Sony launches PlayStation Now streaming game service

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="articleBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Sony Computer Entertainment used the high-visibility stage of the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show to announce a new internet streaming service that will deliver games beyond the video game console.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafiF2cyBjENYe9THkX-RZUpecZqbArFo9jecIg6jppU08MjvXCzXmJUUjsWI7okBzIn1Aj7AMUdq4jvVipE0StgPvmAqXhhDlkkHpKtyLQ7NpLY9WxWnzWtWKheBLqgvcx1YjPtcJ0WES/s1600/400x400-imadrhehpvvetkgf.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafiF2cyBjENYe9THkX-RZUpecZqbArFo9jecIg6jppU08MjvXCzXmJUUjsWI7okBzIn1Aj7AMUdq4jvVipE0StgPvmAqXhhDlkkHpKtyLQ7NpLY9WxWnzWtWKheBLqgvcx1YjPtcJ0WES/s1600/400x400-imadrhehpvvetkgf.jpeg" width="320" /></a>Sony will offer popular PlayStation 3 games via the internet to the latest video game console, the PlayStation 4, and to the PlayStation Vita handheld device.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The service ultimately will reach beyond traditional game systems to allow game play on internet-connected televisions, smartphones and tablets, said Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Andrew House in remarks made during a keynote presentation Tuesday in Las Vegas.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> PlayStation Now will stream on smartphones or other devices.</div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> House said PlayStation Now will be tested in parts of the United States later this month, with the service launching this summer.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Sony is demonstrating game play of four popular titles —<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Beyond: Two Souls,</em><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gods of War: Ascension,</em> <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Last of Us</em> and <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Puppeteer</em> — on the PS Vita and Sony Bravia TVs on the trade show floor.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> “PS Now will allow users to engage in the world of PlayStation, whether they’re existing fans or have never owned a PlayStation platform,” House said in prepared remarks.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Guarantees</strong></div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities expressed scepticism about PlayStation Now. He said a similar service, OnLine, which allowed people to rent games or play with a subscription fee, never caught on — attracting only 300,000 subscribers.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> “It seems unlikely that a more narrowly focused product like PlayStation Now will succeed where OnLive failed — which was the latter’s inability to secure much content,” said Pachter. “The publishers will be reticent to license to Sony without a big guarantee, and I don’t know if Sony is willing to commit to any guarantees.”</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> News of the service came as the Japanese electronics giant reported it sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 game consoles over the holiday season.</div> </div> <div class="articleBody" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Some 9.7 million PlayStation 4 games also were sold over that same period, with top titles including <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Call of Duty: Ghosts</em> from Activision Blizzard and <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag</em> from Ubisoft and <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Battlefield 4</em> from Electronic Arts.</div> </div> </div> </div>

Sony launches PlayStation Now streaming game service

Sony Computer Entertainment used the high-visibility stage of the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show to announce a new internet streaming ser...

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