July 30th, 2017
The price isn’t right…
I can be a miserable sod sometimes, I’m the first to admit it. But, my argument is, people shouldn’t give me things to be miserable about. If practices in the industry were favourable then I wouldn’t need to be so cynical or even write these entries. Alas, I think I might have enough to keep me going for some time just yet. Batten down the hatches, Sony, you’re next.
Twitter is predominantly my main source of news and developments these days. I can have a quick scroll through my feed on my lunch break and see what’s happening in the world. I had to stop and double-take when I saw the shocking announcement that Sony were increasing the price of their Plus subscription service though.
I couldn’t be seeing this right surely? A price increase for a service that’s about as stable as a house of cards built on jelly? Surely not. And even if this was right, there must be some benefit and persuasive argument to justify this? Oh, how wrong I was…
Before we wade any deeper, let’s get one thing straight; I love my PS4 and Sony. The PS1 was my first console and I didn’t wholeheartedly adopt the Xbox One until way into its tenure. So no, I’m not biased or a Microsoft ‘Fan Boy’ (I hate that term), I just love games and the industry I’m part of. So when I see something I don’t like, I won’t let my opinion go unheard.
Anyhow, I digress somewhat, and come back to my point; where’s the value for money here? A charge of some variety is acceptable and to be expected to cover running costs but surely this would be best kept in line with Xbox Live? From what I can see, pre-increase, both Microsoft and Sony offer a decent deal with free games and discounts on a monthly basis. A £10 increase just seems unnecessary, even greedy to me, given Sony’s recent history with the PSN and how often it goes offline.
If this extra money goes towards better servers and improved stability then maybe this is worth it, but an added incentive wouldn’t go amiss. Truth be told, the Xbox is my go-to platform for online gaming as most of my friends game there already. I have less reason to change that now when it’s cheaper and more reliable. I just hope that Microsoft stick to their guns and keep their pricing as it is…
As for Nintendo, the less said about their latest foray into the world of online gaming the better. I hope this is something which they work upon as the Switch has so much potential. Using a companion app to enable party chat? Who on Earth thought that was a good idea is beyond me.
For now, I’m keeping my money in my wallet.
The Cynical Gamer