many people are wondering what services and extra features premium subscribers will get. Thanks to TheSixthAxis, we finally have the details.

• Customer Service Priority Access
  Priority access to PlayStation’s customer service both online and via phone should you need technical help or have questions about your products. This feature gives you support with little to no waiting.
• Exclusive Experiences with Sony Brands
  Get member-only access to attend exclusive Sony events and experiences throughout the year, including those offered by PlayStation, Sony Pictures, and Sony Music.
• Extended Console Warranty 3 Years
  Get your PS3 warranty extended to 3 years as part of your overall subscription (requires you to keep your subscription active). The standard warranty on your PS3 is 1 year.
• Access to Beta Games
  Get access to Betas of popular games not yet released at retail (Betas offer bigger experiences than typical game demos). You will have the ability to play these games before others do.
• Early Access to All Store Content
  Get early access to select free and purchasable game related content on the PlayStation Store before it’s available to everyone else. This includes games, add-ons, themes, avatars, as well as free game demos.
• Member Demo Sharing of Full Game
  Share a level of a game that you just purchased for your PS3 with a subscriber who doesn’t own the game. Your friends could do the same. This would be an exclusive demo not available otherwise to those who haven’t purchased the game.
• Cross-game Voice Chat Access
  Get exclusive member-only access to cross-game voice chat. This is the ability to use your headset to voice chat with friends on your PS3 regardless of what they are doing on the PS3.
• Full Title Trial – 1st Hour Is Free
  Download full versions of select Blu-ray and PSN game titles and have the chance to play the entire game (single or multiplayer) for free for the first hour. After that time you will have the option of purchasing the game to continue playing.
• Token Wagering
  Get a fixed number of tokens per month you can wager with other players in competitive online games. These tokens could then be built up and redeemed for free PlayStation Network games and other content.
• User-to-user Challenges
  Unlock developer-created challenges while playing games. Compete with your friends to see who can be the first to complete these challenges. The PS3 will automatically offer and track challenges and winners and would post results. An example of a challenge is ‘first to get 10 trophies’ in a particular game.
• Free Access to PSOne Classics, PSP Minis, and PS3/PSP Themes
  Get a fixed number of PSOne Classic games, PSP Minis (bite-sized games), and PS3/PSP themes per month to keep for free for as long as you are a subscriber. The PlayStation Store offers these types of content for $2-6 each.
• Discounts on Store Content
  Get weekly member-exclusive discounts on specific games, game add-ons and themes on the PlayStation Store. Discounts may range from 20-50% off regular retail prices.
• Member Only In-game Content
  Get exclusive member-only in-game content for your PS3 or PSP such as new game play options, unlocked in-game weapons or player slots, exclusive levels, costumes/skins, and PlayStation Home spaces.
• Trophy Alerts
  Get automated alerts on your PlayStation XrossMedia Bar, PlayStation.com, and via text message (if you so choose) that alert you when your friends get any trophy or a specific one. This feature is customizable – you can choose which friends to receive alerts from and what kinds of alerts.
• Cloud Storage Space for Games
  Store your game saves on a virtual secure saver. This would allow you to access your game saves at any point in time, and from any PlayStation 3 or PSP console you are logged in on.
• Online Music Service
  Get a streaming music service that allows you to choose your channel based on music style, artist type, etc. and listen to an unlimited number of tracks. This service would be for use outside of playing a game and similar to Pandora or a Last.fm.
• Online Music Video Service
  Get a streaming music video service on your PlayStation 3 that lets you stream music videos from a continuously growing catalog of music and allows you to create a custom playlist to play back.  [Presumably an ad-free VidZone? ~Watchful]
• Automatic Downloads and Updates
  Customize the types of updates you want your PS3 to download automatically. These include game updates (patches) for games that you own, firmware updates, and game demos downloaded on your PS3 without manually having to select them and wait for them to finish downloading. Your PS3 can be set to automatically turn on for updates and turn off after completion.
• Loyalty Program Rewards
  Get rewards the longer you are a subscriber and also earn rewards by engaging with PlayStation such as buying games, downloading movies, and rating products. Rewards can include full versions of PlayStation Network games and digital movie rentals from the PlayStation Store.
• Facebook Connectivity
  Access to member-exclusive Facebook features on your PlayStation 3, such as viewing and linking your Facebook accounts with their PSN ID’s, updating your status, editing, uploading and sharing photos, and viewing photo albums of your friends on your TV.
• Catch-up TV
  Get access to popular TV shows and movies through service providers such as Hulu, simply by clicking an icon on your PS3 XrossMedia navigation bar.
• Netflix Access Without Disc
  Access the Netflix video streaming service on your PS3 without the need to insert a special disc into the drive each time to access the service. A separate Netflix subscription would also be needed to enjoy the service. Netflix offers over 17000 popular movies and TV shows for streaming on your laptop or a supported device such as a PS3.

