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At what point will you give up pc builds? A Cloud gaming discussion

I think I live too far away from anywhere relevant for streaming to ever be a valid option for me. My country probably isn't important enough to get servers, and even if we did they'd be in the capital which is over 1000 miles away from here, not sure how viable that is for game streaming.

Also I don't like what it means for game ownership. Digital is already bad enough and we don't have a choice on PC, but at least the files are still on my PC and there are some DRM free options. Streaming is a whole different beast.
What country are you from?
 

teokrazia

Member
I've stopped updating my PC in 2019.
I'm using it with joy for Street Fighter 6, Resident 4 Remake, Hi-Fi: Rush and crossgen/indie stuff, but since then I'm playing every big title of my interest on GeForce NOW.

I play also MP games on there (CoD, APEX, Quake Champions when it was supported), with great competitive results.

I missed the possibility to tweak and mod, but is a trade-off that I ended accepting.
 

Barakov

Member
tqpvK5e.jpeg
the dark knight rises so many feels oh god GIF
 

MetalRain

Member
I find biggest hurdle to be video bitrate.

Like I could enjoy playing game like Civilisation or XCom on Geforce Now, but currently if there is enough moving details on the screen, there will be noticable compression artefacts. You can even see this with PlayStation Portal where video stream doesn't even go to outside network.

Not sure if this can be solved with "just faster internet" or would it require game specific solutions, like designing games such that there are different layers (UI, gameworld, effects) sent on different streams.
 
I'd rather quit gaming than stop playing on local hardware, simple as that. Also I use my pc for a lot more than gaming and how could there ever be the same level of freedom and flexibility with streaming?

Like, mod support, emulation and support for every single game ever released? I mean, even if I could play new games at the highest possible settings with 0 latency and perfect video quality for free, I wouldn't prefer it to my own local hardware.

But I mainly play on console so I can buy/sell physical media.
 
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I find biggest hurdle to be video bitrate.

Like I could enjoy playing game like Civilisation or XCom on Geforce Now, but currently if there is enough moving details on the screen, there will be noticable compression artefacts. You can even see this with PlayStation Portal where video stream doesn't even go to outside network.

Not sure if this can be solved with "just faster internet" or would it require game specific solutions, like designing games such that there are different layers (UI, gameworld, effects) sent on different streams.

Even with better parallel processing and bandwidth, there is latency to contend with. Just the amount of hops a typical consumer's ISP makes your data through is a lot. Maybe it's just me but something just feels off when there is input/network latency and it makes it impossible to enjoy the feeling of playing the game
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Once they get around to changing the laws of physics, I'll jump on board.
100%. I’m not against cloud gaming, but I am against latency. Unless they build a server farm next door to my house, I won’t use it.
 

mdkirby

Gold Member
Switched to consoles as my “main” gaming device in about 2000, but still built pcs for some gaming and for work until about 2010 ish…then switched entirely to consoles for gaming, kept a pc laptop for work. Then switched to apple for work after doing a workshop with apples designers and developers where select people got access to some of their new stuff, and maybe another dozen “pairing” of designers and devs from other well known companies. Every single person pulled out MacBook Pros, except for me, who pulled out a Lenovo laptop 🤣…I went and bought a MacBook the next day, and have never played a single game on it.

Given the amount of issues I read about in regards to pc gaming, every single game seems to release in a broken state. Been playing helldivers with friends. One uses a pc, he had constant issues, he was talking about the internet telling him to delete and replace files etc. we were just “dude buy a bloody ps5”. He nearly did, but then he’d sunk in too many hours, and updates “mostly” resolved the worst of his issues.

Can’t imagine I’ll ever go back. PlayStation. Just turn it on, and play it. It works. No faff.

As for cloud. It works reasonably on PlayStation already. I use it for weekend games that I plan to wrap up in a few days. Eventually I can see switching once it’s just a touch better.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I’ve been using GeForce Now for a while since my gaming pc is in long term storage. There are some hiccups depending on the internet connection quality but otherwise it’s very good, and I can easily use my MBP as a high end gaming machine. It’s probably the future for me.
 

Fess

Member
100%. I’m not against cloud gaming, but I am against latency. Unless they build a server farm next door to my house, I won’t use it.
Don’t know if things has become worse but I got 15ms ping to Geforce Now servers way back when they started it. I had no issues at all playing like that, my TV I used for consoles probably had more latency.

But not being able to use gsync and having no file access for mods and having to wait in a queue around big releases meant it was a big downgrade from local gaming.

In the future if they would upgrade the CPU/GPU beyond anything I could have a home, then I will gladly try it out again. But right now streaming is pointless for me.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
When internet in the most remote place of this planet is so good we don't have to care about it at all and the streaming quality is so good you don't see any compression artifact ever, as if I played in local
 

Tams

Member
Don't listen to these people OP.

As soon as the advantages outweigh the negatives we'll all switch. People are horrendous at predicting the future.

There's a big problem when one of the negatives is physics itself.

Most people will ignore the control using the 'cloud' exclusively gives to others, until they get fucked and it's too late.
 

