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[Freedom = $1.05]

I think the smart move is to package a 30-90 day unlimited subscription of this with every Playstation TV and sell it as the ultimate steaming box. Get people hooked, sell more hardware, and really spread PSNow into casual gamers/cheap parents as hard as possible.

 

[hodayathink]

What Sony needs to be asking then, is do they want to be as successful as Netflix? Or do they want to be as successful as RedBox?

The want to be both, which is why they're planning on offering both options.

 

[bobbytkc]

The want to be both, which is why they're planning on offering both options.

Is there any information about the subscription model? Haven't been keeping up.

 

[hodayathink]

Is there any information about the subscription model? Haven't been keeping up.

Nothing besides the fact that they are planning on doing it.

 

[BadWolf]

Is there any information about the subscription model? Haven't been keeping up.

There is no information about anything really.

Even prices we have now are just leaked from the beta and nothing concrete.

 

[DevilFox]

They'll not going anywhere with these prices, no matter what you use to play, where, when or how much.
If they want this to become successful and a basis for the future, they need to do a lot better. Some advices I've read here are a good start but the road to be "the netflix of gaming" is very very long.. good luck Sony.

 

[icespide]

Renting digital stuff never is a good thing. Only makes sense paying a flat fee for all like Netflix.

that explains why iTunes and amazon movie rentals completely failed

 

[III-V]

No thanks, these prices are way over inflated for a digital rental.

 

[Oswen]

Yeah i don't think they'll go far with those prices, i think a flat sub would be better.

 

[Hugstable]

These prices are no bueno. I really hope this isn't Sony's true pricing plan going forward, it would make PS Now a huge misstep if so since noone is gonna use it. Honestly Sony, do a subscription for 7-10$ a month, and have access to any games that person wants. You still get 120$ a year per person on top of the 50$ a year for PS+ and it still wouldn't be as bad as this pricing structure. 14.99 to rent a game for 30 days, or you can 5$ more and own it digital forever... yeah seems smart.

 

[I-hate-u]

I expected better pricing from them considering the great job they have been doing with PS Plus.

 

[JStein0222]

Renting digital stuff never is a good thing. Only makes sense paying a flat fee for all like Netflix.

I completely agree. This or at least let me 'buy' titles rather than having to continuously pay rental fees. Renting just doesn't lend itself to gaming, for me personally.

 

[thepotatoman]

Renting works just fine for movies. You know that you need to only set aside 2-3 hours at some point in your rental period to finish it and get everything you ever need from it.

Gaming's a lot harder because games take a much longer time to complete, and you're never really sure how long that's going to be up front.

You'll have tons of kids that have all the time in the world who would easily be able to complete any game imaginable in 7 days that would absolutely love this service, but I really think a netflix type service makes so much more sense to most people.

 

[elty]

You are not really just renting games - you are also renting the PS3 that is necessary to render the game for you. If they cannot use virtualized server (i.e. 1 dedicate PS3 hardware = 1 game streamed) then the cost will even be higher.

 

[NoSkillz187]

I completely agree. This or at least let me 'buy' titles rather than having to continuously pay rental fees. Renting just doesn't lend itself to gaming, for me personally.

I especially don't want to rent long ass rpgs, lol. Give me a flat rate sub and I'll be curious. I've been in the beta for the PS3 for awhile and it surprisingly works good. It all depends on the games and how it works when this thing goes live for everyone.

 

[Jinko]

They need to have a subscription that allows you to rent one game (or two depending on the sub) at a time for as long or as little as you like.

Just like real game rental places do it.

Until it can compete with my rental website then I won't be going near it, which probably means PSTV is looking a whole lot less appealing too.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

If they push trough with these prices their service will be dead on arrival.

 

[Gamerloid]

There should seriously be PSNow Beta discounts. Why should I pay you that much to let me test your service?

 

[TrickyDaddy]

Renting digital stuff never is a good thing. Only makes sense paying a flat fee for all like Netflix.

These prices are no bueno. I really hope this isn't Sony's true pricing plan going forward, it would make PS Now a huge misstep if so since noone is gonna use it. Honestly Sony, do a subscription for 7-10$ a month, and have access to any games that person wants. You still get 120$ a year per person on top of the 50$ a year for PS+ and it still wouldn't be as bad as this pricing structure. 14.99 to rent a game for 30 days, or you can 5$ more and own it digital forever... yeah seems smart.

