Since we were lacking on one, and the service clearly isn't going away, this thread will serve as the official Playstation PLUS thread.
While any official weekly updates from Sony can be found here for US (official US PLUS Blog Category):
http://blog.us.playstation.com/tag/playstation-plus/
Here for UK (UK Blog does not have a dedicated category for it):
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/tag/ps-plus/
And the Sony Entertainment store/PLUS category can be accessed here (check your region for online store availability/access):
https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwo...LAYSTATIONPLUS
We will update this thread here with any news on noteworthy releases, warnings on games that are leaving the service so members can log in and add them to their purchased game list.
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SERVICE BASIC FAQ
Beginning on June 9th 2010, Playstation PLUS is a subscription service for the Playstation family of consoles (PS3, PSP*, PS Vita) where users can pay for either three months ($18) or one year of membership ($50), during that time users have access to games that are free to download and play during their active membership. (*PLUS membership can not be activated on a PSP, but existing PLUS members who have signed up on a PC, PS3 or Vita have access to their free games via the PSP's PSN Store/purchase list and the system recognizes those games as a part of the PLUS program.)
It has been noted that PLUS will be required for online gaming features on the Playstation 4 game system.
Free games are included in two parts:
The "Instant Game Collection" which currently consists of a total of 12 games for various platforms (PS3, PSP, Vita). Games are rotated in and out of the Instant Collection on a monthly basis. Some games have remained a part of the collection for many months, others have been in and out in a period of several weeks.
Games offered free for PLUS members outside of the instant game collection. Those games are typically subject to being free for PLUS members during a shorter period of time.
PLUS members also get early or guaranteed access to game demos/betas as well as free avatars, PS3 themes and add-on DLC content that are never revoked/deactivated after the membership period ends (only full games are deactivated during that time) as well as higher discounts on games/DLC content sales.
Q/A (new questions asked will be answered and added)
Q - When my membership expires are the games deleted from my system?
A - No. Games are simply deactivated and become playable again when you renew your membership. This is helpful in the case of full games that have been downloaded that are very large.
Q - If a game is removed from the instant collection is it removed from my download list?
A - No. If you have "purchased" a game while it is free on PLUS (added it to your shopping cart and completed the purchase process) it will always be available for you to download during your PLUS membership.
Q - Are PLUS games different in different regions?
A - Yes, different regions get different games at different times.
Q - If my PLUS membership expires and I want to purchase a now deactivated, big game that I've downloaded instead of renewing my membership, can I just go to the PSN store and buy it without having to re-download it?
A - Yes, if you opt to not renew PLUS anything that you've downloaded can be accessed by purchasing it at normal (or current sale) price in the PSN store.