Today at CES, Sony revealed PlayStation Now, an all-new games streaming service that will allow "classic" PlayStation games to be played across current-gen PlayStation hardware, as well as directly on other non-gaming platforms. PlayStation Now harnesses the power of Gaikai, the company Sony purchased for $380 million back in the summer of 2012.

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The idea behind PlayStation Now is simple: you will ultimately no longer need to keep your PlayStation 3 around to experience games from that consoles. PlayStation Now will allow streaming of classics from that system to not only PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, but to televisions, tablets, and smartphones. 2014 model Sony Bravia televisions will support PlayStation Now, and PlayStation Now will ultimately scale to non-Sony devices as well.For launch, the games available will no doubt be limited, but Sony's Andrew House did confirm that Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls will be among the titles available to play without a PlayStation 3 at CES in order to test out the service. Sony has since confirmed that God of War: Ascension and Puppeteer will also be playable on PS Vita and Bravia televisions on the CES show floor.Sony has confirmed that PlayStation Now will be a subscription-based service -- though whether it will tie-in to existing subscriptions like PlayStation Plus remains to be seen -- and will support online multiplayer and Trophies. Players can also opt not to subscribe and rent games on a by-game basis.It's unclear what the specific roster of games will be when PlayStation Now launches, and whether it will basically be a conduit for what's already available for PSone, PS2, and PS3 on PlayStation Network. Either way, this effectively solves PlayStation 4's native lack of digital backwards compatibility.We're awaiting further details about PlayStation Now, but in the meantime, expect a closed beta for the service to begin later this month, with full service rolling out to PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and other electronic devices this summer.

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter.