One of the biggest drawbacks to buying the $400 PlayStation 4 was that the console wasn’t backwards compatible.
Problem solved.
You’ll finally be able to play old PlayStation games on the PS4 starting this summer.
Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony (SNE) revealed PlayStation Now, a cloud-based service that will allow gamers to stream PS3 games to the PS4 console.
We’ve known this would happen at some point this year. As we’ve previously reported, PlayStation Now (PS Now) will use the Gaikai streaming service to stream games onto the PS4 console.
Sony acquired Gaikai for $380 million in 2012.
From the official announcement:
“PS Now will deliver a variety of popular PlayStation®3 (PS3™) game titles*1 first on PlayStation®4 (PS4™) and PS3 systems, followed by the PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) system.”
Before you get overly excited, here’s what you need to know about the PS Now service.
Will I be able to play all of the games I own for the PlayStation, PS2, AND PS3 on the PlayStation 4?
Nope.
Though the titles may be available to stream on the PS4, if you already own any of the games, Sony won’t have a way to recognize your previous purchases.
“According to Sony, gamers who own disc or digital-based games will not have access to those games via PS Now free of charge.”
That’s probably not going to sit well with gamers. Why would anyone want to repurchase titles they’ve spent hundreds of dollars on already? This probably won’t be as much of an issue with PS3 titles since most can be upgraded to PS4 games for an additional fee.
The bigger concern we see is that you would probably need to restart all of your old games since there’s no outlet to insert any sort of PlayStation/PS2 memory card in the PS4.
What games will I be able to play?
For those wary of the asterisk from the announcement above, there is no current list of titles that will be available.
We’ve reached out to see if we can find out any info on titles and will share when available. We imagine “Beyond: Two Souls,” “God of War: Ascension,” “The Last of Us,” and “Puppeteer” will be available since CES attendees are able to try them out with on the PS Now at the event.
What else does this PS Now service do?
PS Now will also allow people to play PlayStation games on smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.
Obviously, Sony is aware mobile games are a threat to the game console.
For Sony, adapting and evolving the technology at hand is a great opportunity to deliver great-looking games people want to play on the go.
Will I have to pay for the PS Now service?
Yes.
President of Sony Computer Entertainment, Andrew House announced at CES there will be multiple payment models ranging from rental to subscription for the PS Now.
Sounds similar to a Netflix model.
When can I start streaming old games on the PS4?
PS Now will launch in the US this summer. There’s no specific release date yet.
A beta program begins at the end of the month for the product.
You can read the full announcement here.
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