Sony's "Playstation Now" Service announcement

[Deezay]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/7/5284294/sony-announces-playstation-now-cloud-gaming

The PlayStation 4 may not be the most important part of Sony's gaming strategy anymore. Sony has just announced PlayStation Now, a service that will bring streaming PlayStation games not only to PS4, but also PS3, PlayStation Vita, and even televisions, tablets, and smartphones.
It appears to be the company's public-facing brand for Gaikai, the cloud gaming technology it purchased in June of 2012, which the company previously said would bring PS3 games to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita later this year. Sony says the technology is already working here at CES, with attendees able to try critically acclaimed action title The Last of Us here in Vegas. Sony will launch a closed beta in the United States at the end of the month, and plans to roll out the service more broadly by the end of this summer.
"The tethers that have constrained consumption for decades... soon dissolve," said Sony CEO Kaz Hirai.

Gaikai works on practically any device — even smartphones — because the games don't actually run locally at all. Cloud gaming services work more like a YouTube video, where powerful servers in remote data centers actually run the games, and stream compressed video frames of that game running to your local devices. They send the input from your touchscreen or game controller to the cloud. It doesn't necessarily require an extremely fast internet connection, but it does require one with very low latency, so that the time between you pressing a button, and the time you see the reaction, is as short as possible.
Originally, Gaikai only streamed PC games to the web and to televisions, racking up deals with Samsung and LG to bring games like The Witcher 2 to their devices, but when Sony nabbed the technology it apparently figured out a way to have those servers emulate legacy PlayStation 3 titles as well. We haven't yet heard how, but it's one way to run PS3 games on PS4. Right now, games from previous PlayStation systems don't work if you stick them in the PS4's disc drive.
We also haven't yet heard how Sony plans to charge for cloud gaming — whether PlayStation Now will be a subscription service, or require you to buy games, or whether it will just serve up demos. Gaikai's original business pitch was merely as a way to get a taste of a game before you buy it normally, and Gaikai CEO David Perry appeared to echo that sentiment when he appeared on the Sony stage last February.

 

[Why-Fi]

RIP OnLive

 

[Hood Critic]

The feast is almost upon us

 

[Fatboi1]

Rip Xbox

 

[Captain Crunch]

Play games on your tv

 

[Deezay]

Here’s a play-by-play of his presentation.

