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PlayStation Now announced (PS1/2/3 streaming to TVs/Tablets/Phones/PSes, Summer 2014)

CamHostage

Member
Will this breathe new life into the PS Vita?

I don't know if it can, considering the percentage of gamers who seem to experience trouble with Sony WiFi hardware?

I know for me, I'm one of the many getting pathetic speeds out of my router using Sony PlayStation hardware (it took I think 5 hours on PSN with Vita to download the 1GB patch for Killzone Mercenary.) There's supposedly something I can do with Port Forwarding and other advanced level router work that I did in the past but never got completely right and haven't bothered with since upgrading my router. (By the way, my PC, in the same room as my PS3 and Vita, hums along with perfectly acceptable upload/download speeds; I watch high-def Hulu all day long on my PC but the app is worthless on my console.) I hear pretty regularly that people have this same problem with their PlayStations sucking over WiFi, and that only when wired in do they get the speed they expect.

So unless Sony has an answer to these multitudes of localized WiFi issues, it'll be a problem for a lot of would-be Vita subscribers. You can get by with lame download speed or a weak-but-workable gameplay ping without the masses addressing these issues, but Gaikai requires such a demanding and exacting performance level that it just doesn't seem like the people I've heard from are ready for it. (Granted, I'm one of the complainers, so I'll hear a lot more of the complaints; is this an issue that others are NOT having?) With PS4, you can often plug in (and furthermore with PS4, you can re-route to Vita in Remote Play,) so I see potential in it with even further great potential down the road as more and more networking technology becomes available. With Vita, though, it's funny because it's both the biggest opportunity and possibly the most dangerous curse that PlayStation Now is coming to the platform.
 

spwolf

Member
Are you serious? But then again, there are people who enjoy Resogun @30FPS on their Vita. Really, there is not much to discuss when it comes to quality standards. Some people just don't have them.

so you watch movies @IMAX only, and refuse to watch any other way? Interesting.

yes, I am sure many people are not hardcore. But even for "hardcore" gamers, PSNow will be useful for renting games to see if they interest them before plunking $60, or possibly with subscription, similar to PS+, a gateway to games that possibly you would not have played otherwise. I am not sure how many people get to play every game that comes out, they are $60 after-all, hardcore or not - PSNow will help with this.

I would like to get it for my kids for instance and give them access to library of games for "cheap"... we have 4 DS3's in the house already, so investment is minimal (non existent) and they wont take my big TV anymore when playing games.

As to the investment in Gaikai vs VR, since they purchased separate company that is developing the product, I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with their division that already does HMD. HMD/VR would be invested in with its own merits and if someone in that division makes a good case for it. Personally, I dont think it is money maker so unless Sony is doing great and has cash to spare, it wont happen. Before CES, we had analysts calling for Kaz's head so I am not sure they have money to spare right now.
 

spwolf

Member
There is an interesting interview with John Koller here on the direction for the service.

http://www.computerandvideogames.co...ler-on-playstation-nows-streaming-revolution/

well, i am sure they will eventually add virtual controls for phones and tablets. Right now obviously they are catering to the gamers first.

It is a good selling point for their Bravia line, VitaTV and probably for tablets as well, but I see a hard sell for gaming on a phone without virtual controls.
 
On that note, do you have the potential for a user to put a PS3 disc into a PS4 to verify that they own or have the game, and for this to unlock the game for play via streaming?

We... uh, initially, no. So, we're saying no to that right now.

Is that something that's being investigated? Is it possible?

Right now, no.

Aaaaand my hype just dropped quite a bit. As far as I'm aware, home burners still can't trick the PS1 with burned games, so what possible reason is there to not do this? All it does is disenfranchise those of us who have already spent hundreds of dollars on these older games, supporting Sony for years, or even decades for some. If the subscription is cheap enough, I'll still go for it, but this is still very disappointing.
 
On that note, do you have the potential for a user to put a PS3 disc into a PS4 to verify that they own or have the game, and for this to unlock the game for play via streaming?

We... uh, initially, no. So, we're saying no to that right now.

Is that something that's being investigated? Is it possible?

Right now, no.


