Gaming Week In Review: PlayStation Now live on PC, Blizzard unveils new built-in streaming feature

Originally Posted on Emerald Media via UWIRE

PC gamers can now play PlayStation games by streaming them with PlayStation Now.

Last week Sony unveiled its plans to bring PlayStation titles to PC with Playstation Now streaming. Sony made good on its promise sooner than expected by launching the new platform on PC last Tuesday, Aug. 30.

To celebrate the launch, Sony has added six new games to the PlayStation catalog, including the previously PlayStation-exclusive titles Heavy Rain and Ni No Kuni. Also announced: the company will bring Castlevania: Harmony of Despair to PlayStation Now come this October.

Sony also offers the PlayStation Now annual pass for $100 for a limited time, which is roughly 55 percent less than the regular monthly rate.

Blizzard unveils its new streaming feature for their Battle.net client.

Blizzard games have a large audience in the online streaming community. It’s no surprise that the company is dipping its toes into the streaming market with its own built-in streaming system for its Battle.net game client.

Using the new system is as easy as opening the Battle.net client, opening your game of choice and then clicking on the stream icon to bring up a menu to start. The feature currently only supports streaming via Facebook, meaning a user will have to log in with a Facebook account.

Though far easier to set up than more traditional streaming applications like Open Broadcast or Gameshow, Blizzard Streaming still relies heavily on your computer’s performance.

So unless you have an above-average gaming computer, expect Blizzard’s higher-end games to look a little blurry and lag quite a bit on stream.

Free Overwatch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gamers next weekend.

From Sept. 9-12 console players can download and play Blizzard’s popular FPS Overwatch for free. The free weekend will include every aspect of the game, with the full roster of 22 playable heroes, 13 different maps and full access to loot boxes and a customization gallery. Any in-game progress will carry over if players choose to purchase the full game.

Xbox One players will need an active Xbox Gold subscription to play, but PlayStation 4 players will not need a PlayStation Plus subscription for the duration of the free weekend. Also keep in mind that the game does not feature any form of cross-platform play.

You can check out the Emerald’s double-take review of the launch version of Overwatch here.

Read more here: http://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/09/02/gaming-week-in-review-playstation-now-live-on-pc-blizzard-unveils-new-built-in-streaming-feature/
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