Sony bought Gaikai during the summer of last year for a whopping $380 million. Now, they’ve shown what their investment was for.
Gaikai’s Dave Perry said that the PS4 is an incredible platform, so the network should be just as incredible. “What we’re creating is the fastest most powerful gaming network in the world”. When your friends buy a game, you will know and be able to jump in. You can start playing games immediately off of the PSN store, there’s no need to wait for it to download. “Try it for free, share it if you like it, buy it only if you fall in love with it”. Gaikai partnered with Facebook and Ustream to create “the first social network with gaming… dedicated to gaming”. Spectating will be an important part, and your friends can watch and give you advice/annoy you. PSN Friends can even take over and play your game if you need help, as can developers. You’ll be able to broadcast gameplay on Ustream. Second screen abilities will be on PS3, PS4, PS Vita and gaming. PS Vita will be the “ultimate remote play device”, so you will instantly be able to swap from the PS4 to the Vita on some games – “the long term goal” is for that to be on all PS4 games. Remote Play will be “snappy” as the PS4 will use Gaikai technology.
The PS4 will not support native backwards compatibility, but Gaikai will support some PS3 games on cloud (it’s still a project). The long-term goal is to have PS1, 2, 3 games on any device, and it will be rolled out in phases.
Stick to PSLS through the PlayStation Meeting for in-depth coverage of the show and the PS4 as it develops.