I'm fluent in corprotese, let me translate: HAHAHA no, nop, nu uh. Neeevvvver. NO.
 

Hasney

Member
Aaaaand my hype just dropped quite a bit. As far as I'm aware, home burners still can't trick the PS1 with burned games, so what possible reason is there to not do this? All it does is disenfranchise those of us who have already spent hundreds of dollars on these older games, supporting Sony for years, or even decades for some. If the subscription is cheap enough, I'll still go for it, but this is still very disappointing.

On the plus side, at least they're not pretending it might be a thing like they did with the PSP-Vita thing.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
I doubt they're going to cannibalise sales by putting brand new games on it, but a steady stream of back catalogue wouldn't be bad a few years down the line.

Certainly, they won't launch the service with PS4 titles. ...But they're launching it with PS3 titles, and all the titles shown at CES were 2013 releases. It makes me think seeing PS4 titles on PSNow could take around...2 years since the service starts? That's something I don't know how to react to, sincerly.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Aaaaand my hype just dropped quite a bit. As far as I'm aware, home burners still can't trick the PS1 with burned games, so what possible reason is there to not do this? All it does is disenfranchise those of us who have already spent hundreds of dollars on these older games, supporting Sony for years, or even decades for some. If the subscription is cheap enough, I'll still go for it, but this is still very disappointing.

It's one thing to give people a freebie copy of a game they bought on a previous platform (ala cross play) - for example - but it's another thing to give streaming access to that game to owners on other platforms. The latter has an ongoing cost and brings value and qualities that weren't on the table when Sony sold you a copy of the game originally.

It's a lovely idea but it's probably not economically viable.
 
It's one thing to give people a freebie copy of a game they bought on a previous platform (ala cross play) - for example - but it's another thing to give streaming access to that game to owners on other platforms. The latter has an ongoing cost and brings value and qualities that weren't on the table when Sony sold you a copy of the game originally.

It's a lovely idea but it's probably not economically viable.

I understand that, and I'd be willing to pay a (very small) monthly fee to help with server costs because of that. Heck, that seems like a reasonable thing to include in plus, since that already is going toward server costs for multiplayer. I just think it's wildly unlikely the games will be cheap enough that I'd be willing to rebuy even part of my PS1-3 library in inferior quality at the same price as people who don't own the original games. Especially when I've got a PS2 and a PS3 hooked up as is.
 

Caelc

Banned
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
I understand that, and I'd be willing to pay a (very small) monthly fee to help with server costs because of that. Heck, that seems like a reasonable thing to include in plus, since that already is going toward server costs for multiplayer. I just think it's wildly unlikely the games will be cheap enough that I'd be willing to rebuy even part of my PS1-3 library in inferior quality at the same price as people who don't own the original games. Especially when I've got a PS2 and a PS3 hooked up as is.

Sure, and I think Sony knows that. Koller is keen to point out in the interview that this isn't backwards compatibility.

Ultimately Sony's goal is the greater masses of people who don't have a playstation console or who never even owned a playstation game. The lure of playing (some) PS3 and PS2 games on PS4 and Vita etc. is really just an opening gambit for testing and scaling up.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?
I guess you missed the multiple hands on articles by IGN, Polygon and others who had nothing but positive things to say during their demo time.

But by all means continue to act like no one has seen or played the service and is just gobbling up PR.
 

Dragon

Banned
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?

I'm not sure how you've even equated an optional service to a required online check in. Perhaps you could explain what they have to do with each other. As far as quality of Gaikai, that's the one thing that everyone has a right to doubt until we've used the service.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Would be strange if they required the use of a Dualshock controller when streaming to a Vita.

I think it's clearly not required, it's being demoed on Vita at CES as is. The DS3 requirement though is for TVs, tablets, phones and other things that don't have Playstation controls attached or built in.
 

Caelc

Banned
I guess you missed the multiple hands on articles by IGN, Polygon and others who had nothing but positive things to say during their demo time.

But by all means continue to act like no one has seen or played the service and is just gobbling up PR.

controlled demo, not real world. Running something for a few people is not even close to running it for millions.
 

