Sony defends free PSN games offer

By Tom Phillips Published 17 May, 2011

"Hard to offer something for everyone."

Sony has defended its "Welcome Back" offer of free games after users criticised the titles available.

SCEE Head of communications Nick Caplin responded to PlayStation Network users unhappy they already own many - or all - of the games on offer.

"We've tried really hard to put together a list of high quality BD games, rather than simply offering cheaper PSN titles," Caplin said. "The average metacritic rating for these games is over 84 per cent, so these are high quality games."

The full Welcome Back programme is Sony's compensation for gamers left stricken without PSN for 25 days.

PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable owners are each entitled to choose two games from a list of five, which includes LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, and Wipeout HD/Fury.

For those who already own or simply do not want one of the free titles, there is no option to swap for others.

"Unfortunately with a user base of 77m people, it is really hard to offer something for everyone," Caplin commented.

PSN users are also entitled to 30 days free PlayStation Plus subscription, although Plus content will then disappear afterwards.

"Unfortunately that is the way PS Plus works," Caplin explained. "But if you look at as access to a lot of free content for a month, you should have a busy month of gaming."

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (142) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • oupe #1 1 year ago

    I, for one, am a happy camper.
    Edited by oupe at 17/05/11 @ 10:39

  • emhaslam92 #2 1 year ago

    Great selection I think. Wipeout and Infamous for me. Then use my brother's PS3 to get R&C and Dead Nation. Already got LBP. Sorted.

  • LazyDan #3 1 year ago

    Unavoidable really. You offer popular games and everyone will already have them, you offer unpopular games and then you're offering unpopular games.
    Edited by LazyDan at 17/05/11 @ 10:39

  • TopKatt #4 1 year ago

    No need to defend it really, it's a pretty good offer. I like the fact that existing Plus members will get 60 free days.

  • Viktor #5 1 year ago

    I could suggest to try harder and expand the list? I already own all the games listed so this feels really stupid to me: of course I don't lose anything by not getting anything more, but it doesn't make me feel that Sony is at all sorry that I missed out on a lot of online gaming :/

  • AcidSnake #6 1 year ago

    Are they really getting flak for the selection they've put up?
    I thought it was a very decent bunch of games...And sure some might have them already, but it's still a very good move...

  • Darren #7 1 year ago

    A wider selection of titles would have been nice as I, too, have all the games on offer bar the zombie game which I wasn't interested in anyway. I appreciate that is difficult to please everyone but considering the offer is for 2 PS3 and 2 PSP titles perhaps a choice of just five is incredibly measly IMO. Why not from ten?

  • Widge #8 1 year ago

    Considering there were people who were expecting to see Uncharted 3 offered for free, no surprise there is disappointment.

  • estel #9 1 year ago

    I understand their point and how it's pretty out of the question to deal with everyone on an individual basis, but at the same time it's easy to see how those most likely to already own more than three of the titles in question might be those, on average, who use their PS3s more and were (on average) most inconvenienced by the downtime, so it's a shame that they're receiving what might be seen as 'less compensation'.

    (Disclaimer: I own 4/5)

  • fnagwaa #10 1 year ago

    It's funny that their response contains the word unfortunately twice, as if they know the offer isn't that great. Why not just offer one free download game of your choice from the entire catalogue?

    Edited by fnagwaa at 17/05/11 @ 10:54

  • nbnz #11 1 year ago

    I've got 4 of the 5 but know people with all 5. Shame selection could not be bigger but guess 3rd party content is out.

  • PearOfAnguish #12 1 year ago

    They didn't have to offer anything at all, two free games plus extra online sub time is pretty generous.

    Some people's sense of entitlement is way out of whack.

  • optimusprym8 #13 1 year ago

    I guess it'll be inFamous and Dead Nation for me although had specifically avoided DN due to the lack of online co-op. wipEout and LBP have been played to death in my house already

    Hopefully they will make the PS+ discounts wider than usual offering as everything you buy that is discounted *will* remain available to you (or at least that's what the blog says).

    Just giving everyone £50 credit would have been nicer though

  • Toothball #14 1 year ago

    Well I'm content enough with what's on offer. Quite handy they're allowing people to claim PS3 and PSP games, although reasonable since both were affected.

  • God_Octo #15 1 year ago

    Its a perfectly valid argument- with so many people, many of them incredibly - too incredibly maybe- demanding, Sony could never win. They'd either not give out enough games, or the games would suck. I have LBP and InFamous, and I'm perfectly happy. People forget that this is just a sweetener- we've got PSN back, and soon the PS Shop. Oh yeah, and Home...

  • JudasBlitzkrieg #16 1 year ago

    What they haven't cleared up is whether or not the BD games are download only or if you get the option to have them posted out to you. It's an easy way to chew up 50gb of hard disk space

  • marshaal5 #17 1 year ago

    you cant please all of the people all of the time. personally i think it is a more than generous offering for something that (despite the best efforts of the "press" to convince us otherwise) was not their fault. dont forget the free id theft insurance too.

  • abdo #18 1 year ago

    I think people should be glad they're getting anything in the first place. No online doesn't exactly render your PS3 useless, it can still play games. The ones they're offering are pretty good too. I think it's a smart move having Infamous on there, seeing as how its sequel is out this summer.

  • presh #19 1 year ago

    Just proves that gamers love to complain. These are really choice games and I'm looking forward to them - anyone that's already got them OK, but you also get the 30 days free for PSN+. So really, there's something for everyone.

  • ruslan74 #20 1 year ago

    I would have loved a Resi HD remake or Tomb Raider HD remake option. The Sony PSN offers are just too popular for nobody to at least have at least 2 games from the list.