What do you make of them?

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation Network Premium Details

Call of Duty Classic is available for download on the Playstation Network and has shot to number 1 of being the most downloaded. Check out the top 20.

01. Call of Duty Classic
02. LittleBigPlanet PSP
03. Madden NFL Arcade
04. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
05. Final Fantasy VII
06. Borderlands Zombie Island
07. Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines
08. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
09. Resident Evil 2
10. Battlefield 1943
11. Tekken 6 PSP
12. Dragon Age: Origins Warden’s Keep
13. Fat Princess
14. Dissidia: Final Fantasy
15. Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 3
16. Rock Band Nirvana Pack 2
17. Diner Dash
18. Gran Turismo PSP
19. Braid
20. Madden NFL 10 PSP

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Call of Duty Classic makes way to No.1

We all know that Playstation Network is going to have a premium service where you’ll have to pay for it. No one knows the details of how much you have to pay or what you’ll get in return but one rumour is floating around that it may favour trophy hunters.

Playstation Cloud was supposed to be a type of Trophy comparison system for the Playstation 3. While I doubt it will be under the name Playstation Cloud I do believe that this premium service will include some type of special treatment towards Trophy Hunters.

Psnathome think that the premium service will have:

• Financial rewards for Playstation Trophies
• Advanced PSN profile looks
• Advanced comparison of trophies between friends
• Playstation Trophy Leaderboards

What do you think/want to see in the premium service?

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

PSN Premium to favour trophy hunters?

The Playstation Network is apparently going to undergo some maintenance on the 10th of December 2009. According to DragonRay on the official US Playstation Forums, here’s the deal:

I sent Sony an e-mail about this and was told it’s affecting ‘a very small number of users’ and may be addressed by scheduled maintenance due dec 10 — as far as I’ve seen it’s affecting a fairly large number of users so people having this issue need to contact sony support so they realise it’s a big problem – the answer told me basically that it’s just trophies and not important enough to worry about since it doesn’t affect gameplay , and didn’t even acknowledge the part about not being able to use the color change option without trophy synch — we need to all let sony know how widespread the issue is

Are you having trophy sync issues?

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Scheduled PSN maintenance December 10th

Ever since the Playstation 3 launched with Playstation Network, overtime many people wondered if Sony will keep the service free, or bring in some sort of subscription based service. Well now it appears that Sony will indeed bring a in a premium level service and yes you will need to pay for it.

During the presentation, which emphasized Sony’s plans to make its game business profitable in the next fiscal year, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed the plans. “We will be building upon our current free [PSN] service offering with premium content and services to start the subscription model,” he told attendees.

Will we have to pay for it anyway? No, Kaz Hirai has said that the current level of service would remain gratis.

SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral, and PlayStation Network,

Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.” (Emphasis added.)

Even without subscriptions, PSN revenue is on the rise. For the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2010, Sony expects ¥50 billion ($563 million) in earnings from the service, a threefold increase from the year prior. In addition to game-related content, the PSN’s retail component–the PlayStation Store–offers video offerings, such as television shows and movies for both rental and sale.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation Network Premium officially confirmed

In Sony’s recent conference the company revealed some Playstation Network stats and said that more than 33 million users are registered to the Playstation Network as of November 16, 2009.

The PSN has been online ever since the launch of the Playstation 3 back on the 11th of November 2006. During that time Sony has expanded the Network and moved it to the PSP and the service continues to grow even stronger. Better yet, it’s still free!

