PlayStation Now, Sony’s streaming/renting service for games (well, some games), is moving into open beta. A word on prices: they’re kinda ridiculous, though Sony says ” you will start seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals” in “a few weeks”.
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PlayStation Now, Sony’s streaming/renting service for games (well, some games), is moving into open beta. A word on prices: they’re kinda ridiculous, though Sony says ” you will start seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals” in “a few weeks”.
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Wtf is this 4 hour garbage? *sigh* As much as I didn’t like initially the EA thing at face value, this makes it look like a gift from the gods in comparison.
What the hell *are* you thinking Sony???
I dunno…
Paying $2 and not liking the game seems better than paying $15 bucks and not liking it.
To be honest though, since 4 hours is so short I think that amount should be removed from the other prices should you choose to upgrade.
Also curious what they consider a good subscription for this service.
(Not that we can use it here in AU)
Indeed. I just don’t see any of these prices as decent. I’m not trying to complain for complainings sake but I do see in comparison how the EA one is much more fairly priced. However that being said, I’m gathering this would offer brand new games as opposed to EA offering games from its back catalogue?
Oh yeah I agree, how they reprice the four hours and costs for new games will play a big part in my acceptance of this system.
I would be interested to see what they consider fair for 90 days with a brand new AAA title.
The 4 hour thing astounds me. Honestly it does. lol. 4 hours… just make it 1 or 2 days fer christ sake.
if it were up to me, alongside an annual subscription model that allows you to play video games as much as you want (but a lesser selection than their full range, like EA’s offering) I would replace the 4 hour paid rental with a single use, free 2 hour trial of a title. If you like the title, you can choose to upgrade to the other 3 rental options. (which I personally believe are still all overpriced in their own right, but I digress)
Since Playstation Now seems to be linked to people’s PSN account (you need to log in to access Playstation Store on PS3, PS4 and Vita) they could circumvent people abusing the free trial since every time they use it on a new account they start from the beginning, which means for a fair number of title’s they’ll never be able to reach past a certain point.
Remember, Sony don’t *own* most of the games on the service. If they were going to offer them up for free, they would have to negotiate with each publisher.
That said, the 4 hour rental prices (at half the cost of the 7 day price) is stupidly high. For half the cost you’re getting 1/42 of the time to play the game. That’s just warped.
In any case, we probably don’t need to worry about this. PS Now is based on the old Gakai service, and the odds of it ever being implemented in Australia are not good. From what I’ve heard, controller response is laggy enough that we won’t be missing much. (It’s not terrible, but it’s definitely bad enough to make a PvP game unwinnable against somebody not suffering the same handicap.)
Sony says ” you will start seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals” in “a few weeks”.
Lol really? Only for the 4 hour rentals? The whole price is already ridiculous to begin with. Rental that cost almost the same as buying the game second hand and own it forever. Not to mention we have to stream it.
4 hours should have been a bloody trial for each game lmao.
But then I suppose you could finish the COD campaign in that time…
Well, the entire sims2 catalogue for free last week…
Their new EA rental service, which initially I didn’t understand but now do, I admit I was too quick to judge it. Especially in light of this.
Wow.
I think I’ll definitely grab EA’s vault when more games I want are released for me to use the 10% discount, and more I don’t own are added to the vault.
wow I would like to give Sony a nice big slow clap…
can they hurry up and release some actual first party games? re releasing PS3 games doesn’t count
I hate how all the new ‘services’ this gen, from all publishers, are about milking the consumer.
Dlc, lack of backwards compatibility, etc is the same.
What happened to owning things and being able to do the things you bought the console for without having to get past paywalls first?
After the reveal of game streaming, I for one didn’t think it would be rentals… As far as game sharing goes, I’m really peeved because last gen, my GF and I could both log into one PS3 and any game she bought, I could play and visa versa. Now, most games don’t allow that. Kinda disappointing seeing as games like Octodad, I bought specifically so that we can both play it on the same PS4, but both have the ‘joy’ of getting the trophies.
Now it’s on the dash with a lock next to it, saying one of use doesn’t own it. I know this isn’t a big deal for some, but it’s something I used to do often, like I would have if I were sharing a disked version of a game with someone who uses my console under their own user.
Always a good feeling to loose features for the sake of publishers making a little more off of us.
While I agree with you in terms of everyone trying to grab as much money as possible, I’m going to have to call out the backwards compatibility.
That isn’t about milking money, that is technical limitations arising from the VASTLY different architectures between generations.