Caelc

Banned
I'm not sure how you've even equated an optional service to a required online check in. Perhaps you could explain what they have to do with each other. As far as quality of Gaikai, that's the one thing that everyone has a right to doubt until we've used the service.

Just referencing how evil anything 'online only' is to have this as omg game changer.

i hope it works but Sony can't even keep psn up during crunch time with only a million or so people logging on for the first time.

I am predicting when it launches, it will take months before people can play reliably without being disconnected.
 

hohoXD123

Member
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?

Wow, calm down.
There are already some hands on impressions, look on The Verge. It seems generally positive with a few improvements which need to be made, but it's still early days. But yeah, we don't really know how this will cope when millions of people start using it. Think people are just won over by the concept of having all those past-gen games to play on their new system and other devices, the things that MS are proposing to do with the cloud isn't as exciting imo.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Certainly, they won't launch the service with PS4 titles. ...But they're launching it with PS3 titles, and all the titles shown at CES were 2013 releases. It makes me think seeing PS4 titles on PSNow could take around...2 years since the service starts? That's something I don't know how to react to, sincerly.

Wouldn't be lovely to play PS4 games on a tablet in 2015-2016? No need to buy a PS4 for the 1st parties, just a DS4 and a subscription.

I guess you missed the multiple hands on articles by IGN, Polygon and others who had nothing but positive things to say during their demo time. .

Not that I'm agreeing with his post, but I think there were a lot of hands on and preview articles about Battlefield 4 too.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
Not that I'm agreeing with his post, but I think there were a lot of hands on and preview articles about Battlefield 4 too.
I remember reading the IGN preview on Battlefield multi, on how the game had a 50/50 chance of crashing when the match ended. So I don't get your point. :p
 

Freeman

Banned
This doesn't need to be aimed at everyone. If you can't tolerated less image quality and some input delay it just not for you (or if you don't have a capable connection). There is no magical solution, things will slowly improve.


I think this is a great thing and I congratulate Sony for thinking forward (specially by not limiting this only to PlayStation products).

I'll save my next replay of TLoU for the Vita.
 

Jinko

Member
Wouldn't be lovely to play PS4 games on a tablet in 2015-2016? No need to buy a PS4 for the 1st parties, just a DS4 and a subscription.

Although I would love PS4 games on PSnow it would impact too much on their hardware sales, so I don't see it happening any time soon.

It may not happen until the end of the PS4's life, which is a shame.

This is the next evolution for gaming hardware IMO, I won't be surprised to see PS5 as a dedicated streaming box.
 
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?

Not to speak of people freaking out on 900p games, and now praising a service which will provide utterly rubbish picture quality.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Although I would love PS4 games on PSnow it would impact too much on their hardware sales, so I don't see it happening any time soon.

It may not happen until the end of the PS4's life, which is a shame.

This is the next evolution for gaming hardware IMO, I won't be surprised to see PS5 as a dedicated streaming box.

...That's basically the whole MS DRM controversy all over again.
 

bebop242

Member
Not that I'm agreeing with his post, but I think there were a lot of hands on and preview articles about Battlefield 4 too.

Or how bout comparing it to remote play on the Vita, you know, something like what Playstation Now is attempting? Remote play works as advertised with the proper internet speeds so I don't see why people are so quick to write this off.
 

Albo

Member
Great news for me as someone who didn't own a PS3 last gen, there were so many games I've always wanted to play on the system, plus I can catch up with older classics. Hopefully latency and or IQ issues won't be too much of an issue. It's not like I'll be playing fighting games, or online games through it or anything so I don't imagine it'll be too bothersome for me. Now as long as they price reasonably I'll be on board with my PS4.
 

Fnord

Member
Having unplanned downtime due to heavy use is not tied in any way to them testing a network for a new product.

Did we ever get confirmation that the last downtime was actually due to heavy use? I'm pretty positive the first one was (NA launch), but I'm not so sure about the second.
 
Not to speak of people freaking out on 900p games, and now praising a service which will provide utterly rubbish picture quality.

Picture quality like Netflix which provides solid 720p with a decent connection, which is at or above native resolution for the vast majority of games prior to the newest generation of consoles?
 

