Gordon m not sure I’d describe PS+ as “deeply unappealing” at this point.
That’s fair. Although to me the top tier isn’t in the slightest attractive. But yes, mid tier I will probably get. I just can’t get my head around paying for demos, and I worry that the concept is being normalised now. I also think it’s, at best, the height of cheek to demand that developers produce content for that tier even if it turns out to be relatively low effort.
There’s also a price/market manipulation issue here that needs watching, in that this might force some developers to drop under Sony’s new price limbo bar.
That seems like it would be really hypocritical of them given that they argue that their own games should be over double that asking price, apparently stuffed with MTX and shouldn’t be a part of their own subscription service.
I’m just getting tired of seeing Sony go down a path I don’t particularly like the look of and this is another small step in that direction. It’s a far cry from the “This is how you share games on ps4” video from all those years ago.
I’ve got to say, I’m finding Steam a breath of fresh air amidst all this. I’ve not spent anywhere near the amount of time in PC gaming that I have in consoles (and specifically Sony systems) and while I think Steam and Valve have their own issues that I wish they’d address re: the kind of content they’re willing to sell (they do give me fairly granular filters for what I don’t want to see though), the entire system is ridiculously customer focused.
A small example of this would be the fact that on the Deck OS the store is third on the list compared to being the thing that’s in focus when you boot up a ps5.
Everything in the home page is primarily about games I already own, then what my friends are doing, and then even in recommended section the first thing it does is recommend games from my existing library.
Only then, below that does it start showing me anything with a price and even that is simply games on my wish list that have been discounted.
It’s quite a stark comparison.