Sure, you CAN add backwards compatibility, but to do so you pretty much need to build the old consoles hardware inside the new one [like what was done with every console with backwards compat] but then your console costs twice as much to purchase, which is hardly saving you money is it?
Sure, there is debate about technical compatibility.
For a moment, lets forget that PS1 emulation is possible on my mobile and that PS2 emulation has been fine for years on my PC, even my old one with a Phenom II x6 could run most PS2 games. PS3 backwards compatibility was not expected BUT:
The problem is that, for now, if you want to play your old game, you can’t. And WHEN you will be able too, you won’t even be able to play YOUR games. Heck, you can’t even re-buy them again. No, you have to RENT THEM.
Sure, software emulation may come in time. But it isn’t there yet for the PS3, and may never be there [it still is a very radical, complex design for a CPU].
But, why can’t you play your old games? If you have old PS3 games, you likely have a PS3 to play them on.
I’m sorry for the confusion, you seem to be missing the point. The point is not that there is a lack of compatibility, or the way they are bringing backwards compatibility to the platform, its the way they are CHARGING for it.
Let me highlight the escalation, it might help: Backwards compatibility went form being a necessity, to being something that was a premium (It’s debatable that it was for good reasons. They had to include the hardware etc), to something that now.. we have to pay for? Every time we want to play it?
You don’t have to pay for it though…… it is optional. No one is forcing you to use this system. You are more than capable of playing old games on the old consoles. It takes time and effort to get games running on new platforms, even if it is emulated.
It’s a consequence of the console environment.
Again, that’s not the point. The points that it’s a good sighn of the direction things are going. The consumer is getting less and less for their money. I for one, don’t appreciate that. If you do, that’s fine my me.
Eh…. I dunno, all media is heading down the ‘service’ pathway. No more discrete purchases, but just subscribe for access.
Yes, it’s completely different, and may not sit well with some people based on how we have consumed our games in the past, but it’s not all bad.
The current prices above, yes, may be absolutely batshit insane. But the service is new, things will change.
Priced right, it can be great value, and much more convenient than having to manage libraries of old games. Take netflix for example, it’s cheap, convenient, and people love it. You can still buy your own DVD’s still and build a physical collection, but the vast majority are moving to a subscription based service.
Myself, I have a subscription to google all access for music, and I love it.
So yes, I definitely see your point that the price now is crazy, I don’t believe it is going to stay that way forever, nor do I think ultimately it is a bad way to go.
And exactly what Sony want PS Now to be in the end. From TV’s to phones, PS Now is a blanket service. It’s a bummer.
For any one wandering, I grew up with Sony, I was a PS3 guy over 360 (for the most part), but have always had a PC as well. I now have a Wiiu, PC and PS4. I try not to be biased if you think I’m just trashing Sony, I am not. I am honestly disappointed/ worried about the future of console gaming.
I know, right?
This is really starting to piss me off. If I wanted to watch a youtube video, I’d browse youtube. You come to kotaku to read, you know, actual articles, commentary. Not just links to videos.
Sometimes I get that a description or transcript kind of undermines a nice video, but in this case it’s dry marketing information… We Don’t need to watch whatever video Sony put together.
It’s like those list videos they started posting, if it’s a really poor video you can just write a list that can be skimmed in 5 seconds to replace the video. But when they post a good one, their text list ignores all the interesting commentary that’s in the video.
A lot of the time it just seems like they don’t get their audience.
Oh man don’t get me started! haha…
The way that videos are starting to replace text and pictures is REALLY starting to bug me. Particularly for ‘tutorial’ information. You look something up, and there’s nothing more frustrating than finding video tutorials.
I know different people learn and take in information in different ways, but man, I just don’t have the patience to watch someone go through a video when I can skim a page, as you said, in a few seconds to find the information I want.
With Netflix, we no longer own movies, we just stream
With Spotify (and others), we no longer own music, just stream,
With Steam (and digital downloads), the games we buy are only good while the service remains active
With EA access and online passes, we will no longer own any games (EA ones anyways)
Now with this rental/game streaming service, we will finally own nothing on our consoles…..
lol, $15 to rent darksiders for $14.99, so you can stream it on your PS4? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that much at EB to buy for my PS3.
At LEAST they’ve had the intelligence to start the timer when the game successfully starts rather than from purchase
I own a PS4 and have no plans of getting an XBone. I’ve been a supporter of Sony since PS1. In saying that, I hate this crap of streaming rented games. I fucking hope it fails MISERABLY.
What happened to demos? Isn’t 4 hours just an extended demo? But in all honesty I have finished games in that time before which is annoying.
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