Last week, Sony lifted the veil to possibly the ‘masterstroke of the new year’ by proclaiming the opening of a ground breaking network that will permit their gamers to play an array of titles from the first PlayStation classics straight up to the PS4 new releases on any Sony game enabled device.
It’s called “PlayStation Now”, the service will stream a timeless back-inventory of games over the web straight to the PS3, PS4 and additionally many Sony phones and TV’s including the Bravia line.
The incapacity to play games from PS1, 2 and 3 on the new PS4 (and Xbox One) was the grandest issues players had and it very much seems this service is created to stop the fuss by removing that problem completely (albeit with a separate service).
How exactly games can run on a PS4 as well as a Bravia is all due to how the processing is done for the game, in this instance you don’t really download the game at all – it’s streamed, much like a YouTube clip. It’s processed on the server therefore the end device simply needs to connect to the server to play it – fast internet connection is a must it seems, not great news for those with flakey speed.
If you live anywhere other than America or Japan, don’t hold your breath just yet. While it will take off in America by mid-2014, other locales, such as Europe and Australasia have a date of ‘TBA’. Not surprising.
Playstation Now will be accessible on a membership-based system letting gamers lease or purchase each title. I for one think is brilliant and look forward to some retro games on the big screen Bravia at home.