to see what the fuss is about.

Yes.

It's worth mentioning that the PS store website is pretty robust now.

You can buy the free games on here and leave them in your account, ready to be downloaded at a later date.

It's worth doing as it will save space on your hard drive.

Yes, the website is a much easier way to do it than the sluggish on-console interface.

CTRL+return. You're welcome!


I always wanted to suggest trying Monaco, but kept forgetting.

I think I've played the Heist.. I didn't like it much but I might be willing for some Bezzie action.

Does anyone know if I download games on someone else's profile on my PS3, will I be able to then log out of that profile, log into my own and then play the game?

Bear in mind that the other profile isn't active on any other console at the moment as it belongs to a friends and his PS3 is broke.

Yes. Danielle plays PS+ games. They can be on up to two PS3s.

Brilliant! Thanks Doc.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus apparently has...



Which probably means it has a bunch of game-breaking shit crammed in.

Should I be getting a pS3..

Yay Myp is back!

I'm DrGlyndwr on PSN, people who don't already have me on their list.

I am SilentElk.

This is my new favourite Dimlie:

I have a 30 day free trial

VEry sneaky though as it then seems to force you into paying for two months. *dubious*

Not if you set recurring payments to off in the dashboard. It clearly tells you up front that it's going to do this as well.

Yeah, it's the telling you that it was going to do it that stopped me. Doesn't mention anything about the recurring payment option, although it does make it clear it's a 90 day subscription.

May have to read some more small print.

I'm superdupergill on psn so add me.

Has anyone played any of the games that are leaving and if so would they recommend them? Also, is saints row the third (very pleased that's coming, I was going to buy it the other day!) a coop game? Finally, are any of the coop games local coop or all online?

Motorstorm: Apocalypse is very good if you like arcade racers - a bit like Split:Second. Could be fun with Bezzies.
Thomas Was Alone is a great story-driven platform puzzler.

Grab them all! There's no penalty to doing so. You can delete them off your hard drive and download them again whenever you want, as long as your PS+ sub is still going.

@myp Motorstorm was removed last week.

None of the. Are on Gaywoods list for what's leaving! Are they all leaving as well? I agree about motorstorm though, we played it for a good few hours the other night while we appreciated a bottle of Tanqueray and it was great fun.

You don't need to actually download them, just start downloading and cancel immediately, they'll still show as "purchased".

I'm playing that on the PC at the moment and it's very charming. It's starting to get to the stage though where the challenge comes from remembering which button represents which character rather then being a test of skill/reflexes because every level changes which character is assigned to which key. Does it fare any better on a control pad?

I always purchase everything in the "Instant Game Collection" (or whatever it's called in the UK version) then cancel the download, unless I want to play it here and now. That way it should be available for as long as I have a subscription.

Crikey, this thread is moving.

I've started a FAQ and useful links in the first post.

I don't know, I'm playing it on the Vita and I'm selecting the characters using the touchscreen... although you can also cycle through them using the shoulder buttons, which I'm guessing is the same for the PS3.

Yup.

That's a pretty nice use of the Vita's touchscreen. You can cycle through the characters on the PC as well but initially it seemed faster and easier to hit the relevant button and jump right to that character; though not so much when they keeping bloody randomising it. I'll switch to the 'cycle-select' method and see if that works better once I get used to it.

I prefer the Yay thread for emotion.

Can't seem to do a background download of Uncharted 3, that's a bit shit.

I am trying to think of a clever reply, and failing. So this will have to do:

That's excellent, thanks DocG and mark! Is there anywhere I can go that has a list of available games then? Also, do I just do the same to get the vita games just now in case I crack and buy one of them as well?
Edit- I posted this immediately after my last post but only just noticed it hadn't worked so I think the question about available games has been answered!

What is the best price for a PS3? looked on Amazon and confused on the options..

The best place to do it is online via the playstation store. You can add games to your account and you don't necessarily have to download them there and then.

There's a link in the first post.

I have money in my Sony Entertainment Network wallet. (I got it from buying my phone )
Will I be able to use that to buy a subscription to PS+? Or will I have to use a bank card?

There was a image leaked about a month ago showing the June/July/August line up. It was correct for July, so August's free games should be Devil May Cry and Spec Ops:The Line for PS3. When Vikings attack for both PS3 and Vita and New Little King's Story for Vita.

It's a good job I didn't get DmC or Spec Ops a couple of months back then! PS+ rools.