Game streaming how will it affect the status quo?

I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

Errkal wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

Is Eero any good?

I'm currently looking at getting a mesh wifi setup as the Plusnet router is quite frankly a pile of steaming horse wank.

It depends, quite seriously on how politics goes over the next 5 years.

Consider this: In 2023 Disney has to reapply and lobby congress for more extensions to copyright laws to keep its mits on its intellectual property. If we get a Trump/highly conservative government this might happen and big companies will increasingly become gatekeepers to our culture. On the other hand a Biden administration will have gone after the break-up of the big internet companies and the entertainment industry might be next. The American courts (or even the EU) could seriously alter copyright laws to only last for a decade to promote artistic and cultural access to previously protected works.

For gaming this is a big deal because it would make all roms prior to 2013 effectively public domain works. Fans will also realise that if games only ever exist on the servers of Google or whoever they will have no way to access them once the decade of copyright is up. On the other hand increased pressure for a 'right to repair' could kill the games console dead as it would have no choice but to be built from off-the-shelf parts effectively becoming even more a mini-PC. Sony might just bin the idea of a PlayStation 6 they cannot control the silicon of and so just move to streaming as a medium.

Errkal wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

That's cool. The one thing that holds me back from it is that's its just not a good set up for VR yet. Hopefully one day.

Ironhide wrote:

Errkal wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

Is Eero any good?

I'm currently looking at getting a mesh wifi setup as the Plusnet router is quite frankly a pile of steaming horse wank.

I’ve not had issues so far, and all the issues I had with Alexa speaker groups not working well with 4 echos in one group and google casting issues are gone. Everything seems a little nippier too which is nice. I have 2 nodes setup and as they don’t support PPPoE which is ridiculous I have it setup with a double NAT, the gateway Eero plugs into the BT Home hub and I have a the rent switch into the other eero port that then has all other LAN devices and bt WiFi is disabled, it sounds complicated but you just plug the cable in and it just sorts itself out.

So everything goes via the Eero network so I manage devices, pause their internet, see bandwidth usage and that.

I have to say I’m very very impressed with it.

Carlos wrote:It depends, quite seriously on how politics goes over the next 5 years.

Consider this: In 2023 Disney has to reapply and lobby congress for more extensions to copyright laws to keep its mits on its intellectual property. If we get a Trump/highly conservative government this might happen and big companies will increasingly become gatekeepers to our culture. On the other hand a Biden administration will have gone after the break-up of the big internet companies and the entertainment industry might be next. The American courts (or even the EU) could seriously alter copyright laws to only last for a decade to promote artistic and cultural access to previously protected works.

For gaming this is a big deal because it would make all roms prior to 2013 effectively public domain works. Fans will also realise that if games only ever exist on the servers of Google or whoever they will have no way to access them once the decade of copyright is up. On the other hand increased pressure for a 'right to repair' could kill the games console dead as it would have no choice but to be built from off-the-shelf parts effectively becoming even more a mini-PC. Sony might just bin the idea of a PlayStation 6 they cannot control the silicon of and so just move to streaming as a medium.

I'm an artist/creator and I'm definitely in favour of that copyright reform. How the strawberry float can culture comment on culture if it isn't allowed to include culture in culture.

Errkal wrote:

Ironhide wrote:

Errkal wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

Is Eero any good?

I'm currently looking at getting a mesh wifi setup as the Plusnet router is quite frankly a pile of steaming horse wank.

I’ve not had issues so far, and all the issues I had with Alexa speaker groups not working well with 4 echos in one group and google casting issues are gone. Everything seems a little nippier too which is nice. I have 2 nodes setup and as they don’t support PPPoE which is ridiculous I have it setup with a double NAT, the gateway Eero plugs into the BT Home hub and I have a the rent switch into the other eero port that then has all other LAN devices and bt WiFi is disabled, it sounds complicated but you just plug the cable in and it just sorts itself out.

So everything goes via the Eero network so I manage devices, pause their internet, see bandwidth usage and that.

I have to say I’m very very impressed with it.

I think I'd have to do the same as I'm currently with Plusnet who use an older model of the BT hub.

It can't even be put into modem only mode (you have to just switch off wifi).

Just seen that the Eero 3 node kit currently has £100 off in the Prime day sale so have ordered it.

Ironhide wrote:

Errkal wrote:

Ironhide wrote:

Errkal wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Errkal wrote:I've been streaming my gaming PC for 6 months or so and it's brilliant.

I have a PC in the cloud (is in a data centre in Paris) that is a Windows 10 box that I use like a normal PC so I can install anything as it's just a PC I access via the Shadow apps and that. I have just gotten rid of my Xbox One S and am using the Shadow app on Android TV to play on my TV and have an old Windows PC in my office I use for Shadow and Citrix for work.

Streaming is the future.

How have you found the latency on shadow?

I've not noticed it, I get the odd picture blip as the as it sort of artifacts like Netflix does some times but otherwise it's really stable.

I have it set to 20 Mb/s which is about half my internet connection and it's really good.

It was spoddy on WiFi for a while but since binning BT WiFi for Eero it's now stable on that too. Very very impressive.

Is Eero any good?

I'm currently looking at getting a mesh wifi setup as the Plusnet router is quite frankly a pile of steaming horse wank.

I’ve not had issues so far, and all the issues I had with Alexa speaker groups not working well with 4 echos in one group and google casting issues are gone. Everything seems a little nippier too which is nice. I have 2 nodes setup and as they don’t support PPPoE which is ridiculous I have it setup with a double NAT, the gateway Eero plugs into the BT Home hub and I have a the rent switch into the other eero port that then has all other LAN devices and bt WiFi is disabled, it sounds complicated but you just plug the cable in and it just sorts itself out.

So everything goes via the Eero network so I manage devices, pause their internet, see bandwidth usage and that.

I have to say I’m very very impressed with it.

I think I'd have to do the same as I'm currently with Plusnet who use an older model of the BT hub.

It can't even be put into modem only mode (you have to just switch off wifi).

Just seen that the Eero 3 node kit currently has £100 off in the Prime day sale so have ordered it.

Very nice, I’m currently only using 2 of the 3 nodes which is enough for the house but is nice to have a spare. Bonus is that each one can be a gateway or a node so if the gateway dies it can be swapped out.

Seems to update nearly each month too (has had 2 this month) which is nice.

You can create groups of devices in the app to be able to “pause” the internet on those devices and can block devices from the network which is also good.

(Bump)

I was just thinking about game streaming, what with Microsoft being linked to pucks and Samsung TV apps whilst we'll soon see more of Sony's approach with the updated PlayStation Plus.

I have yet to try streaming a game but whilst I was originally positive about the idea I think I may now be less so. My main concerns are quality (blips/dips in game display and performance) and cost (as publishers can eliminate physical copies - which are often cheaper - and keep digital prices high).

It's not gonna happen for a little while but I could see streaming becoming the main way of playing games; with the platform holders having total control over what is available, how much you'll pay and when they close down the game.