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[Update] CES 2014: PlayStation Now is Sony's game streaming service for consoles, phones, tablets, and TVs

Play everywhere (Updated: DualShock 3 needed for mobiles and tablets)

[Update] CES 2014: PlayStation Now is Sony's game streaming service for consoles, phones, tablets, and TVs
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Updated on January 9th, at 14:46: John Koller, PlayStation's marketing VP, told The Verge that a PlayStation DualShock 3 controller will be required to play games through PlayStation Now on mobiles and tablets.

The PS Vita will use its in-built buttons, pad, and sticks, obviously.

Sony's new Bravia TV will also require a DualShock 3 controller for PlayStation Now to work. The PS4 will use the DualShock 4, as you'd expect.

Original story follows...


Sony has unveiled the latest step in its plan for gaming domination.

It's called PlayStation Now, and it basically means you can play streamed PSone, PS2, and PS3 games on everything from a PS Vita to a washing machine.

Okay, maybe not a washing machine. The plan is, though, to roll the service out to most Sony devices that have a screen in the not-too-distant future.

We've been waiting to find out what Sony was going to do with Gaikai, the game streaming service it acquired for a big wodge of cash in 2012. Well, PS Now is the answer.

PS Now will be available for PS4 and PS3 first, then will be available for PS Vita and Sony Bravia TVs. Eventually, it will be available for tablets and smartphones.

You'll be able to pay a subscription fee to gain access to a massive library of three generations' worth of Sony titles, or rent individual games on a pay-to-play basis.

Furthermore, the games will have trophies; your progress will be saved to the cloud; and multiplayer and messaging will be supported.

A closed beta of PS Now will go live in the US later in the month, with the full service available in the summer.

The European rollout will take a little longer. According to Sony, Europe is "a considerably more complex region, with a huge number of different providers and varying connection speeds from country to country".

We'll keep you posted on anything more concrete about release dates.

The Verge
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.