Why the PlayStation Now 4-Hour Pricing is Actually a Good Deal

SonyRumors: PlayStation Now allows for 4-hour, 7-day, 30-day, and 90-day rentals that range in price but the 4-hour rentals, priced between $2.99 and $4.99, might be the real gem.

[bebitech]

That's actually an interesting point

[aceitman]

I think its not bad , I dare anyone go to an arcade and tell me they didn't spend 5 dollars in 30 minutes , if u don't like that option then they have a better one that 5-15$ for 30 days , now are u going to complain about spending to little for what u got with 30 days , no so suck it up its an option and still in beta form . and some games can be beaten in 1-4 hrs anyway. they are for u to play for that time period , if u need more time u should have gotten the longer time period for a better price.

[TFJWM]

I think the prices are a little high but the one thing people never talk about it is that you don't need a system for this. If you buy a new Sony TV or a PS TV you will be able to play these games with PS Now. I think that is the real market Sony is going for

[KonsoruMasuta]

You do realize that arcade games are a different animal, right?

They are designed to take as much money from you as possible! When you end up comparing a rental service to an arcade, you know you are about to be severely ripped off.

[DeadMansHand]

Agreed. I think the upper tier are even better. 30 days for 15 bucks. That's .50 a day. I can beat most so games in a week and that's because I rush knowing I have to get it back to redbox asap. With this, i have a month and the total cost is 15 bucks. If I buy a game that is a little old is usually 45 bucks or so. This works great for those titles I don't plan on buying day 1 but still want to check out.

[BattleTorn]

So basically you guys are saying - gamers, we already get far too much entertainment value (hours/$) out of our hobby, compared to other options.

We should stop being so greedy - we'll still get more bang for our buck than at the movie theatres.

Basically - shut up, we have it too good?

While we're at it - we've got far too many rights & freedoms - let's give some of those up too.

[VforVideogames]

Fanboys to the rescue!

[SilentNegotiator]

Arcades are endangered for a reason, ya know.

But for $3 for 4 hours, there are lots of short games that I could complete for $3-6. I wouldn't touch ANY of the $5 for 4 hours games, though.

[donthate]

This is so blatantly stupid logic. You know, a free game on android is what gazillion times better than any $60 game, because hey, you weren't out $60!

You compare apples to as close to an apple as possible. Example, you can buy a game for $15 or rent it for 4-hour access for $5. Does that sound a good deal to you?

In comparison, a movie I rent at RedBox cost me a $1 maybe $2 if it is super duper Blu-Ray, and the same movie bought new at release is $20. With RedBox I have a chance of finishing the movie quite comfortably, and with the game, I likely played a third!

Now of course PS Now has the convenience factor that might raise the price a little, but I don't see this as a good deal any way you swing it. At best it might be "fair" in SOME instances.

I wonder how many here will actually use this service regularly instead of just claiming it is a good deal?

[troylazlow]

But you don't spend $400 to get into said arcade, nor do you need to have internet to. In my opinion 4 hours should only cost you $0.99 (the magic price for apple)

[wampdog29]

But, you didn't throw down money for the arcade hardware though did you???

[GordonKnight]

I only see it being a value for new releases on PS4. Also, what determines when your 4 hours are up? Is it 4 hours of gameplay time or just 4 hours from time of rental purchase?

I mean if I'm playing a rental game and than dinner is ready I'm not going to wait until the rental is over to eat. I would pause the game go eat and come back and finish playing.

Also, to compare it to going to the movies is not a fair comparison, because I don't have an iMax at my house.

It would work with a subscription service with 4 different tiers.

Lowest - Highest
PS1 games only $3.99 monthly
PS2 games only $4.99 monthly
PS3 games only $7.99 monthly *excluding crossgen PS4 games
PS1, PS2 & PS3 games $14.99 monthly.*excluding crossgen PS4 games

IMO

Sony I'm looking for a marketing job!

[Chrischi1988]

Still stupid pricing. But I didnt expect people to be angry about it, because Sony can do no wrong.

[lelo]

Got to love these articles that try to convince people that PS Now's pricing is a wonderful deal. I'm sure they will convince some fools out there with a lot of money to spare. Fanboys will excuse anything.

The only way that I would even consider touching PS Now is if it was free access with PS+.

EDIT:
@Brien
The problem is that I only have a PS4, so I only get 2 games every month, and until now, PS4 offerings have been crap. Sony could offer 60 PS3/Vita games a month and it wouldn't help me one bit.... so yes, Sony should be offering me more with my PS4's PS+ account. Free access to PS Now would be a good idea.

[Brien]

Free with PlayStation Plus? That's just silly. So now, in addition to the free games you get every month (6 titles across three platforms, giving you 72 games to play with a year of Plus), you want to be able to play EVERY PlayStation Now game -- FOR FREE?

Tell me how that makes any kind of financial sense? Whatsoever?

EDIT: So because you don't happen to like the *free* games you're receiving on a console that's been out for less than a year, you're entitled to have a service of games you didn't bother to consider from last generation for free?

