Take your PlayStation experience to the next level
If you own a PlayStation console you really owe it to yourself to take a look at PlayStation Plus, Sony’s premium subscription service delivering a wide range of exclusive benefits. PlayStation Plus is available to all PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita owners, and the first step to accessing the fantastic member services is registering for the PlayStation Network, or PSN as it’s commonly known. So what is PSN? Let’s explore, together!
PlayStation Network – The Ultimate Entertainment Destination
Sony’s PSN is your gateway to an extraordinary selection of video games, movies, TV, music, and apps—all available in one place. Through PSN, you can:
- Browse, watch, and purchase the latest games, as well as timeless classics, for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita in the PlayStation Store
- Rent and buy blockbuster movies, or watch hit TV shows from major networks with PlayStation Video
- Get Spotify on PlayStation Music and listen to millions as songs and playlists. You can even play some PS4 games with your own choice of music if you’d like
- Stream hundreds of P3S games to compatible devices (includes PS4, PS3, PS Vita, and PlayStation TV) with a PlayStation Now subscription, or rent games individually
If you want to explore these great services, on bestbuy.ca you’ll find PSN Cards in $50 and $20 denominations.
Once you’re a member of PSN (registration is free), you have the option of upgrading to PlayStation Plus and enjoy excellent premium benefits. Here is just some of the features you can take advantage of:
Instant Game Collection
Want free games? I mean really, who doesn’t! With a PlayStation Plus subscription, you’ll receive six free downloable video games every single month. That’s (typically) two games for PS4, two games for PS3, and two games for PS Vita. All games are downloadable for a one month period, and they are yours to play and keep for as long as you maintain your PlayStation Plus membership.
The free games Sony has given away is impressive to say the least. Last year, UK-based gaming website Push Square calculated the list of Instant Game Collection titles given out in North American exceeded $1,300 USD (over $1,550 CAD). This includes huge AAA games such as BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Crysis 3, as well as excellent indie titles like Don’t Starve, Limbo, Terraria, Fez, and Joe Danger. The amount of value represented here is unreal: at only $50 for an annual PlayStation Plus subscription, if you downloaded all six games every month you would have made your money back 30x over!
If you subscribe today, here’s the Instant Game Collection titles you can download and enjoy this month:
Exclusive Member Discounts
In addition to free games every month, all PlayStation Plus members will receive discounts up to 75% on full games, add-ons, season passes, and other digital content. These discounts change every week, so if you see a deal that interests you be sure to snag it quick. Some of the deals available this week include 30% off Grim Fandango Remastered, 20% off PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, and 30% off Q*Bert Rebooted. To find out the savings you’ll get as a PlayStation Plus user, when browsing the PlayStation Store always be sure to look for the yellow D-Pad symbol featuring PlayStation’s iconic Square/Triangle/Circle/Cross controller symbols (you can see the symbol there to the right).
Online Multiplayer and Share Play on PS4
Turn your PlayStation 4 gaming experience social with PlayStation Plus. With a membership you’ll be able to play next-gen online with all your friends, including co-operative and competitive multiplayer, and cross-platform play with supported titles. Not only that, using the Share Play feature you’ll be able to invite online friends into your play session via streaming, and can even let them take control and play your game remotely—even if they don’t have the game. Share Play is available for most PlayStation 4 games and can be used for up to one hour at a time.
Other great benefits
Want to know what else you’ll get as part of your PlayStation Plus premium subscription? Well, there’s also access to exclusive betas, demos, and full game trials (currently PS3 only, but coming soon to PS4). Your downloaded and installed video games will also automatically update while your PlayStation game console is on standby, another convenient feature. And, you’ll never have to worry about losing your game save data ever again as PlayStation Plus offers 1GB of online storage for your PS4, 1GB for PS3, and 1GB for PS Vita systems—letting you can effortlessly upload, store, and download your game save files.
Here’s a handy chart from Sony summarizing the PlayStation Plus member benefits:
Are you a PlayStation Plus member? If so, let us know in the comments what your favourite features are.
Thinking about joining PlayStation Plus for the first time? We’d love to know what benefits interests you the most!
