PlayStation Now Hits PlayStation 3 This Month, 'Other Devices' Soon
Jack Buser, Senior Director of Sony's PlayStation Now, said in a recent blog that the game streaming service will be made available on the PlayStation 3 console on May 12. Players will have a choice of two models: stream PlayStation 3 games for one monthly fee or stream rental games individually. For those wanting the monthly plan, it will cost $19.99 for one month or $44.99 for three months.
The blog said that five new games will be added this month. They include Farming Simulator, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, Sanctum 2, F1 2014 and Fat Princess. These join a growing list of PlayStation 3 titles in the subscription group including Batman Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite, Dead Island Riptide, God of War HD, Resident Evil 5 Gold, The Last of Us and loads more.
While this is good news for customers wanting to stream games to the older console, he also said that PlayStation Now will be coming to other devices soon. Currently, Sony's streaming service works on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita (open beta), PlayStation TV (open beta), Sony TVs (open beta) and Sony Blu-ray players released in 2015 (open beta). Select Samsung Smart TVs released in 2015 will soon support the service as well.
Based on that info, the "other devices" likely refer to Samsung's TVs. Still, it's not hard to imagine that PlayStation Now could be released on the PC as well. OnLive managed to do it for years through a downloadable client app that streamed not only the games, but the OnLive user interface as well. Sony could do the same if there's a demand for such a service.
PlayStation Now served as an open beta back in July 2014 and then became a full service on January 13 for the PlayStation 4. According to an FAQ, this service provides over 200 PlayStation games for individual rental and over 100 games in the subscription service. Games that players can rent include Deus Ex: Human Revolution, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and so on.
To stream PlayStation Now games, players will need a broadband connection between 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps, a free Sony Entertainment Network account, and a DualShock 3 or 4 controller. Sony suggested that customers use a wired connection to play, even though the company supports Wi-Fi. Naturally, the lower the ping, the better the gameplay experience.
Would you play PlayStation Now games if they were offered on the PC? Or would Sony be wasting its time? With game saves stored in the cloud, customers could load up the service on their laptop and play their favorite PlayStation 3 titles while away, and then jump on a PlayStation 3/4 console when they return home. We suspect that Sony may be heading down this path, given that a large portion of its audience uses a desktop or laptop.
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Perhaps that's a bit of wishful thinking?
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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PaulBags I'd be interested in some exclusive titles coming to pc, the last of us for example, but I'm not keen on streaming in general. And in what countries will this streaming even be avalible, sony bought out the first game streaming service and then never expanded the server base.Reply -
mman74 So looking forward to this. I gave away my PS3 when I got the PS4, and then realised there are still games on the PS3 that are not available on the PS4.Reply -
leeb2013 Obviously, there'd be a drop in graphics quality and probably only able to play on 1 monitor, but I might consider playing a PS4 game.Reply -
Quixit ReplyObviously, there'd be a drop in graphics quality and probably only able to play on 1 monitor, but I might consider playing a PS4 game.
It's for PS3 games.