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[12Dannu123]

Of course if can compete. The draw of these services is the content that isn't offered anywhere else. If someone wants PS exclusives, gamepass isn't an option.

This will play out exactly the same way it does in the video streaming space. Those who want it day 1 will pay on day 1. The rest of the cheapos will be perfectly fine waiting.

I agree with your point and just like all other services you need content. However the point that there are PS exclusives on Psnow is moot since they only are on the service for 3 months. So a majority of people won't be able to play those exclusives.

Do you subscribe to a monthly service to play old gen games? If not why should anyone else let alone a general consumer.

There's a reason why Psnow as of today is in the state that it is in.

 

[Fenris Wolf]

Sony needs to be clear

Huge thing to ask imo.

 

[Insert Disk Two]

I live a in a country were PS Now is not available. I don't care about the "streaming" aspect of it, so I would happily take a "no streaming", cheaper version of PS Now anyway. I do have PS+, but since they have cut the number of games per month to just 2, this whole thing has been pretty lame. Every month it is either games that I already own, or games that I would never buy. I think they should:

1. Sell online access by itself for a nominal fee
2. Make PS Plus downloadable only with streaming option (for a fee)
3. Take a leaf or two out of Microsoft's GamePass book when it comes to what games they include

 

[shaddam]

The should merge it with ps plus. Or make a ps plus premium. Also release it in every country should help...

 

[turtlepowa]

I think sooner or later they will copy Game Pass. Sooner if you ask me.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

So the question is.... What is PSNow? what's the point of the service? Consumers don't want to pay a monthly fee to play old games

Hah speak for yourself. I picked up a PS4 Pro last year and PSNow instantly gave me a library of games to play. Just because you don’t want to “play old games” doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of people who do.

Like I am considering buying a new HD because I’m almost out of space from all the games

 

[Thirty7ven]

PSNOW should be a service where you have access to a bunch of A and AA quality games. I find a whole more value in finding a game like Streets of Rage 4, Ori and the Wild Wisps, Kentuchy Route Zero etc than Spiderman or Uncharted 4, or Gears of War 5.

I say that because those big games are the ones I would buy, either at launcher or later when they are at a discount, while those A and AA games, I might never give them a chance at all if not for a subscription service.

 

[bitbydeath]

Doesn’t Game Pass only offer like 100 titles while PSNOW is around 600-700 or more games?

That’s what they offer. Hundreds of games more for the same price.

 

[FranXico]

I don't understand why Sony didn't rebrand PSNow when they started allowing people to directly download games on the service to their PS4. There is so much confusion around the name because the service has changed pretty significantly since you don't have to stream every game now.

The problem is not about branding, it's lack of marketing.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

What people don't get is that Sony HAS THE CHOICE to do the way they want. It's not that they CAN'T, they made the choice not to... yet.

Unlike MS, they sell lots of hardwares and softwares. I understand your love for Sony, but let MS breath. Sony does not need to be number one everywhere, MS needs at least one success. And everyone has a PS4 now...

 

[The Hamburglar]

They’re games sell, they don’t need to put them on a subscription.
God of war has made more money than game pass for example.
Game pass is a reaction to losing this gen. if it actually pays off next gen, you will see Sony react accordingly.

 

[TimFL]

...

It's gonna be first and foremost a game download service next gen IMO. Really should break off the streaming aspect into something else.

No. It should be deeply integrated into the ecosystem / OS: instant gameplay without having to download for all of your games, optionally download to play offline.

Whether they continue to charge for it via a sub (highly likely) or make it free for owned games (highly unlikely), doesn‘t matter. Anyone denying that streaming is going to heavily gain traction either has 3rd world internet bandwidth / speed or lives in a bubble.

They have to continue to push the streaming aspect of it or they‘ll be left in the dust when the industry continues to improve game streaming. Their biggest mistake was killing PS Now on most platforms instead of powering through bad times and they probably know that and try to heavily back pedal on that decision due to MS going for the „stream everywhere“ aspect with XCloud.

I‘m for one glad that MS and Google jumped on the streaming bandwagon causing Sony to improve and iterate on their offering.

 

[jshackles]

The problem is not about branding, it's lack of marketing.

