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Forums - Sony - Playstation Now for PC could be a game changer for Sony

jnemesh on 15 August 2014
binary solo said:
jnemesh said:
binary solo said:
jnemesh said:
binary solo said:
Actually thinking about it PS Now only really makes sense on non-PS devices. People will be far more willing to pay for games they never owned in the past and have no hope of every playing except for the existence of PS Now. OTOH PS owners will always be able to bitch about the fact that PS Now is a shitty and expensive alternative to backwards compatibility.

Not sure what your overall point is...I admit that their pricing needs work, and one of the things I am hoping to see once it exits BETA TESTING is the ability to play the games I have already purchased on PSN without being charged again.  However, MY point is that, TECHNICALLY, the service is incredibly great...the pricing is still being "worked on", but there is nothing at all wrong with the service itself.  If they give me access to my library of games, I have no issue with putting my PS3 in a box in the closet and using PS Now instead.

Well that's a very limited nd exclusive sort of B/C If they link PS Now, b/c would be if you put a PS1/2/3 game disc in your PS4 the PS4 recognises the game and allows you to play the game streaming off PS Now at no cost. And if you have a PSN+ account then all PSN games are playable too. My point is people who have never owned a PS home console have no basis to bitch about having to pay for B/C. But long time PS console owners are being forced to pay a second time for games they already own, unless Sony implements a method for recognising possesssion of games other than digitally owned games.

Actually, what would really be super awesome for PS owners would be the ability to play PC only games through PS Now. If MS has no exclusive hold over a PC game there is no reason at all that Sony can't licence PC games for PS Now. PS4 has KB+M support so there is no hardware barrier to supporting any/all PC games through the service.


I 100% agree with you!  I am VERY much hoping that Sony allows what you are talking about...you SHOULD be able to put your PS3 (or 2 or 1) disc in the drive, have the machine verify the title, then let you stream the game you already own...at the MINIMUM, they should allow access to PSN games you have purchased.  But again, I will point out that the service is still in BETA, and they are experimenting here (trying to find what people's "pain points" are as far as pricing)...and we have yet to see their subscription model either.  I withold judgement on whether the service is "worth it" or not until they finalize everything and have a formal launch...



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naruball on 15 August 2014
jnemesh said:

I am sure people said the same thing when Netflix was first starting to stream videos....but, I can tell you, my blu-ray (or DVD) buying days are about over at this point.  Granted, movies dont have the same replay value that a game has...but if you have access to thousands of games, ON DEMAND, 24/7, why would you feel compelled to own any?  The initial 100 titles or so availalbe on PS Now right now are just the beginning.

You do realize that with movies you can pause and wait for the movie to buffer while with games you need an actually good broadband, right? I mean can you imagine needing to time your attacks perfectly and losing to a boss because the game froze? Pretty sure you can't rewind if you miss something or if someone attacks you while you were waiting for the game to respond.



jnemesh on 15 August 2014
naruball said:
jnemesh said:

I am sure people said the same thing when Netflix was first starting to stream videos....but, I can tell you, my blu-ray (or DVD) buying days are about over at this point.  Granted, movies dont have the same replay value that a game has...but if you have access to thousands of games, ON DEMAND, 24/7, why would you feel compelled to own any?  The initial 100 titles or so availalbe on PS Now right now are just the beginning.

You do realize that with movies you can pause and wait for the movie to buffer while with games you need an actually good broadband, right? I mean can you imagine needing to time your attacks perfectly and losing to a boss because the game froze? Pretty sure you can't rewind if you miss something or if someone attacks you while you were waiting for the game to respond.


I tried the service, as it is RIGHT NOW, on my internet connection and it was as good as playing natively on my PS3.  



naruball on 15 August 2014
jnemesh said:
naruball said:
jnemesh said:

I am sure people said the same thing when Netflix was first starting to stream videos....but, I can tell you, my blu-ray (or DVD) buying days are about over at this point.  Granted, movies dont have the same replay value that a game has...but if you have access to thousands of games, ON DEMAND, 24/7, why would you feel compelled to own any?  The initial 100 titles or so availalbe on PS Now right now are just the beginning.

