Is anyone using Cloud Gaming?

[Skunkworks]

For the past few generations, I've stood on the sidelines and watched other people play console games. I stay plenty busy with a PC and Nintendo Switch, but from time to time, a big budget exclusive catches my eye, or I start thinking about how nice it would be to play a game from my couch. I can't justify the price tag, for something I might do a few hours a month.

When xbox announced you could use an Amazon Fire stick as a platform to stream xbox pass (https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/06/...mazon-fire-tv/), I have to admit that I was intrigued. I've read some very positive things about the loading speeds and some concerning reports about controller latency. I would be curious of anyone experiences. Do you think this technology is a flash-in-the-pan or a growing trend that will usurp traditional gaming in the future? If games-as-a-service combined with cloud streaming become indistinguishable form console gaming, will it spell the end of actual consoles?

[Random Encounter]

I haven't used any of the commercial cloud gaming solutions, in the sense of those like Stadia or Game Pass. But I have used Parsec extensively before to stream from my living room PC to my office PC. The ping was good enough to allow me to play things like XIV and not fall prey to mechanics in normal content. Using it outside the home has been less responsive, but it's good enough for games where a little lag isn't a deal breaker.

That doesn't really answer your question, though. I think the quality of your connection will determine how well services like Game Pass works. In places where your Internet is not so great, killing off consoles may also effectively kill off gaming for a large percentage of people. There would have to be some serious strides in improving Internet infrastructure to support consoles giving way to cloud gaming completely, IMO.

[Selbaek]

I won a Stadia at a Game Awards event at my local movie theater and used that service for a bit. I played one of the exclusive games "GYLT" which was pretty fun! I also fooled around with some games I owned on other platforms that were available as part of the subscription to varying experiences. I only bought one game on the platform, and that was Darksiders: Genesis when it launched.

I have tried the XCloud service, and it seems pretty decent! I haven't used it since it was basically in open beta, and I don't subscribe to Game Pass at all - so I really doubt I would re-up just to try the service out today. But all the games I wanted to try out seemed to be really smooth and noticeable-but-manageable input lag.

Today, I use my PlayStation Portal to remote into my PS5 quite a bit. It almost seemed like an unnecessary purchase because I can use PlayStation Remote Play on my phone, but the screen on the Portal is a really nice size, and I'm getting actual DualSense features on a remote device, whereas I would not via my phone. So long as I am connected with good Wi-Fi, or so long as I am connected to my hotspot while in a 5G UW signal, the Portal keeps a pretty good picture while I'm in the heat of some action.

I've also used Moonlight in the past to stream my PC games while I'm out and about. I didn't really have it optimized at the time and I was on much slower internet then than I am now, but ultimately, I liked the experience despite the hiccups I ran into. It was really good for slower paced games.

To echo Random Encounter's sentiments, the experience will really depend on your connection. I've got 1Gbps speeds at home, so I only have to worry about the download speed wherever I'm at when I'm streaming from a home console away from home as my upload speeds are just fine.

I would personally opt to stream from a device I owned and controlled, rather than streamed from a service hosting the hardware, but that's only based on my experiences which are not recent or an up-to-date outlook on cloud game streaming.

Given that many titles utilize Cloud versions on the Nintendo Switch just so that they can have those titles on yet another platform - and that they're willing to go that route and deal with those complications - I would say that cloud gaming is still really in its infancy. We have a long, long time before this bubble bursts, if it is going to burst at all. Personally, I think it's going to become more and more the norm and may even take over as the main method of playing games. Especially for Xbox.

[Random Encounter]

Selbaek brought up a good point I forgot to mention in my first post. Anyone who spends enough time with me will probably get to hear me rant about how we don't really own our media anymore. A big problem with game streaming services is how it exacerbates this problem. You don't own the software or hardware anymore, and there is no guarantee that you will have alternative sources of anything you purchase if these services go out of business.

[Selbaek]

SelbaekYou don't own the software or hardware anymore, and there is no guarantee that you will have alternative sources of anything you purchase if these services go out of business.

That is an incredibly good point that my post hadn't intended on touching, but I'm glad you pulled this out of it. With Cloud gaming, all you're getting is the video of what the cloud server's hardware is producing, and the inputs of the device you're using to control the game. With games that utilize an online server (be it MMOs, online multiplayer for shooters, fighters, etc, or what have you) you have the tangible software. Those who care enough and are smart enough to do it can cross-reference internet packets, or even in some cases reverse-engineer calls from the software to get some semblance of a fan-made server running to bring service back to those games. With cloud gaming, you don't have anything that would signify a way to reverse engineer anything to play a game again, for that inevitable day when that service gets cut. Cloud-only games would be completely lost to the ether unless the publishers decide to distribute the game otherwise.

[Mr Croft]

I've used gamepass cloud gaming a few times on my cellphone (I have a fold 5) and it's been pretty good as long as my signal is fine. Here and there the quality would go to like 240 p but it would quickly fix. Latency was actually fairly wasn't so bad; but I stuck to action games like ninja gaiden. Now I have a steam deck so I haven't used it lately.

[Althena]

I only use GamePass with games I don't really care to own because I know I'm not going to want to own physical copies anyways. The remote play features are fine, but I really don't like traditional gaming experiences on my phone. Its also nice for kids and people with families. I am in neither of those demographics. It's a fine service, but would I pay for it, knowing what is is if I didn't get a significant Microsoft Alumni discount? Nah.