Is PlayStation Now really worth Sony’s time?

PS4 Attitude: "When I recently tried out PlayStation Now in the UK beta, I came away with mixed feelings. From a technical standpoint, everything worked flawlessly, so it was difficult to be disappointed with the service itself. However, at the same time, I couldn’t help wondering exactly who PlayStation Now is actually aimed at."

[SpaceRanger]

People had the same mentality of questioning Netflix when it came out. PS Now isn't aimed at people who game constantly. It's aimed at casual gamers to younger gamers where they may only have a vita or psTV (because of cost) that want to play during the 3 months of summer or maybe a month during the holiday.

Not everyone plays games every single day. The same way not everyone watches movies on Netflix every single day. Its not going to be a fit for everyone. But for some it definitely will. And the good thing is that it can only get better as it goes on.

[stefhutch20]

You make some very valid points, but the cynic in me says that aiming a product squarely at the casual market is a risky strategy. After all, the reason why the PS4 is such a big success right now is because Sony appealed to gamers.

[HaveSumNuts]

The title should be "Is PS Now worth our time" Sony spent hundreds of millions of $ (380 mil) to buy Gakai to make PS Now possible. Seems quite stupid to make an article suggesting if they should drop it without considering the money they already spent on it, why the hell would they even think about dropping it now?

[stefhutch20]

That's actually a good point. But to be fair I'm not suggesting they should drop it. I'm just saying that, in it's current form, it has very limited appeal.

[fei-hung]

It's also for hardcore gamers. There has been any occasions when there has been a drought in games or nothing I've been interested in. At these times I wouldn't love to have a PS NOW option of just signing up and having access to some great classics.

[fei-hung]

Just read what I wrote. Holy shit did autocorrect f shit up. It was supposed to read :

It's also for hardcore gamers. There have been many occasions when there has been a drought in games or times where there was nothing I've been interested in. At these times I would love to have had a PS NOW option of just signing up and having access to some great classics.

No edit option sucks.

[rainslacker]

The casual market spends more on games than the hardcore market does. Mobile has become big, and since this service runs on mobile it could potentially be very profitable for them. Also taking into account all the devices this service will run on, it's pretty obvious that accessibility is going to be a huge factor in how Sony markets it. The casual crowd can be fickle, but it's not really about locking them in for the long term, but having enough quantity of them to make those occasional purchases that drive revenue. This is the way mobile gaming devs and publishers make money, pure quantity of users.

I'm sure that Sony will push this service towards the hardcore as well. Makes sense to get revenues off already interested parties that have an even lower barrier of entry than the casual market does.

[someOnecalled]

Funny. Onlive received nothing but hate and doubt when it was announce and only til Sony announce this people started stating how game streaming is good. I kinda feel sorry for them bankrupt because how dedicated gamers are to brands even if its a great idea.

[Letthewookiewin]

Sony has received a ton of harsh criticism over this service.

[morganfell]

Just so you are aware as regards OnLive: http://www.gamespot.com/art...

Brand dedication has it's place. Particularly if it deals with centralized functionality, a company that continually pushes the boundries to implement new ideas or else known ideas which others are too timid to attempt, and/or a company that looks out for it's consumers.

EDIT: As Letthewookiewin stated, Sony has taken more than a few slings and arrows for even attempting this idea. Sony was declared wasteful, stupid, out of their minds, and quite a few other things from those that doubted their success as well as those that fear it.

[ginsunuva]

They don't even need those. All they need is a Sony TV or Blu-Ray player these days.

[rainslacker]

Or a mobile phone, and likely every other app centric device in the future. PSNow is going to be available pretty much everywhere....maybe even Xbox One.:P

[Letthewookiewin]

@Stef Anyone who doesn't have a console and just bought a new Sony TV, Streamer, or Blu Ray player now has a huge library of games they could play since they basically bought a PS3 also. There are absolutely people that are not really gamers or don't have enough time/money in their lives to justify a console. Now average Dad is going to have a stealth console the wife can't nag about. It's going to pay off huge for Sony.

[zeuanimals]

If you have a Vita or PSTV, you're probably not a casual gamer. But still, it is aimed at casuals, they just need to expand it to other devices, not just Sony ones because Sony's other devices don't sell very well.

[rainslacker]

Sony blu-ray players are where this is going to hit it big IMO. Every Sony blu-ray player will come with it, possibly a free trial and controller if Sony is smart, and people will probably find some retro game to enjoy from time to time.

Since Sony is the largest seller of blu-ray drives nowadays, sometimes for people who just want to stream, this is going to be pretty big. I wouldn't doubt that it comes to smartTV's as a standard app in the near future as well.

[Fkhalf16]

Its already available on Samsung 2015 smart TV models. It has already started to expand into other Non-SONY devices as Andrew House and its playstation crew stated back in 2013.