[ICANPLAYGAMES2]

@Brien - It wouldn't make financial sense to just add it to PS+ as is, but since they were considering a subscription option, creating a second PS+ tier that included it could make sense financially (though either way not sure how interested in it I would be).

[TheBurger29]

You seem to think that everything should be handed to you. Im an xbox 360 and I knew that paying for gold gave me a good service, my money would help the improve the service. When sony announced a similar service for the ps4 most people didnt get that upset because they understood that it was for the better. So you think that because you already pay for a service that deserve more free stuff, when you already get free games from ps plus? You are selfish, greedy, and lazy.

[shinrock]

And why would you all want to play old ass ps1\2 on ur $400 1080p 60fps beast?

[Reddzfoxx]

To your point of why shouldn't PS offer it for free... Your right through the whole life cycle of PS3 they gave away free online multiplayer. Now you have to pay to play.During the whole life people said Xbox gamers were stupid for paying to play online.

Now its okay to pay for PS+ and with Sony gouging people for more money for older games that you can get at gamestop for $10 or less by charging half that to play it for 4 hours.

@Brien Sony previously offered multiplayer services for free last gen and now your getting charged so yeah PSNow for free since you bought the console and are paying per month versus last gen. Sony apparently could afford it last gen and now they are BFing customers and making it more like a paystation 4 instead of a playstation 4.

Seriously ridiculous pay model which no reasonable person would defend. Sony is selling Ice cubes to eskimos with PSnow.

[SilentNegotiator]

"The only way that I would even consider touching PS Now is if it was free access with PS+"

LOL, Sony would be back to regular quarterly losses in no time.

[BiggerBoss]

I think $2-3 for a day would be the best way to go. That way it's the about the same price as a redbox rental

[DeadMansHand]

It's cheaper than that. The "tester" 4 hour rental is 4-5 bucks. A 30 day rent is fifty cents a day and the 90 is .25 a day.

[BABYLEG]

lol @ DMH. This fool here tryna defend this shit. Since you like doing math, do this one. Why don't I just download and buy the game and keep it for around the same price and build a library? 30bucks 2 years +... do the math

Something about playing any game when I want it, without being limited. This is arcade styled pricing for the home. I usually don't test games.. by watching a clip of said game, I know if I want it or not. If not, hopefully it changes my mind.

I don't need a 4 hour rental to tell me that I shouldn't waste my time with watch dogs or other mistake games out there.

If people enjoy testing games then yea.. test away. Sony gon have some people renting skyrim for 4 hours lol

[admiralvic]

I couldn't disagree more. I don't normally like to use popular lingo, but this article feels exactly like I imagine an "apologist" post / article to look like. For starters, the starting price is actually pretty terrible. Even if we were to assume $2.99 is the lowest for all 4 hour rentals, I am 99.99% sure Family Video charges the same for a 1 night rental. Since they go off nights, you technically have 2 days to play the game and you can enjoy it from opening (10 AM) to closing the next day (Midnight), giving you up to 38 hours to enjoy the game for the same price.

If you don't object to simply selling games, you can also make a fair bit back to offset the cost, especially if you have Gamer Club Unlocked. Like you could get any $60 dollar game for $48 on release and this stacks with reward zone gift certs with preorders and games typically trade in for $30 ~ $40 within the first couple of weeks. Like you could have had 3 - 4 weeks with Mario Kart 8 and got a free copy game and or sold that code for $10+ for $4 via this method (if you waited 6 or so weeks, it traded into Walmart for $59.xx). There have been many instances where I've actually got a fair bit of cash back by simply waiting / doing a promotion to get close to the same $3 ~ $5 dollar price point. Back in May Target had 3x trade in on a bunch of games and several things like AC 4 (PS4), Battlefield 4 (PS4), Super Mario 3D World and such were still trading in for $50+ dollars (thats approximately a rental price of $ 1.67 or less a month).

Don't get me wrong, I am all for people having options and if someone wants a rent something for 4 hours, then so be it, but It's hard to call it a deal in any capacity.

[wsoutlaw87]

Who cares that you can rent games at other places. They arent the ssme thing as red box or any other rental place. Its a streeming service. How cheap do you expect publishers will make it for you to finish their games. Everyone needs to stop expecing red box prices. Have you every rented a movie that was streamed? It cost a lot more than red box. Psnow allows you to play these games instantly that are made for a system you maybe dont even have. Being able to fully play a game for 4 hours for 4 dollars is a fine price and if you couldnt finish it in that time then do it again. You could beat most games for less than 8$. You would also not have to worry about the game being crap that way because you only spent 4$. Plus some of the games are digital only or would be impossible to find at a rental place or store. Are stores like family video even open still?

[admiralvic]

"Who cares that you can rent games at other places. They arent the ssme thing as red box or any other rental place. Its a streeming service."

To do well in any field you need to remain competitive regardless of how innovating / unique your product is. For PS Now to be successful, it needs to offer more than convenience, since innovation is great, but there is no motivation if better deals can be had elsewhere.

