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PS NOW. Rentals from US$2.99 to US$19.99.
- Thread starter Guymelef
- Start date
There are tons of impressions, mostly positive. It's been in closed beta for a while, it's just now in open beta so no more need for NDA.
It kinda goes against the entire principles of what PS Now is. By definition PS Now is a streaming service, so you're both advocating another product entirely.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
The negativity is on the pricing. Rightly so in some cases.
But the service apparently works great.
TheSpoiler
Member
Short answer: It's works great.
Long answer: I tried Stranger's Wrath. Felt little to no lag, with no hitches or lagspikes what so ever.
Not so long, actually.
SteveO1683
Member
Agreed. I am sure there is some legal reason why the licenses don't transfer but I wish they worked that out. I e-mailed the PS Now Beta address they gave out with that request.
yeah they should, all the data is there.
gamechanger87
Member
They can't do that. It has to do with licensing and entitlements for purchased games. Sony would essentially need to pay the publisher to use the game each time the customer used it even though Sony is not getting paid for it. The customer already purchased the game and thus gets free access while paying nothing. The drafting of the contract to determine payment structure would be incredibly complex and in the end Sony gets absolutely no value for it.
There is a reason this service is carved out the way it is.
Brad Grenz
Member
"Should" is a strong word for a service they didn't promise, costs them money to provide and would not be getting paid any more for. They have "all the data there" to flip a switch and give me every single game on PSN at no cost, too, but that doesn't mean they "should" do that.
IAmRandom31
Banned
I'm excited about using the service.
There. You have one now.
People are excited about the service and the potential and how well it works, it is the 4 hour price people seem to harp about. Sony should just scrap that hate fuel and everything would be ok again
I played zone of the Enders last night and it works like a charm. On a 18Mb/s wireless connection no less with plenty of other devices going. No lag noticeable at all
ComputerBlue
Member
I haven't tried it out myself so I can't confirm 100%. But I'm sure I've seen multiple posts from people saying that they do support trophies.
Yes. 100% yes.
mullet2000
Member
My only problem with the pricing is that "4 hours" is just a stupid amount of time to ask people to pay for. Especially when the next jump in time is all the way up to 7 days.
2.99$ for four hours is a lot. Now, if you made that 2 days instead of 4 hours and kept all the other prices as they are I think that would be a fair model.
2.99$ for four hours is a lot. Now, if you made that 2 days instead of 4 hours and kept all the other prices as they are I think that would be a fair model.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
there are games that can be finished in 4 hours. without looking at that list, you can totally finish Pixeljunk Shooter within 4 hours, for example. Give people 6 hours and then they'll beat them, give them a day and that happens, too.
Publishers would rather you either overpay for a short burst of time or pay a decent amount for a decent amount of time.
mullet2000
Member
That's all well and good but most of the games offering 4 hours...don't really make sense anyway. MGS4 and stuff like that.
Plus a 4 hour rental just isn't realistic. Girlfriend/parent calls you while you're playing? Something else that's relatively small comes up? There goes your time, you aren't beating this or maybe you aren't even playing this at all.
I get that publishers want you to over pay but 4 hours really is nothing. Even if it was a half day or 24 hour rental, I think the price would be completely fair. 4 hours is expecting the consumer to take a big risk though.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
I think 4 hours is fair. Again, more than 4 hours and the pubs run the risk that you pay $3 and finish their $60 game. 7 days tends to be plenty of time to finish a game. they're trying to make SOME money for a game they made and sony is trying to get some money, too, because streaming shit ain't free.
These are rentals. You're paying for temporary access. You don't think 4 hours is enough because your GF is pestering you with her calls? Maybe you need to rent a game for a reasonable amount of time OR maybe rent it when your GF aint bugging you. you also dont have to use the service. Or get the subscription service. Options are there, if you're really interested in Now.
Revolutionary
Member
Just got an email stating that we can "look forward to seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals which will appear at $1.99 starting in a few weeks".
Inferno313
Banned
So I wanna give the service a try. Should I go with Catherine or Twisted Metal? Those are the two that stand out for me as I missed them both on PS3.
littlegrasshopper
Member
The only game I am even remotely interested in getting is of course more over price than the others. Curse you Zone of Enders HD!
