PS4 Rumor Roundup: Everything We Know About The PlayStation 4 Before Tomorrow's Big Event. - Gaikai Game Streaming?

Gaikai Might Allow PS4 To Stream Games

If you haven't been up on the news as of late, in July of 2012 Sony purchased a company called Gaikai in 2012 for a full $380 million. While it may not have been quite as well known as its biggest rival called OnLive, Gaikai worked in a similar way to provide users with the ability to play graphically intensive video games by streaming them to your TV screen rather than utilizing the full hardware of your system.  In many ways, you can think Netflix for full games. Apparently Sony really wanted a leader in this industry, and they were willing to pay a big price to make it happen.

That is why many believe the next PlayStation system will feature Gaikai streaming. In terms of its specific function, my cited news story claims that the feature will mostly be used to play PS3 titles for those that have unhooked their older console when the new one arrives on their doorstep. In many ways this would work as a great alternative to the poor PS2 hardware emulation that we now see on PS3. By using other computers off-site to send you the data, it could make for a more compatible experience.

My Prediction: I think we will see some kind of game streaming in PS4. However much like fully digital downloads of games were this generation, I don't think we will see the idea fully mature. The big Sony releases will probably utilize this service, but I have a hard time believing the library will be anywhere near complete. I see something such as this being a possible backbone for the PS5, but it will start now.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Whether your games are used or yet to be released, you should probably check out the final section on the next page!

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