Despite the critical success the PlayStation 4 has had with outselling its nearest console competitor, Microsoft's Xbox One, it's not all wine and roses for Sony listening to famed analyst Michael Pachter. Speaking in the latest issue of Game Informer, the Wedbush Morgan genie has called the company's PlayStation Now streaming service "a joke."
Pachter's exact problem with PlayStation Now? He's of the belief that publishers won't latch on, as it could hurt their bottom line. "There is no publisher that is going to license content that's less than two-years old because they would be concerned that they can't sell as many copies if they make it available for subscription or rental," Pachter explained. "This has no prayer of working. None."
The service, announced at this year's CES in Las Vegas, recently entered a beta mode with choice applicants now giving it a trial run. Sony's since been hyping it since the announcement. In case you might've missed any details, here's a rundown.
PlayStation Now is a cloud-styled Gakai based service that will be bringing in some old-school PS2 and PS3 games to the PS4, and eventually, the PS Vita, smartphones, tablets, and Sony's Bravia brand TV sets. A post on the PlayStation Blog provided some PR bites:
- Play video games instantly across multiple devices, similar to the way you might stream TV, movies, and music.
- Stream full games to all of your compatible PlayStation devices including PS4, PS3, and PlayStation Vita as well as non-PlayStation devices, beginning with 2014 BRAVIA TV models and expanding to numerous other Internet-connected devices.
- Always play the most updated version of your game. With games hosted in the cloud, you can take your game with you - just log in with your Sony Entertainment Network account on a compatible device and your games and saved progress will be easily available.
Games will be offered on a pay-per-rental basis, or gamers can pay a monthly subscription fee. Beyond: Two Souls, God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, and Puppeteer have all been seen in action.
