Okay, maybe that's pushing it a little too far.
The fact is Sony owes PlayStation 3 gamers something for all of that lost time. Even if the PlayStation Network is inherently free, you assume you'll have continuous access to it when you acquire a PS3. Free online is part of the calculation many make when they purchase a PlayStation 3, after all.
I made this argument immediately upon Sony's announcement of the Welcome Back program way back in early May, when I said that Sony wasn't doing enough. I met a strange amount of resistance from writing that piece, but I'm glad I did, because it appears that Sony was listening to my plea, and similar pleas from around the gaming sphere.
The good news is that Sony is being quite generous with its Welcome Back program. After refining and honing the original idea, Sony finally announced the details of the program yesterday. These details include two free PS3/PSN games out of a group of five, two more free PSP games out of a group of four, and other perks.
So let's run down the list of freebies and discuss them a bit, shall we?
The+Free+Games
When I took a look at the list of five free games Sony is offering to the PlayStation faithful, I was blown away. These aren't bottom-of-the-barrel choices. Rather, these are games from some of Sony's strongest development partners, including Sucker Punch, Media Molecule and Housemarque. Better yet, two of the five games are digital retail releases, meaning that they are worth quite a bit more than your standard PSN game.Do I think it would have been a better idea for Sony to put some cash into everyone's PlayStation Store wallets? I certainly do. This way, gamers could choose what games they wanted, and better yet, it would be most equitable to all of the developers who lost a boatload of money during the outage. But if Sony had to select a list of PlayStation-exclusives like they did, I'd be hard-pressed to find better games on the PSN to add.
Many of the complaints about these games stem from the fact that some already own them. Well, welcome to the club, because I own them all too. But that doesn't mean these aren't good games. In fact, they're great games, and a vast majority of PSN users won't own any of them, nonetheless all of them. Choosing any two of them will make a plethora of PlayStation 3 owners very happy, and that's what counts.
Here's what we're dealing with.
- Dead Nation (IGN Score: 7.5)
- Infamous (IGN Score: 9.2)
- LittleBigPlanet (IGN Score: 9.5)
- Super Stardust HD (IGN Score: 8.7)
- WipeOut HD + Fury (IGN Score: 9.2)
But the better news is that there are PSP games to choose from as well, and like the PSN titles, you can take any two of the games available.
- LittleBigPlanet PSP (IGN Score: 9.0)
- ModNation Racers PSP (IGN Score: 7.4)
- Pursuit Force (IGN Score: 8.4)
- Killzone Liberation (IGN Score: 9.0)
There's really nothing at all to complain about here. Moving on.
PlayStation+Plus
The editorial I wrote several weeks ago talked at length about the inherent unfairness of Sony's original PlayStation Plus reimbursement idea. Initially, Sony intended on giving everyone 30 free days of PlayStation Plus due to the outage. If the company stuck to this plan, the 24 day outage would have meant that non-PS+ subscribers would have gotten 30 free days, and PS+ subscribers would have gotten six days (due to the lost time). This isn't only unfair, but it makes zero sense.Thankfully, that's not the plan as it stands in its final form. Sony mentioned a while ago that PlayStation Plus subscriptions were frozen during PSN's downtime, meaning that no time was taken away from subscriptions during the outage. With that said, everyone that doesn't subscribe to PlayStation Plus will get 30 free days of the service. Those who are already subscribers will get 60 days free to add to the end of any given subscription time.
Is this a clever way to get people to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, thus generating some much-needed revenue? Of course it is. I said that in my previous editorial at the beginning of the month, and I stand by it.
With that said, however, the deal as it stands now is far more equitable than it was. PlayStation Plus subscribers deserve more, and they're getting more. And better yet, it's a considerable addition to the "thank you" everyone gets from the offer of up to four free games. At $49.99 a year for PlayStation Plus, two extra months amounts to $8.33 of free PlayStation Plus (though this can be adjusted up or down, depending on if you have the three-month subscription, or the special 12 + 3 month subscription).
The+Rest
There are a few other goodies worth noting (other than music-based extras that have nothing to do with the PlayStation Network). Gamers will have a selection of movies available for them to download one weekend, completely for free. In addition, for those of you that use PlayStation Home, you can expect a smorgasbord of free virtual items.These extras don't do anything for me on a personal note, but some gamers will enjoy one or both of these additions, and they serve as icing on the cake.
The+Verdict
I wasn't impressed with Sony's original roll out of the Welcome Back program any more than I was impressed with its PR handling of the outage. But now that the details have been solidified, I'm sold. I own all of the PSN games being given away, but I'm also not deluded enough to think that everyone does, and knowing that those are some great games being offered up to the masses makes me happy. If you haven't played the greats like Infamous and LittleBigPlanet, now's the time.I also took issue with the original PlayStation Plus plan, but that too has been rectified. Sony decided to treat its premium customers like premium customers. That's good news.
But the real question is, what do you think about Sony's Welcome Back program? Let us know in the comments below. And remember -- keep it civil!