Morgan Haro
Community Manager, PlayStation Digital Platforms
29Author Replies
Welcome to this week’s PlayStation Plus update, where we highlight the latest free games, discounts, and features that PS Plus members can expect in the coming week. Many have already jumped online to play Guardians of Middle Earth, which arrived free for PS Plus members last week, and this week we’re bringing you one of the bright indie stars in gaming with Closure; a PSN-exclusive that turned heads when it debuted last year. Read on and also check out some of the great discounts on amazing titles like Critter Crunch.
Don’t have PlayStation Plus? Go to the PlayStation Store on your PS3 or PS Vita or click here to get access via the Sony Entertainment Network online store.
Closure is a unique and stylistic puzzle platformer that takes the concept of light and shadow and twists it up into something never before seen. In Closure’s dark and foreboding universe, the only things that exist are what you can see. An object properly lit up is physically there, yet an object shrouded in darkness ceases to be. Experience this mind-bending puzzler free as a Plus member.
80% off for PS Plus members (Original price: $6.99; PS Plus Price: $1.40)
Developed by the geniuses at Capybara games, this award-winning, critically-acclaimed puzzle game asks players to take control of the cuddly Biggs, a loveable jungle creature with an iron-clad stomach. Biggs is in search of the jewel-rich critters that invade his habitat once a season, and using his tongue to pluck them from their vines, stuffs them into the waiting mouths of larger critters. This sets off chain reactions of bursting critters that drop the tasty jewels for Biggs to regurgitate for his hungry family. Sporting an 87 / 100 on Metacritic, with 1up.com giving it an A and praising it for its “”Beautiful visuals and inventive puzzles…worth sinking your teeth into.”, you owe it to yourself to hop on this gem for only $1.40. Plus, it has a ‘Barfing Tutorial’. I mean… c’mon, how can you pass that up?
20% off for PS Plus members (Original price: $9.99; PS Plus Price: $7.99)
This PSN re-release of the original run-and-gun shooter features cross-platform multiplayer between Vita and PS3, as well as ad-hoc/local and online co-op on respective platforms. With new content packing 30 levels of carnage, you’ll find much to love with options for original or enhanced visuals, and leaderboards for the more competitive among us. This launch week discount is exclusive for PS Plus members, so don’t miss out!
50% off for PS Plus members (Original price: $7.99; PS Plus Price: $4.00)
Another PSN gem hitting a great price for PS Plus members; Derrick the Deathfin is a fast-paced arcade action title set in a unique aquatic world made entirely out of paper & card. Rampage around the globe munching on paper creatures under the guise of avenging the death of his parents. With a unique art style that sets it apart from other games, and great gameplay to boot, check out Derrick the Deathfin for only $4.00 as a PS Plus member.
20% off for PS Plus members (Original price: $47.99; PS Plus Price: $38.39)
With the NHL season in full swing, hockey fans may want to take notice on this deal. NHL 13 accurately captures the speed, creativity, and strategy of today’s NHL with revolutionary True Performance Skating. Sync up with friends with the real-world of hockey in GM Connected, the first-ever online multiplayer dynasty mode with cooperative and Online Team Play, or relive the greatest moments from today’s NHL in NHL Moments Live. With core gameplay innovation, connected experiences, and the deepest feature set ever, NHL 13 is the definitive hockey experience. Don’t forget to also check out NHL GameCenter video app which is free to download!
What are your thoughts on this week’s update? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to use the poll links to speak your mind about what content you liked the most. If you want to see what the rest of the PlayStation community is talking about, head over to the PlayStation Community Forums in the PS Plus space to continue chatting about PS Plus, or find other great topics to contribute your thoughts to, or start one for yourself. See you in the comments!
Its sad to see how everybody is now bored of saying the same exact things every week. This is where my 50 bucks went? i have 33 games (all from plus) on my PS3 games folder and i barely play 2 of them, these kind of games suck, they dont even have plat, no nothing. Im even having more fun with my FF VII VIII and IX than with the ps3 games. Paying 50 bucks a year for content i would never play, great deal sony!
