They just like crack dealers... give everyone a tasty dose of multiplayer COD for free... then start bumping up the price when they know everyones hooked
I sacked paying for LIVE ages ago too, was mostly playing offline and spent more time on my PS3.
Having another monthly bill for my PS4 will please the missus no end, I'm sure... Another reason for an ear-bashing, great
Well, their supposed to be improving servers and whatnot, and the pay is actually for PSN Plus membership. I have only had this service free a few times over the last few years, but the common opinion is that it offers "WAY" more value than LIVE. You get a ton of free games every month(for all current Sony gaming systems), along with early access to new PSN games, and great sales for existing titles.
Your so right when you say it's like crack dealers :lol: I guess you can also say it's good business. Sony saw they where loosing revenue to MS due to them having LIVE, so they started the Plus service and since online was free, they needed to offer other incentives to make it worth consumers time. I think they did a great job offering tangible extras, in the absents of paying for online. Now that they have a HUGE "+" membership and everyone sings its praises, now they can make it about online as well.
If they would have just stayed the same course for the last few years, and then sprung up at E3 talking about paying for online services, they probably would have gotten kicked in the nuts like MS did, but since they spent the last few years offering a great service at comparable prices to MS, now they have won the public's confidence.
I still like owning my games, but for $5 dollars a month, it's like having a Gamefly membership(or other rental service), as it offers great titles free to download straight to your device. I can personally see the value here and why so many like it. Many users buy games, finish them within a few days, and then they trade them in or sale them for new titles. Plus membership gives you all the gaming benefits without the headaches. Good idea IMO.
Nintendo has the richest history of gaming over it's competitors, and they have no idea how to use it or profit from it. They really need new leadership, with new ideas. Can you imagine "N" offering a membership program that allowed for playing classic NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Arcade? They are so focused on trying to get games out to sale hardware, they can't see the forest for the trees. Ultimately this is why Iwata is the wrong guy to lead them in battle. He is a former programmer, and no matter how hard he try's, he can never think outside of that box.
When games take forever to release, I'm sure he's telling investors, I used to do this and you can't rush these things. I'm sure this is good, in his understanding of the creative side of things, but it's not good when this is how your making your money. A rich heritage is useless and meaningless if your company goes belly-up. Currently "N" thinks there market won't be effected when PS4/One come to retail, but they are in for a HUGE wake up call come the holidays.
Chris