Sold on Cloud Gaming
So I have been testing Microsoft's XCloud service a bit. I have used it to put about 14 hours into Dishonored 2 so far. Thus far, it is playable on both the Xbox Windows 10 app, and streaming direct to my Xbox. It launches the game fast enough on the Xbox that I almost don't know it is streaming (impressive!). I have also tried it via the Vivaldi web browser in Linux and Windows 10, however for whatever reason it will not work in Linux with my third party wired controller. Which is odd, because it will let me navigate the menus using the controller. But when the game launches, there is no input.
XCloud got me wondering about PC game streaming services. Nvidia's GeForce Now has a free tier, so I tested it out.
After linking both my Steam and Ubisoft accounts, I attempted to fire up The Division. Initially, I was testing via browser in Linux. While it worked, it was unplayable due to every time I hit escape, it wanted to close the window. Playing via the dedicated GeForce Now program in Windows is flawless. I saw there is a Linux version of it, and may try that in the future. For the most part, even on the free tier the game is very playable. I might run into problems doing group activities, but all I really want is to hit level 30 so I can queue for Survival.
Of note, both my PC and Xbox are hard wired to my home network. My connection is currently 300 megabit, and I typically have at least three other people in the house concurrently using the internet. I really expected these services to suck, but I can see this being the future of gaming for a lot of people who don't want to buy a console or a have a PC that does not have a dedicated video card for gaming (most people).
