One of the most talked about news in the gaming world the past week had to be the hike in the PS Plus subscription prices. Existing PS Plus subscribers have long complained that paying for this “exclusivity” doesn’t live up to its hype. The reason this service is a paid one is so that Sony filters out and only puts the best games on PS Plus. Now we’re not asking for triple A titles or new releases. The game doesn’t have to graphic intensive, but at least have a good story to make the game memorable for the player.
One often wonders where the money being charged is being spent? It clearly isn’t spent in filtering out or curating games to present to the gamer. Honestly, some games look like they have been made using in-game assets on Unity and presented as an entire game. My contention is why Sony doesn’t filter out these games?
A phenomenon known as shovelware comes to mind. It is a term “that refers to software bundles noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness.” If you’ve been an android user for longer than a month, you will know that the Google Play Store is filled with applications that are virtually useless. These apps get onto people’s phone only to be uninstalled shortly after because the user usually finds another app that performs the given task better.
Then how are these apps landing up in the Play Store? Shovelware.
To simply make it look like there is a vast selection of apps for you to choose from and download with just a click of a button. Essentially putting up apps for the sake of putting them up. Kinda sounds like what the PS Plus service was doing — putting up games for the sake of putting them up.
Sony had made significant improvements regarding PS Plus services when they introduced the PS4. The servers are certainly an improvement from that of the PS3, which were known for constantly crashing. The PS Store interface is nothing spectacular but the new layout makes it easier to browse through.
So if these improvements had already been made, what exactly is Sony hiking up the prices for? Before an uproar took place online, Sony subsided prospective voices by releasing two really good games for PS4 for September. The majority of comments I read on forums seemed to focus more on the games (Lords of the Fallen and Journey) than the price hike. There were of course a few that were furious about the hike and were on the verge of cancelling their subscription. But the best comment from the lot was wwolf76’s on the Playstation Blog
I love how this chap is to the point and doesn’t have any unrealistic expectations.
However, PS Plus subscribers will now come expect a certain standard of titles each month. Well what’s really left to see now is if Sony maintains this standard of games every month till they increase the subscription charges again.
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