switching gears now tech giants. Sony
is leveling up, launching a new game subscription service this week in order to
compete with under industry giants and boost sales of its playstation console
but not all gamers think this is a high score joining us now is colette.
Bennett, senior reporter at the street and host of
colette and matt have entered the chat colette.
First off, tell us how Sony's service works this new service.
Well it's interesting because I think a lot of
people think that it's a new service but actually what
it is is a repackaging of a lot of
things that Sony has previously offered to its customers.
So there were two prior streaming services,
sorry not quite streaming services to prior services for games
one that was called Playstation now which basically allowed people to
access um games from past generations of Sony consoles and
then Playstation Plus which is kind of like a V.
I. P.
Program for Sony's users that would allow them to get like discounts
off games um and to get two free games a month.
So what Sony basically did is it kind of took all that and
pushed it together into a tiered plan that was a little bit different.
So as you can see there on the screen the
PS Plus Essential is what Playstation Plus used to be.
And then the other additions there are you know just kind of
giving the consumer a little bit more for each different here.
Now how is this different from Microsoft's Xbox game Pass.
Well it has one huge difference and that is that Microsoft's
game Pass gives its users access to day one release.
So if a brand new game comes out,
you can just pop 12 game pass and play it as long as it's a Microsoft, first party game.
Sony has clearly said that they will not
do that with their playstation plus memberships.
So, you know, you can't go play the, you know,
the last of us three or whatever the big new game will be, it won't be available there,
you'll still have to pay retail price for it.
So that was a big uproar in the gaming community,
the whole not being able to have day and date
games like you mentioned perhaps Horizon forbidden West in that,
in that case.
Now, Executive Jim Ryan
says he has no interest in doing this, why is he going with this strategy?
And how does it affect the gamer?
Well, the, it's difficult, I mean,
I think that my understanding of his take on the strategy uh you know,
he told game industry dot biz, you know, not yet.
Um and you know,
I kind of think that it's possible that Sony is still thinking about it,
but there are a lot of things for them to untangle if you know,
they intend to do a similar type of thing that Microsoft is doing with game past.
Um you know,
a lot of developers don't necessarily want their games
to be under the umbrella of a subscription.
They want
people to individually pay for their games and it's a complicated situation.
So I think Sony is a little hesitant to move into that area just yet.
But as you said, gamers are pretty upset that you know,
Sony is kind of repackaging the stuff that's been around more or less
for years and trying to make it look new and you know,
the netflix subscription like model is so appealing.
I mean, you know,
even for me as a gamer personally I use Game Pass and love
it and on my computer I don't even use it on my Xbox.
So like, you know,
I think that Sony is I understand that there's some trepidation but I also think that
they're kind of missing the boat and giving
Microsoft the chance to really um you know,
scoot forward here and then you know,
you just kind of blend that in with the fact that you know,
Microsoft is in the process of buying Activision Blizzard,
that's just going to kind of up their position in the gaming realm.
So yeah it's a really interesting situation to be looking at.
So I have another important question when it comes to D. L. C.
Which is downloadable content, what happened?
So if I have the subscription,
I have the game installed on my computer on my on my PS five,
I decided to purchase some DLC but then
I decided I don't want the subscription anymore?
What happens to that DLC do I just have it, but don't have the game, how does it work?
That's a really good question.
So um if and what, what I read yesterday did not necessarily clarify this,
but traditionally downloadable content is something
that is paid for per transaction.
So I don't know if Sony intends to include that in their membership,
but my guess would be no, because you know,
DLC works the same way for video games and it works for your mobile games.
So you know, the idea is that you would
own the outfit that you paid for, whatever the pluses that you paid for.
So I don't think those will be part of the subscription,
but I could possibly be wrong and maybe something that, you know,
they'll consider adding in the future.
Yeah, because I'm curious because if you buy an outfit that you can wear in the game,
but you don't have the game,
that outfit just sits in the closet and already paid for it.
So, my other question for you is
do I need a Playstation to Stream games to my Pc because one of
the big draws is the fact that there kind of pushing heavily on Pc.
