Lab Report 2.3 - Call of Duty 3D alerts, Twitch Sound Effects & Ragnar Emotes

Well we all know what day it is, believe nothing, trust no one (except our new releases which are 100% trustworthy). April Fools!

All you will see here is a discussion on some amazing news this week - PlayStation finally bringing a competitor to Game Pass, and awesome new expansion and releases from us on the Elements Store. We've also added in a section on our resources. Many of you have purchased our Elements packs now and we've made setting up easy using the 1 click set-up provided in the download. However, if you're new to the world of streaming or just a little unsure - we are on hand to help with our Discord and Resources.

More on that a little later, now let's chat about some breaking news from PlayStation!

It's finally happen Sony fanboys and girls - PlayStation Plus is getting a huge overhaul and will release in June looking fresher and better value than ever.

Anyone remember PlayStation Now? It was an odd concept where you could access a library of games, but instead of downloading them, you streamed them. Now for John in London with 1GB internet, he's laughing but Jane, in Cornwall, that 3mb line just didn't cut it. So Sony have done what fans have been asking for - give us something, anything that makes switching sides to Microsoft not worth it. And ta da.. PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now have combined.

They've broken the all new PlayStation Plus into 3 categories, each with additional features to the rest.

For those who just want to play their console normally with the old PlayStation Plus that was required, they've changed it to PlayStation Plus Essential. Same product, different name.

We then have two new tiers:

PlayStation Plus Extra

- Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier

- Adds a catalogue of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games.

- And most importantly: Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.

Starts at £10.99/$14.99USD

PlayStation Plus Premium

Going to mention before going into the nitty gritty, some of this is only for where PlayStation Now is currently available AND there's no PC in Japan currently.

- Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers

- Adds up to 340 additional games, including :PS3 games available via cloud streaming

- A catalogue of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations 

- Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets where PlayStation Now is currently available.

- Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.

- Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.

Details directly from PlayStation Official Blog

Now I am a PC gamer, through and through, but I've never really been that enthusiastic about Game Pass. It's a nice gimmick, but the releases for me always fell short. PlayStation Plus's new look will mean that for an annual subscription, you're looking at a few more pennies in the UK for certain tiers but it's actually cheaper in the US. Conversion rates are strange like that.

I for one am encouraged, especially if I can use it on Desktop - but whether it stands up to the very much loved Xbox Game pass remains to be seen.

We have many goodies this week on coming to the Elements Store, including our next set of 3D chest alerts for those Call of Duty fans!

All of our Elements packs come with a 1-click set-up, but we understand that if you are new, it might take a little bit more to figure out.

The GETREKT Team have you covered. We have provided step by step guides on how to install everything you can buy from the Elements store on our Resources page.

We're also here to support during office hours in our Community Discord for Elements. We have a dedicated channel for Pack Support, and our staff will talk through any of your issues or questions. We are based in the UK, so there might be a time difference, but we will be right there to lend a hand and get you set up as soon as possible.

Check out the blog posts below to see our set up guides, and you can view all in The Hub - by clicking the View All button below.

Seeing the packs on the store grow and grow is very exciting for the team! Earlier this week we polled on Twitter which new pack would you like to see coming in the future - with the 3 finalists being picked from the Suggest an Element form. If you'd like to have your say for our next round of polls - head here.

Pixel/Retro won the last poll, so expect to see some more on this very soon!

Remember for extra support direct from the GETREKT team, and to be the first to know our new releases, join the GETREKT Elements Discord.

Until next week,

Em