Oh absolutely. I was just pointing out that keeping the same name for a service that does something fundamentally different than it used it is a pretty bad offense. I bet if you polled 90% of people who don't have PSNow on why they don't subscribe, you'd get a ton of answers ranging from "I tried it years ago and it was terrible" to "I'd rather play on Game Pass where I don't have to stream the games".

But yes they could absolutely overcome those hurdles with a big marketing push. Ideally for them, they'd do both.

 

[mckmas8808]

The worse thing Sony could do is bring over 1st party games day one. That would be TERRIBLE and STUPID!!

 

[IntentionalPun]

No. It should be deeply integrated into the ecosystem / OS: instant gameplay without having to download for all of your games, optionally download to play offline.

Eh; maybe as something you can buy access to, run a test to see if it makes sense for you.

It's such a "your mileage may vary" thing that you can't just integrated it into the OS and expect people to be happy. For many people that is gonna be a terrible / laggy experience.
It's still really early for game streaming; it's early for MS too.. so don't expect streaming to be THAT big for them this gen early either.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The vision has been clear from the beginning. Maybe customers just don't like videogame streaming all that much. I know that rattles the current paradigm

Subscription launched only a few months into the service. Let's not make it sound like it was a rental service for years and then sluggishly moved to a subscription model. You've been able to buy a PS Now subscription since 2015.

PlayStation Now Subscription Program: All The Details

I’m pleased to announce that starting January 13th, we’ll launch a subscription service for PlayStation Now that will provide instant and unlimited access to a catalog of more than 100 PS3 games. And since you’re using PlayStation Now, you can enjoy the freedom to quickly discover and play a...

blog.us.playstation.com

I don't think there's any confusion as to what PS Now is and what it offers. So it begs the question why people haven't been flocking to the "future of streaming" for the past 5 years.

I think ever since Microsoft and Google started moving into game-streaming, we have seen an uptick of exaggerated criticism toward PS Now so that we can avoid addressing the question posed above. Before Microsoft and Google started talking up their game streaming, PS Now was mostly ignored. There wasn't much attention paid when more games were added or when performance was improved.

Some people perked their ears up when they added the feature to download to your PS4 or PC.

PlayStation Support

support.playstation.com

In practice, that makes it closer to PS+, where you can "keep" the game as long as you're a subscriber.

Sony really needs to lump PS Now and PS+ into one service.

 

[12Dannu123]

They’re games sell, they don’t need to put them on a subscription.
God of war has made more money than game pass for example.
Game pass is a reaction to losing this gen. if it actually pays off next gen, you will see Sony react accordingly.

Don't you think by reacting that late. Game Pass would have high exposure and mindshare, especially when 5G and Cloud Gaming will be more mainstream during that console generation. While it won't be super mainstream. The competition has already started in the marketing and partnership aspect. Getting your service preinstalled on many devices as possible.

Sony needs to be a more agile company. Sticking to old business models because it makes the most money is a not a good long term strategy, if any company did that we would still have to purchase movies and shows, pay for 1 incense of Office purchase music.

Doesn’t Game Pass only offer like 100 titles while PSNOW is around 600-700 or more games?

That’s what they offer. Hundreds of games more for the same price.

Game Pass on console specifically offers 230 titles in total, those are all downloadable games. A vast majority of PSNow games are PS3 which can only be streamed and not downloaded.

 

[bitbydeath]

Game Pass on console specifically offers 230 titles in total, those are all downloadable games. A vast majority of PSNow games are PS3 which can only be streamed and not downloaded.

Wiki states over 300 of the 800+ titles are PS4 titles. PS2 titles are also downloadable but I have no idea how many of those are on the service.

List of PlayStation Now games - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Jesb]

I’d be more interested in psnow if it was available on vita. I’m playing god of war remote play on it right now since in the middle of a renovation and love this option.

 

[fvng]

Subscription services are a horrible idea for gaming. They sound good on paper, but they'll quickly lead to fewer huge budget AAA games that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to make and NEED to sell for at least $60 to cover those costs.

Hopefully, PlayStation keeps it's big titles off and PS Now remains mostly a way to stream or download older games and smaller titles.

yeah what a horrible idea right, pay about 50 bucks a year and get instant access to a ton of games? many of them having an installation option available if you don't like streaming.

