Video Game Chatter

[Deuce]

Did they mention anything about being able to play older generation games like PS2, PS3, etc?

 

[Carp]

Is Ace the only one privvy to this information? He is apparently the gamer deep throat.

 

[Texas Ace]

Is Ace the only one privvy to this information? He is apparently the gamer deep throat.

It's all out there on all the gaming sites (ign.com, gamespot.com, kotaku.com)

 

[Texas Ace]

Did they mention anything about being able to play older generation games like PS2, PS3, etc?

No backwards compatibility.

In January 2014, their streaming service provided by Gaikai will allow you to stream old games as and play them. They are going to give you access to games all the way back to PS1.

 

[Texas Ace]

That Mad Max game coming to PS4 is one to keep an eye on.

 

[Deuce]

Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon FTW.

 

[Texas Ace]

Here is a 2 min summary of what Sony announced yesterday:

 

[boozeman]

No backwards compatibility.

In January 2014, their streaming service provided by Gaikai will allow you to stream old games as and play them. They are going to give you access to games all the way back to PS1.

So your PS3 games are coasters in January.

 

[Texas Ace]

So your PS3 games are coasters in January.

Yup.

I usually trade my old consoles in in order to get some money for the new one, but the PS3 has a number of games I want to be able to play and it will also serve as a nice blu-ray player for my bedroom, therefore I'm going to keep it.

 

[Texas Ace]

BTW, they announced that the new Walking Dead episodes will be out in July.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Yup.

I usually trade my old consoles in in order to get some money for the new one, but the PS3 has a number of games I want to be able to play and it will also serve as a nice blu-ray player for my bedroom, therefore I'm going to keep it.

I should trade in my old systems but I never do. I still have a PS2 and PS1 sitting around somewhere collecting dust. I probably won't trade in my PS3 either since I doubt it is worth much. It is one of the older PS3's and the HDMI out on it doesn't even work anymore. I had to resort to using a component cable.

 

[Deuce]

I've got my PS2 in my bedroom mostly to serve as a DVD player. So that's where my PS3 will go and I'll put my PS2 and all those games on ebay hoping to get anything out of it.

 

[Texas Ace]

 

[Smitty]

No backwards compatibility.

In January 2014, their streaming service provided by Gaikai will allow you to stream old games as and play them. They are going to give you access to games all the way back to PS1.

Can you explain this?

So what, do I have to subscribe to Gaikai and pay a fee? Or is this something I can access for free if I own the old games? How do you mean I can "stream old games"? Does that mean stream them from a PS3 I own to the PS4? Or stream them from a sony server to my PS4? Seems like that would require a lot of bandwidth to stream a game like Uncharted 3 and have it maintain a good response time.

When you play a multiplayer game, your local hardware is doing most of the legwork in terms of drawing everything, because all the data on what to draw is stored locally. The information that is being shared, to my knowledge, is rather minimal in comparison, like positions of other players. If you are "streaming" an entire game where no data is stored locally, that would be a shitload of information having to pass over the network.

 

[Texas Ace]

Can you explain this?

So what, do I have to subscribe to Gaikai and pay a fee? Or is this something I can access for free if I own the old games? How do you mean I can "stream old games"? Does that mean stream them from a PS3 I own to the PS4? Or stream them from a sony server to my PS4? Seems like that would require a lot of bandwidth to stream a game like Uncharted 3 and have it maintain a good response time.

When you play a multiplayer game, your local hardware is doing most of the legwork in terms of drawing everything, because all the data on what to draw is stored locally. The information that is being shared, to my knowledge, is rather minimal in comparison, like positions of other players. If you are "streaming" an entire game where no data is stored locally, that would be a shitload of information having to pass over the network.

Well, I wish I could explain it but Sony hasn't made everything clear.

Basically, Gaikai will be the guys behind providing the streaming and downloading. You can stream old games or download them and keep them on the hard drive. Sony says that if you download a game, you'll be able to play it as it's downloading which is cool, but not new to PC gamers.

They will make almost all of their Playstation library, dating all the way back to PS1, available via this service.

Those are all the details available at the moment.

 

[Smitty]

Yup.

I usually trade my old consoles in in order to get some money for the new one, but the PS3 has a number of games I want to be able to play and it will also serve as a nice blu-ray player for my bedroom, therefore I'm going to keep it.

Me too. I will ditch a lot of those games (the old sports games, mostly) but I still own the Uncharted series and Red Dead Redemption for PS3, and I will most likely play all those games again at some point.

For Xbox, I have eventually been migrating the games which were once Xbox only, over to PC, where they are all stored on the hard drive. Ie, when GTA IV came out, it was not available for PC. Now years later, I can buy it for PC for 20 bucks and keep it forever. I did the same with the Mass Effects. So I can ditch my Xbox and never really worry about whether I will want to play any of their games again, because I have them for PC now.

For Uncharted or RDR, which will never be on PC, I'll simply have to keep the PS3.

 

[Smitty]

Well, I wish I could explain it but Sony hasn't made everything clear.

Basically, Gaikai will be the guys behind providing the streaming and downloading. You can stream old games or download them and keep them on the hard drive. Sony says that if you download a game, you'll be able to play it as it's downloading which is cool, but not new to PC gamers.

They will make almost all of their Playstation library, dating all the way back to PS1, available via this service.

Those are all the details available at the moment.

Interesting, but sounds maybe more like Steam is for PC.

For those of you unfamiliar, Steam is a digital distribution service and gaming platform/interface for PC. There is a store, a friend's list, a game library, and the software itself actually launches the games. Basically iTunes, but for gaming.

If I reformat my computer (steam has always done this, iTunes is now doing it), the server will remember what I have purchased on my account and downloaded. So all I have to do is re-install the Steam software, and I will be able to re-download any game that I purchased and linked to my account. Similarly, if you buy something off iTunes now, you can re-download it later simply by accessing "My Purchases" or something.

There is no more need for CDs because steam will always remember that I have Left4Dead activated in my account. I can download it, install it, and play it on any computer I am logged into (though I can only be logged in one place at a time, thus that is their DRM).

Sounds like this service might be similar. Once I "own" Uncharted 3, I can probably download it to any PSN device that will run it. It is linked to my account so I can play it on any device where it is downloaded and where I'm logged in.

It would be nice if they did not force you to re-buy it. I should be able to enter a UPC code from the hard copy I have and that should be good enough, but I bet they do make you pay for the digital version. Going forward, though, I bet you can buy games digitally and then they will always be unlocked in that service going forward.... across the PS5, PS6, etc.

 

[Texas Ace]

I
Sounds like this service might be similar. Once I "own" Uncharted 3, I can probably download it to any PSN device that will run it. It is linked to my account so I can play it on any device where it is downloaded and where I'm logged in.

It would be nice if they did not force you to re-buy it. I should be able to enter a UPC code from the hard copy I have and that should be good enough, but I bet they do make you pay for the digital version. Going forward, though, I bet you can buy games digitally and then they will always be unlocked in that service going forward.... across the PS5, PS6, etc.

This is correct.

You can play these games on a Vita (Sony's handheld) or a tablet like an Ipad. Pretty sweet, huh?

 

[Texas Ace]

 

[Bob Roberts]

I have not seen one game that makes me think I need to spend 10 bucks on any of these.