• 8:35: Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association, greets audience and gives CES forecast for sales in 2014. Says they will climb to a record high of $208 billion, a 2.4 percent gain over next year. He says what’s notable is that some of that revenue will come from categories that didn’t event exist a few years ago. About $6 billion in sales will come from those new categories, including 3D printing and wireless health.
• Shapiro is now going over the announcements that have already been made at the show from companies including Audi Audi and Intel INTC +0.67% (Intel CEO Brian Krzanich gave the pre-show keynote last night and announced a big move into wearables.) He says more than 20,000 new gadgets are being introduced at this year’s show.
• This is the largest CES ever, with more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space, he says. 300 conference sessions with 850 speakers. Digital health exhibits up 40 percent.
• 8:55: “Awesome innovation are being swamped by bogus lawsuits by patent trolls,” he says, noting that patent abuse is not being addressed by Congress just yet. “We say no. It’s killing jobs and it must be stopped immediately.” He adds: “Every new law must be measured by whether it helps or hurts innovation.”
• 9:00: Sony’s Hirai now on stage.
• “Ever since I was a boy, I’ve been curious. All sorts of things interested me, whether they were cars, sciences, gadgets…Childhood is a time of wonder and awe…Childhood is defined by play and discovery.” Says one of his earliest memories is sitting in front of the TV watching Romper Room. Remembers kids getting cookies from hostess on the show and he wanted a cookie too — “Why couldn’t they see or hear me?” Says he’s holding on to his childhood curiousity. “As Sony, we cultivate curiosity.”
• He’s now going through history of Sony “wow” innovations, starting with Sony Walkman — a mobile “wow.” In 1982, the compact disc was introduced to improve storage and sound quality (though vinyl record buffs take a different view). In 1994 in Japan, Sony introduced PlayStation — a “game changing home entertainment system.”
• Says these products redefined categories and were motivated by Sony’s asking “what if.”
• PlayStation, now with PlayStation 4, continues to be successful.
• He says the company does face challenges. “Sometimes at Sony, we zigzag our way to great innovations. And sometimes we fail.” He shows a screen of products that were failures — don’t worry if yo don’t remember any of these products, neither does the rest of the world (lots of laughter).
• A screen now devoted to the Betamax. Though it was first to market and “dare I say offering superior technology to that other technology,” VHS won the battle for commercial success. But he says the tagline for betamax was prescient: “Watch whatever whenever.”
• 9:10: Says Sony continues on the mission to deliver the ability to watch whatever, whenever. “It’s not just functional value that people desire but the deeper, more elusive emotional value.” He says in Japanese culture, it’s called kando — the power to stimulate an emotional response.
• “Our 60 years of product design experience…grants us the collective power to deliver “wow” experiences.” He says all Sony employees are involved in delivering the “wow factor,” including Sony 4K displays. “It feels almost like you can catch the dust particles dancing” in a shaft of light.
• He’s now walking about Sony’s efforts around high-resolution audio, digital cameras that are connected to your smartphone, PlayStation 4, which is “setting a new standard in gaming,” smartphones, TVs, and apps. Sony Pictures also mentioned.
• “We’re spending more and more time looking out at the world, at culture and consumers, rather than looking in.” On the horizon is a next-generation consumer that is different. He calls them “Generation Remix” because they know how to use DVRs and other devices. “They will control the technology and not be controlled by it.”
• 9:17: Now on to advanced sensor technology which captures data that cannot be seen by human eye. Says there will be supersensitive cameras that will make the subtleties of great photos more accessible to average users. He’s giving his pitch for the Internet of Things, and how sensors will help capture data on everything from food to skin conditions and other health issues.
• He’s now calling Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Pictures, to stage, and Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad. They’re talking about the ‘brave new world of TV,” with binge watching and the ability to watch serial TV shows on demand. Gilligan says there’s now amazing image capture technology and the new tiny, inexpensive cameras that can be put anywhere — inside the back of a mailbox — and the footage can be intercut with the high-definition footage used for the rest of the show.
• Gilligan says that he’s happy that viewers can watch shows on multiple devices beyond TVs. He says large, widescreen screen TVs change the way that he composes and frames shots, allowing him to imagine shots that are painterly and cinematic just like movie producers do.
• And they’re done.
• 9:32: Hirai is talking about the potential for immersive play. Media Molecule, a game development studio Sony bought in 2010, has created a game called Little Big Planet. A video now of Media Molecule and how they work. Very nice visuals of their games. Here’s their website.
• Andrew House, head of Sony Computer Entertainment, now up to talk about PlayStation 4, which launched in November. He says they sold 2.1 million units in the first two weeks — and they’ve now sold 3.2 million units in total as of Dec. 28.
• House introduces a new streaming game service called PlayStation Now that delivers library of PlayStation games from the cloud. The service will also (at some point) allow non-Sony console owners to also play the games. The service is going to beta at the end of January and will roll out this summer.
• Sony is also announcing a cloud-based TV service that will be tested in the U.S. later this year. Will offer a library of movies and TV shows on demand, personalized channels/menu and live TV.
• House says there are more than 70 million Internet-enabled Sony devices in homes today. PlayStation 3 is the No. 1 device for watching Netflix in the living room.
• Hirai retakes stage. Says that Sony today is creating products and services to deliver content, entertainment and social connections. The future will see Sony creating “entirely new concepts of consumer electronics” where you can enjoy content free from frames and boxes — “bordless environment.” He says the idea is called the Life Space UX concept. With a new small 4-K projector, you can turn any surface to be turned into a display (for instance) or a dining room table turned into a touchscreen. Movie scenes can be turned into wall art, with the art constantly changing. First version of the Ultra Short Throw Projector will be available in summer 2014. “This technology bring content to the center of the household, untethered from devices.”
• His final comments: “I believe it’s time to move beyond the just good enough. No more parody products.” Says Sony will focus on kando, and wow products that deliver emotional value.
• And that’s it.

(Forbes)

 

[NatiboyB]

I am so ready

 

[MushroomX]

R.I.P. Hard Media - Went from the cartridge, to the CD, DVD/HD-DVD, and now Blueray

We be on Cloud 9

 

[head shots101]

Might have to pick up a p4 much sooner.....will be keeping my eye on this

 

[Diondon]

 

[AkaDemiK]

So cloud gaming is cool now? lol @ the contradictions coming from this.

 

[NZA]

i dont trust the latency of cloud gaming for a PS3 quality game, but i must admit that if it can make rare retro games cheap and easy to play, then im all for it. you might even see ebay prices for valuable games drop.

 

[PrnzHakeem]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/7/5284294/sony-announces-playstation-now-cloud-gaming


Gaikai works on practically any device — even smartphones — because the games don't actually run locally at all. Cloud gaming services work more like a YouTube video, where powerful servers in remote data centers actually run the games, and stream compressed video frames of that game running to your local devices. They send the input from your touchscreen or game controller to the cloud. It doesn't necessarily require an extremely fast internet connection, but it does require one with very low latency, so that the time between you pressing a button, and the time you see the reaction, is as short as possible.

How low we talking?

And will we be able to play full-fledged online MP games against others using PS Now as well?

 

[Hood Critic]

So cloud gaming is cool now? lol @ the contradictions coming from this.

The concept of the "cloud" was never the issue, as much as it was MS' implementation.

 

[Champion]

So cloud gaming is cool now? lol @ the contradictions coming from this.

Its not always what you do, but how you go about doing it.

i dont trust the latency of cloud gaming for a PS3 quality game, but i must admit that if it can make rare retro games cheap and easy to play, then im all for it. you might even see ebay prices for valuable games drop.

This is the main reason I have interest in the service. I have a backlog full of niche games that I haven't played and many of them are ones I cannot find or are so rare that the price is just ridiculous.