You didn't support your thesis with any reason, all you said was it's a horrible idea but you provided no feedback on the service itself.

so far i'm pretty satisfied with Now, and the image quality when streaming last gen games is way above par, so i can check out the games I skipped. I get the feeling that the people criticizing the service haven't tried it at all or for a decent period of time.

 

[Tickrate]

I hope Sony steps up its game and offers more to PS+ subscribers.
Microsoft seems to get it with their offering of gamepas ultimate.
Being a laggard in this regard will bite Sony in the ass in the long run.

 

[Ballistic]

I have to wonder when the last time OP tried the service, if ever because I have more games at my fingertips for a nominal fee than I could by buying in a store. I never had an opportunity to play Ascenscion, so in need of something to play I decided to try it out. I’ve also started Killzone 1 and I can’t believe that was a PS2 game. I’m currently impressed with the service and I’m streaming the games. I’ve experienced a very brief amount of button lag in a section that was poorly designed in the first place. It’s a value proposition, if you see value spend the money. If you don’t, there’s other services and brands that will gladly have your money. Here’s a thought, maybe Sony has a mature product and infrastructure that is now ready to be relaunched when they rebrand plus.

 

[D.Final]

I hope Sony steps up its game and offers more to PS+ subscribers.
Microsoft seems to get it with their offering of gamepas ultimate.
Being a laggard in this regard will bite Sony in the ass in the long run.

I fully agree

 

[Estocolmo]

Xbox wil never compete with Playstation. Microsofts first party games cant compete with Sony first party games.

It’s nice to play other games than The same boring third-person-action-adventure-hold-your-hands formula

 

[sol_bad]

It’s nice to play other games than The same boring third-person-action-adventure-hold-your-hands formula

I didn't realise that Infamous, God of War, Uncharted, Dreams, Uncharted 4, Gravity Rush 2, Horizon, Knack and Days Gone all played the exact same.

And I see you play your games on easy, maybe up the difficulty. You finished God of War on its hardest difficulty?

 

[mango drank]

Finally got around to trying a wired connection on my PS4 for PS Now, and hot damn, it's actually decent.

Earlier, playing PS Now on my OG PS4's slow wifi antenna, I'd get lag, quality drops, disconnects. But on wired ethernet, everything worked perfectly. I couldn't notice any input lag, and there were no drops. Everything was super smooth the entire ~30 mins I tried it. And the connection was only 50 mbps down. The resolution is still 720p, and you can see some compression artifacts in dark shadow areas, but other than that, it was the first time streaming actually felt viable for me personally. Where before I could see myself playing only simple point and click adventure games or JRPGs because of the streaming problems, now I can see playing pretty much anything smoothly.

This stupid streaming thing might actually be the future. I feel very conflicted saying that.

 

[Demon2blades]

I don't believe putting Sony's games on psnow from day 1 would be a good thing for sony especially how much those games cost to make , it might be ok while starting up but sustaining that cost years ahead when ps now is in full swing with no one actually buying the games anyone by then i think we'd see a decline in AAA gaming more than in recent times ... That's my opinion .

 

[SkylineRKR]

I've had Now a few times. I just don't think its worth it for a sustained subscription. They're removing downloadables on a quarterly basis, and while PS3 games are nice to have they aren't visually updated at all and ofcourse suffer from online lag.

Its just a shame the PS3 was such a bitch. I would love to have a Killzone 2 or MGS4 with Xbox levels of BC treatment instead of having to play them through the cloud at 720p.

 

[Knitted Knight]

It's already kinda of like Gamepass (with a bigger library), but without the marketing push to let you know what it's. The main disparity, and the most drastic, is pricing and marketing - not content. It feels as if MS has been marketing gamepass more than the Xbox One itself or any game they've released this gen. That's how central gamepass is to the Xbox's division future (or axe in case of failure). I don't think Spencer has too long a leash. It's make or break for this gen.

 

[KURDISTAN YPG]

It needs to be part of ps plus as whole

- get people on it then charge extra doen the line if you can, the thibg is you cant see many people pay for it and there “ new gsme library needs to be bigger, i have it but most games on there i already have it or not interested in and the other part should be better interface on it maybe included in the ui?
Is it worth it for me? Yes sometimes but im hardly on it tbh