Right, well, I don't think that you will, but once again,
this is something that I think we have to see a little bit more
about how this plus stuff is gonna unroll to really fully understand it,
but like for instance, now, as I mentioned a minute ago, you know,
you can just put in uh, you know, a program on your computer and you can play game pass,
you don't even have to own an Xbox.
So I think that would be a really wise move for Sony to make,
to allow people to just be able to use their computers to play playstation games,
but we'll have to wait to see them.
Actually roll out more of the service before we know for sure.
And it's interesting because on game pass for
Microsoft, you could use mouse and keyboard,
where when it comes to streaming on the pc for playstation games,
you need to use a Playstation controller, Maybe PS four
or PS five.
So if I don't own a playstation, I don't have a controller.
Can I access playstation games using mouse and keyboard,
which there's support for that seems to be
invisible. Non existent. Not sure.
Yeah, if you know, they're going to actually introduce that to with each game,
then it tells the consumer you don't even need a controller,
you just need to download the app and pay the subscription for.
My next question for you is when it comes to streaming game streaming,
how reliable is Sony's feature because I'm a founder
of stadia never had an issue with that.
I have amazon luna in the office, I've used game pads for streaming,
I used X cloud when it was in beta, so how good is Sony's streaming feature,
I mean,
I I honestly I haven't used it myself and my
own friends that stream um they don't use it,
they absolutely turn to, you know,
twitch and they stream on pcs or every once in a while max,
but I know very few people who stream using the Playstation console directly, so
okay,
I mean I'll use PS now if I'm in the
house because the wifi is good and the consoles whatever,
but when I'm out, you know, using mobile data, it's not the same.
So one of my other questions would be, who is this product for?
So if the heavy gamer knows I'm not getting day one games,
if the novice gamer in their nose, like, okay,
I need a controller at least to play and the oblivious gamer thinks that, oh,
I actually need components and I'm not gonna be able to play the latest titles.
Who is this product for?
That's a really good question. So,
you know, uh in my own, you know, social media feeds, uh you know,
I see a lot of veteran gamers and veteran game industry journalists, you know, like,
oh this is so annoying, you know,
we're gonna have to pay this price to get access
to games that we've already purchased in the past,
possibly even more than once.
Um so I think, you know, you're always gonna have those people,
but then you're gonna have other people who are like, you know,
I don't have my old consoles anymore and I
want access to these games and maybe to them,
you know 15 bucks a month is nothing, I mean right,
like you're probably paying that for, you know, not just a netflix subscription,
but who knows what other streaming services you're paying a monthly fee for.
So for them it might not be that big of a deal.
So I think it's easy to look at the gaming
community online and think oh they all hate it.
But in reality I think what you're seeing is a fairly negative vocal component
there and there's plenty of gamers who you know like I mean for instance,
I pay for Nintendo online and that allows me access to any S and S.
NeS games and and you know like I could just bust out
my old consoles but like I really don't want to do that.
So there's potentially the convenience factor I think
is one part that may pull people in.
And then also I do think that it can be
appealing as well to younger players who you know,
maybe the PS four was their first Sony system,
but they're curious about what old games are like.
So I think that also um could be a potential consumer for this new systems offerings.
And also I would say that Playstation plus has always had on its own just
a good level of popularity because they do give you two free games a month
and you do get discounts and stuff.
Do you get to keep that without the conclusion to the years forever?
Yeah. Yeah.
So I, so my understanding as far as that goes is that, you know,
that that is of course the games, you know, been out for a little while,
but I mean by a little while that could be, you know,
four months like gaming moves fast.
So uh, so so yeah, it's it's a bit that tear.
I think we'll probably still do well because it's not new.
But the other tiers, I think that's still, you know, remains to be seen.
All right, Colette. Bennett, before I let you go, 1-10, 10 being the best.
What would you rate this?
I wasn't expecting that question from a personal perspective.
Yeah, I would say maybe like it's like a six, like I I'm happy to see older,
stony games and have access to them,
but I really would have preferred to be able to stream brand new games.
There you go collect Bennett,
senior reporter at the street and host of
Colette and matt have entered the chat colette.
It's been a pleasure.
I mean, your twitch like Apollo