Fabieter

Member
WEF said we will own nothing and be happy at one point so I expect them to force hardware out sometimes in the future.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Probably never, but I know that geforce now is pretty good, but picture from it is still shit compared to HW, bandwidth to monitor is just too high, first display port, which is now obsolete had 10Gbit/s bandwidth. You good internet probably has 1/10 of that, so its unrealistic before some massive change to networking occurs...
 
My main problem with Geforce Now, Xcloud etc is that I am never sure what I'm going to be able to play. If they simplified all that shit, I'd be all over it... As soon as I can play anything I own in one cloud service, I'm in.
 

coolmast3r

Member
Cloud gaming will never be as responsive in terms of input latency as the local hardware, end of story. You can't fight laws of physics. Well, you can, but you'll be losing every time and making a fool out of yourself in the process.
 

FrankCaron

Gold Member
This might be controversial, but as someone who nowadays almost exclusively cloud games because I have no console and only a Mac and a phone, I’ll say this:

Cloud gaming is to gaming what the pure electric car is to cars.

You’re never going to see local games or hardware folks love to build and tinker with, as combustion cars, fully die.
 
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Spyxos

Member
I would have no problem at all switching immediately. The technology behind Geforce now is great. Unfortunately, the choice of games is still very limited. Multiplayer is no longer that important to me. Geforce now is already enough for me in this respect. But the game selection simply has to be better.
 
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My main problem with Geforce Now, Xcloud etc is that I am never sure what I'm going to be able to play. If they simplified all that shit, I'd be all over it... As soon as I can play anything I own in one cloud service, I'm in.

You will never own anything with a cloud service, and you will always be at the mercy of your service provider. Microsoft is best positioned for this as a huge publisher and with their infrastructure. You’ll pay for the service and new games, but once you can play games you already own digitally on Xcloud - that will be the big difference. Building an ecosystem up now is almost impossible. Aside from the latency issue, that’s the reason Stadia failed.
 

Fabieter

Member
Can you pls also cry about the vanguard league of legends change which forces you to install a virus with a game you played for 15 years.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Can you pls also cry about the vanguard league of legends change which forces you to install a virus with a game you played for 15 years.
Sorry but I guess no one gives a shit.

Different audiences, plus those are free games so I guess you really can't complain in the same way.
 

Fabieter

Member
Sorry but I guess no one gives a shit.

Different audiences, plus those are free games so I guess you really can't complain in the same way.

There are people who paid 1000 of bucks on skins over the years who are locked out if they don't accept a new reality on a 15 year old game. But I guess you had me at no one gives a shit.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
There are people who paid 1000 of bucks on skins over the years who are locked out if they don't accept a new reality on a 15 year old game. But I guess you had me at no one gives a shit.
Is Valorant very popular? Helldivers II sure is, so probably that has something to do with it.

What I mean is that I'm sure people are complaining about the Riot anti-cheat, but if the game isn't popular enough, it won't be a "scandal" and you won't see it being discussed 24/7 on Twitter and forums.

Hope you didn't spent any money on their games, shit sucks. I have an Ashe skin on Leage of Legends, guess I won't be seeing her again. This shit really sucks, which is why we should cheer when people complain like with the Helldivers stuff, instead of calling people crybabies or whatever.
 

Fabieter

Member
Is Valorant very popular? Helldivers II sure is, so probably that has something to do with it.

What I mean is that I'm sure people are complaining about the Riot anti-cheat, but if the game isn't popular enough, it won't be a "scandal" and you won't see it being discussed 24/7 on Twitter and forums.

Hope you didn't spent any money on their games, shit sucks. I have an Ashe skin on Leage of Legends, guess I won't be seeing her again. This shit really sucks, which is why we should cheer when people complain like with the Helldivers stuff, instead of calling people crybabies or whatever.

Well their games belong to the biggest games ib gaming. The peak CCU of league was like double of players unknown battlegrounds on steam so yes.

There was a time I was addicted to buying skins in league and once I cured myself of that I never touched mtx ever since xD. Well it is what it is.
 

Dorfdad

Gold Member
There are people who paid 1000 of bucks on skins over the years who are locked out if they don't accept a new reality on a 15 year old game. But I guess you had me at no one gives a shit.
This is why I get upset when I hear gamers bitch and moan about NFT like or Web3 types of services. Today you can buy thousands of dollars in digital assets like Fortnite skins and if you decide you don’t want to play again guess what your money is gone. If we had an NFT like service where we owned them and could sell them individually or in a batch we would be much better off IMHO. This is why I stopped buying skins it’s basically me giving them free money that I can never recoup as selling your account is illegal for almost all these games.
 

IAmRei

Member
Unfortunately you'll fail then, because... i don't like multiplayer. You can't sell a heater to people in a tropical island where the temp never goes below 25°C.
i can relate, i live in faraway place, and faster bandwidth is better than heater. the bandwidth is too slow for cloud gaming, and have no sign to upgrade in near future. cloud gaming will be useless in my place. and doesnt have any physical is not helping either for me.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Its a non starter for me, even remote play has significant delay when it comes to multiplayer.


Im alright with it for single player but wouldnt be comfortable with just the cloud.
 
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