Sony releases PlayStation Now open beta for North American PS4 owners

The cloud-based service will also let you stream and play PS3 games on their native console and specific Sony Bravia TVs. It has been in private beta up until now, but has now been opened up to anyone owning a PS4 in North America.

During the open beta, PS4 users will see more than 100 PS Now titles fully integrated into the PlayStation Store, available to stream for a number of rental durations – seven-day, 30-day and 90-day, as well as the shorter four-hour period.

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Sony says a "strong and stable broadband connection" will make sure that visual and gameplay quality is what you'd expect of a PS3, with the service also offering cloud game saves and other features including Trophies and leaderboards.

A Sony spokesperson said: "The PS3 catalogue of games is massive and incredibly diverse, and we’re thrilled to make these epic experiences available to PS4 first, followed by our other PlayStation platforms in the coming months."

Sony also confirmed that it was working on a PS Now subscription option, but there has been no word as to when we can expect PS Now to make it this side of the Atlantic. Current indications suggest it won't be this year, however.

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Pete was content editor on What Hi-Fi?, overseeing production and publication of digital content. In creating and curating feature articles for web and print consumption, he provided digital and editorial expertise and support to help reposition What Hi-Fi? as a ‘digital-first’ title; reflecting the contemporary media trends. He is now a senior content strategist.