• 5.4 million unique users are signed-in to PSN daily
• 1.4 million Playstation Store visits daily
• 25 Petabyte downloads monthly

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation Network figures as of Nov 16 2009

That’s right, remember the little green frog? Frogger is coming to the Playstation Store after Kondami today announced Frogger Returns.

Based on the timeless arcade game, the latest iteration of Frogger delivers the addictive dodge-and-run gameplay fans know and love on an all-new platform.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Frogger coming to PSN

If you Subscribe to Qore last week (not single episode) you will get the MAG beta test on Thursday.Sony put some things up about the rules to get the Mag Beta:

• The Qore MAG Beta offer is open to Qore subscribers only, not to single episode purchasers.
• All Beta invitations are restricted to persons 18 years and older.
• We must have your current, valid e-mail address on file.
• You must be opted in to receiving communications from PlayStation.
• Vouchers will be sent to the e-mail associated with the PSN account that purchased the Qore subscription, not to any sub-accounts

* Please allow at least 5 business days for delivery once you subscribe.

If you get the Mag beta you will be able to play it September 17 to November 8, Mondays through Fridays, 10AM – 1PM and 5-8PM Pacific.

Update: Also, if you were a private beta tester, you’ll automatically be rolled over into the Public, and you’ll be able to start playing again on the 17th. Thanks Aerofox for the Tip

Have Fun!

Source

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

QORE Subscribers to access MAG Beta Test starting Thursday

FurySevenSix Community Team Leader of the European Playstation Forums has let everyone know that there is a scheduled Playstation Network Maintenance that will take place on the 28th and 29th of July 2009.

Hey guys just a quick notice to let you know that on Tuesday 28th from 2pm to 5:30pm and on Wednesday 29th from 2pm to 6pm the PSN will be offline for scheduled maintenance. As soon as this has finished the PSN will be back online for further use.

During this time some of you might be unable to sign-in. If you are already signed in during the maintenance, some users might be signed out automatically. Any user who is signed out or unable to sign-in should be able to sign back in after approximately one minute.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

PSN Scheduled Maintenance 28th and 29th of July

More arcade classics are on the way to the Playstation Network and the latest reveal is Strikers 1945 Plus. So whats new? The Plus version will feature revamped graphics, ad-hoc cooperative mode , 6 planes and a new endless play mode.

The classic game will be published by PM Studios and will be released in July for the Playstation Portable at a price that is currently unknown.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Strikers 1945 Plus release date is July

It appears that Final Fantasy Tactics could be released on the Playstation Store after Final Fantasy VII was released. Tactics was originally released on the Playstation back in 1998 and was Square’s first entry into the land of Ivalice.

It seems that FFVII is not the only Final Fantasy game being released on the PSN, we believe many more will be released with Tactics being the next one.

Take a look at the picture above, it is the ESRB rating for the game. No word on a release date yet but be sure to check back soon.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Is Final Fantasy Tactics coming to PSN?

Sony Computer Entertainment America have revealed plans for the Playstation Network and Playstation Store. SCEA will be looking to improve the digital quality of the games that are coming soon.

New items for the PSP such as songs will be in better quality when downloaded from your PC. The Playstation Store has some great games coming out such as Fat Princess and more PSone originals are on the way.

There are currently around 200 full games and Sony plan to expand that to 300 by the end of this year.

Things are looking great for content downloaders.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Plans for Playstation Network

John Slavin, Designer, Nihilistic has spoken over on the PSBlog about a game called Zombie Apocalypse. This downloadable game from Konami will be released on the Playstation Network at some point next month.

Zombie Apocalypse is pure and gory wish fulfillment. We wanted to strip off the woes of increasingly complex modern mega-games, and retreat back into the world of dank arcades and late-night movie rentals that was our childhood in the 80’s and 90’s.

Below are the key features of the game.

• Deadly Environments
• Four Unlikely Heroes
• Zombie-Killing Arsenal
• Racking Up the Score
• 55 Days of Terror

Check out the PSblog for more info.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Zombie Apocalypse Coming to PSN

Sony showed a code in a new Playstation Home trailer that will unlock two new hats. If you use this code ‘MC56 BXBC 349K’ it will unlock the Koi Hat for guys and Shark Hat for girls.

