Playstation Now (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

I think you were mixing it up with the PS3, which initially had full PS2 hardware backwards compatibility before switching for a short time to a hybrid hardware/emulation setup to cut cost prior to removing the final chip entirely and eliminating the feature. PS1 support remains to this day however, thanks to being emulation based.


49% as I recall of the original Xbox library is on the 360's backwards compatibility list, so it's odd you never got any up and running. Is your 360 equipped with a hard drive, rather than something like a USB memory stick? You need the HDD to enable Xbox backwards compatibility.


Furthermore, it needs to be an official hard drive. For some reason, those that sell unofficial hard drives seemingly always forget to include the partition where Xbox emulation profiles reside, breaking the feature (Although it's possible to resolve this issue yourself).


But like I said, between the games that won't run and the games with issues, only about 10% of the library truly qualifies as compatible in my eyes.

 

[Bryan^H]

I think the weirdest backward compatibility would have been the original XBOX playing Sega Dreamcast games. Microsoft, and Sega almost agreed to this very concept before the XBOX launched. Sadly, it didn't happen.

I still think the Dreamcast is one of the best consoles ever. Sold exceedingly well....until the PS2 came to town

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Like I said before, playing PS3 games through PS Now is not a feature aimed at people who have PS3s. Sony has said that a lot of their PS4 base is people who never owned a PS3, so for those people it makes sense. Also, $15 sounds like a lot, but how much money do most people pay for internet or phone service? Considering what you get for a variety of subscription services (I pay $16 for Netflix streaming + DVDs) I don't think it's that crazy.


Putting a PS3 disc in the console, having it be recognized, then streaming the game through the internet would be awesome. But the cost to maintain the infrastructure to actually stream a game needs to be recouped, which only happens if you're actively paying while you play a game. Maybe they will offer something cheaper in the future as their costs go down, but...well...they literally do need to make money on this, so I'm not surprised that the PS3-disc-in-PS4 verification option doesn't exist.


And honestly, the most important thing to me is that $15-20/month is on par with existing services. This isn't a new concept (Gaikai, which Sony bought to do this, and OnLive have been doing it for years at that price) so I don't know why people think they should be doing it really cheaply.

 

[Sam Posten]

Also, $15 sounds like a lot, but how much money do most people pay for internet or phone service? Considering what you get for a variety of subscription services (I pay $16 for Netflix streaming + DVDs) I don't think it's that crazy.

How are you still getting DVDs from Netflix? Netflix is max $11.99 a month and no disks.

https://www.netflix.com/getstarted?locale=en-US


So netflix is at LEAST $4 a month cheaper than Now. For their best plan vs. Sony's discount price for ordering multiple months.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Netflix, while offering a lot of content, is giving you just video. PS Now is giving you videogames. Also, I have the old $8 streaming and $8 DVDs-by-mail Netflix plan. There are some things available only on DVD, even if just for a short time, that we'd like to watch.


My point was not to make a direct comparison to Netflix but rather just that I don't think it's too crazy to pay that fee for that service since I already pay about that much for another service. OnLive has a streaming subscription that is $10/month for a limited selection of games. For about $8, you can stream games from your Steam account that you already own and paid money for previously (if they're offered on OnLive, too). If Sony offered that as an option ($10 or less to stream PS3/PSN games that you've bought before) then it would certainly be a better value, but really if you're thinking of someone who has never owned a PS3 before and wants to save themselves the trouble of buying one and all the games they missed out on, $15/month is not a bad deal at all.

 

[Bryan^H]

It's kind of weird that I cancelled my Netflix streaming + dvd plan about a year ago -forgot to send a dvd from them back and was never charged for it.

 

[mattCR]

How are you still getting DVDs from Netflix? Netflix is max $11.99 a month and no disks.

https://www.netflix.com/getstarted?locale=en-US


So netflix is at LEAST $4 a month cheaper than Now. For their best plan vs. Sony's discount price for ordering multiple months.

What are YOU talking about? Netflix still offers discs in a plan..


https://dvd.netflix.com/SubscriptionAdd?dsrc=STRWEB_ADDDVD


My parents get 3 discs out at a time. Since they have no access to broadband over 2Mbps in their area, and there is no local rental store, its a good option

 

[Aaron Silverman]

FWIW, I played dozens of PS1 discs on my PS2, and dozens of PS1 and PS2 discs on my original 60GB PS3, and never had a problem with any of them.


Also, most GameBoy series units have had backward compatibility.

 

[Bryan^H]

Netflix, while offering a lot of content, is giving you just video. PS Now is giving you videogames. Also, I have the old $8 streaming and $8 DVDs-by-mail Netflix plan. There are some things available only on DVD, even if just for a short time, that we'd like to watch.

