Google Stadia's less than stellar launch might have proved that hardcore gaming audiences weren't ready for cloud gaming just yet, but that won't be stopping NVIDIA. Their GeForce Now service has left beta and officially launched today, offering low-latency game streaming to a multitude of platforms, such as PC, macOS, Android, and the NVIDIA Shield. GeForce Now, much like Google Stadia, is a game-streaming service, but it makes itself different from the competition in a key way: instead of renting a library of titles, players pay monthly to access a remote computer to play their own games on, and stream directly to their devices. Currently, it only costs $4.99 a month for GeForce Now, though it's an introductory price that is slated to increase after the initial launch. You can also use the service for free, though it comes with certain stipulations, such as having to potentially wait in a queue for spots to open up, and limiting sessions to an hour at a time. Paid users get six-hour sessions at a time, which is done to prevent mining or non-gaming high resource activities, though you can jump back in after your session is over.

Users in 30 countries across the world will be able to subscribe to GeForce Now, which has data centers that deliver an average of 20-millisecond latency in Europe and North America, while eastern locations like Korea, Japan, and Russia get around 10 milliseconds of lag. Those interested in trying the service out are advised to have a 15mbps connection at minimum, and recommending 25mbps internet to have a better experience.

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[Mythical]

"RTX ON"
All in all I've used the beta service and the price point is worth it.
It says limited time, but I feel like it'd be worth it up to $15.
All you need to get a good 1080p stream is about 10mbps down
you want about 25ish for anything else especially if you're network has a lot of use outside this.\
You can talk shit, but it's free to see if you can run it well.
If you can't don't buy it if you can well it might be for you

 

[Flame]

oh no. we are doomed as a species when even a company like NVIDIA doesn't see how dumb this is.

 

[Kioku]

oh no. we are doomed as a species when even a company like NVIDIA doesn't see how dumb this is.

Their service worked better in beta than Stadia did as a finished product. Not a fan of game streaming, so I have no inclination to use their service. I just wish this wasn't what the major players wanted to push.

 

[IncredulousP]

I thought stadia failed because current internet structures required too much latency? How is it that Nvidia can deliver packets with such low latency? Secret deals with T1 providers?

Either way, heavy data streaming like this will hopefully lead to more push for net neutrality and improved infrastructure.

 

[Chary]

oh no. we are doomed as a species when even a company like NVIDIA doesn't see how dumb this is.

I truly think this is a better way to handle game streaming, regardless. You bring your own games to the table--you're not locked to the Google Stadia storefront, and the only way you'll lose your games is if for some insane reason, Steam dies, or Epic goes under, or whatever. It's also starting out relatively cheap, and through the betas, has been tested extensively and been proven to be reliable. It's not ideal for anyone who's like, playing frame-perfect emulated games, or is used to 144hz monitors and no lag, but for people who want PC 60fps gaming but can't afford a PC, it's a great option tbh. I wouldn't get it, myself, but I can see a definite audience existing for this.

 

[SkittleDash]

As a user during their beta phase, it's a bloody good service. Had constant 60FPS with beautiful visuals and access to your Steam library. Tons better than Stadia. That's the pros.Though through the recent months, it has seen tons to AAA losses. And that's the biggest con of this service. Games that you really want to play may be unsupported and unplayable until NVidia can negotiate with other game companies.

 

[Arras]

oh no. we are doomed as a species when even a company like NVIDIA doesn't see how dumb this is.

It's just another method to let you install and play your existing library of games though. It's not like Stadia's exclusive nonsense, just an option for people who might want it.

 

[Flame]

Their service worked better in beta than Stadia did as a finished product. Not a fan of game streaming, so I have no inclination to use their service. I just wish this wasn't what the major players wanted to push.

I truly think this is a better way to handle game streaming, regardless. You bring your own games to the table--you're not locked to the Google Stadia storefront, and the only way you'll lose your games is if for some insane reason, Steam dies, or Epic goes under, or whatever. It's also starting out relatively cheap, and through the betas, has been tested extensively and been proven to be reliable. It's not ideal for anyone who's like, playing frame-perfect emulated games, or is used to 144hz monitors and no lag, but for people who want PC 60fps gaming but can't afford a PC, it's a great option tbh. I wouldn't get it, myself, but I can see a definite audience existing for this.

It's just another method to let you install and play your existing library of games though. It's not like Stadia's exclusive nonsense, just an option for people who might want it.

well said you three.

always best to vote with your wallet i guess.

 

[Azmort]

I used it for a long time while in beta, but eventually the games I played there became unavailable (GTA 5, Fallout 4).

 

[64bitmodels]

Wait a minute, is this like streaming from your home PC or streaming from nvidia's servers. If it's the former than yeah this will be gold
but if it's the latter i'm very doubtful

 

[Mythical]

Wait a minute, is this like streaming from your home PC or streaming from nvidia's servers. If it's the former than yeah this will be gold
but if it's the latter i'm very doubtful

You can already stream from your home pc lol. It's built into steam and you can just add games. It's called steam link and it's free.
The latter is what this is though.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also it (Gefoce Now) has V-SYNC on by default so y'all might want to turn that off to reduce input lag and all that jazz

 

[64bitmodels]

You can already stream from your home pc lol. It's built into steam and you can just add games. It's called steam link and it's free.
The latter is what this is though.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also it (Gefoce Now) has V-SYNC on by default so y'all might want to turn that off to reduce input lag and all that jazz

Ahh dammit

 

[hippy dave]

Aw shit, I was hoping it was gonna stay in free beta for a while longer tbh.

Once Android Pie for Switch gets a proper release I'll be giving this another solid test run, I played through Portal 2 on Oreo, tho the wifi issues in that Android build provided regular interruptions that wouldn't have been as tolerable in a game with, like, enemies or whatever.

 

[Kioku]

I thought stadia failed because current internet structures required too much latency? How is it that Nvidia can deliver packets with such low latency? Secret deals with T1 providers?

Either way, heavy data streaming like this will hopefully lead to more push for net neutrality and improved infrastructure.

Stadia failed because Google doesn't know how to run game streaming servers. They clearly put most of the budget into the big name titles and marketing. "Negative latency", sure.

 

[MaxiBash]

I like how everyone complains about this, but is it bad if I say I like GeForce Now?
Yeah, I experience very little lag once in a while, but I never experienced Minecraft at 60fps, so it's a-ok for me.

Plus, you can import games you already own, so it's not like Google Stadia where you have to pay for the game full price again, thank god.

 

[64bitmodels]

I like how everyone complains about this, but is it bad if I say I like GeForce Now?
Yeah, I experience very little lag once in a while.

As long as you aren't praising it or stadia it's fine

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I've used GeForce NOW on a few occasions. I can say I have no major complaints, it's pretty good. It does what it's supposed to pretty well, functionally speaking. Being kicked off every few hours is kind of annoying (I believe a session could last 4 hours in the beta), but it's not the end of the world, I suppose.

 

[jDSX]

Stadia killed Stadia by being a terrible value proposition, launching feature incomplete with many broken promises, and having a crappy experience compared even to existing consoles.

 

[Ev1l0rd]

This could be really interesting and actually made me think.

What if we had a service akin to a VPS, but set up for gaming. Basically, you pay x money a month and in exchange, you get access to a remote server that runs Windows 10 or something that already has the needed tools to remotely log in set up for you. That plus a clean client to do so, and you'd avoid the entire need for business deals with publishers altogether, since you're effectively renting out server space on dedicated gaming devices and what users do on it becomes irrelevant at that point.

GeForce Now seems like a move in that direction, but given how they still need deals with publishers would make it seem that there's more going on?