You guys should have gave the PS3 game this week because as you can see a lot of people are mad. Maybe you guys should start giving the PS3 game first instead of the PSN game i mean that is what everyone mostly looks forward to so why not go with that idea if you do not listen then you will keep pissing off the fan base just take the advice and try to do something. Hopefully the game is a good one and not a boring game *Fingers crossed*
I love this blog and look forward to it every Monday but I’m getting sooo tired of these whiners arguing every week on here. I really do hope they ban these people to make this blog what it’s suppose to be. Week after week I read the same things from people expecting to get what other regions got or are getting. They can’t seem to understand they are separate entities. Morgan, please do something to alleviate this problem. It gets old. Thanks so much for this blog and keep up the great work!
I’m OK with people leaving feedback as they see fit, as long as it’s not offensive feedback or insulting others. But the community noticing the differences between EU and NA, is I’m afraid, perfectly valid feedback; but I’m seeing what options we might have to allow those conversations to be a bit more focused in this space without taking over the comment section; know what I mean?
@301 i agree 100% why waste my money ”waiting and hoping” for decent updates, when there are other services that are worth my money!! Most of the ps plus free games are games that should be on the psn free to play page and not the ps plus page. i’d rather have one decent full game update then these weekly crap storms.
@morgan how can you say you cant give us monthly updates for upcoming games, yet eu gets FULL monthly updates a full week before the month even begins?
Meanwhile in Europe…
Sleeping Dogs
F1 Race Stars
Wipeout 2048
Lumines Electronic Symphony
Mortal Kombat
Jet Set Radio
Red Dead Redemption GOTY
Arkham City
+ all the games US has
Thanks for the answer Morgan. While we might not get that yes a Vita game is coming next week, at least I understand the reasoning behind your answers.
@MatheusRuggeri
I know it looks like the US is filled with complains, but mostly the US society is not really a kudos based society. More likely you will see the people who are really trying to let their viewpoint be seen in hopes of changing the outcome, in this case games that are offered.
Well I’m finding it harder
to be a gentleman every day
all the manners that I’ve been taught
have slowly died away
but if I held the door open for you
It would make your day
Jack White must be a playstation plus member. :-)
Nothing for me this week, 7th week in a row. Thanks again.
Thank you for that Morgan. I know I got a bit out of hand myself, but that dude has been stalking me in almost every blogpost just to harass me no matter what I was posting (positive or negative) and it just got under my skin. I noticed a few of my comments in response are gone as well and I’m glad they are.
I may not be the nicest person here, but I’m just being a critic most of the time.
If you ever notice any crazy stuff in the comments, feel free to bring it to my attention on Twitter (@morganharo) or the Blog team as well (@sidshuman, or @j00zt1n). But we’re looking at options to unify the PlayStation community between here, and the PS Forums, so we can utilize good moderation tools across the board.
And I don’t think you ever get out of hand. You believe in what you believe and state it as such, which is always great feedback for us. But as long as we’re not antagonizing one another on here, I can take the Plus critiques all day as it’s put to good use internally.
Can you comment about the likely hood that we might be additional content for plus with Themes or Avatars? Maybe not weekly, but maybe once in a while?
We’ve been doing themes and avatars once in a while; yeah. But it’s not very frequent, admittedly. But as you can imagine, it’s not the major focus from a Plus content perspective.
I think me being the last comment is a side effect from some moderating activities as that was my comment to a now removed comment.
“Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel [update] is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Hey morgan I know you guys work hard but the thing is that europe keeps getting better deals so people will complain, keep up the good work and get leverage on publishers or publish games you already own. It can be ps1 games but at least something people want like resident evil or siphon filter. Im still playing darksiders but when I finish I would like some cool games like sleeping dogs.
Morgan:
Is there anyway to switch my subscription to the EU PSN+?
If not, if i just subscribe in the EU one, do i keep the games?
If not for the above two questions, Is there a way to cancel my subscription and get refunded the remaining balance?
Thanks
Nice update. I’m still happy that I renewed my plus subscription in December. I’d still love to see Stranger’s Wrath and maybe even Okami (Highly doubtful) for free one of these days. Other then that, keep up the good work!
