PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

The new premium version of the PSN has been revealed at E3 and will known as ‘PlayStation Plus’. The new service will be launching on 29th June and will be preceded by a new firmware update to 3.4, which is rumoured to also contain cross-game chat – though that’s not certain at this point.

PlayStation Plus will cost you £39.99 for a year’s subscription and according to the official blog will come with the following features:

Games:
As a member you can expect to get your hands on at least four games a month at no extra charge.  Each month there will be a selection of one PSN game, two minis and one PS one classics available on PlayStation Store for you to download. You also get premium avatars and dynamic themes each month, many of which are exclusive to members. 

Full Game Trial:  
This premium feature gives you the chance to try PSN and Blu-ray disc titles before you buy them in a whole new way.  We are not talking normal demos of selected parts of a game here.  With Full Game Trial, you can download the full game and play it as if you owned it for approximately one hour, depending on the game, before you decide if you want to buy it or not. So you can check out the online modes, play against friends or anything else you’d normally do with a game. 

Automatic Download:
You can set your PS3 to automatically receive the latest game updates for all the games you play, PS3 system software updates and even have game demos sent directly to your PS3 without lifting a finger. Just set the time you want to receive them and your PS3 will automatically wake up and download everything, ready for when you next want to play. No more waiting to play your favourite game because there is a new patch or having to remember when the latest system software is launching, let your PS3 do the work.

Sony have also suggested that members of PlayStation Plus will also be able to get early access to demos and betas in a similar way to Xbox Live Gold customers. Even better, if you sign up before August 3rd you’ll get a free downloadable copy of LittleBigPlanet!