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Microsoft announces Xbox TV app and its own xCloud streaming stick

Indyblue

Member
I kinda hate playing on console for now. Switching the hdmi cable to from ps4 to xbox, then switching it back. turning it on the device, and waiting the game to load. too much work. Once you experience cloud gaming like me, i doubt you will want to touch a console again. its the same thing for 30 fps and 60 fps.
Lol what? I just push the button on my Xbox controller and I’m playing any of the many games in Quick resume within 5 seconds. It literally couldn’t be easier or quicker. Why don’t you get another hdmi cable or like a switcher or something. Ridiculous
 

Spidey Fan

Banned
Lol what? I just push the button on my Xbox controller and I’m playing any of the many games in Quick resume within 5 seconds. It literally couldn’t be easier or quicker. Why don’t you get another hdmi cable or like a switcher or something. Ridiculous
You are next gen. I am in the old gen. Big difference.
I have old TV, and other hdmi quality output is bad for gaming. Only 1 ouput works for gaming.
 

FingerBang

Member
YES! Finally! I plan to spend time traveling in the near future and this is exactly what I need! Give me something to stick in an HDMI port and I'm all in!
 
Their original dream for Xbox One is finally coming! This has always been the plan. Microsoft has always looked at the bigger picture. They know that there isn't enough "gamers" for them, they needed to go for the casual market. That is where the BIG money is! Being in the mobile space they see how much these app stores rake in... it's a lot. The streaming stick market just got a little more interesting.

Edit: I suspect Playstation, even Nintendo, to pull a similar move in the future. Honestly... It would be dumb not to.
 
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MarkMe2525

Gold Member
Games already will download the first level separately as a smaller file and download the rest of the game while you play though, so I dunno how much of a benefit this will truly be long term (especially since download speeds only get faster).

I actually wonder why Microsoft is focusing on their own stick though. I would think their goal would be to get xCloud on every streaming stick or device they could. People already have Roku and such hooked up, I would think they would prioritize those and not have people need to get another stick to plug in.
They are doing both. The stick is a stop gap until the first scenario is a reality.
 

ksdixon

Member
See... this is where Sony's been stupid.

They HAD PSNow on PC/laptop/tablets/Bravia TVs/Vita/PS4, and they scaled-it back to just PC and PS consoles now if I recall correctly.

They had a mobile games division that was under Sony Pictures or Sony Music, which was supported like dog shit, and they shut it down. And now they've just reopened one under PS division.

What the hell are they doing over there?
 

reksveks

Member
See... this is where Sony's been stupid.

They HAD PSNow on PC/laptop/tablets/Bravia TVs/Vita/PS4, and they scaled-it back to just PC and PS consoles now if I recall correctly.

They had a mobile games division that was under Sony Pictures or Sony Music, which was supported like dog shit, and they shut it down. And now they've just reopened one under PS division.

What the hell are they doing over there?
Their mobile game division has been alive and kicking off the back of some anime gatcha game but yeah, they had psnow ahead of time, tried to leverage it in the wrong ways (sell TV and mobiles) and then decided to pull back on it. The real question is whether it costs them anything.
 
See... this is where Sony's been stupid.

They HAD PSNow on PC/laptop/tablets/Bravia TVs/Vita/PS4, and they scaled-it back to just PC and PS consoles now if I recall correctly.

They had a mobile games division that was under Sony Pictures or Sony Music, which was supported like dog shit, and they shut it down. And now they've just reopened one under PS division.

What the hell are they doing over there?
Sony is all in on Console. They will dabble in PC releases here and there but they are 99% console. It will be interesting to see how that works as the generation proceeds for both companies.
 
time after time we've seen that cloud gaming is a niche. most people just dont want to play games that way. Even with a good wired connection there are issues. Most people don't have super fast internet speeds and use wifi. I dont get why Sony, Google and Microsoft even pursue this. How many people actually want this? Ps now is only at a couple million and stadia was a total flop.
 

