Sony hasn’t made much of an appearance at the annual CES tech show in recent years, but 2014 seems to be its year as the Japanese tech giant has returned with a bang. First we saw the new Xperia Z1 Compact and now the company has revealed its online game streaming service, PlayStation Now.
PlayStation Now is designed primarily to allow PS4 gamers to stream classic PS3 games to their console over the web. This will be the first feature going live on the new service, but Sony says that later on we’ll also be able to stream games to the PS Vita as well as Sony Bravia TVs, tablets and smartphones (Sony ones, we assume).
When Sony revealed the PS4 for the very first time in February 2013, there was a lot of song and dance about game streaming, which we were told would be powered by Gaikai, the online games expert which Sony acquired for a cool $380 million. PlayStation Now appears to be that very service, offering games via a web connection which means no discs and no lengthy downloads.
At CES the company gave its first formal PlayStation Now keynote, but the service won’t be available until summer 2014 and details were rather slim. The company explained: “SCE’s vision for PS Now is to enable users to instantly enjoy a wide range of full games on the Internet-connected consumer electronics devices they use every day”.
Sony tells us that games can be “rented”, but shared very little in terms of specifics. We imagine that this is only a part of PlayStation Now, as other aspects will see gamers able to buy games and then share them across their Sony gadgets. With PS Now, trophies, save data and everything else associated with an individual game will all be synchronised across devices, meaning that you can leave your PS4 at home and pick up where you left off on your Vita when you’re out.
Whilst PS3 and PS4 streaming will come first, the company promises that it will expand PS Now to other platforms including smartphone and tablet devices. “PS Now will allow users to engage in the world of PlayStation, whether they’re existing fans or have never owned a PlayStation platform,” said president and group CEO of SCE, Andrew House.
We’re hoping Sony will reveal more about PlayStation Now in the near future, such as prices, game availability and exactly how the service works.