PlayStation Now

PlayStation Now is a cloud gaming service developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The platform allows users to pay for access to a selection of original mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 2, mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 3 and mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 4 games via subscription on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, BRAVIA TVs and Windows PCs.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) PlayStation Now is available only in some countries in North America and Europe, as well as in Japan. As of 2020, it is still not yet available in Australia, New Zealand and Latin America.
 * 2) Every game's audio is in very low-quality and sometimes it makes the audio in high pitch.
 * 3) The games are displayed in standard definition no matter how fast your internet is, and you often lag out of games due to them being hosted using cycle-accurate PS3 emulation. For reference, it takes a 5 GHz processor for cycle-accurate N64 emulation to run at full speed. The PS3 console is dramatically more powerful than the Nintendo 64, so it requires significantly more powerful hardware than when emulating a Nintendo 64 console.
 * 4) Video artifacts and audio glitches during gameplay.
 * 5) It's cloud streaming, which means you can have significant input lag depending on your internet connection, this is bad for games that rely on fast reflexes and precise inputs, especially Mega Man 10, where the Mr. Perfect trophy is literally impossible to get because of this.
 * 6) OnLive, a much more stable game streaming service was discontinued so that this could exist.
 * 7) PlayStation Now is discontinued on PS Vita and PS3. Trying to install it on the latter consoles causes a message saying that you need to buy a PS4 and install it on PS4 despite being available to download on PS3 and PS Vita. This forces players to buy a PS4 rather than letting them use the older consoles.
 * 8) Much like Club Penguin Island, you can't start the free trial without entering your credit card details, even if you aren't paying.
 * 9) Even when it got an update that lets you download games, it doesn't let you download PS3 games (though this is probably the PS3's fault since it uses a complicated architecture that's complicated even for the PS4).
 * 10) They do at times add bad games like Rogue Warrior, Homefront: The Revolution, and Duke Nukem Forever just to name a few.
 * 11) Despite allowing players to download PS4 and PS2 titles, you can't download those titles on PC (probably to attract PC users to buy Playstation consoles however).

Good Qualities

 * 1) There is a free seven-day trial if you are new to the subscription.
 * 2) Any trophies you earn on PS NOW games can be carried over to your PSN account.
 * 3) It's nice to stream PlayStation 3 games on Windows computers. However, the cycle-accurate emulation mentioned above makes RPCS3 (a PS3 emulator focused on speed) more reliable on most PCs.
 * 4) While you're forced to stream PS3 titles, you can download PS4 and PS2 titles.
 * 5) They lowered the price for the service to as much as PlayStation Plus costs.
 * 6) You can use a PS4 or PS3 controller (if you have one).
 * 7) There are an incredible assortment of games to play and they add a bunch more every month.
 * 8) It's a great way to experience games people may not have gotten a chance to play.
 * 9) A lot of great games including first party games like the entire mh:awesomegames:God of War series, mh:awesomegames:Sly Cooper series, mh:awesomegames:Detroit: Become Human, mh:awesomegames:Until Dawn, mh:awesomegames:Horizon Zero Dawn, and more.
 * 10) * The service also includes a lot of more obscure indie titles like Puppeteer, mh:awesomegames:Get Even, The Turing Test, mh:awesomegames:Dandara, and more.
 * 11) In June 2022, the service merged with PS Plus and is cheaper (if you used to subscribe to PS Plus and PS now) and will offer PS4 and PS5 games ($15 monthly to $100 yearly) for essential subscribers and PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games (unfortunately not for PS Vita games, even for PS TV optimized controlled games such as Killzone: Mercenary) for premium subscribers ($18 monthly to $120 yearly).
 * 12) *Despite day one new releases not included for first-party games due to significant amount of exclusives at the time (but rather as timed for at least 13 months after the game first released as of Returnal), third-party publishers and developers can have an option to release their games day one (mostly indie developers).
 * 13) *Sony at least said they'll try to make PS3 games work without streaming for the PS4 and PS5.