Game Streaming Platforms and Technology (xCloud, PSNow, Stadia, GeforceNow, Luna)

Slight? Streaming is the future

 

Here we go ... stadia is such a hit

 

What is your real concern here? Both systems cost the same and are performing almost identical. If we didn't have Digital Foundry or other videos to scrutinize every frame no one (OK maybe someone) would even be able to tell the difference between the two consoles. These are also cross gen games we're looking at. There's still a very real chance that the XBSX will perform better over time with newer games. If not and both consoles end up performing roughly the same what is the issue??

 

So? Stadia has its own issues but it has nothing to do with streaming itself.

I mean just look at Control on Nintendo Switch. A lot of people thought that it would not be playable, but when tried realized that it is not that bad. We are not in the middle ages anymore and in a lot of places Internet is more available than retail.

 

Agreed. just like digital content was predicted to soon take over physical media (I got attacked early 2005 at gaf for saying the obvious, then permab but that's another matter ), streaming will take over dedicated hw. Who knows where we are in 2 years.

 

Sure some games may work, but people want to own HW not a fancy streaming gadget. That is the reality and stadia among many other streaming services are proof of that. Streaming services are around for long time now and they are not a huge success for a reason. Noone wants it. Still streaming will be the future becouse everybody pushing for it against all odds. And the day they become reality i am happy to give up gaming for good.

 

Almost every person in the world is more likely to have a streaming gadget aka mobile phone, rather than hardware. If I can stream 4k game on my phone or TV, why would I need 4k+ gaming rig?
What streaming lacks right not is the exposure as a lot of people are full of prejudice against it - ironically in the first world, because the third world quite often has better infrastructure straight away, so they are not afraid of their own providers.

People getting access using Starlink for example are less likely to purchase HW, but will go after streaming instead.

What game streaming has been for a long time?

Just do it.

 

Psnow?

 

the issue is that there should be a difference. If both systems perform exactly the same, then why choose the system without the exclusives and new controller tech? Game pass?
People who buy consoles are not going to care how many Xbox one S instances MS can run in their cloud

 

Streaming to PS and PC only - exactly too platforms with the communities that hugely despise streaming in general? It has a wrong use for a wrong place. PS community in general has a low level attachment rate so streaming older games for them is worthless for example.

Yeah, Game Pass for example. I mean not everybody is hell bent on playing Sony exclusive games. I am for example doing just fine.

 

psnow was on mobile phones, handhelds, even televisions like Samsung had it built-in.
People didn’t really care about it.
Millions of people subscribe to psnow but it is nothing compared to PS+ subscribers which is around 50 million

 

1. Becouse gaming rig will always give you better latency than streaming from internet, people chose wired controller or mouse for a reason. And peole liek to own stuff.
2. Many of them: ps now xbox have stream service, steam have link, stadia, there was streming service play now if i remember correctly. If i am not mistaken amazon or apple (or both) are working on something (opr alreday have)

Dont tell me how to live, install steam link and try it. Streaming is SHIT.

 

Latency is term coined by enthusiasts/technical specialists - average user don't even know the resolution of the game (hell, even experts sometimes not sure what resolution of the game), much less latency at all. For bunch of people latency is the speed of Word loading, and I am not joking. On gaming boards you will have tons of people discussing stuff but most of the people - in the world - use their fingers because they are playing mobile games.

Stadia is new with an odd price model
Amazon Luna is a new (not sure if Ubisoft is there already or not)
PS Now has always been a gimmick in its current implementation and PS did not PR it all
XCloud is not widely used, because MS did not PR at all (only recently it started doing that)
Steam Link as far as I remember requires PC.
On PC one of the relatively popular streaming services I think is GeforceNow only for now.

But in general we haven't had any streaming service with a broad appeal like Netflix or Disney+. We haven't had even a push towards streaming services so far and for a lot of people, game streaming is the stuff with seconds of latency...Because they haven't even tried it or tried it many years ago.

I play using XCloud on my Xiaomi + Razer Kishi and I am content with the quality. So?
Anecdotally, third world countries usually have better Internet, because they start from higher ground - like african countries are highly likely to have their first infrastructure in 4G or 5G (or whatever version is now), while USA will be stuck with traffic cap.

PS has always lacked infrastructure for streaming.

 

People have been using it for more than 5 years now and millions of people subscribe to it (which means pay money to use it).
Also Ps now has more users active users than all their competitors combined.

 

So what's your argument? Don't get it.
PS Now is available on PC and Playstation consoles - none of them has the community that would want PS support there.

I repeat, we haven't have a streaming service with broad appeal. PS Now is in the same as Sony's handheld devices. I liked PSP though.

 

How did you get your numbers for xCloud usage?

PSNow was only at 2.2 million subscribers in May 2020 [ https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/strategy/pdf/2020/presen_E.pdf ]

 

Xcloud was only at 100.000s active users in April 2020 [ https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/73244/project-xcloud-hundreds-of-thousands-active-users/ ]

 

It didn't release to the public until September 2020. It was only xbox insiders (early beta testers) until then.

Now it's part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. There's over 15 million Game Pass Subscribers. I'm not sure the breakout on Ultimate.

 

I am pretty sure it is below 1 million; MS would be congratulating themselves publicly if it passed 1million. Instead they are offering 1 dollar upgrades?
Not that it matters; you can only use gamepass on Android

 

The PC version is in internal testing circles.