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Bye Bye Physical Games. Playstation Now is Coming


On 01/09/2014 at 03:25 PM by KnightDriver

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     Sony at The Computer and Electronics Show this week announced their streaming service Playstation Now to begin this Summer. It will stream games from all generations of Playstation and possibly other publishers to TVs, Phones, Tablets and PS3, 4 and Vita. Sony bought Gaikai to do the programing for this a little while ago for a ton of money showing their commitment to making this work. The full breakdown is on the Playstation blog.

              psnow

    From another article from International Business Times, GameStop's stock dropped 8% after Sony's announcement. Somehow I don't think this will kill off GameStop especially if the streaming service has lag problems, but I think it's a sign of the inevitable shift away from disc based media.

    The future of games has begun. It was only a matter of time before a Netflix-like service started for games. Remember The Phantom from 2002 or OnLive from 2010? Those attempted the same thing and didn't take off, but Sony, with all it's incredible library available to stream for a monthly fee? Maybe this could work, that is, if connection speeds are good enough to avoid lag.


 

Comments

Nicoleb1989

01/09/2014 at 04:27 PM

I signed up for the beta, Im hopeing to get in maybe and try it out before it launches officially. I wanna re buy a ps3, but at the sametime, if this works great then I technically wont need to.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 12:52 AM

I know. We won't need any Sony systems if this works well.

I'm not sure I want to get rid of any of my physical stuff, but then I remember what happened to my CDs and DVDs. I've got iTunes and Netflix now.

C.S.3590SquadLeader

01/09/2014 at 05:02 PM

It's an interesting idea, at least. I still perfer physical media, but I can't deny the potential of this kind of service.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 12:54 AM

I couldn't help thinking of whether Microsoft would stream the service on the Xbox One. Ha! Fat chance of that happening.

Super Step Contributing Writer

01/09/2014 at 05:23 PM

I'm with C.S.3590SquadLeader.

HEKTR0

01/09/2014 at 05:23 PM

I still enjoy collecting physical copies, but everything is headed towards digital clearly.  The downside for publishers is that they can no longer sell statues and other collectibles with their games for double the price in collector's editions.  They will probably work around this and sell a case with a download code inside so they can keep their collector's editions as long as people are willing to buy them.

The downside of a streaming gaming service is obviously the lag.  Having lag in a multiplayer game is expected, but in a single player game it's not acceptable.  For RPGs and stuff where there isn't a lot of twitch gameplay it's probably fine, maybe.  But for action games I can't see it working too well, at least not right now.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 12:55 AM

For me lag is not acceptable in any game. It's the one thing that has to be perfect to get me on board.

daftman

01/09/2014 at 08:03 PM

I'm interested to see how it works out. Will Sony just have everything available at once and all the time? Will they slowly add games a la Virtual Console? Will there be a rotating list of third party games? We don't know yet but Sony definitely has the resources to weather the learning curve of making this work, something that similar services in the past have not.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 12:58 AM

It seems like anything that's already on PSN will be there, but I wonder what it takes to make a disc game streamable. If there's processing to be done, and money required to do that, than maybe the library will be more limited.

asrealasitgets

01/09/2014 at 08:07 PM

A bit of caution though. I put away my PS1, PS2 and Gamecube because I bought into the "digital download library" marketing of Sony and Nintendo, and they don't have my fav games available yet and I doubt they ever will. So it actually encouraged my preferance for emulators and pirating old games tremendously. Frown And I will never go back.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 01:01 AM

If there's even one game that I want that's only available in physical form, then I'm keeping my consoles.

I only briefly dabbled in emulators and such when I was into PC gaming. That was a good option if you couldn't get a game any other way. I had MAME running at one point so I could play Sky Shark, which isn't available in it's arcade perfect form.

asrealasitgets

01/10/2014 at 01:31 AM

Currently there is an emulator that lets you play PSP games in HD, also Wii Games in HD. I don't think Sony or Nintendo can do this, or ever will. I much prefer portables on portables, and for that I have a hacked PSP and play them digitally. Again, it is tough to find PSP or even Gamecube games that I missed unless I really try hard on ebay or whatever. 

SanAndreas

01/09/2014 at 08:33 PM

Not until the Internet infrastructure improves greatly. The Internet infrastructure in the United States is, by and large, garbage.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 01:02 AM

Yea, I keep thinking about variability in internet speeds being a big problem. But then Obama did promise high speed internet to all Americans. When's that gonna happen?

Aboboisdaman

01/09/2014 at 09:53 PM

I wonder what this would do to Gamefly. It'd be like the same thing except with no shipping hassles. I don't mind Steam for the most part, but I'll never go fully digital.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 01:07 AM

I used to be into Gamefly.

