A plus for everyone

So long ago I tried to state an nearly neutral stance on top of PS Plus's outcry. People were, simply put, tired of being given smaller projects instead of the full blown massive games people were lead to believe from past examples would be the norm. That's not to say those guys were always right, but I felt they were finally at a point where its worth it to ask a bit more effort goes into the selection. Heck several times, we even got ports of games already given to us on PS+ before... yeah, a bit messed up sony. However I think we've stepped a bit closer to the right path with their latest monthly scheme, which involves a voting process.

Sadly though, people still want to complain. What is it about? Well various things. I've since heard "ew, nobody wants these indie games" even though this will be later contradicted by the other complaints where people felt the voting was "rigged" and hate that their games didn't win out claiming nobody wanted the winner... even though it was the most liked comment on the voting announcement thread, and news hyped of the winner's name ever since it was leaked making it kind of a big deal for some people. Before I go forward of course, its important to bring up that the program and choices looked something like this:

Grow home was the winner, and back when I voted it was by far the highest with Viking Zombies in second (I'll get around to that later, I find this one... interesting for some bad reasons), and the 3rd was Armello. Quite sad to, as I admit full bias towards Armello (As most remarked on its vote trailer, it has the most depth and value compared to the other choices), but Grow Home seems like a good PS+ choice to. I'm totally fine with people complaining that the winner seems to come out of nowhere, and they back it up by saying they really talked to people, but when its a game like Grow Home that got basically announced with this whole damn program, has the whole "artsy" scene talking about it, and was the top voted game on the very website your posting "I know nobody that wanted this" on, so something is seriously flawed with that logic in this scenario. But... people will complain, right?

Viking Zombies may very well still be an awesome game though.

...Well to let off some of my own steam real quick, the extra irony to this is most of the people now complaining were in favor of Viking Zombies. Viking Zombies is, and stop me if you've heard these elements before, an indie 2d Sidescroller with zombies. I guess I see some valid hype behind the 2D beat 'em up fans, but that's a strong niche to have. Meanwhile this entire time, all along, people have been crying and moaning about how tired they are of generic 2D indie games. They're tired of indies, zombies, and low-end "stylish" visuals, they want their bigger games. So what do they do when they have that power to choose not just one but two big 3D games? One, Grow Home, is put out from Ubisoft as a unique exploration game with interest physics based gameplay, as you find a way into space. The other, Armello, being a big strategy game combining board game, card game, and RPG gameplay (with multiplayer and future plans for support established) all into a clever game with the plot to take a kingdom out of the hands of a corrupt Lion king going insane. I'm just scratching the surface of those two. Meanwhile the people complaining stand behind Viking Zombies, a 2D beat 'em up with zombies. I know there's a chance these people are NOT the same ones always moaning about indie games, but when this many people lump together to whine about it I have to really wonder what the heck IS the majority agreed issue within PlayStation Plus's system, since these guys clearly want more beat 'em up side scrollers with names that could be confused with a mock title spoken of in a bigger game. ...and you know what, that's fine in itself (and I mean no insults to the team behind Viking Zombies. I'm glad you made a product people want). Its just that its baffling to think people will then turn around and fill a comment section up with complaints about this type of game and then vote it even as high as second place in a big vote against games they would be asking for elsewhere.

Getting back on track, and ending a small rant, there was one guy from the Viking Zombies crowd of voters who actually found the bright side in its loss: Hey, I get to directly support this game now! Because yeah, that's kind of right. The funny thing about wanting a game to go on PS+ is that you don't technically own it (it sticks with the subscription), and to the best of our knowledge your undercutting the team's funds. They're getting paid and rewarded somehow, but as it is we can feel pretty sure that 100 people downloading a game for free doesn't pay as well as 100 people buying it (a very flat way to look at it, but if you wanted it enough to buy it, then they would probably rather have your money than not). So if you truly wanted Viking Zombies (or any of these honestly), just go ahead and support them with the vote of not that PS+ thing, but your wallet. That's what I'll likely do for Armello next Tuesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. A lot actually. I'll still get the other game, Grow Home, too! Its a fitting role as well, as I always see PS+ as that testing ground for a game you want to enjoy, but aren't sure about it or its longevity. Armello is a game I've had an eye on ever since the end of its kickstarter, and if its as good as it looks I'll likely come back to it from time to time. Grow Home... unless it really surprises me, it'll likely be a fun 1-5 hour experience. A fun one, but a short one that just ends... kind of like Gone Home actually. I mean just look at the art work and style behind the two!

Armello

Grow Home

Yeah, definitely happy to say I'll probably grab Armello. Grow Home still looks fun, but in sort of a toy-like way if that makes any sense. So... what if the game you wanted costs too much? Well that's the other thing. Instead of Armello going for $20, or Viking Zombies being... whatever it is priced at, they're both getting 30% off. Sounded small at first, but do the math, and its an enticing offer.

At the end of the day, I really like this new system put in place. Everybody kind of wins. Sony almost has to give us some choice that doesn't look like indie table scraps, we get to vote on what we want to see, we see community input truly in action, and if we lose... the games we want go cheaper. There's nothing in that where we lose, unless there's something I don't know about on the inside of things. Its also worth noting these votes are tied in by account, so in addition to being as easy as voting from your PS4, I also imagine its hard to cheat that. Hopefully we'll continue to see interesting choices through the system as it goes on. I guess there's always going to be those people complaining though. Some will dismiss everything as indie garbage, even when its not, and others will back that same stuff others hate while challenging any others as "rigged" or "nobody REALLY wants them" type complaints. Just ignore them though, because unless sony really does bog all 3 slots down with sad offerings, we have nothing to really worry about. A good game goes free, people are heard, and the "losers" get a price drop and direct support from their true fans. I think I like this new addition to the service.

All seems well in this kingdom