Bad business model. Lose money in the long run. Sony has to make money on this.

How about a model where you buy TIME and you can play any game you want in the QUALIFIED group of games for amount of TIME you bought? Say $5 for 4 hours for Tier B games.

They could charge more for access to library of recent games. Say $7 for 4 hours for Tier A games.

 

[Fbh]

This sucks.

Between these ridiculous prices and A TON of reports I've been hearing about the games feeling really laggy the little hope I had for this service is quickly dying.

Sony should have used those $380 millions on some exclusive games for 2014 instead

The prices aren't perfect but PSNOW is not a PS3. If you own a PS3 and really want to play that game a lot it obviously makes sense to buy the full game. Now let's say you're on vacation or just simply don't own a PS3. Play the game whenever on whatever you want with a rental. The prices are a little off but the concept makes sense. Benefit of playing on multiple devices make up the extra cost. Imagine when NOW goes on PC? People want to keep on bringing up Netflix and pretend that services like itunes and amazon video don't exist.

They need to keep it simple. 1 week/month rental options only. 1-4hr trials free for ps+ members. Also a buy full game option is a must. Let you link it to your PSN account, buy TLOU on PS3 = unlocked on PSNOW.

So you are saying that paying $10 more than retail price to rent the laggy version of a 2 years old game is a good deal because "It's not a Ps3".

Hell, if someone is planning on using this service frequently it seems that in the long run it will be cheaper to just buy a Ps3 and buy the digital version of the games (or get a used copy, you can get XIII-2 used for like $9 on amazon).

 

[Cuburt]

How long would you probably get for $2.99? An hour? That's not even long enough to get through the tutorial of some games.

 

[Jinko]

So you are saying that paying $10 more than retail price to rent the laggy version of a 2 years old game is a good deal because "It's not a Ps3".

Hell, if someone is planning on using this service frequently it seems that in the long run it will be cheaper to just buy a Ps3 and buy the digital version of the games (or get a used copy, you can get XIII-2 used for like $9 on amazon).

Pretty much. There is zero incentive to actually use it, in fact its quite the opposite.

 

[Auron]

There needs to be the option to buy a license at regular prices. Not so different from buying a streaming movie off Amazon Instant Video. Not interested in rentals at all.

 

[Revolutionary]

Not sure if it's been posted but I just got this email from Sony:

Hi Private Beta Testers,

We just wanted to give you all a quick update on the next phases of PlayStation Now. As you may have heard, at our E3 Press Conference we announced that PlayStation Now will be moving into an Open Beta, first starting on PS4 system on July 31, 2014. We are excited to get PlayStation Now in the hands of all PS4 users - so there is a lot of excitement for July 31 to come around. If you didn't see our E3 trailer - take a look at it here.

Now it's time for Private Beta news. On 6/18 you will have seen a title rotation which includes a fresh set of games as well as the introduction of a preliminary pricing test.

Inside this first test, you will find a variety of rental prices and rental periods to choose from. These prices are ultimately decided on by the participating developers and publishers. Your feedback during this next phase of the Private Beta is extremely important, as we will be monitoring it closely.

PS. If you have a rental period in progress for a game that just got rotated out: don't worry! You will still be able to access the rental up until the end of its rental duration by finding the game in your "My Games" section.

Please give us your feedback in these Private Beta Forums or email us at nowfeedback@playstation.sony.com and help shape the future of PlayStation Now

Thanks,
The PlayStation Now Team

Bolded should be of interest to the thread. Keep that feedback coming, I guess!

 

[Fornaximus]

$5 for 4 hours. Five dollars. Four hours. DOA.

 

[Jinko]

PS. If you have a rental period in progress for a game that just got rotated out: don't worry! You will still be able to access the rental up until the end of its rental duration by finding the game in your "My Games" section.

Why do they even need to rotate games out ?

Meh this is turning out to be a mess.

 

[spwolf]

Why do they even need to rotate games out ?

Meh this is turning out to be a mess.

it is private beta, they are testing games...

 

[Despera]

You have 4 hrs for $5 and the next option is 7 days for $8.

I'm speechless.