Please, for the sake of obstinance, do not make Sleeping Dogs our next update. It’s really mediocre at best. They took the engine from Deus Ex and made it asian.
I told sab_krit I was going to contact them about all his insults last week and was going to request they ban him if he kept it up. Guess he thought I was joking and wouldn’t do it.
Still, I’m happy they did something about it. Its like he literally gets his jollies from instigating others and does not stop, causes a ton of unnecessary replies.
Some of my comments are gone too, and I’m fine with it.
They really need to put a stop to it when anyone starts acting that way from now on, its unacceptable to constantly act the way he does.
Being that my plus subscription is up tomorrow I definitely won’t be renewing. These last few months have not been that great. If I do renew it might be just to play the games I’ve had before it started to suck. I will keep my eye out for there to be some games worthwhile though
I cannot wait to pick up Closure. It is a shame I have not seen much Critter Crunch love in the comments! I have had this gem for a while now and it is great to see such a drastic discount on it! Perhaps now there will be more people on to play multiplayer with!
@TitleOne Indeed I remember you being a target last week as well.
Anyway, I will in no way say Closure isn’t a decent game. I however do stand by the people who think quality should be close between regions. Not saying we should get the same exact games or the same monetary value in games, but bigger gaming experiences and more variety than we currently do. I understand that the indie scene and budget artsy games are robust in the PSN catalog, but we can’t go a month without getting them shoved on us.
Gamers come in all varieties yet it seems Plus panders to only those of the puzzle/indie and fighter kind. The polls a month or so back showed you that those types of games are what we want the least yet we constantly get them. Spice it up a bit is all I’m asking. Getting PSN only titles isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is when it’s the same kind of games over and over again. PS Plus should really showcase every kind of thing PSN and SCEA have to offer, and the robust amount of choices you get as a Playstation gamer. I feel currently that it doesn’t really accomplish that.
You guys should consider changing the format of information flow on the US Blog for PS+. Week after week of borderline insulting comments should be a sign. I was a firm believer in PS+ because we get good gems here and there but as many users pointed out compared to what the EU PS+ has been securing North American PS+ is starting to become to be a joke.
@Alkaiser27 It kind of is, I’m in love with platformers so this should be a no brainer for me to play, but this game is blatantly piggybacking off of Limbo’s art style just to appear artistic. I’m just not interested in one of the dozen or so monochrome ripoffs that have appeared since the success of Limbo.
We think it’s wicked awesome that PS+ offers such a wide variety of free and discounted games on such a regular basis, and can’t help but get a laugh from the just as regular complaints from whoever grumbling about the fact that the free game(s) offered at that time aren’t something they’d enjoy. It’s simple. Wait until the next update then! Furthermore, how can one know if they enjoy a game or not if they’ve never played it?
Morgan,
Thanks for taking the time to comment more and actually moderate the comments section, on a more on-topic thing though, I for one actually look forward each Monday at school to see what I’ll get on Tuesday, it’s like Monday’s the new Friday now, well somewhat. It may not seem like much but PlayStation Plus has opened a lot of doors for me that I would never have imagined, you’ve embarked my mind on some games you choose, because I probably would have never chose them myself.
I’ve been a member since day one, and I don’t plan on letting it expire anytime soon!
=)
Hahaha oh wow, I didn’t think it was possible but these updates keep getting more and more pathetic. They’re intentionally trying to piss us off, it’s the only explanation for how bad of a job SCEA is doing with PS+.
I love PS Plus and your responses to all the whining! You always hold your composure and are able to turn horrid comments with good responses. Just wanted you to know you have fans here too, not just people who can never be pleased by any of the games they receive… so thanks again! Keep it going with the sweet updates/deals!
And I miss PSOne classics in Plus! And Skyrim DLC wasn’t in the Drop yesterday and I’m getting nervous I won’t be playing some new hotness via Skyrim tomorrow! Is it still clear for take off tomorrow?
When Puddle was announced costing $2.80, but actually was costing $ 4 in Store, he do not answer me.
