Difference Between PS Now and PS Plus

Playstation Plus and Playstation Now Compared

January 8th, 2014, By Maya Mayfield

The big announcement from Sony at #CES2014 was the upcoming launch of Playstation Now. 

PS Now is Sony's brand new Game streaming service coming this summer 2014. At the press conference Sony described what benefits you can get as a Playstation Now subscriber, including instant access to games via the PS Now network and streaming games from PS3's library unto PS4, PS3 and PS Vita.  As great as this all sounds, we realized some of these features are already available to Playstation Plus members, so what exactly is the fundamental core differences between PS Plus and PS Now?

If you have been asking this question or even wondering what Playstation Now is all about. You have come to the right place as we aim to set you straight with facts on both Playstation Now and Playstation Plus services, making you an expert on the subject and the envy of all your friends. 

 PS Plus Membership Includes:

• Access to free popular games, with brand new free games added to the network every month.

• Access Online Multi-player games on the Playstation 4 console.

• Exclusive discounts of up to 75% and more on the PlayStation Store.

• Up to 3GB of online game save storage on PS Plus.

• A single PS Plus membership works right across PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems.

• Early exclusive access to game content and automatic game patch downloads and installation. 

It's also worth knowing that you do not need a PS Plus subscription to access film, TV, or other entertainments like sports on the network, but you may need to subscribe separately to those individual services. 

PS Now Membership Includes:

• Access and play popular video games instantly on several devices as easily as streaming a movie or music online. 

• Stream games to all your Playstation compatible platforms, including the Playstation 4, Playstation 3, and PS Vita.

• Playstation Now, allows you to go beyond Playstation's preferred gaming platforms to stream games to other Sony products like the new 2014 Sony Bravia TV.

• Go even further than that with PS Now and stream games on other none Playstation or Sony devices, including smartphones and tablets as long as you are connected to Playstation Now network via an internet-connection. 

• Play the latest updated versions of games, with direct access to your most recent saved game data on Playstation Now. 

As you can see there are some similarities between both services as far as accessing games on both the Playstation Plus and Playstation Now networks and we think Sony will eventually merge both services under the PS Now umbrella, but apart from that this is really where the differences sort of end.

The big major plus and big win for Sony with Playstation Now is giving consumers the opportunity to access games on the PS Now network beyond Playstation's platform and even Sony's own devices. This feature alone opens up the possibilities of how we will be accessing and playing games in the not too distant future. It blurs the lines between console wars with Xbox One, PC, Nintendo and Playstation Fanboys and Fangirls forever comparing which console is the best. 

What we do know is that each company mentioned above will continue to buy and own exclusive rights to publish certain big games on their networks only as that will inevitably be what will be the major deciding factor to keeping their core fan base and entice the un-deciders over to their camp. Moving beyond that we think the fundamental idea and concept behind Playstation Now is just amazing and although it may not be original when we consider Steam another very popular online game streaming service. Sony however does aim to do something with Playstation Now other game streaming services haven't, and that is to ultimately put games back in the hands of those who really matter the most . . . the Gamers. Regardless of which console or device they eventually choose to play it on.

Welcome to the Future of Gaming Guys and Dolls, welcome to Playstation Now (PS Now)

Are you already a Playstation Plus Member? Let us know what you think about Playstation Now and if you would be subscribing to both the PS Plus and PS Now services when it rolls out later this summer.