PlayStation Now is coming to the PlayStation 3. That means it's time to start streaming PlayStation 4 games.
Sony's intrepid stab at streaming videogames across the interwebs works pretty well as a proof of concept; firing games over the infobahn to compatible PlayStation consoles at roughly the speed of changing TV channels. And since PlayStation 4 doesn't natively run PlayStation 3 software, the service has become a method of delivering ersatz backward compatibility---if only of the sort you have to pay a $20 monthly fee for.
But it’s also a reminder of what PlayStation Now is not: a games catalog with its flag planted squarely in the present.
PS Now's library is only made up of last generation's games, but that choice is arbitrary. Now that Sony is about to roll out the streaming service on to PlayStation 3, in a bizarre PS3-on-PS3 feedback loop, the next step should be obvious: You should be able to stream PlayStation 4 games on your PS3, without having to actually upgrade the hardware.
Game streaming's still finding its legs, grappling with quirks like squirrelly visuals when broadband connections hit bumps or potholes. But one of its virtues is that it's an equal opportunity provider, capable of operating agnostically on minimalist hardware.
So here's the umpteen million dollar question: Why not stream PlayStation 4 content to every connected device under the sun?
I mean, okay, start with the obvious stuff, but start somewhere: There's no reason, given that the PlayStation 4's DualShock 4 controller works with the PlayStation 3, that Sony couldn't pipe PlayStation 4 games to the PlayStation 3 via PS Now. It's something Sony could ostensibly do today.
The whole concept makes too much sense to wave off. In a blind, streaming-focused world, who cares about the integer after a set-top's moniker? For that matter, who cares about the set-top if you're transitioning from a physical platform to a conceptual one?
It's not like it'd hurt PlayStation 4 sales. We're talking about a record-breaking game system with over 22 million boxes already sitting in living rooms, basements and college dorms in less than two years' time. If anything, putting PlayStation 4 games outside the console's ecosystem would work more like a gateway drug---a way to convince people to trade up for the unadulterated experience.
That's to say nothing of the monetization possibilities if Sony dropped PlayStation 4 content behind a separate rental/subscription paywall: If game consoles are loss leaders for software and services, why not get fence-riders to pay for the latter while you wait for them to pull the trigger on the former?
Don't forget PlayStation 1 and 2 games, both platforms with vast libraries of sought-after content that's been moldering offstage for years. That's just money Sony's leaving on the table. Those libraries are a shoe-in for PS Now, and gamers are tired of waiting.
Then imagine the cachet of a robust streaming service that could draw down the PlayStation platform's history in an eye-blink, with an eye to its future, too.
So I'll say it again: Sony, take our money by putting PlayStation 1, 2 and 4 games on PS Now. That’s what the fledgling streaming service needs if it's going to follow its own logic---and spearhead gaming's first backward- and forward-compatible service.
