Judging by its beta test which was started this week, it is clear that Sony's PlayStation Now game streaming service is astonishingly lag-free even while playing fast paced action games such as Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive 5 and Darksiders II.
Sony recommends a stable internet connection speed of 5 to 12 Mbps to use PlayStation Now. At the start of each play session, the system performs a speed test and – in our experience – if that test passed, gameplay is pretty smooth.
On the other hand however, the system's unreasonable pricing scheme makes it less attractive than it deserves.
PlayStation Now is touted by Sony as "Netflix for games," nonetheless it doesn't offer a flat monthly fee option and forces users to rent their games one-by-one. Sony has given publishers absolute freedom in deciding their games' rent prices, and they have decided to abuse it. For example, Final Fantasy XIII-2 can be rented for 90 days for $29.99 while its complete physical copy sold in stores for $20. Similarly, Darksiders can be rented for $14.99 for 90 days, $7.99 for 30 days, $5.99 for 5 days or $4.99 for four hours. Adding insult to injury, the PC version of the game has been given away practically for free as part of the Humble Indie Bundle.
Unfortunately for gamers, PlayStation 4 is not backward compatible so the only way for its owners to play PS3 games is through PlayStation Now.
