Golwar wrote on May 9, 2011, 05:42:

mag wrote on May 8, 2011, 21:41:
It would be different because Europe has stronger consumer protection laws. There is a larger incentive for Sony to try to make right in Europe than in the US, simply because disgruntled customers have greater recourse there.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the free games are tied to PSN+.

In all honesty, to announce free games and then tie them to a subscription, would be so stupid, that I have to question you for how you consider that a realistic option.

Good will actions never prevented that someone sues, so this is also a rather pointless assumption.

Besides, the USA are really better known for ridiculous claims for damages. In Europe Sony would rather fear institutions than their private customers. So once again, it would be really really pointless to offer better gifts to European customers.

It's the exact kind of thing large corporations try to do when they make 'amends', though. Fined a kajillion dollars for anti-trust violations? Why, you just pay off your fine in copies of your software to schools to get more people hooked early.

Found guilty of giving people defective/harmful merchandise? Pay restitution in other merchandise that requires them to pay you money to get the full use of it.

Have your gaming network collapse, and lots of gamers? Give away crappy games as a show of good faith, and a temporary subscription to the for-pay service that no one was willing to sign up for. Get 'em hooked. Better yet, tie the free games to the pay service, to give an incentive to keep them there.

I'd give even odds that you have to give Sony your CC# to use your free month of PSN, and that you'll have to manually cancel the subscription when the free period is over.