[magiciandude]

"It's aimed at casual gamers to younger gamers where they may only have a vita or psTV"

Like .03% of all PSVita/PSTV owners? It's aimed at everyone. Sony wants to shift focus from console to streaming services, but they know they can't in the course of one generation. This is the future of PlayStation, no doubt about that. The console is on its way out whether or not you accept that.

[wegetsignalx]

Dedicated gaming hardware isn't going anywhere, stop spreading FUD about the future of Playstation.

[News4Noobs-]

If sony is smart enough... They should include a controller with every SonyTV, Blue-ray player, Phone or anything that includes the PS Now... So when people buy one of these devices they are ready to play out of the box, even they include a cheap controller, but this will catch a lot of attention to people and actually try it. This will be the best move. Right now everyone that has a device compatible with it won't even try it if theu have buy anythig else in order to play (mainly casuals) but if you have the controller even if you're not interested you might try and like it because there is nothing loose and you are just being tempted.

[FunkMacNasty]

I think it could be more worth it if they had more reasonable pricing for rentals, and once they figure out a better way to stream the games. I tried the free 7 day trial of ps now on PS4 and the two games I tried (uncharted 2 and Arkham City), streamed in pretty low quality to the point where the visuals looked like off screen YouTube gameplay. And I run my Ps4 With a wired connection to the router, so connection on my end can't get any better...To me, that's not worth the price of a subscription of any length.

[UKmilitia]

waste of money and time imo.
but people seem to want a new consoel to play old games.
just doesnt click with me.
if u want to play old games,play the old console.

getting a company to spend billions on playing something thats old is silly ands after playing psnow for a while i just see its worthwhile.

[Rimeskeem]

I would think so knowing how fast they are expanding it.

[Whirlwind_Fanfare_08]

After renting king of fighters 94', 95' and 96', art of fighting, samurai showdown, fatal fury, soldner-X1 and 2, another shoot-'em-up game that i can't remember right now. IMO, yes it is worth their time. Hope to see some classic 2D beat-'em-ups like streets of rage, final fight and more come along to. Going back to playing classic games brings back memories, so excuse me while i go back to playing king of fighters, art of fighting and fatal fury now. :D

[-Foxtrot]

They can do what they want but for now they should release all their PS1/PS2 games on the PS4 for people who won't get PS Now because of their crap internet connections.

I want to re-download my games....like hell am I paying again for them.

[ninsigma]

I get the feeling that this is just a stepping stone for this service. This is just the early stages used for getting the tech out there into a working state and later it will eveolve where there will be no more playstation consoles. Instead we will have a playstation service that can be used on multiple devices (hopefully PC is included) and using this service will be how we play the games being released in the future. And to be honest, this is something I kinda want. I think it would be a lot better. Imagine a ps service akin to steam for all Sony published a playstation (Brand) exclusives. Actually it would be more like EAs origin in that respect. If that were to happen Sony (and MS and Nintendo) would see a hell of a lot more profits imo. No more paying for distribution and packaging costs. Stores can't take any money from them as there will be no consoles to sell and they can't rip people off with their trade in system. We could also see a decreases in the cost we consumers have to pay for those games, because lets be serious, €70 for a game is beyond ridiculous. I think this is where we could be headed...and I like that idea.

[loopygames]

I think Sony is making the right decision investing in PS Now. The tech behind PS Now is not limited to games from Playstation. They could bring PC exclusive titles to PS4 if they want especially with the recent onlive patent purchase.

[ginsunuva]

The gaming industry has two futures:

1. Die out slowly as it currently is.

2. Evolve into cloud, and then maybe die out later.

[talitundie25]

Games are like TV/Movies/Books

They'll never disappear from here on out, just continue to evolve and get better

Or worse....

[strickers]

The fact is, they answered their query. It works, technically. That means that one day PlayStation will be Netflix for games. I'm impressed with the Beta. Now imagine a huge library on there, like Steam.

[GameDev1]

If it makes them money why not?, and they are investing so heavily in streaming technology to show surely they see it as a future application for them

[Brooklynbully123]

Biggest waste in Sony history

[Jalva]

Nah that's the Vita without a doubt.

[Scatpants]

I love it on my Vita but I don't play it all that much. I'll probably cancel it before it's time to renew my sub again.

[DERKADER]

Am I the only person scared shitless of a Streamed future. Video compression, lag, input delay, internet speed and so on. Yeah it's convenient for low end hardware to be able to play anything but the trade off isn't worth it. But we live in a society were convenience and accessibility is king and quality has taken a back seat.

Streaming has it's place I just hope it doesn't become the standard until it can provide better quality than localized hardware. It basically comes down to how long it will take for bandwidth speeds to increase to allow uncompressed full HD content for the majority of consumers.