  • joelstinton #21 1 year ago

    people complaining again? no surprise there.

  • RawNinjaKid #22 1 year ago

    With over 77 million accounts and many people having about 10 of them in different territories; I can see perfectly why the free games selection is not bigger!!

  • GreyBeard #23 1 year ago

    Proving once again, there's just no pleasing some people.

  • marshaal5 #24 1 year ago

    Perhaps they should have given us BRINK ?!?!?

  • adi7 #25 1 year ago

    Its a good choice of games over a wide range,good on yer Sony.

  • MinerWilly #26 1 year ago

    Im very happy with the selection , i dont think Sony owe me anything really as im not a member of PS+ so im more than happy to take a couple of free games off their hands ! The titles on offer are tremendous.

  • andywilkie35 #27 1 year ago

    Not entirely sure what the issue is, I think it was a good offer and much better than anyone was expecting.

  • login_name #28 1 year ago

    Great games in that list, no doubt, but they should have had a larger selection.

  • ProtoformX #29 1 year ago

    I am absolutely disgusted by this. I own all these games and I think that it's disgraceful that Sony didn't activate their psychic powers and probe the ether to find out what games I don't own and then tailor the list to my specific wants.

    (I all seriousness I don't own all these games: InFamous and Wipeout for me!)

  • TruSmiles #30 1 year ago

    I don't see why they need to defend it, it's a reasonable deal. People can be so entitled sometimes.

  • uzivatel #31 1 year ago

    @LazyDan: you could start by offering wider selection of popular games to increase the chance people dont have those ... and maybe you could throw in some games that received good reviews but did not sell all that well

    @ProtoformX: they could have used their sales numbers to realize how many people already have the games they are offering ... unless the hackers deleted those
    Edited by uzivatel at 17/05/11 @ 10:58

  • kinky_mong #32 1 year ago

    Ah gamers whinging about free stuff, my favourite facepalm topic! I thought it was a great selection and I'm having trouble narrowing the list down to two games to choose.

  • Cronan #33 1 year ago

    No, they could have made it really easy. $50 in each person's PSN account, to spend as they see fit.

  • artibeus #34 1 year ago

    Wow.. The way some people believe they should be entitled to everything, when in reality, they deserve nothing, makes me laugh. The only users that should be entitled to anything are PS+ subscribers.

    Why should someone that paid for nothing be entitled to any kind of compensation?

    This is like unemployed people believing they should be entitled to thousands of pounds of benefits, without ever actually doing anything for it.

  • xero521 #35 1 year ago

    im happy dead nation and wipeout fury! no matter wot people always moan im used to it on the comments thread i tihnk thats all gamers use it for to have a good moan!

  • Cronan #36 1 year ago

    @kinky_mong It's not free stuff, it's reimbursement for service down-time, and an apology.

  • farlander #37 1 year ago

    Instead they could have offered any single game of our choice from the PSN store. But Sony being what it is, they just give what nobody buys anymore.

    Microsoft in a similar situation (when XBL went down after COD4 launch) was a bit more forthcoming. But then again," Microsift Customer Service" is "Customer Service", while Sony Customer Service" is more like "Sony Service", if you know what I mean...

  • jonbwfc #38 1 year ago

    @Widge - yeah, but those people were idiots.

    They really couldn't win with everyone on this. As was said - they could have gone for games nobody had, but then people would just have complained they were being foisted off with crap nobody wanted. As it is they're giving away what are arguably the best first party titles available digitally (I mean, FFS, WO HD and Quest for Booty are among the best games on PS3 full stop) so I don't really see what more they could do.
    Maybe they could have figured it out a different way - given some kind of 'smart voucher' that would allow you do download any two first party titles but, realistically, what else would people have gone for? The only ones I can think of are WarHawk and Flower.

    Jon
    Edited by jonbwfc at 17/05/11 @ 10:56

  • MaoZedong #39 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • Toothball #40 1 year ago

    @ulov3

    It seems that each region is being handled separately, so this list won't apply to your US or JP accounts. The return of the JP PSN also seems to have been delayed by intervention by the Japanese government, so you'll probably have to wait and see on that one.

    Also this only applies to Euro accounts that were active on the 20th of April, so you won't be able to claim on a new account.
    Edited by Toothball at 17/05/11 @ 10:59

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #41 1 year ago

    I understand people being annoyed that the PS3 network was down, id hate my internet to go down but what was stopping people going out and doing something else? Especially in the majority of the UK the PSN outage was during a great spell of weather. im sure theres something people could have done in this time. Sony are offing what they feel as an adequate payment. They didnt have to, but they did. If you have all the games your getting free + subs its not like your getting shit all. Alot of it is people moaning for the sake of being able to moan. Unless you have 0 friends due to your gaming habits then there was something for everyone to do in the meanwhile. Sony could have done better in the situation but theyre resolving it properly.

  • MaoZedong #42 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:40:08 17-12-2011

  • Osahi #43 1 year ago

    I own 4/5 on PS3 and 2/4 on PSP (but I've got MR on PS3), but I'm noth whining. It's a nicer offer than I'd expexted (I thought it would all be PSN titles like Pixeljunk). Would be nice though if they added a title or two, seeing the Germans get inFamous en Dead Nation swapped for Super Stardust HD and Hussle Kings because of rating issues, it shouldn't be to hard to offer 7 titles to everyone (except the poor Germans offcourse; poor fellas)

  • midnight_walker #44 1 year ago

    @ULOV3 part of the deal is that your account must have been active on April 20. So if you create an account now, no games for you!

  • FladgeMangle #45 1 year ago

    With the PS3 games, to use the vernacular, I'd say "had, wouldn't, had, would, wouldn't". Not much of an offer for me then.