"How cheap do you expect publishers will make it for you to finish their games."

I think you miss the point of Now. There is a marketing term, which I can't recall or find via Google, but thats what Now is going for. The point is to have a high introductory cost that makes the other more expensive and longer times seem like a better deal than they probably are. This point starts to become obvious when you compare the price of 4 hour rentals to 7 day rentals. To give you an idea, Darksiders II is $4.99 for 4 hours and $6.99 for 7 days. Needless to say, you're basically paying another $2 for an additional 164 hours of access.

"Have you every rented a movie that was streamed? It cost a lot more than red box."

While it might sound hypocritical, this is really an apple / oranges statement. When it comes to things like movies, you only need the movies run time to get the "maximum" amount of enjoyment out of it, so the length of time you have it isn't that important, where as with games you're probably not going to finish it in 4 hours and the extra time is essentially value lost.

"Psnow allows you to play these games instantly that are made for a system you maybe dont even have. Being able to fully play a game for 4 hours for 4 dollars is a fine price and if you couldnt finish it in that time then do it again."

This is where the logic of the 4-hour time frame falls apart. In many (perhaps most / almost every) cases it costs more to pay for two 4 hour rentals than to fork over the money to have it for a week. This is also something done by design (as mentioned above) and essentially why I don't think the 4-hour pricing is a good deal. Now if Sony wanted to bump it up to 1 day, I could see it being viable next to say red box or another rental service, even if they still technically offer a better deal.

"You could beat most games for less than 8$. You would also not have to worry about the game being crap that way because you only spent 4$."

The problem relates back to the pricing structure in the first place. Since it's in most cases as much or less to rent the game for a week, the two 4-hour trials could be a waste of money and essentially puts a time limit on your enjoyment. Considering most games average 7+ hours to complete, you're going to have to ignore exploring areas / looking for things / going after trophies and focus completely on beating the game or you're going to waste more and more money on these low time rentals.

"Plus some of the games are digital only or would be impossible to find at a rental place or store."

True, but digital games have a lower threshold between 4-hour and 7 day. Something like Lumines goes from $2.99 for 4 or $3.99 for 7 and since this article is about 4-hour pricing being a good deal, you're going to be hard pressed explaining to me how saving a dollar for 164 less hours of time is some kind of deal. Furthermore, digital games tend to lean towards longer spans of time that arguably make them a worse deal. Like Metal Slug 2 only comes in 90 day form and it costs as much as it costs to buy the game for the PS3 off the PSN.

"Are stores like family video even open still?"

Yes. There are at least 4 Family Video stores still in operation by my house.

[XxExacutionerxX]

Headline
EA is charging 4.99 for 3 full games on Xbox One a month!!!

Sony Fanboys
OMG "EA and Microsoft are the worst companies on the planet" Sony was right turning them down, what a dumb idea. Glad i have a Ps4!! I fill sorry for the Xboners. The Ps4 is so much better...

Headline
Sony is charging people 2.99 for 4 hours of gameplay for a game on PSNOW.

Sony Fanboys
"That's a great idea, WOW It's just like the arcade, I can play Metal Gear Solid 4 for 4 whole hours...JUST LIKE THE ARCADE! !!
Sony I Love You, let me know when you need more money. I'll ask my mom.

Welcome to N4G

[shinrock]

OMFG! THANK YOU FOR THAT! BUBS UP 4 YOU !

[liquidhalos]

I'll bub that too. Sony fanboys just make so sense at all. I'm still ashamed to have a ps4 with kids that act like this

[user5669510]

To be fare it's only a few defending this. It's hard to argue that this is not a ripoff. It usually a excuse like the prices are not final or some other bs. Not defending them because I always point out their contradictions but this one most of them is on the same page as us finally.

You are still getting some of the Sony gymnastics specialist in here.

[Pogmathoin]

Bollox.... now you saying PS has the Wii crowd? Lets entertain for an hour and thats it??? This pricing is still terrible. You champion this and slaugther EA Access??? Get a grip. Sony has done great things lately, but not everything they do turns to gold.........

[SonyPS4]

It's cheaper to buy a used PS3 and the games than using PS Now. This service is a joke, even worse than the old OnLive's pricing structure and many thought that was offensively abysmal. It's going to flop if nothing gets done about it.

[liquidhalos]

It's a ridiculous idea and comparison. Arcade isn't console.

[alwayzbusi1]

Okay, here's what people need to understand. PS Now is not like renting a game in the form of redbox or gamefly. You are not running the game on your PS4 (it can't) so it's more like renting a game plus the console to run it on.

Think of it like back in the day when you could rent the actual console plus the game from Blockbuster. Also keep in mind that GameStop, Redbox, Gamefly, or any other store or service can't do anything for you if you don't have a PS3. That's the point of now and the main reason it should do well when it fully launches across PS family and TVs. With that taken into consideration, the pricing is not that bad but could still use some adjustments.

On the flip side of the coin. If you have a PS3 then PS Now may not be the best option for you. You could probably find the game cheaper elsewhere and also own it. But that's for you to determine on your own. But don't forget to factor in gas, and/or time taken to get that game. Also remember you're still renting their PS3 servers to play a rented game on your PS3 hardware that can do the same thing but locally and better.

[maximaz]

Yes, Imax is $20 for like two hours and a plane trip is like a couple of hundred for two hours, hence, therefore, ergo, $5 for 4 hours is amazing. On the other hand, you can buy a game on Steam for $5 so...

[Kanedas_Bike]

Good point indeed.

[DonDon]

Sorry but still not convinced. Why not just make it 4 hours in actual gameplay. Don't dock the hours that we spend when NOT playing.

Playstatiin NOW should charge the hours spent on a gam3 (the here and NOW). It's called PS Now not PS Not. If they want that much for 4 hours I think this could be best way. The other prices are decent as is (even if time is lost when not playing). But either way it's better to own. PS Now as a service is too expensive for Sony to run 24/7 so ownership isn't likely for games. It's quite the quagmire when running a streaming service.

[LAWSON72]

That ideal works only for 4 hr rentals. Letting someone rent a game for 2160 hrs of in game time is literallly just giving them the game. They should at least not start counting time until the game is played like a movie rental, which may already be the case but I have no idea.

To give an example I have 800+ hrs in Halo Reach after playing it moderately for 3 years. Someone could be beat a 10 hr game 216 times lol before their so called rental is over. Heck even with a 7 day rental someone could play a for 168 hrs. Someone could go beat Uncharted probably 15 times before the rental is over

[DonDon]

At Lawson:

Hey genius I originally said the 4 hour thing is best ONLY for 4 hours if we're only clocked while playing. I said in my original post that the other options (1 week, 90 days etc) would not be feasible unless they DID dock the hours when we are not playing.

[XtraTrstrL]

Not convinced either. The 4 hour option is what makes it seem the most like a rip-off to me. Almost any price you ask for that option will seem too much, and the prices there now definitely aren't low for only 4 hours.

[admiralvic]

"The 4 hour option is what makes it seem the most like a rip-off to me. Almost any price you ask for that option will seem too much, and the prices there now definitely aren't low for only 4 hours."

Thats sort of the point. The idea is to make the other times look like a great value by comparison. I assume the main reason why Sony doesn't do a day instead of 4-hours is that many people could actually get their fill / beat it in a 24 hour window and it would actually make the cheapest time a competitive option for the 7 day option, instead of a no brainer like "do I want Catherine for over 4 hours?" as most people probably realize it's going to take over 4-hours to beat and thus it would be far more logical to just pay for the week (which costs the same as two 4-day rentals).

[Drithe]

2, 3, 4 hours of gaming used to be called DEMOS. Sony is stealing from gamers and getting greedy. It almost killed the PS3. Now they are gonna take a chance and be greedy with the ps4 because it is selling well.

I am starting to hate Sony.

[kingdip90]

Demo's used to only be around 15-20 mins of gameplay

[liquidhalos]

Lol no way Bro. Back in my pc gaming days demos could keep a group of us going for hours. Duke 3d, mech warrior 2, descent. We had hours and hours and hours of fun.

[youndamie]

You're staring to hate Sony because their Optional streaming service is too expensive? The publishers would not agree to anything significantly cheaper across the board. Sony can't make their games much cheaper either without alienating the other publishers games. Also you have to consider the fact that they have to maintain this streaming network, the cost of operation is also a factor in setting price points.

[shinrock]

What about sony exclusives? According to that means sony games should be cheaper.

[youndamie]

@shinrock Reread my comment, I have already addressed that.

[aceitman]

@ drithe , I dare u to find a demo that is 2,3,4 hrs long , the last I saw time trials are an hour , and even Nintendo has a limit on how many times u can try a demo. u will spend 5 $ easy in 30 minutes in the arcade , some games only last 3 to 5 hrs

[liquidhalos]

So when your at this arcade playing games. You pay not only for the game but also staff, ablutions, electricity and insurance. Amongst other things. You cannot compare the 2. Sony messed up, this was a bad idea with these price plans. Just think how many Sony fans are on n4g, now look at how many people are complaining about price point. Look at their agrees. People against now pricing are in the majority. There's no getting around it

[MegaRay]

"It almost killed the PS3. Now they are gonna take a chance and be greedy with the ps4 because it is selling well"

PSNow only play PS3 games, so they're still killing PS3 (By your logic anyway lol)

[Drithe]

They almost killed the ps3 with their GREED. By that I mean the 600 ridiculously stupid price tag when it first came out. It took years for the ps3 to catch on, and that was only after it came down in price.

Sony knew what they could away with then and are testing the waters now.

[yewles1]

@Drithe

"They almost killed the ps3 with their GREED. By that I mean the 600 ridiculously stupid price tag when it first came out."

http://www.xbitlabs.com/new...

