Gaikai streaming coming to PS4 and PS3 in 2014

One key differentiator in this newest iteration of the console wars has been Sony’s commitment to backward compatibility with the PlayStation 4. At Sony's announcement event in February, we learned that it would be using recent acquisition Gaikai’s streaming technology to make it all happen, and today at E3 we’re getting a small handful of additional details about how legacy PlayStation titles will be delivered to Sony’s newest hardware.

It's going to give PS4 and PS3 owners access to a limited library

Firstly, the service won't be available immediately at launch, but rather sometime in 2014. When Sony does release it, first in the US, it's going to give PS4 and PS3 owners access to a limited library of PS3 games, before adding streaming functionality to the Vita sometime down the road. Also, the service is headed to the US first, before rolling out internationally, and Sony expects it to "evolve rapidly over the coming months," although what that means is anyone's guess.

Other than that, we aren't getting much additional information. We still don't know the size of the initial Gaikai library, or if and when we can expect older titles from the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 to become available. We'll have our ears open on the show floor for additional details about Sony's plans for Gaikai, and will update you with anything we can find out.

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