350°

What’s The Right Price Point for ‘Playstation Now’?

Sony revealed ‘Playstation Now‘ during CES 2014. The service will let gamers play games from Sony’s library on their Sony consoles as well as on tablets, smartphones and televisions. You’ll be able to get games either by renting individual titles or via a subscription which will give you access to many titles. Sounds pretty cool right? Yeah it does, the question is (as the title of this editorial asks), what’s the right price point for this service?

Read Full Story >>
dualshockers.com
Majin-vegeta3762d ago

Depends on the titles we have access to.Will it be all games ever released on PS systems or just select titles??

3762d ago Replies(12)
Xer0_SiN3762d ago (Edited 3762d ago )

what does it mean by tvs and phones? would we be able to stream a game like tlou directly to our phone or television without the use of a playstation product? or is psnow a stand-alone product OR is there a seperate library for each platform.

porkChop3762d ago

Bravia TVs and Sony tablets. You wouldn't need any PS systems, just a controller (likely DS3 and DS4).

hellzsupernova3762d ago

They did mention other products in the future they are building partnerships but for now it's ps4 then vita then smartphones, tablets and tvs

hulk_bash19873762d ago

I would gladly pay a $60 yearly subscription for the ability to stream PS3 games on my Vita and PS4.

Conzul3762d ago

Yeah but just lump it onto a new tier of ps plus that costs more. I hate juggling subscriptions.

And make it buffet-style like Netflix.

hulk_bash19873762d ago (Edited 3762d ago )

Agreed, an upgrade/bundle for existing Plus subscribers would be very welcomed.

showtimefolks3762d ago

i think it could be part of psn-Plus membership but will give options to buy or rent

so maybe 2 games each month from PS-Now and if you want other games either rent or pay a small fee to buy

now if we could get all the games ever released on playstation brand than i believe this is the killer app that will make ps4 even stronger

Atleast we know now sony is thinking big

ginsunuva3762d ago

Wait I got it!

Maybe Sony will drop the PS+ regular monthly free games, and instead this will come with it!

No more having to say "Darn it I just bought this game and now it's on Plus"

showtimefolks3762d ago

ginsunuva

yeh that could work too. i hope there is some sort of upscaling for ps1-ps2 games while playing on ps4

Insomnia_843762d ago

I would gladly pay $10-$14 a month for PSN.

Sony Entertainment Network: SEN
PlayStation Now: PSN

GarrusVakarian3761d ago

What ive gathered so far is that you can either subscribe, rent, or flat out buy titles?

Am i right? I hope so, i would much rather just buy a game than sub.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3761d ago
remanutd553762d ago

Idk but i do know that i'll finally be able to play Beyond Two Souls and Puppeteer on my vita.

JoelT3762d ago

And if you're lucky, maybe even as soon as this month ;).

matrixman923762d ago

that would be very nice...but I highly doubt it. It will probably be tiered on how many games u are allowed to play each month or something like...9.99= 3 game, 14.99= 7 games....something like that

bobsmith3762d ago

I think some of the games will be free on ps plus and others you just buy normal price play them whenver and maybe you can rent them for cheaper

hellzsupernova3762d ago

At best they will include a rental every month free for plus members. But I don't expect this will be in anyway included in plus it will be a separate thing. Which I am fine with, a lot of people on here seem to want everything for nothing

ginsunuva3762d ago (Edited 3762d ago )

I first thought not, but now I realize, IT COULD BE.

Sony may drop the (admittedly disorganized) monthly free game scheme, and replace it with this!

So instead of a couple random modern games, you get all the old ones.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3762d ago
punisher993762d ago

Is it actually a yearly subscription fee? Or is it like onlive where you actually buy and rent games?

HeavenlySnipes3762d ago

If they increase PS+ price $60 and include it I'd be happy with that. That way almost everyone will have access (because Plus is pretty much mandatory on PS4) and it can be another bullet point for why PS+ is worth the money over XBL with them both costing the same amount of money

Romudeth3762d ago

That's actually a good idea. This can be a part of plus but plus would cost extra. Could work.

Death3762d ago

Yes, that additional $0.80 per month should more than make up for the lost profits devs and publishers will lose on game sales.

You have to ask yourself, where is the business model here? How will they not only recoup their initial investment, but how will they pay to maintain the infrastructure. I'm not sure 80 cents will do it.

Then think about how this impacts retailers. How much incentive does a retailer have today making $10 on a PS4 console sale knowing Sony is looking to stream their library of games virtually eliminating the need for used and low cost games.

hellzsupernova3762d ago

I truly believe that's why Sonys vita memory is so expensive, it's to give retailers an incentive to sell the unit cause I bought mine off a friend 32 gig card and it was heavily discounted from retail

BitbyDeath3762d ago

Initial investment is likely being recouped through that 90% PS+ increase

HeavenlySnipes3762d ago

They recoup because of the snowball effect of taking the route

- You get more PS4's sold because now people can just stream their older games on the PS4
- The Vita gets a lot more appealing because just with PS+ you can stream PS3/PS4 games onto it and continue your games on the go
- The PS+ subscription itself will increase in total sales because of the bonus incentive too it

Do you find it more likely that people will pay $10 more for PS+ or they paying a separate $20-30 JUST for Playstation Now

Sony isn't looking to recoup the money within a year, it was an investment. The console will be around for a while

Death3761d ago

I find that hardware sales cost the manufacturer money. Software sales recoup that lost money. Streaming displaces sales and eliminates retail presence. Sony is breaking the traditional console sales model to unite all Sony devices and try to move more hardware across the board. Removing retail gaming stores from the equation is extremely risky since they are needed to help push the product.

With this service the entire backstock of used games at your local Gamestop is worthless.If you can access and play PS3 games on any device, what do you think happens to the value of a used PS3?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3761d ago
Show all comments (78)
150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers1d 14h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos23h ago(Edited 23h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken1d 1h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g1d 10h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing1d 10h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H91d 10h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola1d 7h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6691d 9h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle1d 9h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

Show all comments (14)
130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg2d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos2d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 21h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

Show all comments (8)
280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies22d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken22d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga22d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken22d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6422d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long22d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197221d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
DivineHand12522d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91322d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer22d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91321d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit21d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 21d ago
Christopher22d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6921d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit21d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal22d ago (Edited 22d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher22d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken22d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197221d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic21d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2322d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218322d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder22d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts22d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

Show all comments (43)