My point was not to make a direct comparison to Netflix but rather just that I don't think it's too crazy to pay that fee for that service since I already pay about that much for another service. OnLive has a streaming subscription that is $10/month for a limited selection of games. For about $8, you can stream games from your Steam account that you already own and paid money for previously (if they're offered on OnLive, too). If Sony offered that as an option ($10 or less to stream PS3/PSN games that you've bought before) then it would certainly be a better value, but really if you're thinking of someone who has never owned a PS3 before and wants to save themselves the trouble of buying one and all the games they missed out on, $15/month is not a bad deal at all.

It isn't a bad price at all. Like you say for people that have never owned a PS3.

I guess you just have to choose your battles. I have so many credit card vampires that charge every month, I couldn't add another if I wanted.
Currently per month I have:

Netflix-$8

NHL-$12

Microsoft Music(really love this one)-$10

WWE Network(finally got really good so I went for it)-$10

Not to mention $60 a year for PS+, and X Box live, and all my other utilities.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Aaron - The handheld Nintendo consoles sort of did backward compatibility, but only by about a generation. Currently, the 3DS only plays DS games or games on the Virtual Console.


As it stands, the console with the "best" backward compatibility is the Wii U because it plays Wii games and has a ton of VC games (since all Wii VC games are there). And at least Sony has an option on the PS4; MS has announced zilch for XBO.

 

[LeoA]

Aaron - The handheld Nintendo consoles sort of did backward compatibility, but only by about a generation. Currently, the 3DS only plays DS games or games on the Virtual Console.

Digital downloads of classic games don't count as far as I'm concerned.


The only Nintendo handhelds that didn't at least support the immediately preceding generation, have been the Game Boy Micro, DSi, and DSi XL. Backwards compatibility has been commonplace throughout the years.


The full Game Boy Advance line outside of the Game Boy Micro, including the Game Boy Player, supported the entire Game Boy range of software in fact.

As it stands, the console with the "best" backward compatibility is the Wii U because it plays Wii games and has a ton of VC games (since all Wii VC games are there). And at least Sony has an option on the PS4; MS has announced zilch for XBO.

I'd argue in favor of a backwards compatible Playstation 3. Three full generations of Playstation console software are directly supported.


And if we include emulated rereleases as you're doing, hundreds of classic games from earlier generations have also made an appearance throughout those first three generations of Playstation console hardware.

 

[DaveF]

I'm in no hurry to pay for PSNow, but I'm intrigued. My guess is it targets two very different customers:
The money makers, the hardcore gamers that play a new game a month. Instead of paying $60 a month, they pay $15/mo for their insatiable hunger for gaming. Of course, I'm assuming PSNow serve new games in addition to prior-gen.

The casual gamers, who never had a PS3: Me. I want to play Journey on my PS4. If it's available for a $15 rental, I'd consider it. But I'm not the money maker here, since I'd never pay month after month.

It may also be that Sony sees this not as their core revenue in the near term. This is more about market segmentation and getting every available dollar. They can get the $60 launch-day whales. but how to get th smaller dollar sums, and what about making some money on that vast back catalog of games? Online subscription service is one possibility.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

LeoA - I was saying that of the current generation consoles, the Wii U has the best backward compatibility because...well...it's the only one that is really backward compatible at all.


DaveF - It should be noted that not all PS3 games are on PS Now and that not all of the games that are on PS Now are covered by the subscription. However, they are adding new games regularly (weekly or monthly, at least) and some will go into the sub while others won't.


If you're interested in playing Journey, it should be noted that it is rumored to be coming to PS4 in the near future.


The big value of PS Now as a subscription will be when the subscription option is available to all of the platforms that PS Now is on. When the sub launches in a few days, it will only be available for the PS4. But eventually it will come to the PS3, PS Vita, Sony and Samsung TVs, and phones/tablets. So imagine you're a very casual gamer, never owned a PS3 or PS4, but you can buy a PS3 controller for dirt cheap online (used, new, borrowed from a friend, whatever) and then connect it to your Sony or Samsung TV. For the cost of the controller and $15/month, you are able to play 100 or so PS3 games unlimited. That's a pretty neat concept and a really good deal.


I'm very curious to see how Sony ties all of their services together eventually. They already have streaming music, they're touching up streaming games, and they're going to roll out streaming TV (PS Vue). I could see them doing a package for like $40/month that includes TV, games, music, and PS+, considering that's $15 for Now, $5-10 for Music Unlimited, $4-5 for PS+, and probably like $20 for Vue. For someone who has just a TV and a PS3/4 controller, you could cut your cable and get a pretty sweet deal.