Spidey Fan

Banned
I've not gone 4k yet either, still rocking 1080p! It makes choosing between quality or performance mode easy at least.
1080p is still different. The skyrim on my pc looks like new game that just come out this year, while on my tv x1s is outdated. I guess. some tvs dont have the high refresh rates as monitors. the monitor i am using is from 2014.
 

ksdixon

Member
time after time we've seen that cloud gaming is a niche. most people just dont want to play games that way. Even with a good wired connection there are issues. Most people don't have super fast internet speeds and use wifi. I dont get why Sony, Google and Microsoft even pursue this. How many people actually want this? Ps now is only at a couple million and stadia was a total flop.
I don't understand the push for streaming either. I find it truely baffling.

If it did work, great. But it doesn't.
PSNow is the only way to play MK9... but it doesn't include the DLC fighters (if I recall correctly), and each time I try it it is SO STUTTTERY it's unplayable. The game might as well NOT be on the service. If I could just download it to my PS5 like what XBGP allows for all their games, I'd be happy.
 
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FeldMonster

Member
You are next gen. I am in the old gen. Big difference.
I have old TV, and other hdmi quality output is bad for gaming. Only 1 ouput works for gaming.
Plug the PS4's HDMI output into the Xbox's HDMI input. The plug the Xbox's output into the sole good TV input.

Risks lag, but the reward is no HDMI cable switching. Try it at least once, just for the heck of it
 

Agent X

Member
See... this is where Sony's been stupid.

They HAD PSNow on PC/laptop/tablets/Bravia TVs/Vita/PS4, and they scaled-it back to just PC and PS consoles now if I recall correctly.

Several years ago, Sony did have PS Now on a wider range of devices, including PS3, PS4, PS Vita, PSTV, and some smart TVs and smart Blu-ray players from Sony and Samsung.

Around mid 2017, they added the ability to stream PS4 games, and also brought streaming to PC. Around that time, they removed they ability to stream PS Now from everything other than PS4 and PC.

This wasn't done because Sony wanted to "restrict access" to the service. Rather, it's because many of those devices were older and/or have limited processing power. Either the devices were not able to handle the updated codecs to decompress and display the video at an acceptable level of quality, or (if they could) their usage metrics showed it wasn't worth the development effort for niche devices with limited use..

You'll also notice that many other video streaming apps were also deprecated on those same devices around the same time. It's not a "PS Now" issue, it's an "aging hardware" issue.

Sony has repeatedly expressed their intention to eventually expand their range of devices that can access PS Now again. We can only hope that they do this soon.
 

ksdixon

Member
Several years ago, Sony did have PS Now on a wider range of devices, including PS3, PS4, PS Vita, PSTV, and some smart TVs and smart Blu-ray players from Sony and Samsung.

Around mid 2017, they added the ability to stream PS4 games, and also brought streaming to PC. Around that time, they removed they ability to stream PS Now from everything other than PS4 and PC.

This wasn't done because Sony wanted to "restrict access" to the service. Rather, it's because many of those devices were older and/or have limited processing power. Either the devices were not able to handle the updated codecs to decompress and display the video at an acceptable level of quality, or (if they could) their usage metrics showed it wasn't worth the development effort for niche devices with limited use..

You'll also notice that many other video streaming apps were also deprecated on those same devices around the same time. It's not a "PS Now" issue, it's an "aging hardware" issue.

Sony has repeatedly expressed their intention to eventually expand their range of devices that can access PS Now again. We can only hope that they do this soon.
Thank you for this perspective. Your'e right, as if I recall correctly you can no longer download the LoveFILM/Amazon Prime Video app on PS3's.
 

NickFire

Member
They definitely have a more attractive offering than Stadia, hands down, no question about it. If streaming is going to really take off with the enthusiast crowd, I think this type of service will be the way.