Dario ff

Banned
A bit hard to read through all these pages, but have they mentioned anything about local multiplayer games being supported for this? If they already have all the game processing to their servers, supporting another client as just being Player 2's inputs should be very possible in theory and it should stay synchronized at all times, with the respective delay for each player depending on their distance.

All they have to do is just stream back the same screen for both players, and you essentially have local online multiplayer with no extra lag other than the one that was already there from the streaming service. That could be adding something new to the table for all those games that never had online multi support.
 

Mung

Member
Not to speak of people freaking out on 900p games, and now praising a service which will provide utterly rubbish picture quality.

It's completely different. How many old games run above 720p anyway? The funny thing is that a streaming service can match the resolution of some next gen games...
 
It's completely different. How many old games run above 720p anyway? The funny thing is that a streaming service can match the resolution of some next gen games...

Have you played by chance with WiiU's offscreen play?
WiiU streams a standard def picture (854*480 so a much easier task compared to 720p) to a small screen, and does it locally and with dedicated hardware. Despite this, image quality on gamepad screen is crap; fuzzy, full of artifacts and muted colors (red is almost lost...). I wonder how games streamed from the net will look on a big screen.
 

Thrakier

Member
so you watch movies @IMAX only, and refuse to watch any other way? Interesting.

yes, I am sure many people are not hardcore. But even for "hardcore" gamers, PSNow will be useful for renting games to see if they interest them before plunking $60, or possibly with subscription, similar to PS+, a gateway to games that possibly you would not have played otherwise. I am not sure how many people get to play every game that comes out, they are $60 after-all, hardcore or not - PSNow will help with this.

I would like to get it for my kids for instance and give them access to library of games for "cheap"... we have 4 DS3's in the house already, so investment is minimal (non existent) and they wont take my big TV anymore when playing games.

As to the investment in Gaikai vs VR, since they purchased separate company that is developing the product, I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with their division that already does HMD. HMD/VR would be invested in with its own merits and if someone in that division makes a good case for it. Personally, I dont think it is money maker so unless Sony is doing great and has cash to spare, it wont happen. Before CES, we had analysts calling for Kaz's head so I am not sure they have money to spare right now.

Wow, whatever sense IMAX makes in this discussion (hint: none at all).

Anyway, if you are one of the lads who likes to pay for demo versions, I'm sure Sony loves you. And if you get your kids used to lowres, laggy games, so that they don't even have the chance to develop a feel for high quality gaming since all they get fed is a heavy compromise, Sony loves you again. Because, making cheap stuff for the masses is way easier and potentially earns money.

But you know what, as a gamer, I don't give a fuck about if it makes Sony money or nor. I want to see products which excite me. If playing a game from years ago with added lag on top of lag and added lowres on lowres excites you then...well, I don't know what to say.

But I get it, in times where "XBOX ON" is an amazing feature, convenience is probably everything.
 

Mung

Member
Have you played by chance with WiiU's offscreen play?
WiiU streams a standard def picture (854*480 so a much easier task compared to 720p) to a small screen, and does it locally and with dedicated hardware. Despite this, image quality on gamepad screen is crap; fuzzy, full of artifacts and muted colors (red is almost lost...). I wonder how games streamed from the net will look on a big screen.

Guess we'll have to see when it's out.
 
Have you played by chance with WiiU's offscreen play?
WiiU streams a standard def picture (854*480 so a much easier task compared to 720p) to a small screen, and does it locally and with dedicated hardware. Despite this, image quality on gamepad screen is crap; fuzzy, full of artifacts and muted colors (red is almost lost...). I wonder how games streamed from the net will look on a big screen.

Have you played Vita remote play with a PS4? Looks absolutely gorgeous. Like all things, this can be implemented well or poorly. Considering how impressed I've been with remote play, I'm willing to give Sony the benefit of the doubt at the moment that they can pull off something good here.
 

teiresias

Member
Not to speak of people freaking out on 900p games, and now praising a service which will provide utterly rubbish picture quality.

Yes, because people obviously have the exact same video quality expectations from a streaming gaming service as they do from a game being rendered natively on the local hardware.
 

spwolf

Member
Wow, whatever sense IMAX makes in this discussion (hint: none at all).