That shit is $5-10 everywhere these days. I've seen it for $4.99 used at EB.
littlegrasshopper
Member
Riedinizzo
Banned
Twisted metal or killzone 3? Missed them both, wouldn't mind giving them a spin.
Gameboy415
Member
I assumed this would be the case with PSNow - we already 'own' the games on PSN so we should be able to use them on any PSNow-compatible device.
I suppose I hadn't considered that the licensing structure would be different...oh well.
I have zero interest in renting individual games at (currently) absurd prices so it seems like PSNow will unfortunately be of no use to me....unless they roll out some sort of reasonably-priced, Netflix-esque subscription service.
I logged onto PSN and saw PS Now. GTFOHWTBS. This service could save millions of dollars on sports games and games with short completion times. I beat Uncharted 2 and 3 in two days. Why pay full price when PS Now is available?
The pricing structure fucking sucks. We need three tiers with different price structures. Sony's first party structure should come with free 24 hour trials. Two week rentals add $10 a year to PSN+. Two month rentals add $20 a year to PSN+.
Unlimited PS4 game rentals add $25 a year to PSN+.
Finally, devs face tough choices. EA could bundle all Mass Effect games in a package at current prices with unlimited play times. Give me an all RPG package with all PS2 and PS3 games for $40 a year. Treat this like cable or independent networks like UFC/WWE. Activision could release previous call of duty games for PS Now and charge for servers/old DLC. Fuck paying for servers on a console by the way but, but, but, PC gamers do it all the time. That's cool, have fun with that.
The main benefits are making money off DLC, building new audiences, and gauging interest in future games.
The pricing structure fucking sucks. We need three tiers with different price structures. Sony's first party structure should come with free 24 hour trials. Two week rentals add $10 a year to PSN+. Two month rentals add $20 a year to PSN+.
Unlimited PS4 game rentals add $25 a year to PSN+.
Finally, devs face tough choices. EA could bundle all Mass Effect games in a package at current prices with unlimited play times. Give me an all RPG package with all PS2 and PS3 games for $40 a year. Treat this like cable or independent networks like UFC/WWE. Activision could release previous call of duty games for PS Now and charge for servers/old DLC. Fuck paying for servers on a console by the way but, but, but, PC gamers do it all the time. That's cool, have fun with that.
The main benefits are making money off DLC, building new audiences, and gauging interest in future games.
I think they should offer like a half hour or something free stream to try a game. Right now the pricing doesn't really appeal to me. I think I'd rather play some PS2 games on there though. Like if I could play SSX Tricky right now I'd be all over it. That would be an awesome PS+ integration though for older stuff like that.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
The 4 hour pricing is meant to be stupid. The pricing at 4 hours does two things A) It tricks some dopey customers into paying for a game they can't finish. (profit) and B) gets people to fork over more money for more time because of the perceived better deal (profit).
The pricing structure is somewhat similar to how a company like Starbucks functions. The price for a tall, grande, venti are all similar, so you might as well fork out for the grande, if not the venti. Same with the PSNow prices. Take a game like BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. The difference between 4 hours and 30 days is negligible ($5), so you might as well fork over!
But really, that might end up being more time than you needed to finish. And it doesn't cost Sony more to offer it to you for longer, so why not?
Didn't they give Japanese PSP owners access to their UMD games on the PSV? Why is this so different?
I gave it a shot with Catherine yesterday. Just did the 4 hour rental to try it, plus it's a game I've been wanting to try for some time now so it was 2 birds with 1 stone.
The audio/video streaming was superb. I could have been convinced that it was playing off the PS4 hardware. The controller inputs were excellent but there is definitely a very slight noticeable lag of a fraction of a second. It wasn't a big problem playing Catherine but I could see it getting pretty irritating for shooters or racers. That said, it was a very polished experience considering it's only the beta. If they can just tighten up that input latency a little more it could be a very viable backwards compatibility solution (pricing issues notwithstanding).
