No one can deny that 2011 has had some rough times for PlayStation, from Geohot’s jailbreak of the system to the PSN getting compromised by hackers and then going down for 2 months in the aftermath of that. It hasn’t been all bad though, and I’m about to tell you why the end of 2011 is turning out to be a fantastic time to own a PS3.

1. Quickflix

For those of you who missed my last post on the site, Australia has finally joined America in the 21st Century. Quickflix is our own subscription video-on-demand streaming service much like Netflix in the US. While the selection of movies is pretty slim at this stage the introductory price for the service cannot be denied as great value for money, only AU$4.99 for the first three months. That gives you unlimited streaming of their digital catalogue as well as 2 Blu-Ray disc rentals per month from Quickflix’s physical rental service.

Ahh but it’s only the first three months right and you’re locked in on a contract aren’t you? Yes you are, but only for those first three months. It will automatically continue with a subscription afterwards for $14.99 per month without the Blu-Rays but you can cancel it after the three months if you aren’t satisfied. I signed up straight away, but I have faith that their library will grow quickly based on what I’ve read and if it doesn’t then I’ll just cancel it! Don’t like movies? You can always just use the ABC iView and Yahoo!7 Plus7 TV catch up streaming services as well completely for free to watch great TV shows.

2. Music Unlimited

For those of you who don’t follow Sony’s various moves into other product lines you may or may not know about their music streaming service called Music Unlimited. For those of you who have, I know what you are probably thinking but just wait a second and hear me out! This service has had it’s troubles with uptake since it’s launch and it has had numerous different free trial offers all of which showcased only the “Basic” subscription level. They are currently offering a 60-day Premium subscription trial, that means access to all the music in their library streaming to your PS3, Bravia TV, PSP, or Android phone. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of this even if you just use it for the 60 days? Oh and don’t forget the free VidZone app on your PS3 which lets you watch all the latest music videos on demand too.

3. PSN Store’s Festive Sale

This has literally just gone live on the PSN Store and I’m already loving it. Here is another thing which a lot of people may not believe based on prior experience but there are actually some great value deals on the store now! Not only is there a great selection of PSN games which are affordable, there are specific deals within this sale which would be foolish to pass up. One in particular that I am really excited about is the Minis Pick and Mix which will set you back AU$5.60. For your money you get to pick any 5 from a selection of 50 minis titles including some really great fun stuff like OMG-Z and Zenonia. Sure Minis are mostly just little pick up and play games but it’s nice to have a change and some of them have really interesting gameplay elements which are worth trying if you call yourself a gamer.

4. PlayStation Plus

I signed up for this service back in August and I thought I’d make an experiment of it and write down everything I got for free each month to make sure I was getting value for money. I gave up after about November mostly from laziness but also because I already got my money back in the first month. I have had beta access to Assassin’s Creed Revelations multiplayer, Resistance 3 multiplayer, Uncharted 3 multiplayer, and Ratchet & Clank All 4 One multiplayer (not as exciting as the first three I know). I’ve also received full games including Tomb Raider: Underworld, Hydrophobia Prophecy, Costume Quest, Plants Vs Zombies, as well as a tonne of Minis and PSone titles, dynamic themes and avatars.

PlayStation have also been running a “12 Days of Christmas” deal this month where every 2 days there has been a new discounted title and a new freebie for PS Plus subscribers. That one ends today though so you missed out, sorry… PS Plus subscribers also get heaps of other discounts like for example I just bought the Red Dead Redemption bundle with Undead Nightmare for only $31, not bad value there if I do say so myself. Oh and it’s 20% off a year’s subscription right now too so it’s only $55, again I reckon you should not let this one pass you up.

5. Exclusive Titles

By this point you are probably just sitting there thinking yeah good one Matt, aren’t you a great little Sony consumer and fanboy, and you are probably right but I’m going to bring up the exclusive titles anyway. 2011 has been a massive year for PS3 exclusives, and they are the biggest reason I think that this is a great time to be a PS3 owner. Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, LittleBigPlanet 2, Infamous 2 (and the Infamous: Festival Of Blood standalone PSN game which kicks arse by the way), Killzone 3 and MotorStorm: Apocalypse.

That’s not even all of them but it’s a pretty damn impressive list. Then take into account the ridiculous number of games which support Stereoscopic 3D (if that floats your boat) and the number of games which use PlayStation Move in a fun and innovative way like LittleBigPlanet 2 and Killzone 3, and Sorcery which is due for release in the second quarter of next year looks fantastic too. There’s even the MMORPG which is now free to play: DC Universe Online which may not be completely exclusive since you can play it on PC but I’ll include it in the list anyway. Oh and keep your eyes peeled next year for all the inter-connectivity with the PS Vita with things like cross platform gaming and cloud saving so you can switch from playing a game on your PS3 to your Vita.

Don’t you love my mad photoshop skills?

In closing, yes I’ll admit that I just word vomited about how much I love Sony. Sure I may be a total fanboy but you’ve got to agree that those were some pretty good reasons to be excited about owning a PS3, and it’s only going to get better.

…oh and did you notice how I didn’t even mention the subscription fee cost for use of the PSN or online gaming on the PS3? It’s free. Boom.