I would think stock prices just dropped for them as well as GameStop this week. Maybe they'll just get their own streaming service and be truely just like Netflix with the same choice of streaming or discs through the mail.

I just heard some more news about Steam Box. That's coming too.

avidacridjam

01/10/2014 at 05:03 AM

I don't think this will eventually eliminate physical discs. I like the potential but this needs to remain an option. 

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 02:39 PM

It's taking a lot longer than CDs and DVDs. Those are both still around but in much reduced numbers - no music or movie stores around anymore.

avidacridjam

01/12/2014 at 03:29 AM

Because most of the service is online now. If I could find the article, I'd post it here, but it read that dvd sales/rentals still make up a huge portion of revenue for the movie studios. Not sure how it is for game companies.

KnightDriver

01/12/2014 at 03:44 AM

Interesting. I always wondered about that. I still see ads for DVDs all the time. I guess it's just me then. I haven't bought a DVD in ages.

Coolsetzer

01/10/2014 at 06:21 AM

I will not support this. Sony has already showed us their plans, by having us rebuy our entire collections just so we can play our games on the PS4. That's why I support backwards compatibility. It will never be as good as the b/c PS3 was. 

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 02:45 PM

It's always about keeping the money streaming in for them isn't it. No new product? Resell old product with some new tweak. Diablo III, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed IV are all getting next gen versions but that's what usually happens when new consoles arrive.

 I find it weird thinking about playing games on a streaming service like PSNow and not actually own any of the games, but then I used to be attached to CDs and DVDs. Now I don't really care about that stuff. We'll see.

FAF101

01/10/2014 at 08:48 AM

I am actually excited for this. Granted I always keep my old games and old systems now for that just incase they never put it out there again sort of thing. Signed up for the Beta to see if I can get the chance to try it out early. It's going to be interesting, hopefully it goes well for them and it's not a complete flop right away because I really do like this idea they came up with.

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 02:48 PM

I might like it for new releases 'cause it's so expensive to buy games day-one, but ultimately I like to own games I really like.

goaztecs

01/10/2014 at 12:25 PM

Well I signed up for the beta, lets see how that goes. When I heard about this feature I was excited because it's another reason to use my Vita, and hopefully go crossplay. What I'm worried about is the controls on devices like a tablet or a phone where there isn't any physical controls. How will that effect the gameplay?

Concept wise I'm excited for, but the execution might be suspect, and I'm affraid if we are not able to stream our own games via PS3 or PS4 to the devices, a lot of the available games at first will be PS Minis.

I'm also wondering how much extra would this feature be. I'm assuming it will be something like Music Unlimited, but I do hope Playstation will offer some kind of deal and package this feature with PS+. If PS+'s price is raised by something like $30 to include both, it would be a steal...of course in a perfect world I'd like to see Now be a freebie and part of PS+

KnightDriver

01/10/2014 at 02:51 PM

I've heard you can connect a controller to a tablet and I've seen some funky contraptions that turn your phone into a controller. I guess those could solve some of those problems.

It would be neat to have Now as part of PS+ or even for a little bit more if you have PS+.

jgusw

01/11/2014 at 02:21 PM

I don't see this working.  The only way it could work is if Sony allowed you to download the game and there is a constant connection between the system and the online service.  Just streaming the game is calling for a lag disaster.  

KnightDriver

01/12/2014 at 03:02 AM

I agree. Chris Kohler on Wired magazine's podcast this week talked about Sony using it as a way you could play PS3 games on the PS4. That way they can claim some sort of backwards compatibility. Thing is, you'd be paying to play your own games again. 

NSonic79

01/22/2014 at 12:53 PM

this isn't enough for meto want a PS4 right now but I am intrigued. I myself would like to see how this works given how the online networks of PSN for the PS3 has not been kind to me as of late. though I am able to get netflix with my 3mbps cable interent connection, I am highly dubious if PS Now could deliver the same results given how it could mean possible lag, downgrade of visuals and the fact that if I had a PS4 I'd have to pay twice to play the same games I might own on the PS3, 2 and 1.

For now I'll still stick with my PSOne on Game Rig 3, PS2 on Game Rig 2 and my Phat B/C PS3 on Game Rig 1, ver. 2.0 for now.

KnightDriver

01/23/2014 at 03:53 AM

Yea, I'm not too excited about it. It's much more reliable to play a game from a disc or hard drive than have to depend on internet speeds. It works great for movies, but games, that's another beast all together.

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