Sony’s CES 2014 keynote just wrapped up, and it featured one or two news bits relevant to the gaming world. First of all, there have been 4.2 million PlayStation 4’s sold since launch (as of December 28, 2013). Not bad at all! Secondly, PlayStation Now will soon be a thing.
We’ve had debates regarding the importance of backwards compatibility here and there…mostly in response to the Xbox One, as well as the fact that the PlayStation 4 won’t play discs from previous Sony consoles. PlayStation Now seems to be the answer to our backwards compatibility woes—it will allow us to stream PlayStation games to our PS4, PS3, and PS Vita consoles as well as our phones, TVs, and tablets. PlayStation Now will allow you to rent by title for specific games you’re interested in, and will feature various subscription models to suit multiple users’ needs. Also interesting: PlayStation Now will allow you to stream PlayStation 3 games…without a console! That’s only if you happen to own a compatible t 2014 US model of Sony’s BRAVIA TV. Still, they do plan on bringing the service outside of Sony platforms eventually.
I’m thinking PlayStation Now is the major-market name for the whole Gaikai (cloud-based gaming) bits they talked about during E3 and when the PS4 was first revealed. We’ll offer more information on this new service (like pricing, for example) as it comes. PlayStation Now is going into beta this month for U.S. gamers, and is expected to fully roll out this summer. Perhaps it’ll be just in time for E3 2014, if not something that happens just a little after.
Is anyone hopeful about PlayStation Now? Does this excite PlayStation 4 owners, or convince anyone on the fence to go ahead and make the plunge? Be sure to let us know! I’m sure that’s not the end of the gaming announcements coming from CES 2014, either. Stay tuned!
Sony CES 2014 Conference via PlayStation Blog
PlayStation Now Official Announcement via PlayStation Blog
