Exclusive: Use of PlayStation Now on other devices – In a comprehensive special recently, we explained everything about PlayStation Now, which Sony is mainly focusing on in the overall gaming landscape. This article also showed that the service is very efficient, and most importantly, it is not limited to only PlayStation consoles. For example, PlayStation Now can also be used on a PC and you can use the service indirectly via Remote Play. Two alternative ways to enjoy our content-rich library, which we will discuss in more detail in this special presentation.
Use PlayStation Now on your computer
To explain more about using PlayStation Now on other devices, today we’re going to discuss how to play it on PC and via remote play. Let’s start with the computer application for the streaming service it serves Downloadable The executable file is a 113MB file. After downloading, you can of course go through the installation steps and that will be resolved in no time. With that I installed the app and it works right away. Also because you can log in directly using your existing PlayStation Network data. With your PlayStation Now subscription linked to this, you can start streaming and playing games almost instantly.
If no subscription is associated with your PlayStation Network ID, you will need to purchase one. This can be done directly in the PlayStation Store on PlayStation consoles, but also via the browser or via the PlayStation Now app itself. You can choose from a month, a quarter, or an entire year. To play games, access to a controller is necessary, as DualShock 4 is sufficient. The console can be connected in two ways. You can connect it directly to the computer using a USB cable and in many cases, plug and play.
If you have bluetooth, it is also possible to connect the console wirelessly via this signal. So, you need to turn on Bluetooth on your computer or laptop, and by pressing and holding the Home and Share buttons on your console for three seconds, the lights at the top will flash. You can then connect via the Bluetooth screen on your computer and that’s it. The alternative is via a Bluetooth dongle, if you want to play wirelessly on your computer (or laptop) without a built-in Bluetooth adapter. Small detail: The DualShock 3 can also be used with PlayStation Now on PC, but this only works with the cable. Using this controller wirelessly is not an option.
These steps are sufficient to start using PlayStation Now on a computer and through the app, as we mentioned earlier, you can have instant access to the entire library. With your subscription you are not limited to a fixed computer, because you can download and install the application wherever you want. After that, login is enough to keep playing, so the only physical accessory is the console as it is a requirement to play. Finally, of course, you need to keep some (minimum) system requirements for the PlayStation Now app, which are as follows:
- Windows 7 (SP1), 8.1 out of 10
- Core i3 2.0 GHz
- 300MB of available storage space
- 2 GB RAM
- Sound card; USB port
As you can see, the app hardly needs anything from your computer, which makes PlayStation Now available to everyone that way. It’s also an excellent service for anyone who likes to play PlayStation games but doesn’t have console access.
PlayStation Now via Remote Play
We also want to highlight another way to use PlayStation Now, with a feature that’s been around for years: Remote Play. This way you allow the console (PS4 or PS5) to do the work, as you stream content across your home network to a device of your choice. Remote play can be used on iOS devices, Android devices, computers, laptops, and Macs (books). Sony has released apps for this that you can download from the links below. You will, of course, also find mobile applications in the digital stores of your OS provider (Apple and Google).
After downloading the application in question, it works immediately as you have to go through the installation steps on the computer. Once done, you can directly connect to your PlayStation console and activate the downloaded PlayStation Now content to play. To navigate, we now go to the mobile app to use PlayStation Now content. After all, this is also possible, albeit to a somewhat limited extent.
In the mobile application, you need to connect to your console. It is important to enable remote play on PS4 or PS5 so that a physical connection can be established between the two devices. The steps in the app are pretty self-explanatory, so you can see the console user interface on your mobile phone or tablet in an instant. Controlling this is important of course too, and you can use a controller for that. You can use both DualShock 4 and DualSense for this purpose, which you connect to your mobile device via bluetooth. This is done with DualShock and DualSense by holding down the Home and Share buttons. As a result, the controller will flash and then appear in the Bluetooth connection summary and that’s it.
PlayStation Portable Library
Once the steps are completed, PlayStation Now will be played on a mobile device via the Remote Play feature. That’s right, it only works with your downloaded games, otherwise, you’ll get Stream> Stream. However, in this way, you can access many games from the PlayStation Now library, allowing you to try different games in a portable way. If you do this on a tablet then it is of course a good idea to have a cover so that you can put the tablet aside. If you are playing on a cell phone, it might be an idea to use a special holder where you tap the phone. You can then put that standard on the console so that you not only have a close-up screen but you can also control games in a traditional way, which is great of course.
This isn’t mandatory, because the great thing is that mobile devices also offer touch operation, as you can see on the screen above. This makes it a very flexible and accessible concept where you can use and experience PlayStation Now in many different ways. This is ideal if the TV is on, and you want to play in bed for about an hour in the summer, because you love to sit outside and still want to try your virtual adventures. Everything is possible and all you need is a good internet connection, but in 2021 this will be more the rule than the exception. With this said, Sony provides the ability to experience PlayStation content in a number of ways, making it fully mobile and accessible.
In this context, PlayStation Now is an excellent way to play games as it provides a rich library of content that will be expanded with new titles in the coming years.
