I was rather harsh on PlayStation Now in 2014. I said that people who used it were throwing their money away, and stand by that. It was a black hole of despair last year. A money pit that was better left avoided, due to a lackluster roundup of games and delusional pricing. Only a fool would have used PlayStation Now as it was. Was is the operative word, here, because the program is much more viable in 2015.
Yes, Sony has gone and turned PlayStation Now around. The program itself hasn’t seen huge improvements. There are still going to be issues if your internet connection isn’t optimal, but strides have been made. Things are looking up and, as of January 13, 2015, I would absolutely encourage people to try the streaming rental service.
Mainly because the pricing now makes sense. Sony realized people aren’t going to pay ridiculous, premium prices to rent a game for a few days. The subscription model is in place and, while it could be better, it’s not unreasonable. A month is $19.99, and three months is $44.99. That might seem a little expensive, when you consider three months of PlayStation Plus is $17.99 and a year $49.99, but that’s comparing apples and oranges.
It’s better to compare PlayStation Now’s subscription price to GameFly. GameFly is $15.95 per month for one game at a time, and $22.95 per month for two at a time. With it, you can’t always be sure which game in your queue will arrive, based on availability, you get a limited number of games, and of course there’s the waiting for them to arrive. Compared to that, the instant PlayStation Now seems like some sort of dream, with immediate games available and unlimited access to whatever’s on the service.
Especially since it has been confirmed that over 100 PS3 games will be available on PlayStation Now when it launches. They’re good games, too. Batman: Arkham City, BioShock Infinite, Ico, inFamous, The Last of Us, Saints Row IV, Sky Cooper: Thieves in Time, Shadow of the Colossus , and more will all be waiting, and more are scheduled to be added. It’s a wealth of content, especially if someone somehow managed to miss out on the PS3 generation of games.
Certainly, it’s a much stronger show of force than presented during both the PlayStation Now beta and launch. With the subscription, it becomes something people could enjoy without wondering if they’re getting their money’s worth. If you’re the kind of person who plays through a game once, then never goes back to it, it absolutely will prove worth the investment. Even if you’re not, the price model in place will make subscribing for a month to sample much more viable.
Of course, we can probably expect PlayStation Now to go through further transitions. The days of streaming game rentals have only begun. As competitors come in, prices will change. Libraries will expand. Conditions for use will improve. However, 2015 is the first year in which Sony is taking a positive step toward implementing a system future gamers might regularly use.