PS Now connects to the same PS3-PSN infrastructure.
I wonder what the demand for PS Now is. Have they ever published any usage data or announced any numbers? I wonder how it compares to the number of folks using X1's 360 BC.
Because you can still have access to content you purchased but not necessarily available for sale. Sony would get a huge backlash and a possible lawsuit if they shut everything down completely for PSN PS3 users.
Unfortunately, there is precedent for this already, from both MS and Sony.
When Microsoft shut down Xbox Live for Xbox OG, all access to previously purchased content was lost. Granted, the size of that market was tiny compared to 360 or PS3, and they announced it well in advance, so there was little to no backlash. Also, with a softmod it's actually still possible to get the DLC, but I digress.
Last year, Sony shut down PlayStation Mobile. It all happened very quickly. In March, the announcement was made; at the end of May, game submissions were no longer accepted; on July 15th, game sales were ended; and on September 10th, just 6 months after the announcement, all access to PSM content was cut off. From that date, the Download List and ability to re-download purchased games were no longer available. Heck, you even had to follow a brief activation process to be able to continue playing PSM games; if you haven't done it by now, it is no longer possible. And because it's no longer possible to activate devices for PSM, you can't move the games to a different Vita; they won't play.
Once again, not a huge impact considering the fact that PSM didn't make the kind of waves that they wanted. But it does make me wonder how they will handle these kind of shutdowns in the future.