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JustBeingReal on 03 May 2015
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Dusk said:
JustBeingReal said:


Not really, it's going to be an option for some people to use the PS3 and maybe PS1, 2 games through PS Now.

It has nothing to do with PS4 games yet and is very unlikely to get those while Sony wants to sell PS4 hardware, using PSNow for that would basically kill all of the confidence people have in PS4.

The fact you can make your comment "kind of like chopping off their own head" should tell you that PS4 won't be a part of this for a very long time, like until the next gen comes into reality.

The cloud isn't perfectly reliable, if your internet fails and you don't have local hardware to play those games or even a copy of those titles you use through the PSNow servers stored locally on your harddrive you can't play them when your internet goes offline.

 

Putting PS4 games on here would require servers with PS4 hardware, that means enough unified big memory storage and a tonne of PS4 APUs for the millions of people that end up using this. It's very expensive to do that right now, PS3 tech is cheap for Sony, hence why that's being used in their servers.


PSNow probably is Sony's 'next gen'. Everything they have been doing for years has been pointing towards that. Why compete in a console war if it's not necessary? Most of the money is made off of software so if it's possible to take out the biggest cost why not do it? It would also allow them to not have to distribute games beyond supplying servers. 

These games do not require the exact specs of the PS4 in any way. There is nothing special about them. 


It's all server based. ;)

I know PS Now isn't the "next gen", but it's the same kind of deal, just with more powerful servers and those cost money too, you're still talking about hardware, it being away from your house doesn't change that fact.

The cost of the hardware still exists with a a server farm, at least with physical hardware it's being paid for mostly, you likely break even on launch day for the units of consoles you've produced to sell on launch day and physical hardware is how it's always been done for the console games industry.

Sony doesn't have a problem competing on a console war, they've "won" 75% of the ones of they've been in & they've all made them money in the end, usually a big amount of money, which is what matters.

Cloud is a very big gamble, as I said Rolstoppable, the servers for say 3 million users on launch day could cost $1B, maybe even more, how is a cloud based, subscription based model going to recoup all of that outlay on day one of the system going to market?

You probably need more than enough hardware for 3 million users if that many people will game day one, because the stress on the servers would reach breaking point and that would  be a public relations nightmare for the company. Large numbers of people wouldn't be able to play anything.

 

Very few of the total number of users that's aimed at will be willing to pay $400 on launch day for something they can't physically see, by which I mean a new platform, at least if there was a new physical console they'd see the box and know that's the new system, if you tell "hey you pay $400 right now and you'll never see the console & sometimes it won't work because your internet goes down" that's a fail and it would happen.

A subscription based model, with an upfront fee, like $99 on launch day & say $28 a month may seem more reasonable, but that's only enough for the hardware, where's the cost of the games?

Sony or any platform holder can't afford to say we'll pay for the games for a year for you & no one is going to pay for each game individually on top of the 2 options I mentioned above, it would just seem like they're being rinsed for money, with mo control over their collection of games.

 

If people thought Microsoft always online console or 24 hour check in was bad, this would seem like an absolutely nightmare for everyone.

No company is going to do anything like this. The cloud isn't viable from an economic POV, not when it's the only option, it will be one option, in conjunction with a new physical console and the physical console will be able to interface with PS Cloud just like PS4 can access PSNow.