![]() While Sony recommended connection speeds of 5Mbps, it's not until 10 to 15Mbps that you'd truly reach the promised land of uninterrupted gameplay. Not only did games take 30 to 45 seconds to load up, but any hiccup in the connection completely derails gameplay. If the choice is between a cost-effective way to play online on the one hand – and receive a couple of free old games each month, too – and a streaming service with numerous connection issues that's twice the price on the other, which one would you choose? PS Now: stream qualityĪnother area that could have used some sprucing up at the time is the streaming quality, although it slowly improved. It's a shame we didn't seen a joint membership option for both PS Plus and PS Now before the PS Plus revap, given the accumulated monthly fees are likely to prevent high uptake. But, in a perfect world in which games launch simultaneously on retail and PS Now, you could be playing the week's biggest games without leaving your couch for your subscription fee. This depends largely on how quickly publishers get on board with game-streaming as a way to play. Where we saw PlayStation Now finding some traction is with gamers supplementing their PS4 experience with what essentially amount to rentals – or, crazier users giving up their physical media collection completely. A table of three games: one PS3 game, one PSN game, and one more recent PS4 game that display not only the difference in price over each time period, but the difference between games from different platforms as well. In the images below you can see how it used to work. That option was later ditched, so it's the subscription fee or nothing. In the beginning, there was the option to rent games as needed from the PlayStation Now store, rather than pay a monthly subscription fee. What's most notable about this, though, isn't just the saving, but how it drags down the price to match Microsoft's competing Xbox Games Pass service, which costs $9.99/£7.99 per month. For US gamers, that's a half-price difference, while UK players would have still been saving a neat £48 over the course of the year. ![]() Knowing full well that prices and dollar signs are what sinks ships, pricing is one area that Sony has given special attention to over the last year of PlayStation Now's existence. PlayStation Now could offer the biggest and best games from the company's 20-year foray into game consoles, but if the pricing isn't right, none of it will matter. Unlike Xbox Game Pass, it doesn't offer the latest AAA games, but it does offer a convenient way to access a library of old titles that are either hard to get hold of, or just a way to test titles without a market-price barrier. ![]() That offering has certainly improved over time: just like Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription, which offers a handful of free games for download each month, PS Now treads the line between desirable games and those that are just about going out of fashion. But the variety offered here should be enough to please a diverse set of tastes. I don't know anyone lining up to play Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear or Jimmie Johnson's Anything with Wheels, and while I'm sure someone really enjoys Wheel of Fortune and Frogger HD, it's not me. Sadly, not every game is worthwhile: some of the hundreds of games are clearance pile fodder, and have been for the past few years. In addition, PlayStation Now offered PC players the chance to play Bloodborne for the first time – as the title has always been a PlayStation exclusive. Of course, you won't be able to download it to your PC, but can stream it via the cloud. Not to mention the Batman Arkham trilogy, Until Dawn, Borderlands, Bioshock: Infinite, and Ultra Street Fighter IV. ![]() Games like Saints Row 3, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Darksiders and Catherine are all up for grabs, while Sony provides a few platform exclusives, like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and Ratchet and Clank, that are excellent as well. At last count, PlayStation Now had more than 800 games available to stream, and many of them – PS4 and PS2 titles – are available to download. They range in value and prestige from some of the must-play games of the last generation, like The Last of Us, to small indie darlings, to some completely forgettable, bargain bin fodder.īut the decent titles are worth the price of entry, though it's worth bearing in mind they tend to change every few months.
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