[Imalwaysright]

It wasn't greed. The PS3 was a trojan horse for them to win the optical disc format war against HD DVD. When it launched the PS3 was the least expensive Blu ray player on the market. Having said that I completely agree with you on PS3 price. It was stupid and it cost them half the market share they had on the previous generation.

OT

PS Now pricing is a sneak peak of the future, and it will be even worse if turning games into services becomes the norm. I'll never support anything that turns games into services.

[DaleCooper]

I think this article forgot to be tagged as "satire", right? There is no way the 4 hour rental can be seen as a good deal.

[Software_Lover]

How in the hell can people justify this lol?

[Gr1mmyshadows]

Because it's Sony and apparently Sony can't do no wrong

[Vegamyster]

I don't know, before video rental stores were phased out you could rent most game for $5-$7 and get 2-5 days with it.

[Darkstares]

You can't really. PS+ gave us playtime included on some titles. I think they were 60 minutes to 120 minutes? This pricing model might not be bad for NEW games but not old ones. It's terrible. The 7 day rental options aren't bad.

I've said it before, they need to make it a subscription based model like Onlive was.

[swishersweets20031]

There is also options to chose 7 day rentals for 6.99 on some of the games, that's actually normal.. i saw sameria showdown was 8.99 for 90 day rental. Some things on the now beta do seem reasonable and something are not. Give it time, i doubt they plan on going at it wanting to charge people 10 dollars for 4 dollars. This is all part of the Q and A process of seeing what people want, what works and what doesnt. No need to have 30 articles a day of people complaining how outrageous the prices are.

[marlinfan10]

just because it'd be easy to rent a game for a few hours when you have a friend over doesn't mean its a good deal. the pricing still needs work. the minimum should be 4 hrs of actual gaming or a day for the price the 4 hr rentals are currently at.

[jujubee88]

I don't get it. The 4 hour clock starts running only when you boot it up and are in the game right (then stops when you boot out)?

[Dudebro90]

Nope.

[Brien]

Just to let those who aren't aware know, there is a plan to drop most of those 4 Hour rentals to $1.99 coming soon.

[UnHoly_One]

Still a ripoff.

[Brien]

Suppose Journey or Flower, both very short games, were to be on PS Now. Those both sold digitally on PS3 for $10-15. Let's say you could rent them, and COMPLETE THE GAME, in under four hours. For $1.99. Or $2.99. Or $4.99. Is that still a ripoff?

[PunisherRevenge]

Yep Unholy I agree. $1.99 for 4 hours is still too much especially when you can get a Red Box rental for $2 a day.

[Software_Lover]

lol

[marlinfan10]

@brien

you know your arguments bad when you have to use 2 games as examples that aren't even on ps now lol. mgs 4 can be bought for $6.30 at gamestop and its $4 for 4 hrs on ps now. crazy taxi can be bought on the playstation store for $10. the list goes on and on, and those are 2 of the better games on there. the prices are terrible. i really don't get how you can try and justify them

[wsoutlaw87]

Lol now thats just complaining to complain

[UnHoly_One]

I don't think there IS an acceptable price for a real time 4 hour rental. That's just such a terrible time frame... What do you do with 4 hours? What if you start it, then get interrupted immediately and have to stop?

I don't know... I'm not a rental guy. I like owning things and knowing I can play whenever I want, for as long as I want, then replay them again in 6 months or 6 years, etc...

So I don't know that there is any pricing scheme that would seem appropriate to me.

But that's just me, and I am obviously not the target market for this service.

Problem is... I'm not sure who IS the target market.

[Brien]

Also, I think anyone who's Disagreeing with my comment, doesn't understand what the word Disagree means. I'm stating a fact -- that the price is dropping. I'm not saying it's good or bad that they're priced that way (at least not in that comment).

Silly N4G. :)

[Dudebro90]

Link?

If you don't provide evidence, how is it a fact?

Tomorrow, the world will end.

See, I can do it to.

[Brien]

@Dudebro90 (great name, by the way, not at all representative of the typical N4G comments at all... /s)

http://blog.us.playstation....

Right on the announcement. "Also, in a few weeks, you will start seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals which will appear at $1.99."

[optimus]

$1.99, probably on the most obscure games that nobody liked to begin with no doubt.

[Dudebro90]

It says SOME games, and yet you say MOST.

See how that works. You try to obscure what they say to make it sound better. Even though it clearly doesn't say MOST.

Go home kid.

[optimus]

@Dudebro... and you need to learn to read because at no point did i quote them did i?? Yet you are convinced that i did when i clearly said: "PROBABLY on the MOST OBSCURE games"... 3-4 games in a generation can be classified as "most obscure", the same as 20-30 games for that matter. now, do YOU "see how that works?"...kid.

[Scatpants]

Just cut these stupid 4 hour rentals and replace it with a day.

[darx]

Go with Steam!

[Fullmetalevolust]

couldn't you play them in small doses and save your game ? then rent it again and go from the save point for the games that allow it?
Could that work?...I hope so

[PunisherRevenge]

@FULLMETAL....No that wouldn't work because the timer on the game you paid for is still running whether you play it or not.