    PSP is roughly the same. Shame they didn't say something along the lines of "your next two purchases off PSN will be free", then I could have bought the laughably overpriced Ace Combat for my 'go.

  • jonbwfc #46 1 year ago

    @ulov3 - nope you don't get freebies on a new EU account. To qualify, the account must have existed on the 20th April. They said so in the comments thread on the original blog post.

  • Osahi #47 1 year ago

    @Cronan: how can you reimburse something that is, well, free?

    You know, if you read the disclaimer you had to sign when signing up there is an article there that says the service could be suspended or be subject to downtimes, etc.

  • Yungstar #48 1 year ago

    as a PS3 owner who already paid for those games, i can only say "shocking" at the poor choice of games on offer.

    i also love that they are giving free PSN+ to all PSN users for a month, a very good way to entice PSN users into upgrading to +.

    so all in all, been without PSN for weeks due to Sony having such an easy system to hack. had to change my debit card due to said hack and Sony offer me 60 days of free PSN+ and some games i already own.

  • Monkeyspoon #49 1 year ago

    I think some people were stupid enough to think that Sony would give away brand new games like Socom 4 etc.

  • menage #50 1 year ago

    It's Dead nation and the Pure add on for me. The rest I own already.

    Was kinda hoping for something like Warhawk of Heavenly Sword. Just because I don't own them yet.

    But he's right. It's almost impossible to keep everybody happy.

  • irve77 #51 1 year ago

    Well i've got 2 out of those 5 ....

    couldn't give a fluff about dead nation
    quest for Booty is half a game

    think i might Trade in infamous and get it as the gift

  • MattEdWithCheese #52 1 year ago

    Whilst they are good games, less "something for everyone" more "nothing for anyone who has supported your platform to any significant degree"

    IMO should have been credit or a set number of games but then I am going to say that when Dead Nation is the only on I don't own (including the PSP games) and that alone does not even come close to the trust and respect that I've lost for Sony from the hacking situation...

  • Derblington #53 1 year ago

    "Hard to offer something for everyone."

    Is it, really? Let me have a go: Killzone 3, Uncharted 2, Little Big Planet 2, Modnation Racers & Motorstorm 3. Not only is it a better list of top (ish) exclusives that show off the platform but every one of them also contributes to the online community which they so desperately need to reinforce. Even if you own most of them already, you can't dispute their worth as excellent freebies.

  • kangarootoo #54 1 year ago

    "Some people's sense of entitlement is way out of whack"

    followed by...

    "No, they could have made it really easy. $50 in each person's PSN account, to spend as they see fit."

    followed by...

    "$50 * 77m accounts = $3.8bn"

    Priceless.

  • minimong #55 1 year ago

    Im happy.Thanks sony.

  • BumpnBumper #56 1 year ago

    I think that sony forgot's psn plus users because, we only can choose 3 from the list since psn plus already offered lbp and wipeout hd, no doubt about the quality of those titles.

  • coolbritannia #57 1 year ago

    Stop whinging. You got compensation directly proportional to how much Sony values you as a customer.

    They couldn't give a toss about your region, didn't give a toss about your data, and don't give a toss if you've been good boys and girls and bought these old games before.

    With PSN, you get what you pay for. Peace.

  • rossmof #58 1 year ago

    I think the selection is ok, not great, but they had to appeal to quite a wide audience. Dead nation and Fury for me as I've completed LBP and inFamous. Have to admit that I was kind of hoping for Warhawk. Might have to buy it instead, is it still busy enough?

  • Widge #59 1 year ago

    RE: not giving away recent games, directed at a list including this years titles. This comment pretty much sums it up:

    "They aren't going to be giving away copies of GT5 or Killzone 3 as it would seriously impact sales when they've lost enough money already."

  • kosigan #60 1 year ago

    This was always going to be a problem. If they're games you're interested in, you've most likely got them already. If they're games you're not interested in... you're not interested in them, so you won't want them. It's not going to be possible to please everybody. I'd prefer the "credit my account with some money" option, but that would work out to be very expensive to Sony - particularly as there are a lot more accounts than there are users. I've got 3, for example, but I wouldn't expect to get 3 lots of freebies.

  • Ferral #61 1 year ago

    I think part of this comes down to sequels.

    LBP has a sequel out now, Infamous has a sequel due and Ratchet & Clank is ongoing and has been for a good few year now. So offering these titles paves the way for more sales in the long run.

    In all fairness Sony didnt have to offer us anything. Their online functionality is free, we get it as part of the PS package unlike Xbox. I am thankful that have made a gesture when in reality they didnt have to do anything for us.

    I can understand it being frustrating for some people if they own the games already, but like I said in the other thread. Grab the 2 you enjoy the most and trade the disc versions in. ASDA are giving decent trade in amounts at the moment, minimum £5 for really old games so its not to shabby.

  • farlander #62 1 year ago

    It seems that most people have forgotten what this is all about: it's not about PSN being down, it's about customer data being stolen. Potentially - credit cards too. So THAT is a major issue, not the fact that PSN was down for a month. So offering a few games well past their "best used before" date does indeed seem like a slap in the face.

  • GamesConnoisseur #63 1 year ago

    Still would be interesting to know what proportion of PSN owners who got all or 4 out of five and get wasted offer compared to chuffed gamers.

    In a way you are rewarded the most if you have least supported Sony.

    I would add in £5 vouncher as an option so would be meaningful to everyone rather than some feeling left out.

  • stegabba #64 1 year ago

    i have infamous and lbp so i guess ill get wipeout rachet and clank or dead nation lol then go onto my u.s account and get stardust :)

  • Valland #65 1 year ago

    pfft, PSN Plus is crap.

