PlayStation Now compatible TVs revealed, launch games leaked

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It’s been a few months since Sony’s game streaming service, PlayStation Now, was announced at CES 2014 and suddenly sparked very strong opinions — on all sides of the spectrum — regarding game streaming. The service, which streams PS3 and PS2 back catalog games from the cloud to compatible devices, has been in closed beta since the end of January, and is projected to release sometime this summer. It seems that release is still on track, as Sony has revealed the TVs that will be compatible with PlayStation Now, and a list of launch games has been leaked.

As the games industry has been evolving over the years, a major focal point has been delivery. Thanks to Valve’s Steam — as well as smaller, easily downloadable games on the PSN and Xbox Live — many gamers have grown to accept and prefer a digital copy of a game rather than a physical box they can display on a shelf. However, during that same industry evolution, games grew exponentially in size. PC games like Starcraft II and BioShock Infinite require 20GB of install space each, while dual-layer Blu-ray discs can hold up to 50GB of data. The PS4′s Killzone Shadow Fall clocks in at an enormous 38.5GB of data. When game data is that hefty, downloading and installing it — and having it clog up precious storage space — becomes a nuisance. Game streaming is the solution, and Sony’s PlayStation Now is leading the charge. It’s even getting rid of the need for a game console, only requiring a compatible display. Now, Sony has revealed the first TVs compatible with its upcoming game streaming service.

Sony announced nine new TVs (shoved into three different product lines) that are PS Now-compatible, and — surprise — they’re all 4K televisions. The prices on the televisions range from $2,100 to a whopping $25,000, with display size dictating that price; the smallest of the sets is 49 inches, while the largest measures in at a whopping 85 inches. Each 4K set is compatible with PlayStation Now, but you’ll need a DualShock 3 controller in order to take advantage of the service. Considering you don’t need to buy a PS3, that’s not a bad deal if you’re already in the market for a brand new 4K TV. (Read: No, TV makers, 4K and UHD are not the same thing.)

Along with the 4K TV reveal, a list of supposed PS Now launch games has been floating around the web. We’ve seen The Last of Us running on PS Now (seen above), but according to DualShockers, a participant in the PS Now closed beta compiled a list of games currently on the service and sent it in. The list hits every part of the console gaming spectrum, from Shadow of the Colossus and Payday: The Heist, to Guacamelee! and Disgaea 4, covering the PS3, PS2, and maybe the PSP as well. The anonymous beta user also reports that all games but one — WipeOut HD – currently take less than 50 seconds to load, and many of the games load well under the 40 second mark.

The size of video games grows faster than the speed of the internet (until, at least, Google Fiber becomes widely available), so there’s no telling if PlayStation Now will be able to not only consistently load games at an acceptable pace, but also keep them free of lag. Reports from show floors such as CES have stated that lag was unnoticeable, but a very limited scenario is easy to control. We’ll find out if PlayStation Now can deliver lag-free game streaming this summer, but even if it takes Sony a year after its launch to nail the latency, game streaming continues to look like the future delivery method of video games.

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