Go over to your Playstation Network XMB, click on “Account Management” and then scroll down and click “Redeem Codes,” very easy once you know where your going.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Code for 2 Free Hats on Playstation Home

The PlayStation Network will be going under scheduled maintenance on Saturday, April 18th. The maintenance will last from 1:30AM to 7:30AM EST (5.30AM – 11.30AM UTC).

Source

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

PSN Maintenance on April 18th

Sony is trying their best to keep Playstation Network free for their userbase and the latest attempt could upset a few publishers as Sony will introduce a bandwidth fee on the Playstation Network.

So what does this mean to us? Absolutely nothing, but to publishers it could mean something. Sony will be charging publishers a bandwidth fee when PSN users download content. This fee will cost 16 cents per gigabyte downloaded, this fee does apply to free and paid content, publishers are only charged for the free stuff for the first 60 days of Network availability.

You are probably thinking that 16 cents isn’t alot but if you do the maths it can add up drastically. 1 million downloads of a 1GB demo will cost a publisher $160,000, so what will make them release a free demo on the store if they have to pay for it?

It probably doesn’t seem as bad as this, afterall the network is still free for users.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Sony to charge publishers a bandwidth fee on PSN

So the US Playstation wesbite got Playstation Network Functionality and Europe was wondering if they would get the same.

Well, we can confirm that the eu.playstation.com website has now been updated to feature PSN functionality. If you are from Europe, head over to the site, login and view your trophies etc.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Eu.playstation.com PSN functionality now available

In November PlayStation integrated your PSN ID with playstation.com. After tomorrow you will be able to track you trophies from the sites.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation.com will be viewing your trophies

Some good news. The Playstation Network has exceeded 20 million members worldwide since it launched 2 years and 3 months ago.

This number is as of February the 20th 2009 and covers 55 countries. check out the press release below.

Tokyo, February 25, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that the cumulative number of registered accounts on PlayStation®Network worldwide has exceeded 20 million as of February 20, 2009. The registered accounts on PlayStation Network reached 5million in 1 year and 2 months, 10 million in 1 year and 8 months, and exceeded 20 million in only 2 years and 3 months from the service launch on November 11, 2006*1. The number of users connected to PlayStation Network is ever growing, thus successfully building a robust network business platform.

PlayStation Network is a free to access network service for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, that has more than 70 million sell-in units*2 around the world both platforms combined. Directly accessible from PS3, PSP or PC, users are able to enjoy a broad range of on-line content and services, including on-line gaming, video chat and text messaging with other PS3 users on-line, as well as many games and video content downloadable from PlayStation®Store. Since its launch, PlayStation Network has expanded its services to over 55 countries and regions around the globe, gaining strong support from users for its breadth of entertainment content available for both PS3 and PSP systems in addition to its free to use basic features and services.

To offer more fun and excitement to users, PlayStation Network is continually enhancing gaming experience through online game features such as online battle and team play, as well as adding more and more downloadable game items. More than 600 titles incorporated with online features have been released for the PS3 system worldwide, including Resistance: Fall of ManTM, Gran TurismoTM 5 Prologue and LittleBigPlanetTM from SCE.

PlayStation Store offers more than 14,500 diverse digital content, ranging from exclusive on-line games, downloadable version of UMDTM titles, game demos and items, and titles from “Game Archive,” through which legendary and popular titles from the original PlayStation are made playable on PS3 and PSP, to more than 5,900 movies and TV episodes that are available through Video Delivery Service*3 that started in the United States in July 2008. To date, more than 380 million pieces of content*4 have been downloaded, with total sales exceeding 180 million US dollars*5, and the business scale is rapidly expanding.