  • Mister-Wario #66 1 year ago

    I admittedly own many of these titles, but I think it's good they've offered these experiences rather than smaller games. Heck, there's going to be someone out there who doesn't own these. And I'm very happy to get Wipeout and Dead Nation for free.

  • munki83 #67 1 year ago

    I feel sorry for the people who own all the titles as they are getting nothing for the downtime apart from some free psn+ time. Personaly I mite not bother with any of the games. I have access to 3 of the games if I really want to play them. Its nice of Sony to offer me the option of these games but I'm going to decline them so that I can play the games I've paid for like The Witcher 2 and LA Noir on Friday.

  • Goodfella #68 1 year ago

    In a way you are rewarded the most if you have least supported Sony.

    That there is the problem, life is unfair.

  • JBlokeUK #69 1 year ago

    Sony have nothing to defend here. It's a great list but if people have all the games on offer, well tough.

    Besides, if you already have InFamous and LBP, then trade them in for something else then just download the freebies.

  • Cheesecake_89 #70 1 year ago

    Talk about kicking someone while they are down! The selection of games is fine. They are doing a good job of rectifying the situation

  • Goodfella #71 1 year ago

    Besides, if you already have InFamous and LBP, then trade them in for something else then just download the freebies.

    I think you'd be lucky to a couple of pounds each trade in value.

  • CallousB #72 1 year ago

    I'm not bothered personally...

    ...but there's really not anything stopping Sony offering a choice of ANY first party game. It's not like they have to restrict it to a choice of 5.

  • RodHull #73 1 year ago

    If people expected the likes of Killzone 3 they really only have their own high expectations to blame. Personally, I think it's a good selection that nearly makes up for the unfettered shambles that was masquerading as PSN "security".

  • vizzini #74 1 year ago

    The games on list seem like a good selection imo; and even the one I own on disc(infamous) I'd consider getting as a double dip, just to have the convenience of having it juke-boxed for faster/quiet loading.

    Like others, I've only got the one PSN account shared between a Slim & PSP (Go); but won't be too disappointed if it is two games between them, getting retail titles for free is most definitely “better than a poke in the eye with a stick”.

    My PSP options are more limited; Killzone liberation, Modnation, but could take any on PS3, so it will be a tough decision.

    I really want more Modnation, so the PSP version is definitely a first pick; but I'm hoping the controls have been patched since the PSP demo. The game looks great, is fast and smooth, but drifting is completely broken and nothing like the awesomeness of the PS3 version sadly.

    I really wanted to buy it at launch on PSP; but even tethering a ds3 pad to my PSP Go still couldn't fix the broken drifting in the demo. At least this way I can get it for free to play the game without drifting, and hope for a fix when/if they do a PSP or NGP sequel.

  • chessboxer #75 1 year ago

    Where did the common sense gofor those expecting 3rd party titles to have been offered?

    Publishers wouldn't appreciate Sony giving their games away for free, taking away their profits, especially after several publishers/devs recent comments about how much the PSN downtime was costing them (or did some on here conveniently forget posting in that thread taking shots at Sony).

    There would be a headline story (and probably a few detailed articles) about how Sony is now stealing from other companies, followed by pages of people on here lambasting Sony for theft.

  • Gambit1977 #76 1 year ago

    It's a shame they will always have the whiners and moaners, I've got most of them but I'm glad they actually tried :)

  • jonsaan #77 1 year ago

    Why not just credit our accounts and let us pick what we want? As usual, the loyal users suffer as we own most of this old content already.

  • dahsif #78 1 year ago

    The only one I don't already have is inFamous and i don't want it. Am I being left behind because I buy your games Sony ?
    Very clever.

  • kingcrowbar #79 1 year ago

    The annoying thing as a PS+ subscriber is not so much the limited selection, but the fact that most of these have been given away previously or timed exclusives with discounts.

    LBP was free for people signing up for a year in July.
    Ratchet and Clank was free for people signing up for a year in September.
    Wipeout HD "free" for PS+ in July.
    Dead Nation had PS+ day one 20% discount.

    So the only thing not offered to PS+ subscribers previously would be Infamous and the Wipeout dlc.
    Edited by kingcrowbar at 17/05/11 @ 11:54

  • Zombie-Hamster #80 1 year ago

    This is great for me, I've wanted Wipeout HD/Fury for ages but never got round to buying it! I've got LBP but none of the other either.

    Also just got a £20 PSN card waiting to be used so I'll be making the most of that during my free PS+ subscription :-D

  • OrangesJoel #81 1 year ago

    The reasoning behind the selections is quite plainly their popularity means that a large portion of the userbase won't be able to take advantage of the offer, which is pretty much to be expected considering how much the downtime will have cost the company ALREADY in lost sales - they're not likely to wilfully lose too many more - but I don't think this was entirely unavoidable. One means of offering something for everyone, for example, would be to stick a small sum of money in everyone's PSN wallet (it wouldn't have to be equivalent in value to two of those games thereby saving Sony the lost revenue they're saving here), so ensuring that all users get some sort of appeasement. It is rather sad that, with this set of measures, the PSN's most dedicated customers get shafted the hardest.

    If you're not interested in games on that list other than ones of which you already own BOXED versions, though, I'd advise trading them in and getting this free copy anyway. Little bit of free cash.
    Edited by OrangesJoel at 17/05/11 @ 11:58

  • silversun #82 1 year ago

    I for one am impressed they are doing this for ps3 owners, im really impressed to be honest that they willing to give these games away, i know they screwed up with our info but it is a really good offer of goodwill what they are doing.

    Now i just need to decide if i want buy psn cards or if i will keep my card details on ps3.

