Sony finally announced its plans for revamped PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now memberships this week after numerous rumors and speculations hinted at what the result might look like. We now know PlayStation Plus will soon consist of three different tiers with the higher two options including the benefits of PlayStation Now, too, as two-in-one deals. Some notable absences have been noticed by PlayStation fans, however, with the PlayStation Now-type benefits still leaving out native support for PlayStation 3 games and no mention of the PlayStation Vita anywhere to be found within PlayStation’s announcement.
The PlayStation 3 catalog is a part of the new PlayStation Plus Premium subscription โ the highest tier of the new PlayStation Plus options โ but not in a way that people had hoped for. Sony said PlayStation Plus Premium will have “PS3 games available via cloud streaming” which means that you won’t be able to download them like you will the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable games included in that tier.
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It makes sense that the most expensive option would include the greatest generational variety of games, so that’s not the issue people have with the new service. The issue rests with the fact that the PlayStation 3 games still won’t be downloadable which means you’re totally dependent on your Internet connection to play them. Streaming games vs. downloading them has been an issue with PlayStation Now since its inception, and though the issue’s gotten better over time, it’s still a sore spot for those who remember fondly the PlayStation 3 era.
You don’t have to go far to see the grievances with this PlayStation 3 support either with people already in the comments of that very announcement post talking about the absence of native support. Some proposed “solutions” or talked about outside emulation efforts centered around PlayStation 3 titles, but many just wished that the situation would’ve been handled differently.
Also mentioned within those comments and elsewhere after the announcement is the snubbing of the PS Vita which is mentioned nowhere in the PlayStation Blog post. That makes a bit more sense given the lack of support or even acknowledgement for Vita systems over the years, but it was noticed regardless by those who still hold their handheld consoles in high regard.
PlayStation’s new PlayStation Plus membership options will launch in June, so look for more information about them including lists of available games between now and then.
New memberships aside, those who subscribe to even the basic PlayStation Plus tier will still get free games every month. The new ones for April were just recently revealed, too.
