The latest PlayStation 4 rumor is that Sony’s upcoming console will stream PlayStation 3 games using Gaikai technology. Some of you will recall that Sony Computer Entertainment purchased Gaikai in July 2012. The Wall Street Journal broke the story, noting that the streaming service will likely be used only for old games. That isn’t to say that new games won’t be available digitally; those will likely require a full download, rather than streaming.
For those of you with large PlayStation 3 videogame libraries, the news is probably disconcerting. The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 offered backwards compatibility with games from the previous generation. Some pundits believe that the PlayStation 4 will not, since it uses a considerably different AMD architecture and many presume that it won’t include a second chipset to support old games (especially if that $400 price point rumor is on the mark).
The answers to numerous PlayStation 4 questions will (again, presumably) be answered on February 20, when Sony has its big press event. Until then, let’s have fun with the WSJ rumor. What do you think of streaming PS3 games on the new console? Is not having PS3 backwards compatibility a deal-breaker for any of you? Also, can you feel that? That’s the heat from the flames of a brewing console war. Fore!!!