[DanteVFenris666]

Well in the future those problems will eventually be gone as tech increases.

I kinda don't want it to be the norm but I'm sure people said that with Netflix. I'd probably be saving way more money and be getting way more games of the future turned into streaming.

[nevin1]

They should of just put BC into PS4. Anyway, are people really renting games off PSnow? What are the numbers so far.

[Khajiit86]

You dont rent games off of it, its like Netflix. They have certain games and you click it and play, no downloading or anything. It will expand. I had Netflix when they first started and you couldnt find a movie that wasnt in the cheap dump bin at walmart and look where Netflix is today.

[S2Killinit]

Well, why not? Its better than EA's thing, so why only ask this of Sony?

[Clown_Syndr0me]

It's brilliant for playing PS3 games. However when the beta is over I will not use it. I wont pay to play games I can buy cheaper. Should of had backwards compatability in the first place.
Include it in PS Plus or forget it.

[DanteVFenris666]

So you want a Netflix for games, plus the free retail games you get, cloud storage. But for half the price of Netflix? Yea I'm sure we all would prefer that but it's not going to happen

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Yeah exactly it's it going to happen. It works great and I'm using it right now, but won't use it in future as I have a PS3 and the games are only a few quid at most.

[Deathdeliverer]

I think plus should give a discount. Other than that it works great and I love it. Almost seen everything in Way of the Samurai 3. Probably dig into those Record of Argarest War games next. Never got around to them.

[AstroCyborg]

nope its a ripoff

[wegetsignalx]

A rip off of what? PS Now seems to run very well and customers are satisfied with its performance.

[DigitalRaptor]

Sony is preparing for the inevitable, like this dude said: https://www.youtube.com/wat...

They just went about it better than others (other than pricing), and have the best tech to make it work. I'm currently in the beta checking out games for free, and it works absolutely flawlessly. Like seriously flawless, and my internet connection is not even that impressive.

It's not worth anyone's time if Sony prices it badly like they have in the past. That is the only hang-up to do with PlayStation Now.

Who is is aimed at? Whoever wants instant hassle-free gaming.

[Tesal]

PS now need stable good stable connections.

It means only in a few countries it will be or might be a success.

While an update with backward support for PS1/2/3/PSP games will be a greater more stable success.

Because even without a stable good connection, we could still buy and download and play games.

[DaGodKing]

all i want to understand is why dont they just sell the ps1/ps2 games on the psn store like they did with the ps3 instead of forcing us into streaming.. thats what i dont like about psNow.. i still cant remote play with my vita and i have a 50mbps dl/5mbsp up. it disconnects all the time even in the same room and the direct connection to vita..

not gonna lie i like the physical aspect of gaming and not huge on digital and if the gaming industry was to go full digital.. i will hang up my controllers because than we truly wont own anything..

sorry if it sounds like im ranting but had to get it off my chest

[wegetsignalx]

They will probably get PS1-3 games running on PS4 eventually. It takes time to code a software emulator like that. PS3 didn't run PS1-2 games in software right away either.

[DaGodKing]

i understand what you saying the reason was because the og Phat ps3 can play PS1/Ps2 out the box. so they didnt need it at the time...later revisions of ps3 can still play ps1 games..

for a fact we wont get to play disc base ps1 games since sony removed cd compatibility with the ps4..(pretty dumb in my opinion) so that still leaves ps2 games..

not gonna lie ive bought a few ps1 and ps2 downloadable games and now i cant play them on ps4 so there pretty much useless.. i play them on my vita but the ps2 games are useless.

i get mad because their always touting choice for gamers but then remove a whole bunch of features that was in the ps3...

quick note about me...

i bought the ps3 when the slim came out.. this was my first ever ps console.. ive been and still am a nintendo person.. reason i choose ps over xbox was mainly because i didnt want to pay to play online.. im not a heavy online user so if i wanted to dabble here and there online i didnt want to be forced to pay to test out a game... ended up buy 104 (and stilling going) disc based games the most ive ever bought and probably will buy for a single system..

needless to ive loved every minute of it.. but the ps4 is a cause of hype to me..shouldve wanted i fell like i probably buy 25 games an call it a gen (already got 6 and none of the heavy hitters are there)..

sorry for writing an essay..

[tweet75]

playstation now is a great idea. The problem is I have purchased almost every game on the service that I care for. Theres no reason to subscribe. If sony would guarantee that future AAA titles would be on the serivce and a much more extensive back catalog of games I might consider it until than its not for me.

[Rhezin]

I'd rather buy old ps1 and ps2 titles for ps4. I hate this service, and it's Sony's excuse not to become backwards compatible ever again.