[Fullmetalevolust]

I meant you played the full 4 hours, saved your game, action advenutre, RPG, whatever...then a few days later or a month, you'd rent it again and start from your save point.

[fanboysmackdown]

It's a frickin' ripoff no matter how you slice it. Most of the games you can pick up used for 10 bucks and they're charging 5 bucks for 4 hours?? Get your heads out of your asses people who think this is a good deal......it's a garbage deal but they'll suck in the suckers for sure. Mom's credit cards are gonna take a beating on this idea kiddies.

[Sm00thNinja]

A true fanboy will rationalize anything

[jujubee88]

Ok. I'm so sick of the use of this non-phrase "fanboy".

I don't agree with the pricing scheme. Nor do I agree with the weak stuff SCE and publishers and game creators on PSNOW are coming with ... but please refrain from using that term "fanboy" to label a person, because it totally puts us (the consumers) in an ignorant and (quire frankly) illiterate light.

We want all gaming product(s) and service(s) to reflect our thoughtful and awesome way of being. Thanks.

[ipach]

it's a positive perspective on it, sure. but I think the game library right now reflects the equivalent of the kinds of media you see available on netflix: older, fairly obscure content with the occasional AAA once-upon-a-time blockbuster.

Features I'd like to see:
- rent extension discounts: i.e. if you rented for 4 hours, don't charge for a full 7 day rental should I decide to keep going. let me just pay the difference. same for the next tiers
- rent to buy: let me convert my rental to a PSN download for available titles for a nominal fee (presumably for PS4 compatible titles)
- buy to rent: if you own the title in your PSN library, you can stream for free
- cloud/now cross-save: Now can load PS+ cloud saves and vice versa
- (this one's from left field) in-game triggers for rental time extensions. maybe trophies extend your rental by a reasonable amount. gives the player incentive to keep playing
- platinum-based refund/credit: if you get the platinum on PS Now (and share the update publicly), you get some or all of your money back!

[Nicominoru]

I glanced at this and my jaw dropped ... how can someone say the 4 hour plan is a good deal vs the $5.99 7 day rental plan etc... which everyone seems to claim is "Overpriced" and "Highway Robbery" it's pretty much like renting a game at the old Blockbuster Video or Hollywood Video stores that where scattered around in the 90's.

I swear why people try to compare this to anything other than that is beyond me. A Digital Videogame Rental Service, nothing more nothing less.

[NexusReign]

Bingo. You pretty much hit the nail right on the head. I've been sitting back in awe too, people are just feeding misinformation who don't understand whats really going on either that or they own a XBOX and want to bash PS Now.

When EA announced their service I laughed at how many people where comparing it to PS Now the two aren't even remotely the same and yet you have people claiming EA Access is the answer to PS Now.

BTW EA is full of it with EA Access...I think they where planning on starting to double dip by making in game perks and extra content only if you subbed, they started that whole Online Pass trend last gen and I'm glad Sony turned it down because if they hadn't then EA would have the freedom to do whatever they want with the service in an attempt to exploit console gamers for more money. At least now they have to take into account that the app won't be running on both gaming consoles.

[smoothop]

To be fair what EA is offering is much better, you won't be streaming the games which automatically makes it more appealing.

[Nicominoru]

I honestly don't know what to think of EA Access. I haven't looked too much into it so I can't really form a proper opinion on it yet.

[CertifiedGamer]

On EA access you get next gen games but in my opinion both PS now and EA access both suck. Apparently NexusReign thinks that anyone who says something negative about anything Sony is an Xbox fanboy. The systems I own are PS3 and PS4 only but I am not a ponie, I am a true gamer that would criticize whatever and PS now is a rip-off.

[chaosx]

Didn't EA try and get people to pay for a demo and people lost there sh!t?

Sony does it , renames it as a 4 hour rental and everyone seems okay except for the price…

come on people…..

[Rimeskeem]

Isn't the difference that a demo is only a certain amount of the game and them this is the entire game. So it's not at all the same really.

[chaosx]

you going to finish an entire game in 4 hours?

Like i said its a demo principle renamed as a 4hr rental.

Its a way of generating revenue from service usage when people want to try a game before they purchase the full game.

Its all crafted in such a way by Sony's PR department.

[smoothop]

Even if the pricing was good, there is know way I would use a service like this for gaming due to the loss in quality.

[Majin-vegeta]

Lol some people here need to go back to school and learn what a damn "DEMO" is.A game demo usually runs from 15-20 minutes or bit longer .

Take the jampack demo with Legend of dragoon.That game only lasts between 15-30 minutes.

Here you're getting more time for $5.

[Dasteru]

Nice way to distort reality but no. Video games are not movies and movies are a ripoff to begin with. When you can go out and buy a game outright at retail, for the same amount PSNow charges for 4 hours, how is PSNow a good deal?

