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Forums - Gaming Discussion - "Sony’s PlayStation Now Service Feels Like Highway Robbery"

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"No steals, just stealing"

"Yesterday, Sony introduced the gaming world to their Open Beta of PlayStation Now, a digital game streaming service that allows PSN users to instantly access titles from an ever-growing library and stream them instantly to their console. The idea of PlayStation Now is wonderful in premise, specifically because of the ability for PS4 owners to rent and stream PlayStation 3 games that they might not have had in the past.

The problem with the PlayStation Now service is that Sony, at least at this moment, seems very confused about what they want Now to become. Despite having an undeniably brilliant idea on their hands, allowing the millions of PlayStation 4 owners to rent titles digitally, Sony has dropped the ball from an early stage, demanding prices that are ludicrous to the point that there is virtually no defending them.

Simply put, at this juncture, there is literally no reason to rent a game via the PlayStation Now service.

I say this not from a place of moral superiority or fanboyism or anywhere other than simple fiscal responsibility. The current prices that Sony expects are considerably higher than what they should be, to the point that many of the 100 plus games currently on PlayStation Now, it would simply be more cost-effective to simple purchase the game from a retailer, rather than rent the ability to stream them for any given period of time.

For those unaware, Sony’s PlayStation Now service offers four distinct rental periods, all at different price points. Starting at a mere four hours, users can also rent a game for seven days, thirty days or ninety days. These short trials tend to start around $2.99, while seven day rentals average around $7.99 at the time of writing. This seems innocuous enough, until you take into consideration that many of the current offerings on PlayStation Now are older titles from the PlayStation 3′s library and can be bought for the same price – if not cheaper – outright, not simply rented.

A prime example of this PSN price gouging can be seen when examining Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Kojima’s classic was released in 2008 and is currently available for rental on PlayStation Now, starting at a four hour trial for $4.99. People are always willing to pay for a great game, but charging that much for a few mere hours seems something more like ignorance considering that the game can be bought for $6.99 used from GameStop.

The argument that I am sure will be made is that PlayStation Now is catering more towards those who do not currently have a PlayStation 3 and want to experience the game’s impressive library. While there is certainly some validity to this, Sony’s current pricing strategy seems more like modern day highway robbery than anything. The fact of the matter is that without reevaluating their pricing structure, Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service is destined to be dead in the water."

“Making you a better geek, one post at a time!” <--- I have to admit... this phrase sounds very cheesy and stupid.

Taken from N4G.



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I didn't know you could hit exit in the middel of a highway robbery!



7$ for a game, one week to finish it is enough. If you can get better price get them, that's all there is to it.



Might as well just buy a PS3 and the games used. It will run you cheaper with these sorts of PSNow prices.

Guess Sony really wants to get out of debt...



how sony monetized playstation now was always their biggest barrier to overcome. They obviously still haven't figured it out. (here is a hint Sony, subscription model!)



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4h for $3 is stupid. I don't know why they thought that was OK...

7 days for $8 is not too bad, you can beat most games in that time.



No troll is too much for me to handle. I rehabilitate trolls, I train people. I am the Troll Whisperer.

This is getting ridiculous..many of the prices are cheaper then regular rentals (7.99 a week, 14.99 90 days), some are bad like 2.99 for 4 hours yes, but people are concentrating on the few bad, WHICH sony said they are looking into changing.



I love the ps4, but psnow is just stupid IMHO. Of course I'm also someone who would always prefer higher quality to lesser quality, and even a great 100mbit connection is a downgrade from the real thing. Pricing wise it will probably, even certainly improve a lot. Gameplay wise it's going to be not so great.



how much does it take to rent a game from a retail store?



Back when we had Blockbuster it was like $8 for 5-days.

Today we have Redbox which is $2/day or $14 for 7-days.


Now $8 for 7-days is bad? Where have people been living where they did not pay attention to rental prices? What did they want, $2 for a week rental?



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