    Problem is i cant find many psn cards atm and they more expensive at other sources , but i think i would prefere to use psn cards in future for a number of different reasons.
    Edited by silversun at 17/05/11 @ 12:00

  • midnight_walker #83 1 year ago

    the loyal users suffer as we own most of this old content already.

    I fail to see how you can call this 'suffering'.

  • cpj218 #84 1 year ago

    I'm sorry but surely a voucher for PSN would of been simpler, those of us who play lots of games are screwed as we already have these, I suppose I will get a bit of money trading in if they give us disc copies, but seriously why not any current top ten game, a PSN voucher or a choice of games coming this year so nobody could have them yet.

    I wasnt bothered about the PSN outage Sony have every right to suspend or even stop PSN, it's free and thems the T&Cs but they have taken liberties with personal data and have come close to, if not have, contravened the data protection act and we all just roll over and say thanks sony when they throws us a couple of old platinum games. Couldn't this set a worrying precedent? Sorry we lost all your personal details because we didnt bother encrypting them, here have something you dont want or need and shut up.

    I own 4/5 on both PSP and PS3 lists btw
    Edited by cpj218 at 17/05/11 @ 12:12

  • Zozzilla #85 1 year ago

    I thought it was a good selection, since if they'd just taken the easy option and credited everyone's wallet with, say...£25, you can't really get much with that. Certainly not a full PS3 game.

  • Biker_Bob_1971 #86 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 16:59:10 06-02-2012

  • irve77 #87 1 year ago

    If they are saying it's hard to keep 77m people happy why only give and option of 5 games. Why not say you can have 2 free games out of 10 ?

    seems to me that it's ended up a pretty average choice of 5 games as it's 3 good offers and 2 sub par ( R&C + Dead nation )

    If you don't own infamous , LBP or Wipeout and your not happy with this offer there is something wrong with you !

    if you own all three not so much

    I was thinking it would be more like Fat princess and calling all cars.

  • MasterNameless #88 1 year ago

    What exactly are the advantages of PS+ anyway? Is it just getting the demos earlier? I have Xbox Live too, and get demos early through that anyway, so I really don't care for PS+ - unless it offers something more that I'm unaware of?

    And I have all 5 of these games already - it is a little frustrating and demoralising, after supporting and throwing a lot of money at Sony over the years since the PS3's release, and generally favouring the first party games (partly as I often get the online third party ones on 360 due to my friends list), basically means nothing when this compensation is concerned.

    It'd be nice if they could somehow flag the accounts that have already bought these games, or have trophies for all of them on their account, and at least offer an older game instead or something... anything really. Trading my boxed copies in and picking the Digital version instead isn't an option either, as I have the 60gb drive which is constantly full as it is - there's no way I can clear enough space to install and manage two more games. Besides, if enough people did that, the dev's would be hit by an influx of second hand copies on the market, all over the world, that would surely add up?!

    I'm not really complaining, as I have plenty of games to get on with anyway, but after reading there would be compensation, it's a little...deflating, to see it is of no use to me, and evidently, I've given them more money than most here.
    Edited by MasterNameless at 17/05/11 @ 13:50

  • Dogzilla #89 1 year ago

    How dare they offer us classic first party titles!? The nerve! I wanted some free fucking wallpapers!

  • chessboxer #90 1 year ago

    Seriously, those suggesting that Sony should credit every account, how much should they credit an account with?

    Don't just make the statement, give it face value, then multiply that amount by 77 million (the financial offer would have to be available worldwide) and ask yourself honestly if any other company in the world would give out that kind of money, especially when it doesn't have to?

  • Beano #91 1 year ago

    "pfft, PSN Plus is crap."

    What is PSN Plus?

    I know what PS+ is...

  • SeesThroughAll #92 1 year ago

    they could have used their sales numbers to realize how many people already have the games they are offering

    They did. The thing is, you are assuming that they *want* to spend money.

  • NeoKenzi #93 1 year ago

    People should just be grateful, they've shown that they care about their user base with all that's gone on. So these games are decent enough. Dead Nation and Wipeout will soon be mine!

  • glencooley #94 1 year ago

    It's clear that the hackers took all the good games and these are what Sony had left to give away.

  • Steroyd #95 1 year ago

    Hard to offer something for everyone I agree, however what are the odds of OFFERING EVERYTHING I ALREADY OWN.

    If it weren't for the PSP offers, I would have been uber pissed.

  • Kikizosan #96 1 year ago

    They could easily have offered a greater number of choices, though, from a wider range of genres, to at least make an effort to appeal to more of those 77 million people. Say, any game of your choice that's available for digital download (of a certain age or older).

    They've just wheeled out the free games you could have got when signing up to Plus, haven't they. I know LBP was an early one, and I got Quest for Booty when I signed up for Plus. Sure, it's better than nothing, but it's not good enough to convince me they couldn't have done better.

  • philreeduk #97 1 year ago

    So when can we get these?

  • Pipemould #98 1 year ago

    Should've just given everyone 'Calling All Cars', that'd learn 'em. :D

  • Beano #99 1 year ago

    I already have all the games on offer so not so exiting for me - BUT they are all great games and for people who do not allready own them, it's a great deal. I expected small or poor-selling PSN games to be on offer - not major retail titles. Can't see why people are bitching about it.

    Although MAG should have been one of the titles - this would have been a great chance to show off a incredible but overlooked online title to a huge audience.

  • razzastuta #100 1 year ago

    I've only played and completed InFamous on PS3, so the other choices aren't so bad - providing you've never played them before. I can see both sides of the argument. LBP doesn't really appeal to me, but I'm happy with WipeOut and Dead Nation.

