Amazon announces its new cloud gaming service Amazon Luna

luna.JPG
A new competitor enters the console gaming market and it's none other than Amazon. During its hardware event today, the tech giant announced that it's entering the console gaming market with Amazon Luna. Rather than being a direct competitor to the PS5 or Xbox Series X, Luna is more of a competitor to Google Stadia. Like the latter, Luna is a cloud-based gaming service but is powered by Amazon Web Service (AWS) and is available on PC, Mac, Fire TV and web apps for iPhone and iPad (Android is planned for later). Games are playable with either Xbox One controller, DualShock 4 controller, mouse/keyboard or the newly announced Luna Controller; a controller apparently took some inspiration from the Nintendo Switch's Pro Controller, with the notable addition of a virtual assistant button:


controller 1.png

controller 2.png controller 3.png controller 4.png
While this service has been announced today, early access to Luna is available in mainland U.S. only and exclusively by invitation on its official website, which will be issued on a rolling basis. This early access is priced at $5.99 per month, streams at up to 1080p with select titles streamed at up to 4K resolution and supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The company recommends a minimum internet connection speed of 10 Mbps for streaming games and mentions a 35 Mbps connection required to play in 4K.

The Alexa-enabled Luna Controller goes for $49.99 during the early access period, and will be available for purchase only by those who have received an invitation to Luna. Amazon's controller connects directly to Amazon's cloud servers, allowing for lower latency and enabling players to easily switch between screens (such as Fire TV to mobile phone) without the need for additional pairing or configuration changes.

Amazon Luna will also feature Twitch integration which the company explains as follows:
“Inside the Luna experience, players will see Twitch streams for games in the service, and from Twitch, they’ll be able to instantly start playing Luna games.”

As part of the announcement, Luna+ was also introduced as "a growing library of new and favorite titles" that will host over 100 games. Launch titles will include Resident Evil 7, Control, Panzer Dragoon, A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Surge 2, Yooka-Laylee, GRID, Abzu, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons; with more to be added "over time". Amazon also announced the Ubisoft channel, the first of additional gaming channels, which will include older and newer Ubisoft games like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. But no pricing was announced for this additional channel.

luna games.jpg

What do you think of the Amazon Luna? Do you think cloud gaming services will replace traditional gaming consoles? Share your thoughts below!

:arrow: Amazon Luna Official Website
 

CrossOut

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This will be very interesting as it already has much better features then google stadia did( you know, that fact that you dont have to purchase your games all over again). The minmum connection speeds stated are upload speed and not download speed. If this is the case this needs to be stated as it is false advertising. I have to say that the games in the picture are not the best launch titles but it makes sense since its a streaming service.

I wonder why they are not releasing it on android and wating until later. Perhaps there a a few problems and they are trying to work it out? I look forward to seeing this here in PAL regions.
 

Raffina

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Is anyone truly excited about cloud gaming? I understand that all software is going the way of the Dodo, but I feel we aren't there yet. I wonder, fast interweb connections are expensive and not available everywhere, this truly is a niche market. I do like the Switch Pro controller copypasta. The purple accent color is sexy!
 

Mythical

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Considering how slow prime shipping has become I wouldn't hold my breath that they care about streaming lag.
shipping times have been slow everywhere because of the pandemic. not really amazon related.

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

separately not sure if another streaming platform is worth it, but I do like the controller they have shown here
 
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Teletron1

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If they say this can run on a Firestick than it’s going to be garbage it can barely handle video at times,
but I do like how everyone is taking a swing at this
hopefully everyone brings something useful that helps at least build a good foundation for the future
 

Nerdtendo

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I can't tell if it's a Netflix/xcloud type service where you pay a monthly fee and access whatever game you want at no extra charge, or a stupid stadia service where you pay full price for each game on top of a subscription if you want 4k.

I actually like the idea of cloud gaming. Especially xcloud since it lets me play the handful of xbox titles I want to play without having to spend $300-$500 for a console. I know people cry latency and artifacting and it's honestly been imperceptible to me on xcloud, so I think I can enjoy it.
 

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On one hand, everyone trying to make a cloud-streaming service might push them to make better services. On the other hand, the companies that have been making these services (Google and now Amazon,) have a long history of abandoning projects the second they don't instantly kill the competition.
 

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It is good that more companies are jumping on this bandwagon as more competition means more competitive pricing and features.
If Amazon adds this service to their Prime membership, I will definitely try it out.
I don't like the copied switch pro controller as the buttons hurt my thumbs after playing for an hour on the pro controller.

While game streaming is a new(ish) technology full of bugs/lags and other disappointments now, it will be the future of gaming. Instead of buying a $3000+ power pc and having to buy a $1200+ gpu every 2 years, you can play games on a potato or a small stick such as the fireTV for around $15-$20 per month. Unfortunately, this may mean no piracy or physical media to own which will also kill any hopes of future emulation prospects unless the games can be fully ripped off of the gaming servers and played offline.
 

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