PlayStation®Home launched its service in December 2008 and in less than 2 months, the number of users has exceeded 4 million. Within the ground-breaking 3D environment, users are able to meet, share gaming experiences, and enjoy communication with each other.　Collaborative initiatives with various game titles and franchises are underway to offer more new fun on games in the world of PlayStation Home as it evolve over time, adding new spaces, features and functions to create a living, growing platform for the PlayStation community

Additionally, the number of users enjoying Life with PlayStation® has now exceeded 2.6 million*6. Life with PlayStation offers users a new way to obtain information on a TV monitor in the living room by connecting it to the network via PS3. With “time” and “place” as keywords, Life with PlayStation will add more channels to enjoy content on the internet and broaden the world of entertainment beyond the realms of games that is made possible through connecting PS3’s vast computational power to the network.

SCE, along with content providers and users will continue to further expand the entertainment experiences with PS3, PSP and PlayStation Network to create a new world of computer entertainment.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation Network exceed 20 million members worldwide

Noby Noby Boy will be released on the Playstation Network today for you do purchase and download and then of course play. What is this game about?

You’ll take control of a worm thing called Boy, using the left analog stick moves the front of Boy, the right stick will control the back. Moving both ends in opposite direction, you will stretch Boy to great lengths. You will earn points by how much you stretch during gameplay.

the concept is to stretch Boy. But with that said, there are many other ways to enjoy this game and they are totally up to you. Again, that is where the difficulty of describing the game lies. This game may let you run into something totally beyond your imagination or may not at all. You may totally hate the unexpected or you may love it as I did. I hope the players can find those unexpected elements fun.

Of course, Trophies are in the game.

Below is a video if you are curious.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Noby Noby Boy coming to PSN today

There are alot of Playstation Network games being released however there are even more that we’ve never even heard of. Check out the list below.

• No Gravity
• Wheel of Fortune
• Burn Zombie Burn
• Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic
• The Punisher: No Mercy
• Bomberman Ultra
• Celfactor Ignition
• Flock
• Texas Cheat-em
• Diner Dash
• Comet Crash
• Hammer Fall
• Underfire
• Watchmen
• Worms
• Zen Pimball

The ones we’re looking forwards to are Worms and The Punisher: No Mercy.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Number of PSN games we’ve never heard of

The German USK rating board has revealed that Worms is making its way to a Playstation Store near you. Worms has already been released on the Xbox Live Arcade (since 2007) and has proved to be popular, with more than 500,000 downloads.

Is this the reason why Codemasters plan to release the game on the PSN? No one knows yet as to which version PS3 owners will be getting, but we’re guessing it will be exactly the same as the one on XBLA.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Worms coming to PSN

Alot of people were sharing their PSN accounts with others so they could download games or even trade games. Yes, this is illegal and wrong but it still happened until now.

A friend of ps3clan.nl logged into his PSN account only to find that he couldn’t play the games he downloaded of someone elses PSN account. When this user tries to launch a game a message appears stating the copyright stuff. Furthermore, according to this article, it sounds like the person that has shared the game is also having the same trouble.

All we can say is be very wary of this and stop sharing PSN games with others because this could happen to you if it hasn’t already done so.

It is clear … SONY has, after downloading to a maximum of 5 consoles apparently found something on the ‘illegal’ downloading PSN games against them.

they have found a way (the Sony employee that I spoke was’ t already have MAC addresses, etc.) to find out whether it is actually YOU PSN account / game, and not those of someone else.

Play safe.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

No more PSN account sharing

Good news for Playstation Home users and Arcade lovers because Namco is bringing it’s classics to Playstation Home. The following games are confirmed to be making their way; Xevious, Galaga, Pac-man, Digdug and Dragon Spirit.

Obviously the games will not be free, you have to buy the Namco Arcade to play them in Home. The only worry at the moment is no confirmation on an American and European release, Japan will be getting it soon.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Namco Arcade coming to Playstation Home

Just in case you missed some parts of CES 2009, heres something to refresh your mind. Below are a host of Playstation Network stats if your interested.

* All time top download – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map

o Top three downloaded TV Shows last week
+ 24 Season 7
+ Watchmen Motion Comic Season 1
+ Family Guy Season 7

Good eh? The all time top downloaded game off the store is Pain, a game which i dont have yet. Maybe one day though.

Source.

Post from TalkPlayStation.com

Playstation Network stats as of Jan 22 09