The only PSNow option that is worth it, is the 7-day. Even then, it is only worth it for newer games that still cost atleast $25 at retail.

[SpinalRemains138]

I agree.

It isn't ideal, but at the same time it isn't awful. So many games are quick anyway.

[optimus]

this is just backwards compatibility behind a paywall. most of the titles offered are ps3 at the moment. They knew that a lot of people were still holding out because they don't want to let go of their ps3 just yet, as the library is still a lot bigger than the ps4 so now this way you can make the jump and pay if you still want to play your old games (provided you got rid of your ps3)...

I don't think it's fair to say that most of these games can be finished in 4 hrs. (Some games take me a month or more due to work and other things that i find more important.) i think they are hoping you take the "bait" at 4hrs, like the game and pay for another 4hrs or pay for the 7 days and so on. so that game you could have found in the bargain bin for $10 bucks or less now cost you $12 or more...as a rental... slick indeed.

[NavydAd]

Im not knocking it but why would I rent for four hours at $2.99 when I can go across the street to a rental store and pay $3.00 for 5 days or red box it for $1.99 for 24 hours

[slinky123456]

One thing Sony needs to realize is that they aren't making money on most of those games right now because most you can't buy new unless on the PS3 store. So basically making the price cheaper, they will still be making bank on it because they wouldn't be making any in the first place. Who is still buying critter crunch??? Who is still buying most of those titles not used when so much more newer stuff is out, used even? This hurts them more than helps them. It promotes used game buying.

If they make a sub model of $100-150 a year that would be understandable... If they add a lot more games that is. $15 a month isn't bad for consumers and isn't bad for Sony either, as it is bringing them something that wouldn't be there in the first place.

[NotAfanBoyy]

How about .99 cents for 10 yr old PS1 DLC-only games that you can play on any of your modern Sony PSN-enabled devices!?

[hello12]

Why don't they just have the pricing set to 60 dollars for the year. You can stream as much you like and frankly its doubtful most people would have the time to stream games all day . So Sony would hardly lose a lot of money with providing this kind of pricing structure.

4.99 is a rip off for 4 hours it just is when you have to put up with imput lag and buffering issues. Sony needs to fix the pricing.

[kewlkat007]

Ha..haaaa

[gamercologyst]

i see humanity doesn't need a brain nowadays

here in Sicily you can rent a game for 2.00 Euros for 24hours that's a big deal

not 2.99 or 4.99 for just a miserable 4 hours

Society is Dumbed Down nowadays they do what the marketing tells them what to do.

[deadfrag]

I frankly would like to have the option to download the game to the hard drive and them play it for the rented time.I really dont see myself using this service because of the input lag that will be add by the streaming!Too bad Sony dont give the option to install the game on the hdd.

[AutoCad]

lol ..

no matter how someone spins the pricing, this is completely a foot in the ass for consumers.

[D-riders]

Silly guy some of these games cost less to buy then

[forgetmenot]

How does PS Now solved the problems of backwards compatibility?

[PoodlePuncher]

You seriously can't compare going to a movie theatre to playing a game on a television you paid for. For one, you have to factor in the price of the TV and possibly the device you're playing on. And in no way is playing on a TV in your living room comparable to a full on movie theatre, especially high quality theatres with Dolby Atmos and 3D and all the bells and whistles.

It would be better to compare it to renting a movie. Even with a movie rented from a streaming service like VUDU or what not it's NEWER movies, and you at least have 24 hours to watch it, and the price is similar. PS Now is closer to renting a movie from Netflix in that you're renting older crap that no one really wants to pay for anymore, which with Netflix is a straight 8 bucks or so a month for all the movies you want. Even if Sony offers a straight subscription service I imagine it will be overpriced, especially in comparison to Netflix.

Bottom line is they're trying to turn backwards compatibility into something profitable. Even then, the prices are ridiculous. I don't care what faulty logic you attempt to come up with the pricing is outrageous.

[Sitdown]

Not to mention, when I go to a theater, I'm watching a brand new movie as opposed to playing a game that could be a decade old. Plus, there are some theaters that offer discounts on certain days of the week.

[FITgamer]

Unless it goes to sub based service i'm not interested. They should charge like $10-15/month then i might bite.

[Scatpants]

Its not a good deal. Are they really so stingy that they couldn't just make it one day instead of 4 hours? They actually want it to be a bad deal so you'll pay for the next higher level.

[Angerfist]

Seriously. 5$ for a monthly rental is cool. But not 4 Hours. Just not reasonable how you can pay so much for so little. And you are streaming Games. So it will be less good experience because of lag.

[SonyPS4]

Another reason I want little to do with cloud computing. I knew 4 years ago when that buzzword was new that the cloud will just be some glorified foam spray marketing scheme. Enough idiots buy into it thinking it's so amazing which is why cloud computing won't go away any time soon.

Now we got people defending this.