Anyway, if you are one of the lads who likes to pay for demo versions, I'm sure Sony loves you. And if you get your kids used to lowres, laggy games, so that they don't even have the chance to develop a feel for high quality gaming since all they get fed is a heavy compromise, Sony loves you again. Because, making cheap stuff for the masses is way easier and potentially earns money.

But you know what, as a gamer, I don't give a fuck about if it makes Sony money or nor. I want to see products which excite me. If playing a game from years ago with added lag on top of lag and added lowres on lowres excites you then...well, I don't know what to say.

But I get it, in times where "XBOX ON" is an amazing feature, convenience is probably everything.

thats pretty childish - if it doesnt make "Sony" money, it will not be made. As simple as that. Not just Sony, any other company. If you are of such high opinion of yourself as gamer, then you should care if gaming companies make money or not, because if they dont, they will cease to exist.

As to the rest, I am sure you are exaggerating, or at least I hope you are.
 

Jinko

Member
Let's see you act so happy once SCEE announces that Now will be available in EU sometime in 2015, and US will be playing it this Summer...

Depends, the service could launch and still have problems, which could essential end up being like an extended beta test.

Best to get that stuff out the way before it comes to Europe :D
 

Mung

Member
Wow, whatever sense IMAX makes in this discussion (hint: none at all).

Anyway, if you are one of the lads who likes to pay for demo versions, I'm sure Sony loves you. And if you get your kids used to lowres, laggy games, so that they don't even have the chance to develop a feel for high quality gaming since all they get fed is a heavy compromise, Sony loves you again. Because, making cheap stuff for the masses is way easier and potentially earns money.

But you know what, as a gamer, I don't give a fuck about if it makes Sony money or nor. I want to see products which excite me. If playing a game from years ago with added lag on top of lag and added lowres on lowres excites you then...well, I don't know what to say.

But I get it, in times where "XBOX ON" is an amazing feature, convenience is probably everything.

You hate this, we get it. You don't have to use it, and ps4 games will still be made. However, some people might like this. Some people just want to play games. Perhaps this service will be convenient for some. If you think those people are wrong, that's up to you.
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
Probably with whatever emulator(s) they're using for this. Edit: Oh, I guess they're probably using something quite a bit more powerful than whatever Playstation products they're putting out.
Point is, I don't think you're going to be able to truly divorce a back catalog service like this from online in any meaningful way over the long haul. As the back catalog grows, across more and more disparate pieces of hardware, and perhaps even comes to include software emulated from former competitor platforms over time, the framework for all of this is going to be heavily dependent on online access. There's no real way around that.

Thrakier said:
Because, making cheap stuff for the masses is way easier and potentially earns money.
This is way easier than doing what, exactly? Last I checked Sony's initial outlay alone for the Gaikai purchase wasn't "cheap stuff" by any means. I doubt that corresponds to their investments since then either.
 
I imagine very input lag sensitive people like me are going to have hell of a time. I however would jump on this for turn based and slower games any minute!
 

Jburton

Banned
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?


You sound bitter and upset, take a minute and breathe.


"the new Jesus of gaming" ...........That's your interpretation buddy, people here are excited about this new service and it's potential ......... and there is nothing wrong with that.


It's seems you hold people responsible for hurting something you love, a console that was going to be always online maybe?
 

kyser73

Member
much of the media and even forum posts crack me up about this. People are touting this as an incredible thing without even seeing it in action hands on. I hope its flawless but I have tried Gaikai and Onlive and they were complete garbage.

It is amazing how so many people just eat up the PR crap companies serve.

For the last couple months people have no stop complained about BF4 servers, said titanfall will fail because online only and relying on servers and then showing what happened with GTA online, Simcity, diablo 3 etc. And of course the 10 sec check in every 24 hours on xbox online

So now comes a new service no one has used hands on thats quality is fully tied into servers and internet connection and its the new Jesus of gaming.

do people not even understand the word hypocrite?

Someone criticisng an online game and praising and untried services that relies on online is arguably making a contradictory statement, but not a hypocritical one.
 
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