14 DAY TRIAL // By far the biggest announcement of the week coming from CES 2014 was Sony's PlayStation Now, the new cloud-based game streaming service.
For those that missed it, PS Now will offer, at first, select PS3 games (both first- and third-party ones) that can be streamed and played on the PS4 and PS3. At a later point in time, the games will be available for streaming on the PS Vita, Bravia TVs, smartphones, and tablets.
Sony plans on bringing other games, including PS2 or PS1 titles, to the service once it sees just how popular it is.
The announcement generated a phenomenal amount of hype, despite the traditional reticence of core gamers against streaming solutions, particularly because of latency and instability, and the lack of actual details in regard to pricing of the new service.
Sony, however, is quite confident in PlayStation Now, particularly because the infrastructure is based on the Gaikai service, which was already functional back in 2012 when the Japanese company bought the streaming firm.
Even so, launching the service is a high risk, high reward situation. There are many things that can go wrong, but, if the proverbial planets do align, it can prove to be a huge success for Sony itself.
After being humbled by the early years of the PS3, the company is quite careful about its new products and it's already allocated a lot of months to beta testing. The closed test phase starts in late January, ahead of a summer rollout of the service in the U.S.
Other territories should follow after that, but the sheer magnitude and variables, like internet bandwidth, will certainly mean delays for certain parts of Europe and the rest of the world.
Still, if the service proves to be a winner, it can signal a new era for gaming, as the industry will be less reliant on platforms like PS4, Xbox One or PC, and more on actual content – the games.
Are you looking forward to PS Now or do you still think gaming locally on a platform is here to stay?