16 votes

Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you stream your own games in November

21 comments

  1. [21]
    Wafik
    Link
    Happy to be wrong, but the audience of people who want to play console/PC games streamed to their phone has to still be super small. The only way this makes any sense to me is if the long rumoured...

    Happy to be wrong, but the audience of people who want to play console/PC games streamed to their phone has to still be super small.

    The only way this makes any sense to me is if the long rumoured Xbox handheld will also take advantage of this or they make some deal with Valve to have this natively on Steam decks. And even then, the audience who owns a steam deck and wants to stream games to it instead of downloading them has to be small.

    15 votes
    1. [2]
      trim
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I already stream my XBox and PS5 to my steam deck for comfy gaming instead of deskbound gaming. This will allow me to not even have to have the XBox powered on. Seems like it could be useful at...

      I already stream my XBox and PS5 to my steam deck for comfy gaming instead of deskbound gaming.

      This will allow me to not even have to have the XBox powered on. Seems like it could be useful at least until my stacked GamePass runs out in a couple of years. Wonder how the saves will work.

      Got to say though, what point having a Series console after that? Maybe if your internet isn't up to the job, but my experience with using GeForce Now is pretty positive right now (have 1gbps/120mb[s down/up)

      11 votes
      1. Wafik
        Link Parent
        Yeah your scenario seems like the most common and probably the best. I don't know how Microsoft makes money off you unless Gamepass is covering the streaming cost but who knows.

        Yeah your scenario seems like the most common and probably the best. I don't know how Microsoft makes money off you unless Gamepass is covering the streaming cost but who knows.

        3 votes
    2. [6]
      vord
      Link Parent
      PC games I streamed to my phone using Steam (or Parsec) for a good long while: MTG:Arena when it was in beta. FTL because I have Android. However, I did use it extensively when I was leaving the...

      PC games I streamed to my phone using Steam (or Parsec) for a good long while:

      MTG:Arena when it was in beta.
      FTL because I have Android.

      However, I did use it extensively when I was leaving the house a lot to remotely stream my games to my 0-GPU laptop from my gaming rig.

      5 votes
      1. [5]
        Wafik
        Link Parent
        Yeah, I'm not saying no one has ever done it. I tried it out. I think most gamers have tried. I don't know how many people are still doing it or would say they do a main portion of their gaming...

        Yeah, I'm not saying no one has ever done it. I tried it out. I think most gamers have tried. I don't know how many people are still doing it or would say they do a main portion of their gaming that way.

        5 votes
        1. [4]
          zod000
          Link Parent
          I am with you there, I have streamed games more as a novelty than anything. I was a pretty early adopter since I thought it was cool tech. I tried it early on when Valve first released their early...

          I am with you there, I have streamed games more as a novelty than anything. I was a pretty early adopter since I thought it was cool tech. I tried it early on when Valve first released their early Steam Linux distro many years ago where you could stream games from your Windows PC, I tried out Geforce Now, and I bought a Steam Link when they were 90% off, and I even tried a few internet streaming services that everyone touted as "so smooth you can't tell it is streamed". In the end, I only found it tolerable when it was all local and over ethernet. Even local wifi had too much latency for me unless I was playing a turn based game, and anything streamed over the internet was maddening.

          I think the only people playing games this way are in some Venn diagram intersection of people that are just used to low fps/high input lag, really like mobile/handheld gaming, and have no problem with the Netflix/Spotify/Gamepass "You will own nothing and like it" lifestyle.

          2 votes
          1. [3]
            Wafik
            Link Parent
            And that's the point I am trying to make. Is that group large enough for there to be a value add for Microsoft? Obviously not having to pay Google a cut is nice, so maybe the margins only make...

            I think the only people playing games this way are in some Venn diagram intersection of people that are just used to low fps/high input lag, really like mobile/handheld gaming, and have no problem with the Netflix/Spotify/Gamepass

            And that's the point I am trying to make. Is that group large enough for there to be a value add for Microsoft? Obviously not having to pay Google a cut is nice, so maybe the margins only make sense when they don't lose 30%.

            It's definitely a cool technology. The first time I was playing Halo on my phone blew my mind but I have zero interest in playing a game that way outside of being a novelty.

