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

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gergroy said:

 They could even add another tier to playstation plus that would include ps now streaming.  


This right here is money waiting to be made IMO.  Double my PS+ price for unlimited streaming and I have no problems with it personally.  In fact, I am holding out hope that at the end of all of this that is an option they roll out.



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Anfebious said:

"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.


Well, duh. Anyone with any intelligence and/or interest in how much money they spend knows it's a rip off paying for virtual goods that you don't actually own. Having said that, there are more stupid people in the world than not and Sony knows it.



The pricing isn't as bad as it's made out to be when compared to other current rental services. Some have already provided examples. I guess it seems that way since it's done solely through the console.

In my opinion, they should do a Netflix-style subscription for all PSOne and PS2 classics (perhaps PSP too) for say $10/month.

For PS3 games, they should charge $1 for every 24 hours, per game. That way it's up to the user on how many days and when they want to rent as it wouldn't have to be consecutive days, and they won't be bounded within consecutive time frames.



e=mc^2

Gaming on: PS4 Pro, Switch, SNES Mini, Wii U, PC (i5-7400, GTX 1060)

Can i rent a game without PS+? Anyway like i said in another thread.. Its not the high price thats the problem but the difference in prices which makes it complexing.. Even forbes had an article today http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/08/01/playstation-now-isnt-too-expensive-its-just-too-complicated/

Also a good point raised by them that a subscription would be a nightmare to license for Sony..



 

Face the future.. Gamecenter ID: nikkom_nl (oh no he didn't!!) 

Ka-pi96 said:
MentalDancing said:
F.Scofield said:

Some rpgs needs more than a month if you work, study or do other stuffs, not everyone has 24/7 to play.

Then buy the physical....this ain't mandatory...7.99 for a week has been a standard renting price for years.


Considering this is mostly for last gen games if you don't have the last gen console physical isn't an option. So it's streaming from PS Now or nothing.

You'd be better off buying a used PS3. But that would imply people use their brains first and we all know THAT isn't going to happen.



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daredevil.shark said:
If you guys dont like it nobody is forcing them to purchase it.

 

"Dont like it dont buy it and shut up" is stupid and you know it.

This entire forum is based on discussing things that many people dont plan on buying anyways. There's 50 million "Wii U sucks" posts from people who wont buy it if it cost $0 anyways. Not to mention the Vita articles.



kowenicki said:


So sony only has the resource, power and tech of Onlive?  Gotcha.

I dont realise, thanks for filling me in.  In that case...you are right, they best stick to an unattractive pricing strructure to limit take up.

Spoken like someone who clearly hasn't tried PSNow. I was in the private beta. There were some compression artifacts in some of the games, but nothing as crappy as "playing PS3 on a standard definition 480p tv". But for the most part, they looked good at 720p. In fact, the only game that looked sub par was Way of the Samurai 3.....and the game looks crappy on native hardware, so I'm not even going to hold it against that.

And the input was great, other than when there was a hiccup (like when once in a while, a Netflix video will hiccup and drop to like 384p, but then shoots back up to 1080p). Framerate was smooth as well. 

You'd know that if you actually tried it. But I guess you're just being you.



These prices do look like robbery to me and it's a shame seeing fans attack anyone who thinks so.



Kyuu said:

That makes no sense at all.


PS3 is dirt cheap now. Buy it, buy the games you want used/discounted from age, and save a ton of money in the long run. Then, on some rainy day when you don't have internet, be proud that you have full access to all of the games you paid for...



BMaker11 said:

Spoken like someone who clearly hasn't tried PSNow. I was in the private beta. There were some compression artifacts in some of the games, but nothing as crappy as "playing PS3 on a standard definition 480p tv". But for the most part, they looked good at 720p. In fact, the only game that looked sub par was Way of the Samurai 3.....and the game looks crappy on native hardware, so I'm not even going to hold it against that.

And the input was great, other than when there was a hiccup (like when once in a while, a Netflix video will hiccup and drop to like 384p, but then shoots back up to 1080p). Framerate was smooth as well. 

You'd know that if you actually tried it. But I guess you're just being you.

Its closed beta. Do you realize how minimal the stress on their servers is in such a scenario? And how much smoother it will feel to you, one of only a few, using all that available bandwidth without any competition. Scale whatever artifacts and compression and streaming issues (hiccups or otherwise) you may have had by several orders of magnititude once this goes live and if anyone actually pays for it and uses it.