Playstation Now – Sony’s game streaming service goes live today

The subscription service is currently available on PS4 across North America with two subscription plans.

Playstation Now offers over 100 PS3 games (with so many more on the way) with two types of plans that are being offered: one month for $19.99 or a three-month package for $44.99 (about $15 per month).

For now Playstation Plus is available for PS3 and PS4 users with more devices being added later including Playstation Vita and Playstation TV. A free PlayStation Now theme is now available for PS4 users as well If you download the theme before January 31. Doing this gets you automatically entered into a drawing for a chance to win a one-year subscription to PlayStation Now.

Confused?

Don’t be, those that are still slightly confused about so many subscription services should take note that Playstation Now and Playstaion Plus are seperate services entirely.

In addition to monthly subscriptions, remember that there are also a variety of rental options available. The PS Now rental catalog already has 200+ games with games being added weekly. Most games can be rented for about $1 a day for a week, or you can choose from 4-hour, 30 day and 90 rental periods available for most games. Either you choose to rent or subscribe to get instant access to an all-you-can-play catalog of 100+ PS3 games.

Start your 7-day free trial here

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Fat Princess: Piece of Cake is now Free on PS Vita!

You can now rescue the princess on Playstation Vita, iOS and Android for Free. Fat Princess: Piece of Cake  includes a brand-new strategic match-three game.

Fat Princess:Piece of Cake has been available on iOS and Android for a while now but is now available for the PS Vita. The game has well over 55 levels which spread across 5 different landscapes. You will use your red army to attempt to smash through the Blue army with 4 different character classes to choose from. The PS Vita version also supports Trophies.

Gameplay is quite simple and easy to learn but  you’ll need to strategically upgrade your characters – the Knights attack single enemies for high damage, a Ranger whose gun can blast enemies in the front row, a Demolition specialist with bombs to stun all enemies, and a Wizard to heal your troops.

But what about the Princess?

The game isn’t called “Fat Princess” for nothing…the princess is hungry, really hungry, feed cake to the princess by matching special tiles to unleash her devastating slam attack, trigger massive combos to save the day and her Kingdom.

The mobile version offers the game for Free when you reach level 15. For this you must have an active Facebook account to receive the voucher code and you will also need a valid Sony Entertainment Network account to redeem that voucher code to download the game to your PS3 console.

Yea, but is it really free?

“Fat Princess: Piece of Cake is a free-to-play game set in an incredible universe and can be played without making in-app purchases, however some in-game items such as power-ups and character upgrades can be acquired through in-app purchases”

Atelier Ayesha Plus available now on PS Vita

Lovers of “JRPG’s” or (Japanese Role Playing Games) will be happy to know that Atelier Ayesha Plus-The Alchemist of Dusk is now available for download on the Playstation Store as of yesterday.

The game was developed by GUST, one of Koei Tecmo’s teams in Japan.

Chin Soon Sun– Community Manager, Koei Tecmo Europe had this to say;

“Atelier Ayesha Plus (or Atelier Ayesha PS3) is the first game/entry for the DUSK Trilogy (which will follow by Escha & Logy and Shallie), you will find Dusk World a little darker than Arland because the land has gone through many eras of destruction and recovery”.

“There are countless ruins to be found in this beautiful yet fleeting world”.

Atelier Ayesha Plus tells the tale of a girl, Ayesha Altugle, who after the death of her grandfather and the disappearance of her younger sister Nio, now lives alone blending healing cures to sell in her workshop. Upon a vision of Nio appearing near her empty grave, Ayesha is convinced Nio is still alive and begins her search to save her sister.

This enhanced PS Vita version will bring new features including dual audio (English and Japanese voices), new bosses, new costumes, a Hard mode, and the Album missions which unlock exclusive costumes and gameplay features and the ability to change party members at any time – As an added bonus  if you download it from January 13th to February 10th, you’ll receive Bonus costumes as a bundle.

The full download is 2.95 GB and also supports and is playable on Playstation TV.

Check the US official site to find out more information about it here: http://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/ayeshaplus

36% of US plays downloaded games

Digital distribution becoming more common, 16% of population has ditched physical media for games entirely.

Digital distribution is increasingly becoming an accepted, and in some cases demanded, way for Americans to get their games, according to NPD Group data released today from its Exploring Digital Gaming report.

Based on a recent survey of more than 6,000 people in the US ages 13 and older, the group reported that 36 percent of the US population plays downloaded games on either a computer, console, or dedicated handheld gaming device like a 3DS or PlayStation Vita. A little less than half of that group has abandoned physical media entirely, as 16 percent said they only play digitally distributed games.

As for preferences, gamers were generally split. When both physical and digital versions of a game are available for the same price, 25 percent of respondents said they would take the digital version, compared to 30 percent who would opt for the physical copy. The remaining 45 percent were unsure of their preference.

The PC is far and away the most popular platform for digital distribution, with 90 percent of the NPD’s “digital gamers” reporting that they downloaded games for the computer. On the other hand, only 28 percent of digital gamers download games for consoles. And while two-thirds of console gamers said they download titles multiple times a year, only 14 percent do so on a monthly basis.

NPD analyst Liam Callahan said the digital movement has also driven more impulse purchases.

“Most digital players, regardless of device, don’t plan their purchases,” said Callahan. “They purchase simply when they find something they like. But primary console players do have a greater tendency to purchase at or before the time of release relative to PC players. As more consumers purchase the new consoles (Xbox One, PlayStation 4), we expect to see greater digital spending from digital console gamers as consumers indicated that purchasing these consoles will most likely increase their digital spending.”

 

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Tearaway for PS Vita is $19.99 on Amazon US

Amazon has announced a reduced price for Media Molecule’s Tearaway.

For those eager to play Media Molecule’s new game Tearaway on the PS Vita but are waiting for a price reduction, well here it is.

Tearaway is $19.99 on Amazon US. You save $16.00, a (44%) savings. You will receive a code for a digital download. The size is 947Mb so make sure you have enough space. If you prefer a physical copy, it is currently $39.99.

If you’re unsure about whether you should pick up the game, check out playstation Lifestyle’s review.