    I did wonder if they would have chosen to make God of War 3 available, but nevermind.

  • rickimalone #101 1 year ago

    Little Big Plannet and Wipeout HD for me. Missed both first time round so will be taking up the offer. Thanks Sony, you're forgiven for making me cancel my debit card 2 days before the bank holiday weekend.

    (Quite clever though putting infamous on given the upcoming launch of infamous 2 - should get a few more people interested in what is an amazing game.)

    However, I would like more information about the new security measures before I start to use the PSN video services, which I generally use weekly.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #102 1 year ago

    Dogzilla
    11m ago
    How dare they offer us classic first party titles!? The nerve! I wanted some free fucking wallpapers!

    """""""
    Don't panic you get free wallpapers as part of your ps+ gift.

    I have plus already and thinks it's good they are giving away plus to everyone for a month as I am happy with it as a service.

    I'm also happy with the selection of games as they are good games from the looks of it (I own none). Although I would have preferred seeing MAG up there even though I already own MAG. I just think the online community could do with a boost of new players!

  • parablax #103 1 year ago

    I am going to have to stop reading the comments on Eurogamer, my BP can't take it - I just can't believe some people's constant whining .

  • MasterNameless #104 1 year ago

    Nevermind the earlier question of what the PS+ service provides except from early access to demos, I see from other posts. The free themes are something I suppose - but I doubt they'll have any discounted games for this first month when there will 20x the number PS+ active accounts that probably won't renew after the first free month - least of all, because that will mean re-entering new card details, which isn't going to happen.

    Still, not much reward for already having bought all the games on offer, but it is indeed better than a wet fish - assuming they don't take away the free themes when the PS+ account becomes inactive... that would be a slap in the face, with the aforementioned wet fish, that I would not appreciate! :D

  • bigtechno #105 1 year ago

    Thanks Sony for nothing!

  • ZeroAX #106 1 year ago

    How about instead offering from a bigger selection of games, like from 10 or 15 games?

  • Snufkin #107 1 year ago

    SONY OWES YOU NOTHING - please remember that before you start venting spleen over the fact that you might already own these games. So what? If you're that bothered download it and trade in your boxed copy. Fact is Sony are doing us all a FAVOUR here. Yes they should have kept our details encrypted, but as far as I can tell that is the ONLY thing they did wrong through this whole mess. Any company can get hacked, lots of companies mis-use or incorrectly store your information. How many of them are likely to give you free stuff?? Not many. You don't pay for PSN so you have no right to complain when it is down.

    I'm not a Sony fanboy but I get so angry when I see people grabbing whatever they can and moaning when life doesn't give the exactly what they want for no effort. Grow up you bunch of cry-babies.

  • gelf #108 1 year ago

    Wipeout and inFamous for me. Regretting that I never registered my PSP on PSN as I'd have liked LBP on that.

  • chibber23 #109 1 year ago

    I can't believe all the negativity on here. When the shit hit the fan over the PSN I thought we'd be offered a month of PS+ for free and that would be that - so to get free PS+ and some games is a massive bonus.

    I know some people may own all 5 options, but that was always going to be an issue, they needed to offer 1st party stuff as doing this with 3rd party content would have been a chaotic mess at their end and they seem to want to offer good, sizable games which limits their choice as most content of the size and quality we're being offered comes on disk not off the store - in my books this is pretty decent.

    Personally I dont own dead nation and Ratchet and Clank off that list and Persuit Force and Mod Nation on the PSP - I own the rest so I'm limited to those games but I'm chuffed to bits to be getting them along with PS+

    Perhaps they should also have offered Warhawk as well but other than that I'm not sure how much else they could have offered people - and lets face it, if you own all 5 of the games on the list you probably own Warhawk as well.

    If you have all the games on the list, calm down, enjoy PS+ for the month (or 60 days if youre a PS+ subscriber) and enjoy having your PS3 back online (for me it even seems a little quicker online than before though it could be my imagination).

    When XBL went down for a prolonged period MS gave away a small downloadable game that some would have already owned which at the time I thought was a pretty good apology, it's not Sony's fault the PSN was hacked - so getting anything as an apology is a bonus and we'll all get something.

  • Nylz #110 1 year ago

    It's a very good offer. Too bad I have all of the above, but like LazyDan said: "You offer popular games and everyone will already have them, you offer unpopular games and then you're offering unpopular games."

  • makeamazing #111 1 year ago

    People have no clue really dont.

    1. When play.com was hacked did anyone get anything free?
    2. When Deus Ex site was hacked and data stolen did anyone get anything for free?
    3. When Facebook was hacked and data stolen did anyone get anything for free.

    Would love to know, but in most cases when stuff like this happens people get nothing.

  • KimboDice #112 1 year ago

    I am sick and tired of people acting so fucking spoilt!! So what if the games you own are already there!! Take the copies you own and go and trade them in for another one. Thats what am doing. Cause if you carry on bitching am gonna come round and give you a slap then send you bed with no dinner you little bastard! You know who you are!!!

  • Zackv4861 #113 1 year ago

    In my opinion a good selection of games. I have Platinumed Little big planet and Infamous but for anyone who hasn't played them do so now. I'm not bitter that i have already played them. They're good games and that's the luck of the draw like Lazy Dan says and i completely agree they were never going to win. But all told good job Sony

  • KrazyFace #114 1 year ago

    Honestly, none of them are much use to me since I'm still waiting on that damn email to change my password. PSN message said on SUNDAY NIGHT that the email had been sent, after spending TWO DAYS just trying to get someone to pick up the phone from the sony helpline I was told "just wait for the email to arrive"

    So they could put L.A Noire up there for free and I'd still have nothing to celebrate with. Anyone else got this problem?

