PS3 Owners Rejoice! The PSN is back online! Somewhat, back on line. Even though the PSN is up, the Playstation Store is not and no date has been set for its return. Furthermore, the PSN only up in North America. Sorry Europe and Japan you’ll have to wait longer. However, Sony has announced the first details of their welcome back package; we’ve rated the top 5 items. It’s worth noting that users will get 100 free virtual items for PSN Home, but that didn’t make our top five. For the full details of Sony’s welcome back package go here .

5. Music Premium subscription - Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription. 30 days free streaming music is cool, but I already have that on my phone. The addition of creating playlists is cool, but the subscription only lasts 30 days.

4. Free Movie Rentals - A selection of free movies will be made available over the course of one weekend. Which titles and what weekend have not been announced. If more details were announced with regard to this it would have been rated higher. However, without titles it’s difficult to say how great this will be. Furthermore, it’s only a weekend of movie rentals.

3. Free Playstation Plus Membership - I have mixed emotions about this one. A 30 Day Playstation Plus subscription will be available for non-members, and existing members get a free 60 Day subscription. The Early access to demos and betas that comes with Playstation Plus is definitely awesome. However it remains to be seen what games will be made available. The free downloadable games are also nice, although any content downloaded can only be kept by renewing the Playstation Plus subscription. It feels like Sony is trying to market Playstation Plus with this part of the package.

2. PSP games - Users will be able to select from 2 of the following games 4 games to keep permanently for the PSP:

· LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
· ModNation Racers
· Pursuit Force
· Killzone Liberation

If you have a PSP this isn’t a bad deal at all. Even though these games have been released for some time (Pursuit Force and Killzone for about 5 years) Little Big Planet and Killzone are both greatest hits, and fun to play through if you don’t already own them. Modnation Racers is fun and simple enough to get the hang of. Creating your own track gives the game a lot of replay value, even if it is a little tough to control. Pursuit Force is another car combat game with a lot of over the top action and spoofs of modern action cinema.

1. Free PS3 Games - Users will be able to select 2 of the following 5 games to keep permanently:

· Dead Nation
· inFAMOUS
· LittleBigPlanet
· Super Stardust HD
· Wipeout HD + Fury

This is easily the best part of the welcome back package. Not only are inFAMOUS and LittleBigPlanet full games, they’re Greatest Hits. While Dead Nation, Super Stardust and Wipeout HD are PSN downloads, they’ll still provide hours of enjoyment. I can see seasoned PS3 gamers being a little disappointed with this option since they may own some of these games, but they’re free games. Unless you already owned all of them, quit your bellyaching!

Final Thoughts: Overall, I’m satisfied with the welcome back package. The free games are really the best part. The free services aren’t too shabby, but by no means are they the best part of the package. Apology accepted Sony. Now keep my personal information safe!!

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About The Author

Jon Chaplin is a Co-founder of New Gamer Nation. He's a fun loving guy who loves to try new things, especially video games.

  • Jose

    inFamous and Dead Nation are going to do it for me…I need to get my bearings back before inFamous 2. As far as Dead Nation goes IT’S GOT ZOMBIES!!!

    • Slacker

      I’m pretty psyched about Dead Nation too. It seems like a really fun, fast paced shooter. Agreed about inFamous, but I already own it. I’ll probably end up going for Wipeout. I loved those games on PS and PS2.

  • Pilot

    Its going to be Dead Nation and Super Stardust HD for me. It would have been Infamous but I have that already as I’m sure a lot of people have it too.

  • Jose

    I already have inFamous, but I got it used copy last year, without the cover, so I’m going to trade it in and it’ll feel like I’m getting paid to get inFamous again…So I’ll count that as part of the “PSN Customer Appreciation” thing. Not to mention I share the system with 2 brothers so we MIGHT be able to get all of them.

    I think they’re giving out inFamous though because A) inFamous 2 is almost out, and B) it’s a really good game.

    • Pilot

      Infamous is definitely a good game, I just think its kind of lame that we are getting a game that is 2 years old and sold very well. I think a better game would have been MAG. What better way to say everything is good now here at Sony and here is a game that needs the network to play. Not to mention that the game could use a shot in the arm more than others.