 

[Arklite]

You have 4 hrs for $5 and the next option is 7 days for $8.

I'm speechless.

I don't know if that's Sony or Square's doing, but it's an instant joke.

 

[Revolutionary]

Why do they even need to rotate games out ?

Meh this is turning out to be a mess.

Because those were games from the previous phase. They're testing out other games now, gearing up for the next phase.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

So its the publisher that's demanding the price and not Sony? Some are crazy to charge that.

 

[Raven Prime]

$20 for a month
$10 for two weeks
$3 for a week

I wouldn't mind that.

That doesn't make sense at all, why wouldn't you just rent it 2 x a week instead of once for two weeks? Or even worse 4 x a week instead of one month.

 

[graywolf323]

Not sure if it's been posted but I just got this email from Sony:

Bolded should be of interest to the thread. Keep that feedback coming, I guess!

Square Enix is nuts

 

[rainking187]

Not sure if it's been posted but I just got this email from Sony:

Bolded should be of interest to the thread. Keep that feedback coming, I guess!

I just got that email as well. Did everyone get that email? Because if I got into the Playstation Now Beta it's news to me.

 

[melos]

Man these prices…. I really feel they should've gone with either a netflix like approach or just have cheaper prices….

 

[mookie_kabuki]

I'm not paying to beta test... Sorry Sony. This service has fail all over it.

 

[Maybesew]

Just got the email as well. It looks like Sony is putting the pricing blame back into devs/publishers

 

[mookie_kabuki]

Just got the email as well. It looks like Sony is putting the pricing blame back into devs/publishers

Not a good look Sony.

 

[Blackage]

So yeah, Idiotic publisher pricing, this is what would have happened to (and killed) blockbuster video game rentals back in the day if they had lost those court cases to Nintendo about rental.

 

[crashnburn]

I'm in the Beta and think I just accidentally purchased FF13-2 for a week.

Fuck my life I need a refund.

 

[Hugstable]

Bad business model. Lose money in the long run. Sony has to make money on this.

How about a model where you buy TIME and you can play any game you want in the QUALIFIED group of games for amount of TIME you bought? Say $5 for 4 hours for Tier B games.

They could charge more for access to library of recent games. Say $7 for 4 hours for Tier A games.

Sounds like my old LAN cafe -_-

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Sounds like you guys need to give them your feedback. Let them take that back to the publishers.

 

[ArchedThunder]

So everything is rental only? Why can't I buy a game...

 

[oSoLucky]

I seriously doubt that the current pricing structure will hold. There's just no way. Sony would be throwing all those hundreds of millions down the toilet IMO. I do expect the final pricing to be higher than what the average forum poster thinks it should be. I think the position of people that care about owning the game or(slightly different subject) not paying for games again because they still have a PS1/PS2 collection are in the extreme minority. I believe the trajectory that we've seen in regards to digital in the console space kinda proves that.

By all means we need to keep letting Sony know how we feel, otherwise no change will ever happen, but I think the best that they'll be able to offer is a decent price on subscription. Rental period price is almost guaranteed to be too high to a lot of posters here purely based on the nature of the beast.

 

[Joco]

Physical distribution isn't going anywhere with these outrageous prices.

 

[SDCowboy]

I'm still confused. Is there a subscription price on top of having to pay to play the games? Also, aren't there supposed to be PS1 and PS2 games on this service?

 

[SDCowboy]

Renting digital stuff never is a good thing. Only makes sense paying a flat fee for all like Netflix.

That's what I thought the service was supposed to be like. I thought Playstation Now was supposed to be like a netflix stream service but with games.

 

[Usobuko]

If this has prices cater more towards the mass market, it's also essential free viral marketing for the service to pick off from its infant state.

Don't screw it up, Sony.

 

[oSoLucky]

That's what I thought the service was supposed to be like. I thought Playstation Now was supposed to be like a netflix stream service but with games.

Supposedly it's coming but the pricing hasn't been ironed out yet. It's still in beta. I'm not giving them a dime until all of the options are laid flat and the full library of games is made known, which may not be for a few more months. The open beta just starts July 31 iirc.

 

[figadapaura]

I was expecting something more like Netflix where games would only be available after they'd been out a while.

This....is not that.

I can't see this being successful at all as is.