PS Now Enters Open Beta Thursday With Cheaper Rental Pricing
Sony confirmed that the Playstation Now game streaming service will enter open beta for the PS4 on Thursday, July 31st. A video was also released walking to provide a walk-through of what those willing to try it out that clues you in on the PS3 games that will be available to stream.
PS4’s PS Now open beta begins tomorrow: http://t.co/0PBLST2eey Rent and stream 100+ games, with more added regularly http://t.co/OnXhAcE5RK
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 30, 2014
Originally announced by Sony at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in January, the PS Now private beta has been available for select PS3 owners since not long after the announcement and PS4 owners since May.
There will be more than 100 games available to rent to begin with during the open beta including titles such as Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, God of War: Ascension, Dead Space 3 and Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus. These will be available to rent directly from the Playstation Store and will be available for different rental periods including 4 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or 90 days.
Prices shown in the video include $2.99 for the shortest time period to $14.99. These prices represent a significant improvement over the prices that leaked out during the private beta, which I discussed in a previous article for The Inquisitr. Even these prices will be dropped as Playstation Now Senior Director Jack Buser confirmed that 4 hour rentals will be dropped an addition dollar to $1.99.
It’s fair to say that these prices are much improved, but what about a subscription option? Buser says that is coming as well, however Sony is not ready to share details on it. It will likely be announced in the coming months toward the end of the open beta.
Eventually, PS Now will become available on the PS Vita and select 2014 Bravia TVs. It will only be available in the United States and Canada for now.
As for what kind of internet connection you’ll need to enjoy the PS Now beta, a 5mbps connection is the minimum download speed. Additionally, Buser recommends using a wired connection with the PS4 for the service versus the wireless connection. Streaming games over the internet is very dependent on the quality of your internet connection. So, everything you can do to ensure the best connection on your end will help the experience.
Unfortunately, PS Now is currently restricted to only Playstation 3 games. An interview between Kotaku and Buser was unintentionally amusing due to how the Sony Director diligently avoided giving an answer on if PS1 and PS2 games will be part of the streaming service. Interviewer Jason Schreier asked Buser three times about PS1 games and was essentially given the same non-answer three time.
Currently for open-beta on PlayStation 4 we’re going to focus on PlayStation 3 games. This will be integrated into the PlayStation 4 in the US and Canada. In terms of devices that will support PlayStation Now, we’ll then be expanding from PlayStation 4 and applying the open beta on PS3, PS TV, PS Vita. And then the ultimate vision of PlayStation Now is to support a wide variety of devices.
Are you going to try out streaming games through PS Now? We’d love to hear your experience with the service. Please share in the comments below.
[Image via Playstation]