            1 vote
            1. [2]
              zod000
              Link Parent
              I get it now and I agree with your point. It IS cool tech, but my skepticism on the business case remains for now. Maybe Microsoft is simply playing the long game on this and is hoping that the...

              I get it now and I agree with your point. It IS cool tech, but my skepticism on the business case remains for now. Maybe Microsoft is simply playing the long game on this and is hoping that the future is simply that eventually everyone will have no choice but to hop on the "as a service" train.

              1. Wafik
                Link Parent
                Kids are playing way less console games these days, so maybe they are hoping to capture them at some point? They would actually need good games to have any chance of doing that, but that's...

                the future is simply that eventually everyone will have no choice but to hop on the "as a service" train.

                Kids are playing way less console games these days, so maybe they are hoping to capture them at some point? They would actually need good games to have any chance of doing that, but that's probably path.

    3. [4]
      lou
      Link Parent
      A few TVs can play streamed games already, and I imagine that more TVs with that capability will become available in the future. You'll just sync a gamepad directly with the TV and play games...

      A few TVs can play streamed games already, and I imagine that more TVs with that capability will become available in the future. You'll just sync a gamepad directly with the TV and play games through the local network.

      3 votes
      1. [3]
        Wafik
        Link Parent
        Right, that absolutely can happen, but do you think it really will happen at a scale large enough to be impactful for Microsoft? Again, happy to be wrong but it sure doesn't seem like it to me.

        Right, that absolutely can happen, but do you think it really will happen at a scale large enough to be impactful for Microsoft? Again, happy to be wrong but it sure doesn't seem like it to me.

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          lou
          Link Parent
          I really don't know, but it could be handy for some people.

          I really don't know, but it could be handy for some people.

          1 vote
    4. [5]
      th0mcat
      Link Parent
      While at the hospital this week, I was able to Wireguard into my house and stream Diablo IV from my desktop to my tablet with almost no noticeable lag. I was actually shocked at how well it worked!

      While at the hospital this week, I was able to Wireguard into my house and stream Diablo IV from my desktop to my tablet with almost no noticeable lag. I was actually shocked at how well it worked!

      3 votes
      1. [4]
        Wafik
        Link Parent
        Wow, does your tablet have its own data? I can't imagine you were able to do that on hospital wifi.

        Wow, does your tablet have its own data? I can't imagine you were able to do that on hospital wifi.

        1. [3]
          th0mcat
          Link Parent
          It was indeed hospital WiFi! I should have done a speed test to see what I was pulling, I have 1Gb symmetrical fiber, pretty sure the APs at the hospital are at least 802.11ac

          It was indeed hospital WiFi! I should have done a speed test to see what I was pulling, I have 1Gb symmetrical fiber, pretty sure the APs at the hospital are at least 802.11ac

          1 vote
          1. OBLIVIATER
            Link Parent
            I don't have a lot of experience with hospital IT (though I did pass up on that job once) but I would think most commercial buildings with hundreds/thousands of people usually have public access...

            I don't have a lot of experience with hospital IT (though I did pass up on that job once) but I would think most commercial buildings with hundreds/thousands of people usually have public access points throttled so as not to eat up as much bandwidth. (Or they get naturally throttled because of how congested they are)

            Either way I always thought hospital wifi would be passable at best. I guess it really depends on how well funded IT is, because from what I've heard it usually isn't the best.

          2. Wafik
            Link Parent
            That's impressive then. I was in the hospital a lot in 2022 due to health problems my wife had and their public wifi was terrible.

            That's impressive then. I was in the hospital a lot in 2022 due to health problems my wife had and their public wifi was terrible.

    5. [3]
      Plik
      Link Parent
      It was good for Destiny 2 when the vendors were selling something that only came up once or twice a year, and you didn't have access to your machine. ...That was kind of the only use for it on...

      It was good for Destiny 2 when the vendors were selling something that only came up once or twice a year, and you didn't have access to your machine.

      ...That was kind of the only use for it on mobile data though.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Wafik
        Link Parent
        Haha, I did the exact same thing. Xur got more FaceTime than any other character on my phone.

        Haha, I did the exact same thing. Xur got more FaceTime than any other character on my phone.

        2 votes
        1. Plik
          Link Parent
          Xurrr, I forgot his name! X'D

          Xurrr, I forgot his name! X'D

          1 vote