Kyle Orland: PlayStation Now is still suffering from the branding and baggage leftover from its streaming-focused launch

[CHC]

I also did not know there were downloads and I hang out here, on a gaming forum. I'm also a subscriber to Gamepass and Origin Acess and sometimes Humble, so I do use these kinds of services liberally.

Sony really blew it on the messaging when even nerds like us don't know these things....

 

[Necron]

I'm trying to think of a better name but I can't think of one...
PS Access? PS++?

 

[Expy]

They will push PSNow alongside PS5. It'll be kind of a marketing campaign to promote both the hardware and services.

 

[Deleted member 51691]

I'm trying to think of a better name but I can't think of one...
PS Access? PS++?

Click to shrink...

PS All-Access

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

Exactly what I've always been thinking. It will be a mistake if they just say this is their answer to gamepass then call it a day.

 

[Papacheeks]

It's only 1 million in 5 years

Click to shrink...

Any they had it out super early, and didn't push it as hard. It was more or less a side thing to offer PS3 games since BC was not an option on PS4. Their prices were way too high for a while, but then they added PS4 downloads. Even then they didn't advertise it well.

So they literally got 300k paid subs in a short span when they dropped the price and actually advertised the service.

Imagine if they rebrand/re-launch for PS5 which they will do. Your going to see even more "paid" subs. Sony has the stronger brand in their games than Microsoft at the moment.

The thing Microsoft has that Sony doesn't is local Third party games and older last gen games that can be played locally. Which is a big deal in my opinion. Even so, MS has basically been giving the service away for a long time. And been giving their sales away with the idea that the subs will offset the loss in the long run.

Which is a huge gamble if your brand of games are not bringing much excitement to begin with.

Time will tell honestly for both. But the one thing Sony has is the games that are more sought after. If they make deals for Japanese third party support on the service for locally downloaded PS4/PS5 games.

It's going to really heat things up for a lot of regions.

 

[abellwillring]

I didn't realize it offered downloads now. He's not wrong.

 

[BradleyLove]

I've got it. I know what the answer is, and it's brilliant (if I may be so bold).

Introducing PS Legacy.

A download and streaming service for PS titles over 12 months old, and would include PS1 through current gen. Could you imagine having access to Sony's entire First Party output across all gens? Throw in some real third-party classics too that third-party pubs are no way gonna make any more money from, and boom! A service that is different to what the likes of MS and Google will offer.

And, entirely sustainable as the entire premise is based on legacy content whose costs have already been dealt with.

 

[Jobbs]

I just now learned that you can download games on PSnow. Interesting.

They should totally rename it and give the whole thing some fresh marketing. I've been ignoring it for years thinking it's just game streaming

 

[Auron.90]

I had no idea it offered downloads either until I saw this thread.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, same.

 

[Wilco]

I knew about the downloads for some time, the problem they can't do it with PS3 games, Ps1 is not there and the PS2 offers are mostly terrible considering the possibilities. (only games available on PS4 already, I think).
Hope they get better with PS5 but I doubt it.

 

[Epinephrine]

I didn't know about the downloads and I didn't know the price had gone down to $60 for a year. I dropped PS+ because I don't play online multiplayer games and was frequently disappointed in the selection, but this is very tempting. I'm not bothered by the subscription model of things like Netflix and Spotify; I'm also not much of a collector of anything at all. Most games that run over 10 hours are destined to be one offs for me anyway, so this kind of thing would work out well.

 

[KalBalboa]

I've been trying out Now this week thanks to the free trial.

It's pretty crazy to just jump in and play any game on the service. It looks good on my 100mb down/10 up. I'm having some issues with using my old PS3 cloud saves, though, even when I download them into the Now title. Might be a "digital version" versus "physical version" issue?