  • MasterNameless #115 1 year ago

    The compensation isn't for PSN going down, although that's part of it. It's also for to make up for Sony's imcompetence over the security fiasco; losing the credit details in the first place, but also with so many personal details that were unencrypted, being slow to update people on the scale of it all early on, being berated in pretty much all mass media around the world, etc. It's about trying to recoup customers, and to apologise and convince people to sign up their credit card details with them again.

    So, essentially, they don't care about the loyal customers like myself who bought loads of games, they just want the masses to carry on buying stuff over PSN, and by signing up again, changing their passwords, and downloading a couple of free games, the chances of them continuing to use the service then are probably a lot higher. The PS+ for a month is probably so more people have an increased likeliness of inputting their new credit card details into PSN again for the PS+ subscription, or even worse, if you have to put your credit card details in to access the free 30 days of PS+, then that's why they are offering that. They're more focussed on making their money back in the long run than being nice, it's all about showing good will and regaining public confidence, they are a business after all.

    So to all the people saying, "Sony didn't have to give away free stuff". You're wrong, they do need to give free stuff away if they want their customers to come back en masse, and continue seeing the kinds of profits they were getting before this whole fiasco began.
    Edited by MasterNameless at 17/05/11 @ 13:35

  • stepneg #116 1 year ago

    It's a token gesture at best, a few bargain bin titles that most people would have already played. Yeah they didn't have to give anyone anything but to promise something and then deliever on it so poorly what do they expect. I don't understand all the love for this 'offer' though, as if everyone shouldl be grateful to Sony for these crumbs they are giving us, yeah thanks but I'd have preffered it if they had just looked after my personal details properly in the first place.

  • Rarehunter_idol #117 1 year ago

    While i own all those PS3 games except WipeOut, i'm happy. I can just own inFamous digitally as well in case something ever happens to my disc. "But why not LBP?" I hear you ask. Why, i own LBP2 of course!

  • rprince #118 1 year ago

    It's not hard to offer something for everyone. Just let everyone have one game, of their choice from the PSN. No matter the cost. Regaining customer loyalty doesn't come cheap.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #119 1 year ago

    Just like to state again I'm incredibly happy (to balance out the negativity). I'm one of the people who feels I don't really deserve as much as they are giving back so I don't understand how anyone can be upset, well I do actually cos some people are just spoilt brats.

    That taken into account it is still difficult to understand how people can be SO traumatised even if they are spoilt as much as they are, maybe Xbots trying to stir..?

  • Atropos #120 1 year ago

    I'm happy with the selection, but it would have made more sense to offer a selection of 10 games. I suppose the problem is that some sort of complicated legal deal has to be done with the studios (regardless that they are in-house games), and that it's just too big a hassle. Still, would've bought them more goodwill, which they desperately need right now.

    Personally, I'm getting Wipeout and Dead Nation, both games I don't own, but have seriously considered at one point or another. Also love PSN+, so two months free essentially means another 12 free games for me (I think we get about 6 per month as members), as I'm not cancelling my subscription anytime soon. Sure, 80% of those free games are minis, but for me that just means I get to play some gems I wouldn't have looked twice at before...

  • miiiguel #121 1 year ago

    This thread is full of people whining about people who whines (and that makes about a 10-1 ratio).

  • Jolly_Armadillo #122 1 year ago

    "This thread is full of people whining about people who whines (and that makes about a 10-1 ratio)."

    I don't think anyone is complaining about people whining in general. People are complaining about people whining about not getting free things or they want better free things...

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #123 1 year ago

    ""No, they could have made it really easy. $50 in each person's PSN account, to spend as they see fit."

    "$50 * 77m accounts = $3.8bn.

    Let me guess, you don't run a business."

    A valid point, if Sony were sending out boxed copies, which of course they're not. The actual cost to Sony of giving someone $50 of free digital downloads = $0.

    (Okay, a few pennies on bandwidth costs, but then again they've saved plenty on those in the last few weeks...)

    Please note: I'm not complaining about the freebies or the limited selection - I'll be very happy to be picking up Wipeout and Dead Nation for nowt - just about all the idiot dicks on here whining at the whiners. The statement in question being challenged was that it was hard to cater for everyone. But the fact is, no it's not. You could cater to everyone extremely easily by bunging credits onto everyone's account that were only good for Sony-published games, and it would cost effectively nothing.

  • jonsaan #124 1 year ago

    It's a moot argument at this point anyway. The store is not back up for quite a while yet. That's if they can keep to their end of month prediction.

  • Raiten #125 1 year ago

    Well no matter the situation, like said more than few times here, people would complain no matter what was for offer.
    Sony can't offer every single ps3 game to begin with, nor psn or psp games.
    Current list consist of older releases, which makes sense when offering games for free, but even if they were to offer some newer games like, let's say LBP2, Killzone 3 or something along those lines, we'd have people crying "BUT I JUST BOUGHT IT, F*** YOU SONY! GIMMEH MAH MONIES BACK!" i bet some people would be even more upset over that.
    Offer only small psn games, and we'd have people upset over getting short/small games.
    Offer games which didn't sell well, we'd have people crying over them being bad and what not.

    Let's go for a moment on pc side of things with steam, they offer massive discounts on games every week and it's not the first nor last time someone buys there games for full price, just to see it on -50% or even -75% discount the next day.
    Are you gona cry and throw tantrums even in a situation like that?

    No matter what hapens, when someone like sony or valve or even ms were to offer you something for free, or discounted, someone is allways gona be throwing tantrums like a little child saying it's unfair.
    You've few choises there, either grow up and accept that not everything goes like you want it, or you can keep on rolling on the floor crying for ever, just like a little child who feels everything should go the way they want it to go.

