Ten Things You Need to Know about Playstation Now

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In case you missed it, Sony revealed a bold and ambitious new streaming service called Playstation Now at the Consumer Electronics Show. The new service will let users stream Playstation One, Playstation 2 and Playstation 3 games across not just current Playstation devices, but Bravia TVs, tablets and even smartphones.

Both Playstation Access and the Playstation Blog have published some new stuff that mostly go over stuff we already knew, but also reveal some new little tidbits that give us a better idea of what to expect. The first bits of information come from the video by Playstation Access, which goes over ten key bits of information that you need to consider regarding Playstation Now:


In case you don’t have time to watch the video, or you just want the information compiled into a cold, collected bullet list (in which we added certain things we’ve additionally found), we got you covered on that end as well:

  • Playstation Now is a streaming service that focuses on bringing Playstation One, Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 games to a range of Playstation and Sony devices.
  • Playstation Now uses cloud servers to play the games remotely, sending you a stream of the gameplay on whichever device you’re using. All of the computing and graphics processing is done on the back end, meaning you’ll need a good internet connection to handle the connection (the Playstation Blog estimates that 5 mbps speeds are adequate).
  • Playstation Now will be initially available on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4, with Playstation Vita and Sony Bravia televisions following sometime later.
  • Payment plans have not been announced, but there are two main variations confirmed, including: renting by specific titles, or paying a flat subscription fee and having access to all the currently available games.
  • The line up of games has not been fully confirmed, but The Last of Us, Puppeteer, God of War: Ascension and Beyond Two Souls were all playable at CES. Sony says that eventually the library will be vast, and that it will include both first and third party games.
  • Initially the service will focus on just Playstation 3 games, but it will eventually offer Playstation One, Playstation 2 and even Playstation 4 games. That last bit is definitely exciting!
  • No matter what device you’re using Playstation Now on, you’ll need a Dualshock 3 to pair up and control said games with, meaning you won’t be able to play stuff through your Xbox One with Kinect, unfortunately. This includes Bravia televisions, although the Playstation Vita and Playstation 4 both require the Dualshock 4.
  • Games that are included in Playstation Now will be fully featured, meaning you’ll be able to play online multiplayer, earn trophies, save your game, etc., meaning the game functions the same way it would on disc or installed to your harddrive.
  • Playstation Now will be launching in the United States this summer, with the rest of the world to be confirmed later.

So where can you go to sign up for Playstation Now? Although the beta is scheduled for the end of this month, there isn’t an actual “sign up” page, but Sony is pointing people to this website to “sign up for more information.”

Sid Shuman, the social media manager over on the Playstation Blog, did hint that that website is a sign up page for people to get into the beta, when he responded to a fan saying they “already signed up for the closed beta,” adding “The PlayStation Now site is more of a “sign up to learn more” deal. But we’ll keep you posted…”

In other news, Gamestop’s shares have dropped nearly ten percent following Sony’s announcement of Playstation Now. Could Sony be hammering in the final nail in the brick and mortar game store’s coffin? We’ll keep you guys posted.

Image: Tom’s Guide

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Owner and Publisher at Niche Gamer and Nicchiban. Outlaw fighting for a better game industry.


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