The Instant Game Collection offered to PlayStation Plus Members is a very compelling offer. So compelling that Even Microsoft had to adjust Xbox Live in order to offer some free games to its subscribers, but not many know that there are large differences in the games offered to PlayStation Plus members living in different regions, and those differences could even be big enough to make some reconsider the region they subscribe to, as becoming a PS Plus member in a different region is not that hard at all.
Let's take the current offer as an example, and let's see what every region gets, comparing the value of each offer to determine a victor in value.
Let us start with the North American PlayStation Plus:
|
Battlefield 3 |
$39.99 |
|
Saints Row: The Third |
$39.99 |
|
XCOM: Enemy Unknown |
$39.99 |
|
UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception |
$39.99 |
|
LittleBigPlanet Karting |
$39.99 |
|
Machinarium |
$9.99 |
|
Pinball Arcade |
$9.99 |
|
Joe Danger 2: The Movie |
$14.99 |
|
The Cave |
$14.99 |
|
Labyrinth Legends |
$9.99 |
|
Malicious |
$9.99 |
|
Knytt Underground |
$14.99 |
|
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward |
$34.99 |
|
Gods Eater Burst |
$19.99 |
|
Germinator |
$9.99 |
|
Uncharted Golden Abyss |
$35.99 |
|
Gravity Rush |
$35.99 |
|
wipEout 2048 |
$39.99 |
|
Total: |
$461.82 |
$461 is quite an amazing value, The cost of the service is $17.99 for three months and $49.99 for a year.
Now let's move on to the European PlayStation Plus:
|
Battlefield 3 |
€ 69.99 |
|
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus |
€ 34.99 |
|
Uncharted: Golden Abyss |
€ 24.99 |
|
XCOM: Enemy Unknown |
€ 39.99 |
|
LittleBigPlanet Karting |
€ 29.99 |
|
Gravity Rush |
€ 14.99 |
|
Catherine |
€ 59.99 |
|
Malicious |
€ 7.99 |
|
Unit 13 |
€ 14.99 |
|
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception |
€ 34.99 |
|
Payday: The Heist |
€ 16.99 |
|
ICO & Shadow of the Colossus HD |
€ 24.99 |
|
Demon's Souls |
€ 19.99 |
|
Saints Row: The Third |
€ 29.99 |
|
Sine Mora |
€ 9.99 |
|
Total: |
€ 434.85 |
The European PS Plus has less games, but a higher monetary value that translates to $557.96. This is mostly due to the fact that games in Europe tend to cost more, and for most gaming products publishers will simply make the equation $1 = €1, despite the fact that one Euro equates to $1.28. We do notice, though, that despite having slightly less games the European PS Plus gives more titles that cost more.
Let's add a column to the table above to display the price of the same games in the US, to be able to do a more compelling comparison.
|
Battlefield 3 |
€ 69.99 |
$39.99 |
|
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus |
€ 34.99 |
$34.99 |
|
Uncharted: Golden Abyss |
€ 24.99 |
$35.99 |
|
XCOM: Enemy Unknown |
€ 39.99 |
$39.99 |
|
LittleBigPlanet Karting |
€ 29.99 |
$39.99 |
|
Gravity Rush |
€ 14.99 |
$35.99 |
|
Catherine |
€ 59.99 |
$19.99 |
|
Malicious |
€ 7.99 |
$9.99 |
|
Unit 13 |
€ 14.99 |
$26.99 |
|
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception |
€ 34.99 |
$39.99 |
|
Payday: The Heist |
€ 16.99 |
$19.99 |
|
ICO & Shadow of the Colossus HD |
€ 24.99 |
$29.98 |
|
Demon's Souls |
€ 19.99 |
$19.99 |
|
Saints Row: The Third |
€ 29.99 |
$39.99 |
|
Sine Mora |
€ 9.99 |
$9.99 |
|
Total: |
€ 434.85 |
$443.84 |
As you can see the real value of the free games on the European Playstation Plus gets near to what the North American brothers get, but falls just short. Considering that three months of PS Plus cost European gamers €14.99 ($19.23) and a year costs a full €49.99 ($64.14), a subscription to the NA service could be seen as quite compelling for them given the higher value and lower price.
