PlayStation Now Finally Adds First PS2 Titles For Streaming

Once upon a time, it seemed that the future of gaming would be in streaming. Not live streaming game playthroughs but actually streaming the contents of the game and sending back input from console to server. Neither of the two biggest game streaming services, Sony's PlayStation Now and NVIDIA's GeForce NOW, really gained mass appeal to cement game streaming's place in the market. Now Sony is giving it another try by appealing to one of the most powerful and most lucrative sentiments of late: nostalgia.

The primary appeal of game streaming is convenience. You don't have to worry about hoarding games you might not play more than five times. And in the case of PC games, you don't have to worry about always meeting the top of the line requirements that modern games have.

The PS Now, however, has one other appeal. Since Sony is unable to implement backward compatibility like the Xbox One has, game streaming is the only way for PS4 owners to play PS3 titles on their modern consoles. But the PS3 isn't that long ago and it might still be possible to get your hands on both the console and games.

PlayStation 2 titles, however, are a different story which is what makes this announcement such a huge deal. The new list of games doesn't include even a fraction of the PS2 catalog but a start is still a start. Now you can play Ape Escape 2, Dark Cloud 2, and Hot SHots Tennis, among others, without having to scavenge for long lost copies, or a PS2 console for that matter.

The list of new games also includes some PS3 additions to the streaming roster, like Limbo and Metal Slug 3.

As far as nostalgia trips go, it might not exactly be that exciting. But, if anything, this shows that Sony has gotten the ball rolling in bringing even older PlayStation games to the streaming service. Now if only it could do the same for the PSX.