I did earn trophies, but I had to be sure to sync them with PSN before exiting the PS Now application to have them counted on my account. I dunno if it auto syncs later though. I was also able to upload my save to PS+ cloud and download it from the cloud to my PS3. I could also download other cloud-stored saves onto the PS Now application to continue my PS3 saves on PS4. That was unexpected and found it to be pretty cool.
I like it a lot right now as a means to conveniently play PS3 games I missed for cheap. But as a general PS3 nostalgia box, it's still too expensive. I still can't bring myself to "rent" a game I've already paid money for.
The audio/video streaming was superb. I could have been convinced that it was playing off the PS4 hardware. The controller inputs were excellent but there is definitely a very slight noticeable lag of a fraction of a second. It wasn't a big problem playing Catherine but I could see it getting pretty irritating for shooters or racers. That said, it was a very polished experience considering it's only the beta. If they can just tighten up that input latency a little more it could be a very viable backwards compatibility solution (pricing issues notwithstanding).
I did earn trophies, but I had to be sure to sync them with PSN before exiting the PS Now application to have them counted on my account. I dunno if it auto syncs later though. I was also able to upload my save to PS+ cloud and download it from the cloud to my PS3. I could also download other cloud-stored saves onto the PS Now application to continue my PS3 saves on PS4. That was unexpected and found it to be pretty cool.
I like it a lot right now as a means to conveniently play PS3 games I missed for cheap. But as a general PS3 nostalgia box, it's still too expensive. I still can't bring myself to "rent" a game I've already paid money for.
I assumed this would be the case with PSNow - we already 'own' the games on PSN so we should be able to use them on any PSNow-compatible device.
I suppose I hadn't considered that the licensing structure would be different...oh well.
That was never going to happen. You would be hogging a 'ps3' in the cloud and that costs money for Sony to run. And people could buy PSN games when it's on sale via the web store and stream it unlimited times. It would take resources away from paying PSNow customers.
Yup, a lot of places do this. Oh I can just get a large popcorn for 50 cents more. I'm already paying 5 bucks so whats the difference.
The best value to me seems to be the 30 day rental (for the one you showed). That's enough time to play the game without really being stressed. 4 hours is just stupid and why I feel like they should just offer a limited amount of free time like half hour or an hour or something.
IAmRandom31
Banned
PS Now is not a demo service though.
Say for example they offer Journey on PS Now. That game could be beaten in 2 hours, so a 4 hour rental would be enough to actually beat the game. Infamous Second Son if rushed through can be beaten in 8-10 hours. A 4 hour rental just god you midway through the game.
I'm sure the 4 hour thing was meant as a way to actually play the full game for cheap for a long enough period to get a good feel for exactly what the product has to offer. I mean if I sat back and played a game like Divinity for 4 hours, I would experience .01% of the game but would still have a general feel for how the rest of the game would be, and would give me enough time to get addicted to the product and want more.
Thats about all it is for. Get a small taste, see if you will actually like it or not, and then give you the option to purchase the game or rent it for a week or whatever.
I mean it is all choice here. I have yet to see a game with the only option being 4 hours lol, so harping on that single price point when the others are just fine is a little crazy. $5.99 for 7 days is the money shot for me. Perfect price, but indeed it is all about the game too so sometimes that 7 days is $3.99 or $6.99.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
As pointed out, the problem with 30 minutes to an hour is that depending on the game, that could be anywhere from no time at all to a significant chunk of the game. I feel like what they should do, is replace a PS4 game of the month with a PSNow title (at least once or twice) to let us test the system out.
It simply makes the 4 hour option pointless. They might as well remove it as I don't think anyone will ever use it other than accidentally. At least at 99 cents you might get some impulse spending or people who want to demo a potentially longer purchase.
Edit: well reading back a few posts I see someone actually did use it intentionally. You're free to do what you want with your money, good sir or madam, but you're sending these people the wrong message.
4 hours is the most important price point
It makes the 30 day deal look like a bargain... while it is also bullshit
oh man! I gotta suggest you go with Twisted Metal! Fantastic game that was overlooked by many when it came out.
