It just makes zero sense to charge more for a game rental than full ownership, yet this issue litters PS Now in its current form. Dead Island: Riptide? $24.99 for a 90-day rental on PS Now, but only $21.20 to buy your own disc on Amazon (opens in new tab). Darksiders 2? Same price for a rental, compared to $18.86 (opens in new tab) for a physical copy. Even Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition is edged out when it comes to cost. A 90-day rental for $22.90 is a weird price in and of itself, and that’s also undercut at $20.98 by Amazon (opens in new tab) for the whole shebang. This forces the consumer to choose between hunting down a physical copy for cheaper, or paying more for instant, time-limited access.

Those are the most egregious price disparities, but there are some decent values here. Alone in the Dark: Inferno will cost you just $4.99 for a 90-day rental, while buying it Amazon (opens in new tab) will run you around $40. As long as you can finish a game within 90 days, a rental like this is a great value. And this doesn’t just apply to full-price retail releases; downloadable games like Bloodrayne: Betrayal and Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 are just $3.99 for a week-long rental (plenty of time to finish either) versus $9.99 for full purchases.

Thing is, several titles are priced so unwisely that just springing an extra few bucks will get you the full game. Killzone 3 is $14.99 for a 90-day rental, and just $18.99 on Amazon. (opens in new tab) Twisted Metal has the same rental price, and only $15.80 online (opens in new tab). This slight price difference is enough to sway many away from a rental.

This pricing disparity must be overcome because, simply put, there are better ways for PS Now to function. Is the answer a subscription model? That could work–a flat, monthly fee for unlimited rentals, like Gamefly’s model, can sate even the hungriest Sony fanboy. And a flat subscription fee would make the value of individual rentals irrelevant. An all-encompassing price versus standalone rentals is just a smarter way for gamers to spend their hard-earned money. It’s a value proposition that appeals to both thrifty gamers and hardcore fans.

But whose responsibility is it to keep these prices fair and balanced? Who has to decide among individual rentals, subscriptions, or deepening the catalogue? Sony. PS Now isn’t something you look at and think, “Look at all those Way Forward games” or, “Wow, Square Enix titles!” This is a Sony PlayStation venture. Sony is a used car salesman here, and only the worst salesman in the world would charge more for a rental car than a brand new car of the same model.

In its current (and yes, still beta) form, PlayStation Now just doesn’t seem like all that great of a deal. It’s Sony’s responsibility to remedy this by simply offering reasonable, competitive prices across the board. Otherwise, PlayStation Now might never get off the ground–and that would be awful news in an age when digital downloads are so much more convenient than physical media.

The post Why inconsistent pricing is Playstation Nows biggest hurdle appeared first on Game News.

Now, when I use the term “rip off,” don’t mistake it for games that share a genre. If that were the case, every 2D platformer rips off Super Mario Bros (opens in new tab), every other puzzle game is a counterfeit of Tetris (opens in new tab), and any 3D fighting game ripped off Virtua Fighter (opens in new tab) (which, in turn, stole its fighting style from Street Fighter (opens in new tab)). No, what I mean is games that have such clear, specific inspirations that you can be sure it wouldn’t exist in its current form if it didn’t lift gameplay techniques wholesale from the games that pioneered them. And in many cases that’s completely forgivable.

Just look at last week’s release of Sleeping Dogs (opens in new tab), a game that wears its influences on its sleeve. Beyond the sandbox trappings firmly established by Grand Theft Auto III, the hand-to-hand combat is straight from the Batman: Arkham games (opens in new tab) and fans of Wheelman (opens in new tab) will recognize the source of hijacking cars. But listing influences ultimately doesn’t matter, because Sleeping Dogs executes so well on what it rips off, something many of the reviews (opens in new tab), including GamesRadar’s (opens in new tab), agree on.

You need only look back to 2010 for another perfect example of execution outpacing obvious inspirations. When the original Darksiders (opens in new tab) came out, more than a few knocked it for being a Legend of Zelda clone, something I’ll agree with despite loving the game. The dungeon structure was the same, they share sword-based combat, and exploration incorporates tools identical to boomerangs and hookshots. For extra uninspired credit, Darksiders also contains a weapon that shoots orange and blue portals. Seriously (opens in new tab).

Once I got over my reflexively negative reaction to the seeming lack of any originality in Darksiders, I settled into the game and found myself continually impressed by it. The developers had learned well from Zelda. Over and over again Darksiders proved it didn’t merely copy and paste from Link’s adventures, it had studied them closely. Developer Vigil Games skillfully implemented those lessons to give tribute to the games of their youth. And then Vigil went on to iterate further on these inspirations, delivering the even better (and more original) game in Darksiders II (opens in new tab).

The same pride in unoriginality was on display in Shadow Complex (opens in new tab). Developer Chair was open about its inspirations (opens in new tab), copping to lifting design strategies of Super Metroid (opens in new tab). Like Darksiders, you can tell it comes from a place of love and admiration, out to fill a niche Nintendo created and few outside of Castlevania (opens in new tab) had tried to fill. Chair, like Vigil, then took the gameplay and added aesthetics and story content that the originators didn’t approach, making for a game that people accepted with open arms. Shadow Complex continually shows up on best XBLA games (opens in new tab) lists and many are clamoring for a sequel.

There are so many examples of games I hold dear that may not blaze a new trail, but were outstanding all the same. Would Rhythm Thief exist without Professor Layton? Saints Row without GTA? Dante’s Inferno without God of War? League of Legends without Dota? Or Torchlight without Diablo? All of those are worth your time no matter how you feel about what they took from their sources.

The added irony of Kamiya’s statement is that he doesn’t need to look far to see the power of a brilliant rip off. Platinum’s Bayonetta (opens in new tab) is clearly inspired by Devil May Cry, though most would forgive that since many former DMC devs worked on the title. But few could argue that Okami would exist without Zelda’s 3D titles. Just like Darksiders, Okami closely shadowed the Zelda template, but used it tell a story all its own. It’s an unforgettable game thanks to all the ways it learned from and expanded on another franchise’s strengths. Instead of calling out those games as deceptive, gamers lauded Okami as a work of art and Platinum has quickly become one of the most respected companies in its field.

Believe me, artless re-creations and flagrant stealing can, and definitely should, be called out and given the lack of respect they deserve. Look at the negativity that met Limbo of the Lost (opens in new tab), a game that mirrored Oblivion in all the wrong ways. Then there’s Facebook heavyweight Zynga, which has been rightly accused multiple times for blatant theft of titles like Tiny Tower (opens in new tab) and The Sims Social (opens in new tab). However, give a game a chance to prove itself a sham. Just because Battle Royale’s inspiration is clear from the outset doesn’t mean it’s fate has been decided. Gamers should first take a deep breath and remember all the great times they had with “rip offs.” It worked for me.

You know that kid at parties who talks too much? Drink in hand, way too enthusiastic, ponderously well-educated in topics no one in their right mind should know about? Loud? Well, that kid’s occasionally us. GR Editorials is a semi-regular feature where we share our informed insights on the news at hand. Sharp, funny, and finger-on-the-pulse, it’s the information you need to know even when you don’t know you need it.

The post Its ok to be a rip off (as long as youre good at it) appeared first on Game News.