You do realize that with movies you can pause and wait for the movie to buffer while with games you need an actually good broadband, right? I mean can you imagine needing to time your attacks perfectly and losing to a boss because the game froze? Pretty sure you can't rewind if you miss something or if someone attacks you while you were waiting for the game to respond.


I tried the service, as it is RIGHT NOW, on my internet connection and it was as good as playing natively on my PS3.  

Yes, I get that and that's great. That's not my point, though. If x person has x kind of internet and tries to watch a movie, worst thing that can happen is the movie freezes and he waits a second/an hour depending on the problem or the speed. Then you watch where you left off.

With video games you can't do that. If someone has worse internet than you and tries to play a video game, the experience will be terrible. The character won't jump when you need him to, you want be able to dodge when you're supposed to, etc. Do you still not see the difference? You can't compare movies with video games because the experience is significantly different.



JOKA_ on 16 August 2014
jnemesh said:
Keegs79 said:
JOKA_ said:
If PSNow takes off Sony is going to stop being a hardware manufacturer

Your one of those people? Even if it takes off and becomes extremely successful it would not stop hardware manufacturing. Not everyone is going to have a TV for the app or have a PC to run it or even want to. The whole reason why most people play and argue about PC gaming is simplicity and being in front of a big TV. Besides that, it is not going to prevent people from buying physical media. All it would prove is that there is demand still for older games and some of those games might be harder to find and buy. There is a lot of things taking into account.

I wish people would stop jumping the gun.


For those that don't have a TV that supports PS Now...or a tablet...or a smartphone...or a Playstation Console...there is always the $99 Playstation TV!

What I think is being said here by JOKA saying that "they are going to stop being a hardware manufacturer" is that they can EASILY stream PS4 games as well as PS3, 2 and 1 games.  They could decide to just run everything off the servers at some point in the future, providing upgrades on THEIR end as needed...and instead of customers having to upgrade their hardware every 5-8 years, the upgrades would be done for them...all they would have to do is buy/rent/subscribe to the software.

Now, currently, the state of broadband in the US is rather pathetic thanks to Verizon, Comcast and other ISPs padding their wallets instead of upgrading their networks...and degrading the principle of Network Neutrality while they are at it...but EVENTUALLY, broadband at 1gb/s is going to be common...not next year or even the year after...but in 10 years?  Quite possibly.  At that point, it would not only be practical to stream all of your media, including games...but also preferable!  Imagine playing PS4 (or 5) games on your smartphone via a 6g gigabit wireless connection!  Or being able to pause your game in the living room and being able to resume the game in your bedroom...or at the office, on the subway, at the park...wherever you happen to be!

This technology has broad implications for the future of gaming, and I am very excited to see it start to mature!


Yes, this exactly.  To reiterate:

1) This is still a ways off (internet speeds are a big inhibitor), I fully expect there to be a PS5.

2) By stop making hardware, I mean they could stop making $400 consoles with expensinve parts inside.  They could allow the PSNow app to be available on TVs, Tablets, Phones and then simply sell a controller.  Or for those without those devices, they could sell a cheap $50 or $99 piece of 'hardware' (hmmm, sounds like PSTV) that simply connects to the internet and runs the PSNow app.  Then when the 'next-generation' of hardware comes out, Sony simply updates the hardware on their end.  No more shipping, no more disc drives, all equipment is easily upgradeable.


This is a way for Sony to get out of the costly business of making hardware, while still being a 'console' maker. 



Platinums: Red Dead Redemption, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, Terminator Salvation, Uncharted 1, inFamous Second Son, Rocket League

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jnemesh on 18 August 2014

Well, Sony will still need to invest in hardware on the server side...and this is not going to be an inconsequential amount of money needed to run tens of thousands (if not more) of simultaneous game sessions.  But the consumer will no longer need to buy hardware, and upgrade every 5-6 years...upgrades and hardware costs would be rolled into the costs of the software for the consumers.