Even a week is 42 times the length of time as two hours, meaning it's still a gigantic bargain compared to a 99 cent 4 hour rental. The 4 hour rental price is actually insulting.
peull
Member
catherine man catherine... i would not have bought it before psnow. but 6$ for a week is a goodway to clear it and have an outstanding experience. love the game
Does anyone knows how this technology actually works?
Does Sony operate a number of PS3s with different games somewhere then hook it to a streaming server for everybody?
Edit: played Twisted Metal, there was no compression and lag was non existence, very impressive Gaikai tech.
I have 12mb down speed.
Does Sony operate a number of PS3s with different games somewhere then hook it to a streaming server for everybody?
Edit: played Twisted Metal, there was no compression and lag was non existence, very impressive Gaikai tech.
I have 12mb down speed.
Yeah, I didn't really think of a shorter indie type game. I guess that would be kinda silly if they game is only a few hours anyway. I was more thinking along the lines of a longer game to see if I would want to rent it for a long period or just pick something else.
I used it to try out some of the games during the closed beta and I'll use it again for parties.
0ptimusPayne
Member
I really want to try the service, but the pricing is terrible. I can buy darksiders 2, cheaper than renting it for 90 days...
Sony made a custom motherboard with 8 "mini" PS3s embedded. So they have 8 PS3s on a motherboard about the size of a regular PS3. They would have games on multiple hard drives attached. There are racks of these in server rooms across the globe. If you have seen a server room it would be like that. When someone access a PSNow game it connects with one of the embedded PS3 and loads up the game.
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
What's "GTFO" about it? If it's a single player game that's new and coming out, it's 60-70$ full price. Some people just want to play it once or twice and finish it, which the 20$ price makes complete sense.
Coolbgdog12
Member
So I just tested it out and rented Dead or Alive 5 for $5 for 7 days. It's not bad at all. I couldn't tell if it was streaming as the picture and sound quality was pretty good.
It looked like a native PS3 game. Input lag was minimal but I never played this game before so I can't tell how it plays natively. I just hit rent and 2 minutes later I'm playing a PS3 game. It even puts a quick launch icon on the PS4 home screen to go straight to the game.
The XMB works in game just like it does on PS3. This is really cool to be honest. I used on live years ago and I remembered it was very laggy but this played great to the point I was really looking hard for faults. Impressed. I won't use this again in the future unless there's more games put on and it works on PC or something or if I'm really lazy.
It looked like a native PS3 game. Input lag was minimal but I never played this game before so I can't tell how it plays natively. I just hit rent and 2 minutes later I'm playing a PS3 game. It even puts a quick launch icon on the PS4 home screen to go straight to the game.
The XMB works in game just like it does on PS3. This is really cool to be honest. I used on live years ago and I remembered it was very laggy but this played great to the point I was really looking hard for faults. Impressed. I won't use this again in the future unless there's more games put on and it works on PC or something or if I'm really lazy.
They don't need a 4 hour price point to make the 30-day option look good. PS Now is not operating in a complete vacuum. There are other ways to rent games. Regardless of the PS4's inability to play PS3 games natively, people can see the rental options and compare.
Their pricing for PS Now has the same problem as their movie rental service. Prices are totally out of whack with what you can go out and rent yourself. $4 or $5 for an HD movie when you can rent the Blu-Ray for <$2/night at Redbox or Family Video or wherever.
PS Now is instantanious though. That's a value for people who can't wait.
PS Now service is really good.
Most the games have zero lag from what I experienced and pretty fun.
But like everyone else says the price for a rental is just insane!
I would go with 10 dollars a month unlimited rentals. Or at least make it more reasonable, right now it's cheaper to buy the game! 50 dollars a year + 30 dollars for PS+ would be probably good, 30 + 30 so 60 would be my sweet point though.
Most the games have zero lag from what I experienced and pretty fun.
But like everyone else says the price for a rental is just insane!
I would go with 10 dollars a month unlimited rentals. Or at least make it more reasonable, right now it's cheaper to buy the game! 50 dollars a year + 30 dollars for PS+ would be probably good, 30 + 30 so 60 would be my sweet point though.
Pretty sure those movie prices are in line with what you'll find on other video services.
Big Chungus
Member
playing code veronica x hd and the service seems pretty good.