When Just Cause 2 be with discount and I want buy but I can not because I have in Plus, I ask 4 (FOUR) times questioning what I should do to buy and use after my subscription finish, and again he never answer me.
And now ask about what kind of game we will have here, I not recieved any answer.
I really wanted Closure a while back, can’t remember if I bought it, but glad to see it. The complete lack of respect towards community members and leaders is just atrocious, let’s stay a little classy people.
I think we should add one of, I believe Justin’s, fancy boxes reminding us what is being taken out, so anyone who forgot can get it before its gone.
I’m glad we finally had the official statement that Sony doesn’t make the full decisions on what goes in Plus, other developers have to give permission.
Not the strongest update, but not very weak. I like discounts above everything else, and Critter Crunch is definitely a must for anyone who doesn’t have it at that price, such a fun distraction.
I’m all for keeping personal insults out of the comments section, but it needs to be a 2-way street. Not gonna name names but there are certain people that come here every week just to insult and demean everyone who doesn’t like what North American PS+ is offering. The matter of the fact is that these games are not free, we are paying for a service. We have the right to complain if we feel we aren’t getting our money’s worth and/or what we were promised. Now if we were allowed to switch regions or get a refund on our remaning PS+ sub, that would be a different story. But sadly those aren’t options.
I noticed this issue on the store, and thought I’d let you fine folks know about it. Prior to the playstation store update, previews of dynamic themes were able to be viewed, but now they aren’t. The only way it seems now is to go on youtube, lol, which helps yea, but it’s just something extra to do. Unless I in fact am missing something.
DUDE I JUST CHECKED THE european ps+ and they have motorstorm apocalypse,vanquish,jet set radio vita,and sleeping dogs like wow seriously WHY DONT I WE get THOSE? if this keeps up im gonna go and switch to my european psn account serously
I keep reading these comments weekly, morgan, just wanted to say good job at weathering it like a monk on morphine.
I got that Machinarium in the sale and wanted to say it was fantastic!! I hope you guys will be looking at bringing Amanita Design’s other games to the PS3 (latest one is Botanicula).
I’m interested in closure so will be getting it for sure, but i was really dismayed with GOME last week.. i played it about 3 times, and i had to wait 20 mins to join the server each time, but the lag didn’t stop.. oh well gave it a shot, but i dont think i can play it like that. Hoping that you guys can fix us up with dead space 2 or red dead redemption some time soon!!
Its sad to see how everybody is now bored of saying the same exact things every week. This is where my 50 bucks went? i have 33 games (all from plus) on my PS3 games folder and i barely play 2 of them, these kind of games suck, they dont even have plat, no nothing. Im even having more fun with my FF VII VIII and IX than with the ps3 games. Paying 50 bucks a year for content i would never play, great deal sony!
Terrible update.
@Haro
Please, answer me this time.
I read the blog.us every week, have more persons complain about USA Plus than persons happy with it.
There any possibility for USA Plus give good games like in Eur Plus?
Ou no, they every week will recieve Gotys when we recieve $ 5 games from PSN?
I really hope one answer, we will have games like Red Dead and Sleeping Dogs or no, we never will have good games?
nothing for me this week
You guys should have gave the PS3 game this week because as you can see a lot of people are mad. Maybe you guys should start giving the PS3 game first instead of the PSN game i mean that is what everyone mostly looks forward to so why not go with that idea if you do not listen then you will keep pissing off the fan base just take the advice and try to do something. Hopefully the game is a good one and not a boring game *Fingers crossed*
I love this blog and look forward to it every Monday but I’m getting sooo tired of these whiners arguing every week on here. I really do hope they ban these people to make this blog what it’s suppose to be. Week after week I read the same things from people expecting to get what other regions got or are getting. They can’t seem to understand they are separate entities. Morgan, please do something to alleviate this problem. It gets old. Thanks so much for this blog and keep up the great work!
I’m OK with people leaving feedback as they see fit, as long as it’s not offensive feedback or insulting others. But the community noticing the differences between EU and NA, is I’m afraid, perfectly valid feedback; but I’m seeing what options we might have to allow those conversations to be a bit more focused in this space without taking over the comment section; know what I mean?