PS Now - Open Beta

[Kong Wen]

The PS Now Open Beta begins today for PS4 owners in Canada and The United States of America.

The beta allows streaming of about 100 PS3 games to your PS4 system using a rental model with a few price points: $1.99 for a 4-hour demo, $4.99 for a 7-day rental, $7.99 for a 30-day rental, and $14.99 for a 90-day rental.

[EDIT: Apparently the pricing breakdown varies from game to game and is set by the publisher. Some will be significantly higher than this.]

The service will eventually be expanded to PS3, Vita, and PS TV and could include PS1, PS2, PSP, and other games in the future on those platforms.

Sony has said that everything is being tested and considered, including these price points and the rental model itself. They have said they're considering a subscription-based service in addition to the rental-based service, so you could conceivably pay a set fee per month for unlimited rentals.

I think $1.99 for a 4-hour demo is a joke, but I could see $7.99 for a month being a fairly decent deal depending on the game. I can usually complete a good game within a month, and if it's a retail game (even an old one) that could cost $20 or more, it's fair savings. Paying $14.99 for 90 days is getting dangerously close to what you'd normally pay to own some of these games forever, so I'll have to see about that on a game-by-game basis.

[Kong Wen]

According to Reddit, the list of titles currently available for the beta are below. Games rented through PS Now have complete regular game functionality including friend lists, leaderboards, trophies, etc.

All Zombies Must Die!
Alone in the Dark: Inferno
Battle Fantasia
Ben 10 Omniverse
Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend
Bloodrayne: Betrayal
Critter Crunch
Dead Island: Riptide
Deadliest Warrior: The Game
Dirt Showdown
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce
Fuel
Galaga Legions DX
Greg Hastings Paintball 2
Gripshift v2.0
Hamilton's Great Adventure
Hunter's Trophy 2 - America
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation
Papo & Yo
PixelJunk Racers: 2nd Lap
Port Royale 3: Gold Edition
Rainbow Moon
Retro/Grade
Ricochet HD
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Episode 1: Ice Station Santa
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Episode 2: Moai Better Blues
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Episode 3: Night of the Raving Dead
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Episode 4: Chariots of the Dogs
Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space - Episode 5: What's New, Beezlebub?
NEOGEO STATION Samurai Shodown
Shatter
Skullgirls Encore
Tales From Space: About a Blob
Urban Trial FreeStyle
Way of the Samurai 3
Zeno Clash 2
Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov's Revenge
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
CONTRAST
Darksiders II
Daytona USA
Dead Island
Dynasty Warriors 7
F1 2013
Killzone 3
Mega Man 10
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
MX vs ATV: Alive
Payday: The Heist
Persona 4 Arena
PixelJunk Monsters
PixelJunk Shooter 2
Rochard
Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
Sega Bass Fishing
Sniper Elite V2
Sniper: Ghost Warrior
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2
The King of Fighters XIII
The Walking Dead: The Game + 400 Days
Turbo: Super Stunt Squad
Twisted Metal
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
Warhammer 40000: Space Marine

EDIT:

There are more than those!

FFXIII
FXIII-2
Guacamelee
Adventure Time
Knytt
Mega Man 9
El Shaddai

And more I can't be bothered to list right now. It's not a perfect selection yet, but it's better than what I expected for a beta. I might take El Shaddai for a spin since I don't own it and I kind of wanted to play it anyway. $10 might be enough time for me to complete it...

[Turai]

For the games that are sold in physical form...this service is completely pointless.

You could just wait like 2-3 months and actually BUY the games cheaper.

[Kong Wen]

For the games that are sold in physical form...this service is completely pointless.

You could just wait like 2-3 months and actually BUY the games cheaper.

The downside of your plan is that a physical PS3 disc cannot easily be played on a PS4 or Vita system or on a Bravia TV with a controller. A lot of the games available on the service are PS3 games, and I imagine a lot of the people for whom this service holds appeal are new to PS, only have a PS4, etc.

When it comes to games that already exist on the platform, then I mostly agree, except in cases where the game could reasonably be completed within a shorter amount of time. If I can rent a game for $9.99 and complete it 100%, or pay $19.99 to do the exact same thing but with the bonus of a plastic disc to put in my desk, I'd probably choose the former (depending on the game—collectibility & replayability—of course).

[Kong Wen]

The PS Now Open Beta is now available on PS3.

[The Shoemaker]

I'd say in most cases the $8 for a month is cheaper than buying a game, even if it's used. Most games can be completed in under 20 hours which is easily feasable in a month. Depends if you want the game though, does the service offer any PS4 games?

[Bades]

I'd say in most cases the $8 for a month is cheaper than buying a game, even if it's used. Most games can be completed in under 20 hours which is easily feasable in a month. Depends if you want the game though, does the service offer any PS4 games?

It's only PS3 games now as far as I know but they're looking into PS1/2 games.

It's a shame that if I own the game digitally on PS3 they can't give me access to it on PS Now.

[Kong Wen]

Update: PlayStation Now is coming out of Beta next week with a completely revised pricing scheme. Instead of paying a rental fee per game, it'll cost $19.99 per month for all the games available through the service. If you can crank through more than a handful of games in the span of a month, then it could be a good deal.

Edit: The PlayStation Blog has been updated with the details as well.

[VictorViper]

I just mentioned this in the chat, not realizing you obviously already read about it. This is something I could get behind (though am still unlikely to use).

[The Shoemaker]

So is it $20 a month to play as many games as you want within that month?