Backwards compatibility? Nah, Sony’s got the PlayStation Now streaming service

Sony fans can finally stop griping about the lack of backwards compatibility on its latest console. The company is finally making good on its acquisition of Gaikai a couple of years back. Say hello to PlayStation Now (PS Now), Sony’s new streaming game service that will let players stream popular and classic games from the PlayStation 3 library on both their PlayStations 3 and 4.

PS Now will make use of Gaikai’s cloud-based technology to let you stream games instantly across multiple devices, stream full games to all of your compatible PlayStation devices, and make use of cloud saves. In the future, PS Now will also let you stream games to non-PlayStation devices, starting with 2014 Sony Bravia television models.

Of course, all this comes with a price. There will be a subscription plan that lets people explore a range of titles, and the more fickle can opt to rent by title instead.

PS Now is admittedly not the backward compatibility PlayStation fans have been clamouring for, but hey, it’s better than nothing. A beta program for PS Now is starting at the end of January for the US, with an expected full roll-out in the same country come the summer. There’s no word as yet of any Asia release dates, but let’s enjoy our PS Vita TVs first, hm?