Although Sony has not confirmed this to PS3 users the rumors of the Playstation having paid subscriptions have already started and are all over the internet, but the reality is that there really isn’t that much substantial information as to how the subscription services will be. The news comes from a press conference held by SONY where they sort of hinted that subscription services will be coming. What a lot of people are not reading is that the statement it says “In Addition to the current free services” which if you think for a second is something that says a lot about the service. It means that they are looking to add more stuff, but most likely will not impact what we already have that is free.

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Here is part of what SCE said thanks to courtesy of HotBloodedGaming.

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

Time will tell of how these services will be and what you get from them, but sony is not the type of company that will make bad business decisions and it will be a little strange for them to start charging for services that should be free unlike the XBOX 360 does that charges for XBOX LIVE. The Playstation 3 is a console that is famous because of the PSN being free and that will hurt it a lot if you had to pay to play online and were sure that Sony knows that already.

Where we see Sony charging is for a premium membership which would probably be something similar to QORE, but with better stuff maybe even adding a music, video  and game subscription services similar to their Digital Comics. A Gamer’s club where you pay a certain amount monthly/yearly and then you get free games, music, and movies for free which would be a good thing on both ends for the company & consumer.

A music and movie service would also be good and great for business where if you have a premium account you get to watch unlimited new movies. There are tons of new releases on the Playstation video store and because they are aboutt 5 bucks to rent especially in HD a lot of times paying 5 bucks every time that you watch can hurt your wallet. It would also be interesting and more logical because it would make more money than the system that they have now where you have to pay for every movie you rent or buy. With competitors like Blockbuster online, Amazon, Netflix and others that is the only road that Sony can take if they want a piece of the movie/music/gaming service pie.

Amazon, blockbuster, Netflix and a few others own that online market and many consumer use them instead of the video store on the PS3 which most people used before Roku and other similar devices came around. If the service would be a monthly fee a lot of people would probably subscribe  just to watch the premium movies.

In conclusion the premium service  will most likely not affect online play or any of the services already there, but more that Sony would probably make a service that if you have you get lots of content and a lot of entertainment inside of the PS3 for a fee. Similar to a cable service, but with stuff you actually want to look at instead of ads. We are moving to a different entertainment structure and technology in consoles and other devices are taking over the cable services that are around and Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the newcomers want that pie or at least a piece of it.