But I still do not like the streaming direction at all, and the increased focus on streaming before they start releasing next gen games just feels off to me. I am not yet convinced that games can really push a Series X to the limit while also providing the same (or close to the same) experience via streaming. I get it, it's MS, and they have stacks upon stacks of cash. But they haven't even pushed the Series X hard with a single game yet, and here they are trumpeting how my smart TV will be able to play their games soon.

Perhaps the talk about GP being its own platform were more spot on than I would have given them credit for previously. But if so, what does that mean for Series X? I know we have some tech wizards around here. Does it seem plausible that games will take advantage of Series X while being satisfactorily streamable via TV apps?????
 

epicnemesis

Member
I did a trial of that Amazon stream service and liked it enough to buy a month to beat metro exodus while in bed on my iPad. Works pretty damn good, even with less than ideal WiFi signal strength in my room. My only complaint if the library is dogshit otherwise I would hold on to the service.

With this I assume the library would be gamepass or a subset therein which is already leaps and bounds better than Amazon’s offerings.

I don’t think I’d play an online shooter using the tech, but for single player games I’m definitely interested. Especially if they come out with a direct to WiFi controller like google and Amazon have.
 
I suspect Playstation, even Nintendo, to pull a similar move in the future. Honestly... It would be dumb not to.
This won't happen anytime soon. Do you realize how much money Sony and Nintendo make from selling software on their consoles? Especially since their first party titles are so popular. Plus with PS5 games going up $70 Sony will make even more.

My guess is they will let MS "go first" for a couple years than make a move if it works for them. But this is a move MS had to make because of the lack of solid first party exclusives for so many years. They didn't take advantage of the success of the 360 like they should have so this is the best next step for them since the Series X/S sales will not be enough for them to build the install base that they want.
 
Why? Are Sony and Nintendo not making enough money allowing games to be played the traditional way?
This won't happen anytime soon. Do you realize how much money Sony and Nintendo make from selling software on their consoles? Especially since their first party titles are so popular. Plus with PS5 games going up $70 Sony will make even more.

My guess is they will let MS "go first" for a couple years than make a move if it works for them. But this is a move MS had to make because of the lack of solid first party exclusives for so many years. They didn't take advantage of the success of the 360 like they should have so this is the best next step for them since the Series X/S sales will not be enough for them to build the install base that they want.

It's NEVER enough money, never. Every one of these corporation wants, needs, to make MORE money! They're never satisfied, that's not how business works. Do you know how much money is in casual space?!?! They want a slice of that, trust me. Playstation has already been allowing MS to "go first" that or Playstation's tech is not as mature as it is on the Xbox side.
 
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FeldMonster

Member
They definitely have a more attractive offering than Stadia, hands down, no question about it. If streaming is going to really take off with the enthusiast crowd, I think this type of service will be the way.

But I still do not like the streaming direction at all, and the increased focus on streaming before they start releasing next gen games just feels off to me. I am not yet convinced that games can really push a Series X to the limit while also providing the same (or close to the same) experience via streaming. I get it, it's MS, and they have stacks upon stacks of cash. But they haven't even pushed the Series X hard with a single game yet, and here they are trumpeting how my smart TV will be able to play their games soon.

Perhaps the talk about GP being its own platform were more spot on than I would have given them credit for previously. But if so, what does that mean for Series X? I know we have some tech wizards around here. Does it seem plausible that games will take advantage of Series X while being satisfactorily streamable via TV apps?????
  • The programmers working on streaming apps and the streaming backend are not game programmers, so it has zero effect on game production
  • Games are to be streamed via Xbox Series X consoles that have been physically transformed into server blades. It is almost the exact same hardware just re-arranged, so a game made for the Series X does not need to even consider streaming, it is all the same. One of the only differences would likely include pooled storage, where multiple consoles are sharing a larger SSD. One confirmed difference is that the server versions use APUs that are "worse" in terms of power per watt, so that the best ones go to consumers, reducing competition. They simply run them hotter and provide additional cooling to counteract the heat.
 
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