  • Craven #126 1 year ago

    Like others have said Sony didn't have to do anything at all. Whilst i agree the selection could have been bigger, at least you're getting something. And even if you own all the games, trade in the disc versions and get something you haven't got or sell them and get a few quid that way. It's also a smart move by Sony to offer 30 days PS+ as well, dangles the carrot to the non plus members and maybe they may get more PS+ users as a result. Most importantly to me as a PS+ user is the added 60 days, hopefully they offer something good as a result, maybe discount off some of the top selling DLC perhaps?

  • kimchibaka #127 1 year ago

    I can grab Dead Nation and Infamous (though I played it and didn't like it that much) but I really sympathise with the millions of loyal customers who will have 4 or 5 of those games. I download only 2 or 3 titles a year and already have 3 out of the 5.

    They could easily have offered two more titles. I'm really surprised Warhawk wasn't one (I have that too, but I think as it's an older title quite a few people will have missed it) - it would have boosted player numbers and publicity for Starhawk. Just one first party game, but a choice of any on the store, would have suited everyone I think too.

    I haven't been too bothered about this free stuff - credit card security is all I care about going forwards, and you can choose from hundreds of second-hand or even new titles for less than a tenner anyway - but it's a shame that when they've made a good gesture it's the most loyal customers that probably won't get anything out of it.

  • coomber #128 1 year ago

    Any idea how big the files will be for any of these games? I only have a Ye Olde PS3 with about as much free memory as one of those Casio calculator watches from the Eighties.

  • lagoonalight #129 1 year ago

    Gamers are douchebags. There are very few gamers that are worth much more than Trash Panic. Seriously, you have all these games, then sell your hard copy or deal with it. Your credit card is not going to be used. No one is going to hurt you. The amount of horseshit on this topic is beyond reason and it exposes gamers as a bunch of pansies in dresses grasping at any straw to get their favorite game for free. Here is a hint. Instead of paying 60 dollars for the next shitty CoD game save your money and buy the game you want on PSN. Sony did not have to offer anything. IT IS A FREE FUCKING SERVICE. SHUT THE FUCK UP! GO HANG YOURSELF.

  • moophace #130 1 year ago

    would have been much better if they just gave us £50 worth of PSN points

  • king26 #131 1 year ago

    It's a great offer, PSN is a free service, therefore Sony owe us nothing!! R&C and LBP for me and Killzone 3 Maps from playstation plus

  • bluetoothion #132 1 year ago

    I really can't see a possibility of a balanced enough list that would satisfy all and shut some xboys up.


  • irve77 #133 1 year ago

    Think Sony should reconsider and up the list to 10 titles

    Uncharted 1
    killzone 2
    Heavy Rain
    and a couple of PSN titles like Super stardust and Fat Princess


    Wonder if i could get my PSP linked up to PSN for the free stuff ... not that i'm likely to ever play it.

  • 32768Colours #134 1 year ago

    Not complaining myself because I don't own all of them. However playing devil's advocate, I can understand why some people are a bit annoyed about this. Sony should've offered a choice of 2 games from all Sony published PSN titles. At least then noone could complain about them not doing their best.

    I think under these slightly unique circumstances, whilst they didn't really need to offer anything at all, the fairest solution would be for them to ensure that all but the most ardent PSN purchaser would be satisfied. What they have offered - whilst good - is a bit unfair just because being high scoring games, its likely that lots of people own them already and its a rather limited list at that.
    Edited by 32768Colours at 17/05/11 @ 16:54

  • markmitt #135 1 year ago

    Despite at some point having owned 4 out 5 of the PS3 titles, and already having spent loads on the PSN store ( I currently have 37 download titles on my HDD), there really is no argument that Sony ARE being very generous. This, along with all the other costs involved with the hack, is going to cost Sony a ton of money. If you stop to think about it, it would make more sense for them to NOT reimburse PSN users, apart from maybe PSN+ subscribers. The only title I haven't had is Quest for Booty, so I'm going to have that, and claim Infamous as well because it's aquality title.

    All in all, a very kind gesture from gesture, and if they start to make PSN+ a better service than it currently is, then I might even splash out on that...

  • septimus #136 1 year ago

    A crap selection and kick in the teeth for any gamer that has supported Sony from the beginning as we already own those games. I would have preferred PSN credit to put towards whatever.

  • MDL199 #137 1 year ago

    A fine selection of games and I doubt very much Microsoft would have been so generous had this happened to them.

    I only own infamous of the titles listed so it's great for me but I do feel sorry for those who own all the games. Still, if Sony had issued a huge list we all know people with multiple accounts would have cheated and downloaded all of them.

    Overall, well done Sony!

  • SPENCER41 #138 1 year ago

    Considering the cock up I think that is a really poor offer. Sort it out Sony, your a massive corporate. Stop being stingy

  • man.the.king #139 1 year ago

    @Beano

    "Can't see why people are bitching about it. "

    To be honest, I think that many of the people who are bitching the loudest don't actually have a PS3.
    Edited by man.the.king at 17/05/11 @ 22:07

  • loop7 #140 1 year ago

    EG Scores to help you decide:

    LittleBigPlanet: 9/10
    WipeOut HD/Fury: 9/10
    Ratchet and Clank: 7/10
    Infamous: 7/10
    Dead Nation: 6/10

  • Jolly_Armadillo #141 1 year ago

    Well I'm getting the 2 lowest rated and I don't own any of them:p

  • Snake_2k #142 1 year ago

    If your going to take the time to offer free games at least have the decency to offer some proper decent games. otherwise its A) annoying B) insulting.

    word.