Now, let's fly to the other side of the Pacific Ocean and let's see what our Japanese friends get from their PlayStation Plus instant collection. You better prepare to do some scrolling, because the list is going to be long.
|
The House of the Dead 4 |
￥1,000 |
|
Nikoli no Puzzle V Bijutsukan |
￥500 |
|
Neutopia |
￥600 |
|
Neutopia II |
￥600 |
|
Echochrome |
￥1,800 |
|
Qruton |
￥1,000 |
|
Datura |
￥1,000 |
|
Patapon |
￥1,400 |
|
Battle Fantasia |
￥1,500 |
|
Rayman Origins |
￥2,500 |
|
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky |
￥2,940 |
|
Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward |
￥5,840 |
|
Altered Beast |
￥600 |
|
Time Travelers (PSP) |
￥4,980 |
|
Time Travelers (PS Vita) |
￥4,980 |
|
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus |
￥5,040 |
|
Malicious |
￥800 |
|
GUILTY GEAR XX ΛCORE PLUS |
￥1,200 |
|
The King of Fighters' 94 (PS3) |
￥900 |
|
The King of Fighters' 94 (PSP) |
￥700 |
|
Way of the Samurai 2 Portable |
￥3,000 |
|
Danball Senki W (PS Vita) |
￥4,480 |
|
Danball Senki W (PSP) |
￥4,480 |
|
Tokushu Hodobu |
￥5,000 |
|
World Heroes (PS3) |
￥900 |
|
World Heroes (PS Vita) |
￥700 |
|
Danball Senki Boost |
￥4,480 |
|
LocoRoco Cocoreccho |
￥800 |
|
Ape Escape SaruSaru Big Mission |
￥3,800 |
|
Lemmings |
￥800 |
|
Rayman |
￥600 |
|
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman |
￥600 |
|
Dokapon! Ikari no Tetsu Ken |
￥600 |
|
LSD |
￥600 |
|
Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kempucho |
￥600 |
|
Arc the Lad |
￥600 |
|
Shin Megami Tensei if... |
￥1,000 |
|
Ma Megamitensho Devil Children |
￥600 |
|
Touge Max 2 |
￥600 |
|
Theme Park |
￥600 |
|
Populous: The Beginning |
￥600 |
|
Theme Acquarius |
￥600 |
|
Theme Hospital |
￥600 |
|
High-octane |
￥600 |
|
Magic Carpet |
￥600 |
|
Theme Park World |
￥600 |
|
Lunatic Dawn III |
￥600 |
|
Neo Atlas |
￥600 |
|
Neo Atlas II |
￥600 |
|
Lunatic Dawn Odyssey |
￥600 |
|
Paca Paca Passion 2 |
￥600 |
|
Paca Paca Passion Special |
￥600 |
|
Shinsou Kaiten Wanwan Umi Monogatari |
￥600 |
|
Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 5 |
￥600 |
|
Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 3 |
￥600 |
|
CG Mukashi Banashi Jii-san 2-do Bikkuri |
￥600 |
|
Yaku 2: Noroi no Game |
￥600 |
|
Spectral Tower |
￥600 |
|
Spectral Force 2 |
￥600 |
|
Pocket Tuner |
￥600 |
|
Pro Mahjong PLUS |
￥600 |
|
Athena no Kateiban: Family Game |
￥600 |
|
Ide Yosuke no Mahjong Kyoshitsu |
￥600 |
|
Dezaemon Kids! |
￥600 |
|
Mesukosei no Hokago. . . Pukun Pa |
￥600 |
|
BlockKids |
￥600 |
|
Guilty Gear |
￥600 |
|
Prismaticallization |
￥600 |
|
Wizard's Harmony 2 |
￥600 |
|
Wizard's Harmony R |
￥600 |
|
Cho Aniki |
￥600 |
|
Langrisser I & II |
￥600 |
|
Langrisser IV & V FINAL EDITION |
￥600 |
|
Harmful Park |
￥600 |
|
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 1 |
￥600 |
|
Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 2 |
￥600 |
|
Ganbare Goemon |
￥600 |
|
Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu |
￥600 |
|
ZERO DIVIDE |
￥600 |
|
Project Gaiarei |
￥600 |
|
Grille Logic |
￥600 |
|
Building Crash! |
￥600 |
|
Tsuukai!! Slot Shooting |
￥600 |
|
Lunar Wing |
￥600 |
|
Thunder Force V Perfect System |
￥600 |
|
My Garden |
￥600 |
|
Kyuutenkai |
￥600 |
|
Neorude 2 |
￥600 |
|
Koutetsu Reiiki Steeldom |
￥600 |
|
Neorude 3 |
￥600 |
|
REVERTHION |
￥600 |
|
O Mise de Tenshu |
￥600 |
|
SuperLite 1500 Series Chikichiki Chi Kin |
￥600 |
|
Kamaitachi no Yoru Tokubetsu-hen |
￥600 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 15 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 32 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 35 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 33 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 39 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 48 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 55 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 56 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 57 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 60 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 63 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 65 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 70 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 69 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 71 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 82 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 91 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 88 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 95 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 97 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 98 |