[deadchucky]

sony is lying the ps now already finished but they said it's beta just to see the reaction then they fix their asses and tell their fans it's not finished they think fans are stupid

[PhucSeeker]

They testing it out on Ps4 is not a really good place to start imo . The service is clearly aiming for those who use mostly tablet/phone or smart TV and want to try console games without having to buy the console .
Unless you want to try like 3-4 Ps3 games or unable to play/buy for some weird reasons , i don't really see a reason why you shouldn't get one if you like Ps3 games .

[yewles1]

"Be it $2.99, $3.99, or $4.99, I think this is a pretty good price from Sony."

Not for 4 hours, and it actually gets WORSE!!!

NASCAR '14: $5.99 for 4 hours.
F1 2013: $6.99 for 4 hours.

Justifying and enabling here should be thrown out.

[PsylentKiller]

Exactly. The pricing model is all over the place, it needs to be unified.

And for those of the mindset $15 for 30 days is $0.50 a day and 90 days is $0.25 per day, why don't you think of buying the system in the same way? A PS3 (new) can be bought for $200. That's $0.55 per day for a year. The same price of renting 4 games with the 90 day pricing. You could own the system for that price and every game you buy you can think of it in the same manner. $65 game = $0.18 per day for a year or $.072 for 30 days. But most of these games can be bought for under $30. $30 = $0.33 per day for 90 days.

This mindset isn't so bad, though. I think of my console purchases in the same way. The PS4 was $400. I plan on keeping my console for more than 5 years. Five years, that's $0.22 per day and keeps costing less and less the longer I keep it. The same goes for games. A game that you keep forever or the life of your console (all digital games) at $65 is $0.04 per day for five years.

This mindset is what is needed for PS Now to make sense (no pun intended). However, if you apply that way of thinking to owning the system and the games, you will find that the ownership option is often the better deal, comparatively.

[Saito]

You people are cheap.

[kenshin12789]

why are people even trying to defend this? these prices are absurd and that's it.

[CRASHBASHUK]

well I don't see the point of 4 hour rent for FFXIII & FFXIII-2

[360ICE]

If you don't care much about owning the game, then yes, games like Journey would be great bargains as one-time experiences.

[titans9999]

No, no, no, no...extra pricing is NEVER good! Idiots!

[richie007bond]

lol if this was Microsoft trying this plan it would be dammed to the pits of hell but its ok its Sony and they can do no wrong lol.

[funkybudda]

Even as a Sony fan, the pricing still too high. They really need to drop some more to have any realistic chance for mass adoption for this service.

[EvilWay]

Rent a game for 4 hours for $5 or buy it for $4-7 depending on game. That is a great deal no?

[blackout]

Sony has jumped the gun on this streaming thing. The Subscription model is where it is. No only are the developer and publishers going to want their money they have to pay for server rentals. These prices may change by a dollar or two but that's it. Watch the SUBSCRIPTION take off. Sony will have no choice but to get down. " The Subscription Model Has No Value To Our Fan ". That will change FAST.

[Ryan741]

Most arcade games were state of the art at the time and were impossible on a home console. This is wayyyyy over priced by today's value and is by the majority very dated content. Stop drinking the kool aid, second job Sony are back before your very eyes.

[JediDiah]

Does the PS3 titles play on PS4 now? Or only PS4?

[ThatOneGuyThere]

the 7 day rental is great. the rest, IMO are kind of silly.

[DerrickCole]

I don't see how Sony can bash EA for offering 4 games for 30 days at $5 then turn around and offer 4 hours of a game for $5. I'm all for PlayStation now I think its a great idea but the price needs to change I wouldn't mind a price all the way up to $19.95 a month if we had unlimited access to the whole PS catalogue of games.

[Izzy408]

The whole argument with the IMAX/Theater comparison makes no sense. Sure you'll be paying anywhere from $8-20 for a 2-3hr movie, but you're getting the full experience. If the movie theaters were like PS Now, then we would be charged $2.50 to watch the first 30 minutes; $5 to watch the first hour, and $10 to watch the entire movie.

As a PSN subscriber, you should be able stream 1hr of gameplay for free and then decide if you want to pay for 7-14-90 days of streaming.

[diesoft]

These articles that pop up trying to convince me how awesome something is tend to make me laugh.

This article just made me laugh.

[Chrono]

For short games it's good, but Final Fantasy XIII? It took me over 80 hours to finish it.

[Rscottyg]

This guy has no clue what a good deal is. Shame on him for trying to convince people otherwise. Does this guy not know that for $5 or less, you could own most of the games on PLayStation Now? Wow, what a tool. It is, nor ever will be "actually a good deal with Sony's current pricing.

[Amorist89]

Sony are being innovative while making the industry even more complicated, the industry is evolving into a bigger money vampire. Yes I see the advantages with PS Now and the launch beta pricing feels insulting too me. Hopefully they will take the feedback on board and finalize a more appealing pricing system.

If not I can see Microsoft counteracting on this. Nit in a major way but enough to make gamers contemplate their competitions intentions. Sony is riding strong yet the issue for them is the only place they can go is down. These new services must be executed right or the competition will twist it around.