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:

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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.

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

Amazon Luna Official Website

 

[Aew4life]

The great gaming crash of 2021 lmao

 

[rdurbin]

the way the controller works sounds cool. its wifi and connect directly to the games server. this lowers the controller lag and makes it quick and easy to switch between multiple devices as they would only be used for displaying screen. never seen a streaming service do it this way

 

[Deleted member 397813]

CAN ALL THESE COMPANIES FUCKING STOP TRYING TO MAKE THEIR OWN VERSION OF GEFORCE NOW PLEASE THANK YOU.

 

[JFizDaWiz]

[redacted]

 

[GenNaz]

the way the controller works sounds cool. its wifi and connect directly to the games server. this lowers the controller lag and makes it quick and easy to switch between multiple devices as they would only be used for displaying screen. never seen a streaming service do it this way

Stadia controllers work the same way though I don't blame you or anyone for not knowing much about Stadia tbh

 

[nWo]

I don't really dig the cloud based gaming. And besides, in my country the internet is painfully slow. Nothing like having your cartridges/discs in place.

 

[rdurbin]

Stadia controllers work the same way though I don't blame you or anyone for not knowing much about Stadia tbh

heh, never tried it. I have tried onlive and ps now, xcloud and gaikai (or whatever it was called)

 

[K3-ICHI-X]

Not to excited...

 

[Deleted User]

this garbage will go down, same as google stadia. Mark my words. The world is not ready for streaming games yet.

But they are willing to download a full Blu-ray Disc in a few hours, right? Point is, pirates will always find excuses so you'll never win with them.

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Not to excited...

Due to licensing and such.

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Stadia controllers work the same way though I don't blame you or anyone for not knowing much about Stadia tbh

Speaking of which, the Stadia controller will be the only thing its paid customers can keep hold of and not feel they were completely ripped off when the service is discontinued.

 

[shadow1w2]

If it came with Amazon Prime which has been steadily losing value for the price as they remove benefits and feature, I'd say it wouod work well.
Though on its own it will struggle.
Gotta admot that monthly fee is not a bad price and the controller is priced fairly too.
Not bad but nothing I'd go out of my way for.

 

[yoyoyo69]

How is it not a competitor to xcloud but it is to google stadia when literally all the games are included in your monthly sub without having to buy them separately ? It's exactly like xcloud and because of that a competitor to xcloud and not google stadia

It is - a direct competitor, I would say they'll have much more competition from Microsoft than Googke at the moment. Googles service is extremely poor in comparison, I don't have high hopes for Amazon either really, but it shouldn't be worse than Stadia.

Sony will inevitably want to launch their own service, it makes me wonder what issues they may be facing, or perhaps they don't want to compete in this field. It wouldn't surprise me if they were clinging to the older "methods".

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If it came with Amazon Prime which has been steadily losing value for the price as they remove benefits and feature, I'd say it wouod work well.
Though on its own it will struggle.
Gotta admot that monthly fee is not a bad price and the controller is priced fairly too.
Not bad but nothing I'd go out of my way for.

Yeah, it was a kind of bait and switch.

Amazon tv was trash (there are some decent shows now though) and they were unable to get customers on board.

Take up of deliveries was decent, as was music, so they merged them, with music being a low tier introduction in a away (Premium tier for all music).

They bumped the price up and technically forced those who wanted Prime deliveries, to pay for the trash service, it paid off though.

Since then.......

 

[elk1007]

Should have announced a You Tube replacement instead of a stadia competitor.... which will be dead in 2 years

The 4.99 a month fee makes me believe that it will NOT be a Netflix for video games. Just subscribe to gamepass or GeForce Now . This is going to be just like stadia where you have to pay for each game...and pay a monthly fee. No. thank. You.

PSNow has a decent library. I can't guarantee it has Two Point Hospital

 

[lordelan]

As always, one big question remaines unanswered, which is the most important at least to me when it comes to streaming services:

What about the savegames?

If I play something in Google Stadia, I have to buy it another time and can't access my savegame so if Google Stadia ever goes down, the game (for which I paid) and the savegame are lost.

That's the simple reason why Geforce Now is still the best streaming service for me yet. Not only is it the cheapest one, it also lets me play already owned games and thanks to Steam Cloud I can access my savegames from a PC as well.

I know many of you are like "If I played through Assassin's Creed, why would I care about that save afterwards? I'm done with that game." but to me savegames are important.

So I hate the fact that those cloud services* don't care about savegame access.
Also that's the reason why I only buy hackable consoles. I always want to be able to backup my savegames.

 

[wolffangalchemist]

At first i thought this could be decent especially if it got included with prime like for someone on a budget.
upon further inspection they want you to pay to try the early access (clearly beta) and considering Ubisoft seems to be involved in it, i would avoid it... avoid it like the plague.

 

[Bladexdsl]

cloud gaming for shovel-ware!

 

[Darth Meteos]

Streaming services: Never work, have bad PR
Every big corporation be like

 

[Dazzcooney]

Is everyone missing the elephant in the room or am I Missing something ? How is this streaming service allowed on iOS ? I had a double take when they mentioned it’s coming to Apple first and Android later . Microsoft are currently locked in a battle to allow xcloud on iOS and along comes amazon with its own streaming service . Someone tell me I’m missing something obvious as I’m not usually the one to point out the glaring mistakes

 

[HarveyHouston]

Do you think cloud gaming services will replace traditional gaming consoles?

God, I hope not! Traditional consoles are waaay better; Cloud gaming, while convenient, is a lot like Chromebooks - very little use locally, and a pain in... well, wherever it hurts you most, when the internet is spotty or goes down due to some power outtage.

Google and Amazon can keep their cloud gaming services - I'll take a Wii console any day of the week.

 

[Goku1992A]

This will not sell well. Too many other options exist like others said if it came with Amazon Prime it would have done well but by itself it will struggle.

Cloud gaming is the future so get ready for it!

 

[Waywatcher]

They should market it as "Amazon Luna does what StaDon't"