￥300 |
|
Simple 1500 Series Vol. 100 |
￥300 |
|
Motteke Tamago with Ganbare! |
￥600 |
|
Super Black Bass X |
￥600 |
|
Marl Okoku no Ningyo Hime |
￥600 |
|
Marl Okoku no Ningyo Hime 2 |
￥600 |
|
Kitchen Panic |
￥600 |
|
U.P.P. |
￥600 |
|
Armored Core |
￥600 |
|
King's Field |
￥600 |
|
King's Field II |
￥600 |
|
Shadow Tower |
￥600 |
|
Armored Core Project Phantasma |
￥600 |
|
King's Field III |
￥600 |
|
Echo Night |
￥600 |
|
Armored Core Master of Arena |
￥600 |
|
Kawa no Nushi Tsuri: Hikyou o Motomete |
￥600 |
|
Gakkou wo Tsukuro!! 2 |
￥600 |
|
Brigandine Grand Edition |
￥600 |
|
Bomberman Fantasy Race |
￥600 |
|
Bomberman Land |
￥600 |
|
The Conveni 2: Zenkoku Chain Tenkai da! |
￥600 |
|
Mikagura Shojo Tanteidan |
￥600 |
|
Fire Pro Wrestling G |
￥600 |
|
Culdcept Expansion Plus |
￥600 |
|
Michinoku Hitou Koimonogatari Kai |
￥600 |
|
TILK - Aoi Umi kara Kita Shoujo |
￥600 |
|
Fuuraiki |
￥600 |
|
Minna no Golf 2 |
￥600 |
|
Mahoutsukai ni Naru Houhou |
￥600 |
|
Ganbare Morikawa Kimi 2nd Pet in TV |
￥600 |
|
XI[sai] |
￥600 |
|
Gun Parade March |
￥600 |
|
Popolocrois Story |
￥600 |
|
I.Q Final |
￥600 |
|
Kururin PA! |
￥600 |
|
Valken 2 |
￥600 |
|
MigiHidari (U-SA) |
￥600 |
|
ZEUS Carnage Heart Second |
￥600 |
|
Total: |
￥135,920 |
While the Japanese PS Plus focuses a lot more on older and classic games, there's a lot of them. The total value is just shy of One hundred thirty-five thousands Yen, that corresponds to a whopping $1,343.30.
Now, before you run to subscribe to the Japanese PlayStation Plus (incidentally there's a 15 days free trial that you can use to try it as I explained in this post), there are a couple caveats we have to consider. Current video games cost more in Japan than in the US, due to the much higher cost of living. For instance Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus costs the equivalent of $64.14. That said, the vast majority of that immense list is made by classic games, and those tend to cost less in Japan for some reason. The usual price for a classic game in North America is $5.99. In Japan most of them cost ￥600, that equates to $5.93.
This means that the Japanese PlayStation Plus undoubtedly offers a much higher monetary value in free games. What's even more amazing is that the subscription does not cost more, but less. Three months are priced the equivalent of $14.82, and a full year is $49.41.
With that kind of numbers, it seems to be rather uncharitable to include the free games offered by Xbox Live in the comparison, as it offers only one free game at any given time, one every half a month, and the promotion just started, but it does have to compete in the same market with PlayStation Plus, so it's only fair to compare what we get. The upside is that subscribers get to keep the games even when their subscription ends, while PlayStation Plus members retain their free games but can play them only while their subscription is active.
So far Xbox Live gave us Fable III ($19.99) and Defense Grid the Awakening ($9.99). On July the 16th we're going to get Assassin's Creed II ($19.99). While the ability to keep them even when our subscription expires is interesting, they're either very deep into the back catalogue or quite cheap Xbox Live Arcade games, making the offer extremely uncompelling compared to what we get with PlayStation Plus in any region. Let's not even talk about the Japanese PS Plus, because we're simply in a different order of magnitude here.
Of course we have to consider the quality of the Xbox Live service into the equation, but the fact that Microsoft started to offer free games as well shows quite clearly that they aren't too confident in that alone. It's definitely less objectively quantifiable than free games, so you'll have to assign it your own personal value.
Unfortunately to truly enjoy the Japanese instant game collection you need to be able to understand Japanese, but not considering that factor, the PlayStation Plus offer from the archipelago of the rising sun is the clear victor between all the services mentioned, and not by a small amount.
Now imagine how compelling PlayStation Plus would be if Sony offered the same value in North America and Europe as well. You can bet that it'd silence most of the remaining complaints about having to pay to play online. If the Japanese consumer electronics giant wants to deal a crippling blow to the competition, this may be a viable route to pursue. After all, if they can do it in Japan, why not everywhere?