It’s been a while since we heard, well, anything about Gaikai streaming. Sony rolled out Earthworm Jim creator Dave Perry during its PlayStation 4 unveiling press conference in February to touch upon the mythical service, but aside from confirming a 2014 launch at E3, it’s been pretty mute on the subject since. Fortunately, the fine folks at EDGE had the foresight to quiz SCEE president Jim Ryan on the subject at GamesCom.
“The plan is to begin with North America next year, and the plan is to provide a streaming service that will allow for PlayStation 3 content initially to be streamed to firstly the PS4 and then [both] the PlayStation Vita and the PS3,” the executive said in a just-published interview. “And so that will happen in 2014 in North America initially.”
Gaikai wasn’t mentioned during Sony’s press conference last week, but Ryan explained that that’s simply because there are no firm dates for Europe just yet. “I touched upon the issues of broadband in Europe during the presentation,” he said. “Europe is of course on the roadmap for the service to be deployed at some point in the future, but for reasons outside of our control, we don’t yet have a timeline for it.”
He continued: “At a show which is now pretty global in its reach but primarily aimed at a European audience, we didn’t really want to start talking about the virtues of this great cloud-based service without knowing exactly when it’ll come to Europe. We’ve got a roadmap, but there are just a few bumps along the road that need to be ironed out.”
Pushed for a more specific timeframe, Ryan committed to “early-ish” next year for North America, and a fairly telling “nothing to say” for Europe. We’re going to assume that it’s still a long way off in the Old World in that case, but at least our friends in the Land of Great Fast Food can look forward to some serious bandwidth bills this time next year. Seriously, though, it’s neat to learn that this is being implemented across the entire PlayStation line. We can’t wait to find out more.
[source edge-online.com, via thesixthaxis.com]
Comments 16
thats great news
This is cool news. Of course the real question is how timely are they going to add content to the service. Right? I hope for once they try to make an overwhelming, all-encompassing catalog of titles. As opposed to their support of PS1 or PSP for Vita, for example.
Of course I'm also curious about price and all that. Is it included in PS+? Are we buying games individually? In a perfect world they will finally allow us to stream all of our previously downloaded ps3 content to the Vita. And basically making the ps4 backwards compatible with all of our ps3 downloads would be very nice.
@Squiggle55 I very much doubt it will be included with PlayStation Plus. The best you can probably hope for is a discount. I think this is going to eventually become the 'Games' portion of their Unlimited line. So, they have Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited now, and I suspect this will be rebranded Games Unlimited or PlayStation Unlimited.
I'm not sure what their long-term vision is - I guess whatever will be launched next year will very much be a test - but I get the feeling that at some point in the future - distant future, I suspect - PlayStation will be this. So, you'll have various Sony devices, and you'll be able to play your games on any of them. And you'll have all your music from Music Unlimited, movies and television from Video Unlimited... I think that's what they're doing here.
It's probably smart to get started early if that's where they see things heading. It seems like such a pipedream right now, though. But then, so did the whoe idea of the Internet twenty years ago to many people.
I'm telling you guys, if Sony lets you use Gaikai to stream your digital PS4 titles to your Vita regardless of location - work, plane, etc - then it's over.
That's an interesting thought. I would personally hate to have ALL my gaming be based on an Internet connection. Just like I still prefer the undoubted stability and reliability of a DVD over streaming. I would be very frustrated on a day of spotty service if I couldn't just play what I wanted.
So do you envision this service next year being a one fee for the whole catalog like music unlimited?
@Lelouch Yup, all over for Vita software sales.
This really is very cool news though and I agree that it's the right thing to start now if this is where they see their long term strategy.
@eLarkos That's highly unlikely seeing as the Vita offers unique experiences that you can't get on a home console. You have to remember that while some might stop buying software, others will continue to build their libraries.
Its funny how broadband is cited as the reason its not launching at the same time even though connections in Europe are at least on par with the states. I call baloney. If i had to guess its more than likely due to the states being Xbox's home turf and Gaikai streaming would be a great feather in Sony's cap for marketing the Ps4. Going live in just one area would ensure a smooth launch for the service too. I dont think Sony are too worried about Europe
Start buying digital, kids. No chance they'll give access to discs we already own, so now it's a waste of money. That's what I got out of it at least. Not an easy transition, of course, but we'll be so happy later on! Living in NA is a hyper too! I'm never gonna forget this fall/winter : )
"will allow for PlayStation 3 content initially to be streamed to firstly the PS4 and then [both] the PlayStation Vita and the PS3,"
So all this excitement is for being able to stream PS3 games to the PS3?
woo hoo?
Guess we who are in Asia having us psn cannot use this just like music unlimited then...
What can I say, Sony of Asia is just so dumb to be chosen as psn region
@MadchesterManc I think it's because the states are largely homogeneous in internet availability, whereas Europe, being larger and not as "united," isn't as Black-and-white. I can imagine they'd have no problem kicking up the service in the UK, France, etc, but once you hit areas such as Poland, or the Balkans, they'll probably have trouble perfecting the service for such countries.
awesome. i hope they adapt an affordable pricing model. i'd like it to be a PS+ only service, to help offset some cost, and then have games be significantly less than the full retail price, seeing as you don't actually own the game, nothing is even being downloaded to your hard drive.
If it is affordable i can't wait for it.
This past gen I owned a 360, not a PS3, so I know I missed out on a number of gems which I'm hoping to get to play thru Gaikai!!
@drumsandperc92: I am with you man. I too owned a 360 instead of a PS3 and am looking forward to the streaming aspect with Gaikai on the PS4 to play PS3 games that I missed, also so I can play some of my favorite PS2 games as well.
@Cloud7794 @MadchesterManc Exactly. Europe's all spread out and awkward. It must be a nightmare to implement. I can totally understand the delay.
Wasnt this supposed to be used for backwards compatibility and supposed to work with ps3 physical copies? Like not read the disc to play them but show onwership and allow it to be streamed, something along those lines
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