It took a while, but finally PlayStation Now managed to mesh and be appreciated by users thanks to advantageous price cuts and a valid catalog. Yet there are still many mysteries hovering over Sony’s streaming and on demand gaming service, too many questions on how to make the most of the subscription. In this guide we explain how to use PlayStation Now 100%, from its forms of use to its sharing.
What is PlayStation Now? Do I need PlayStation Plus?
We need a clarification paragraph. PlayStation Now is a second PlayStation service completely disconnected from all the others , be it PlayStation Plus or EA Access. Easy to confuse them, but it’s not even the Sky: Now TV app. PlayStation Now, at a cost of 9.99 euros per month or 59.99 euros per year, offers users a catalog of over eight hundred games to download or stream comfortably without any download required, ideal for trying out the games on the go. Any game played from the catalog, be it PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 3, absolutely does not require a PlayStation Plus subscription to play online. E’ tutto già incluso, nessun pass richiesto neppure per i giochi PlayStation 3. Abbonandovi solo al Now, tuttavia, non potrete riscattare le Instant Game Collection mensili né giocare online con i giochi fuori dal catalogo. Occhio a non confondere le funzioni degli abbonamenti. Come spiegheremo più avanti in questa guida, tuttavia, se disponete del PlayStation Plus sfrutterete una funzione particolarmente utile e nascosta di PlayStation Now.
We also report the impossibility of using the offline service. While downloading the games, the service needs to check at least once a day if you have the license (which, in case of problems, you can restore by following this other guide ). According to official Sony information, the minimum requirements to play a streaming game are equivalent to a connection of at least 7 Mbps, but from personal experience we recommend that you approach the service only if you have a connection of 50 Mbps or higher. We have tested most of the games for all consoles with a connection of at least 80 Mbps and the problems encountered are minimal. In a small part of the PlayStation 4 titles there will be a slight input lag (but some titles, even multiplayer like Rocket League , are incredibly optimized to overcome this problem). No problem, however, afflicts the PlayStation 2 Classics; the worst comes with the PlayStation 3 titles, however. Most of the games of the last generation undergo huge shots and input lag, not the best way to recover them, especially if fighting or frantic action.
Can I download all the games for free? How does it work on PC, Mac, Android and iOS?
Download them all not, but a large part. By subscribing to the service, a bit like how it works with the Xbox Game Pass, you will be able to download to your PlayStation 4 (and only there, attention) only titles for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 2 Classics. All PlayStation 3 games, due to the lack of backward compatibility of the console with the previous generation, are playable only in streaming. The same concept applies to the PC, which on the contrary does not support the download even of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 2 titles for obvious reasons. On PC, however, the entire catalog remains accessible in streaming and playable with DualShock 4 and DualShock 3 (where compatible), and also with official controllers produced by third parties – such as the NACON, as far as we have tried. By downloading games on console you will have their native resolution; playing them in streaming, however, it will reach a maximum of 720p (still nothing to do with regards to 1080p).
To use PlayStation Now on Windows computers, a subscription to the service and the download of the client are obviously required, downloadable from the official PlayStation website or requestable by e-mail by pressing the Square button when starting a game on the console. Unfortunately, the service is no longer available on PlayStation Vita and is not compatible with Mac, Android and iOS . For these, there is remote play , a completely free function.
Can i share my account?
Yes it is possible, but there is a though . To start sharing PlayStation Now with another user, you need to log in to the “second” PlayStation 4, but this time there is no need to tinker with the console settings . Your PlayStation 4 can remain the primary account. However, sharing PlayStation Now has considerable limitations: first of all, it is not possible to download any title, not even PlayStation 4; you can only play in streaming. Furthermore, a very important detail and absolutely not to be overlooked, it is not recommended to use the service at the same time. If multiple users are connected to the same subscription at the same time, it is easy to run into some unpleasant access conflict and, in severe cases, Sony may suspend your account. The same concept applies to “wily men” who use the seven-day free trial with different accounts to play with the same ID as the PlayStation Network. You are warned.
Can I use my save games to play streaming?
Absolutely yes, but only if you have a PlayStation Plus subscription. The saves on PlayStation 4 are automatically uploaded to the cloud storage of PlayStation Plus and consequently also transfer to the saves of Now, even allowing you to interval the game sessions from PlayStation 4 to PC while maintaining your data. On PlayStation 3, again, things are a bit different: taking advantage of game saves already owned is possible, but you need to start your PlayStation 3 and manually upload your saves to the cloud storage folder. At this point, launch the title of your interest on PlayStation Now, press the PS button on the controller and go to the XMB section. At this point a PlayStation 3 dashboard-style screen will open. From here go to the first folder,
In essence, PlayStation Now is a comfortable and valid subscription, made convenient by the price cut and the addition of at least a triple A per month – even if with variable expiry. If you are skeptical, we advise you to try it for at least a month. The free week alone, in all honesty, doesn’t do it justice. Or in case you want to give him complete confidence, we report a strong discount for the annual cut . A great way to recover a handful of trophies too; why not start with our one-week Platini special?
