Tag Archives: playstation now beta

PlayStation Now Subscriptions Launch on PS4 on January 13th

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PlayStation Now

After a successful open beta, Sony will be launching subscriptions for their PlayStation Now game streaming service on PS4 later this month.

When the PS4 was first announced, plenty of people got excited. Sony touted a brand new, highly responsive controller (the DualShock 4) and some seriously powerful innards that would make the future generation of gaming both look and play great.

But in the list of ‘pros’ – lovely graphics and impressive roster of exclusive games – many people were disappointed to see that backwards compatibility wasn’t included. After almost an entire decade of fantastic PS3 games (such as The Last of Us, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and inFamous 1 and 2) many people would be unable to play these games on PS4 unless they forked out for the retooled version such as The Last of Us: Remastered. But even so, not all PS3 games have PS4 versions and most of us are out of luck.

Furthermore, it’s estimated that almost half of all PS4 owners didn’t own a PS3 and so will have missed out on many great games from the last generation. That’s what Sony’s new game streaming service PlayStation Now looks to solve and after several months in beta, it will soon get a full release on PS4.

That info comes from Sony’s announcements at CES (the annual electronics trade show in Las Vegas) as they’ve now revealed that on January 13th, PlayStation Now will be going live on PS4, allowing players to stream over 100 PS3 games. Such games include PlayStation exclusives Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension as well as many third-party titles from Warner Brothers, SEGA, 2K and EA.

The company also explained that players will be able to subscribe to PlayStation Now, if they’d like to stream all games all of the time rather than shell out for limited play time of each game. So now, instead of paying for four hour, seven day, 30 day or 90 day stints for each game you can subscribe and gain access to everything as long as your subscription lasts. You can buy one month for $19.99, or a three-month package for $44.99 (about $15 per month) with more info explained in the video above.

Whilst Sony has explained that not only will they add to the veritable feast of available games regularly and PlayStation Now will soon be rolled out to PS3, PS Vita and PS TV, at $180 a year (that’s the total of four, three month subscriptions) that price is a little steep. Many have already argued that the pricing ‘sweet spot’ for an annual sub would be $99 and I’m very much inclined to agree. At the very least, Sony should be willing to knock the PlayStation Now price down for those who pay for PlayStation Plus (the $50 sub that gives you free games across all PS consoles and access to PS4 multiplayer), especially when some of the games available on PlayStation Now have already been given out for free with PS Plus (e.g Spelunky, Guacamelee and BioShock Infinite).

It’s early days for the service yet though and Sony will be listening to this early feedback to make changes accordingly. Check it out on PS4 from January 13th.

Source: PS Blog

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PlayStation Now Enters Open Beta On PlayStation 4

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Sony’s game streaming service is no longer private and is available for all PlayStation 4 owners.

This week served as the next testing ground for Sony’s game streaming service, PlayStation Now. On Thursday (July 31), and after months of only being accessible to a select group of PlayStation guinea pigs, PS Now entered its open beta phase for all PlayStation 4 owners.

For now, the library of games PS4 users can stream from Sony’s cloud servers to their home consoles is limited to just the PlayStation 3. It is a back catalogue that includes more than 100 PS3 games: Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 3, Darksiders II, and eventually almost every title under the sun from Sony’s previous console as the open beta goes on.

The whole service is fully integrated into the PS4’s PlayStation Store, but currently users can only rent games to stream. Rental periods for each game will typically range from 7-days, 30-days, 90-days, or down to 4-hours if you just want an easy sampling. Every rental period comes with their own price, which during the open beta will be continually adjusting.

If renting still sounds like an odd proposition, Sony is working on a PS Now subscription service. When such a service will come is unknown, but at least it shows that the company is listening carefully to all criticism. Sony is also working on bringing PS Now to other platforms – PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and even smart phones – in the near future.

PlayStation 4 users wanting to try out PlayStation Now this weekend are highly recommended to have a solid 5MB connection. Ideally, a wired one. You’ll also be able to collect PS3 trophies with the 100 or so games that are available in the beta, along with full friend lists and leaderboard support.

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PlayStation Now Beta Heading For PlayStation 4

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Sony gets ready to bring their game streaming service to the PlayStation 4 on May 20th.

Since it’s start around late January, the beta for Sony’s newly announced streaming game service, PlayStation Now, has been quietly under way. Successfully, too, with private beta testers logging in over 50,000 gameplay hours.

Up till this point, those numbers have been accumulated on the PlayStation 3, with testers streaming such PS3 titles as The Last of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, God of War: Ascension, and Puppeteer. Now with the planned Summer launch just around the bend, Sony is entering into phase two by expanding PS Now to the PlayStation 4 starting May 20.

Those already enrolled for the PS Now beta only need to wait for an email voucher code to begin using the streaming service on their PS4s. Sony is planning on branching out to more users in the near future, but you can still be apart of a chosen few by registering for a Private Beta invite through their registration website.

As for PS Now itself, Sony is targeting to bring the service to all its platforms (PS4, PS3, PS Vita) and other Sony devices, like their brand of Bravia televisions. The catalogue of games available from PS Now hasn’t been solidified yet, although much speculation has mentioned support of titles both new and from the PSone/PlayStation 2 era.

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