News Nvidia's GeForce Now Cloud Gaming Service Launches with Tiered Pricing, Ray Tracing

[Admin]

Finally coming out of beta, GeForce Now supports more than 1,000 PC games.

Nvidia's GeForce Now Cloud Gaming Service Launches with Tiered Pricing, Ray Tracing : Read more

 

[Giroro]

The steam/epic compatability gives Nvidia huge a leg up over Stadia... but these game streaming services need to sit down and seriously ask themselves "Would Netflix have succeeded if they made you buy every movie you watched?".

 

[King_V]

I'm puzzled by the same question, but I think the whole idea is: "You don't have to buy much in terms of a PC"

Of course, the caveats are: "Better hope you have affordable broadband. And no data caps."

Still, you have to pay the monthly fee, AND you have to buy the game? That seems like a tough sell.

 

[mac_angel]

I'm sorry if I missed something, but you said you tried two different internet connections, but it looked like both were still WiFi? You did not try a wired connection? I would think that would be obvious in troubleshooting internet connections.

 

[Giroro]

I'm sorry if I missed something, but you said you tried two different internet connections, but it looked like both were still WiFi? You did not try a wired connection? I would think that would be obvious in troubleshooting internet connections.

It's becoming rare that laptops have ethernet ports, and it's always been rare for houses to be wired with ethernet for a desktop PC. It might not have been an option for their setup.

 

[mac_angel]

It's becoming rare that laptops have ethernet ports, and it's always been rare for houses to be wired with ethernet for a desktop PC. It might not have been an option for their setup.

True. But if you call into your ISP about connection issues, the first thing they are going to ask is if you tried a wired connection. I think it is rather unfair to make a negative comment about NVidia's streaming service when it was only tested over WiFi. There are way too many variables to get into about a WiFi connection. I don't mean to say that I know everything, but from what I understand, most competitive gamers, especially in first person shooters, will have their gaming computer hooked up with a wired connection. And that is playing the game on the system locally, not streaming.
TomsHardware is usually really thorough in testing a lot of their things. It just struck me as rather odd to say that it was tested on two different Internet connections, but only through WiFi. I have a gaming laptop myself, Alienware, and I can have it set up 12" away from an AC Router and my ping will always be higher than a wired connection, and the transfer rate will always fluctuate.

 

[King_V]

Unless Nvidia is recommending it as good enough to deliver quality gameplay over WiFi.

 

[Giroro]

True. But if you call into your ISP about connection issues, the first thing they are going to ask is if you tried a wired connection. I think it is rather unfair to make a negative comment about NVidia's streaming service when it was only tested over WiFi. There are way too many variables to get into about a WiFi connection. I don't mean to say that I know everything, but from what I understand, most competitive gamers, especially in first person shooters, will have their gaming computer hooked up with a wired connection. And that is playing the game on the system locally, not streaming.
TomsHardware is usually really thorough in testing a lot of their things. It just struck me as rather odd to say that it was tested on two different Internet connections, but only through WiFi. I have a gaming laptop myself, Alienware, and I can have it set up 12" away from an AC Router and my ping will always be higher than a wired connection, and the transfer rate will always fluctuate.

The thing is, if a gamer hard wired on their desktop or gaming laptop (which do usually still have ethernet) ... then what do they need the streaming service for?

Nvidia's current minimum requirement of a PC on Wifi 5 and above is a pretty significant limiting factor - it pretty much rules out the majority of public and hotel wifi connections that people on a secondary or work laptop will encounter while away from their primary PC at home.
Are there many gamers out there who have a low-end PC with good internet and a library of owned games, but don't have better ways to play? There's gamers who's gaming PCs used to be good but have gone obsolete, I can't help but think Nvidia could make more money than $60/year by getting them back into the cycle of buying $300+ GPUs.
Is there even a point to using it around the house, like on a TV if you have a good PC in the other room that you don't want to sit at? I thought Nvidia has a thing where you can stream local games from your PC without buying into a service. I thought that was what the Shield was originally for.
I'm not really sure about that, but I am sure that Nvidia is going to try to get this working for as many people as possible, as quickly as they can.

 

[NP]

Sounds like a perfectly nice steaming pile of crap. I would rather get punched in the face than get in the business of paying for "playing" laggy, patchy, blurred games topping at ~45fps. shudders

Don't get me wrong. I will definitely look into cloud gaming in the future. Like in the 2030s or something.

 

[ubercake]

The benefit of this type of service is you don't need the expensive hardware.

The problem - aside from input lag, connection issues and other technical issues - is ISP data caps. If you don't have one yet, you will. My ISP offers a package for unlimited data usage for an additional $50/month (on top of the regular internet plan charge).

These streaming gaming services not only require the data for communicating your actions (as with a standard connection to the game server), but also data involved in with the hi-res video that a high-end PC would normally generate locally (not requiring transmission over your connection); hence the need for the recommend 15Mbps minimum. You would think these streaming gaming services would have struck a deal with the ISPs by now to share the wealth and increase subscribership out of the chute. Imagine... Xfinity Gaming Plus package for only $200/month.

Once streaming gaming is worth a darn (without regular performance drops), this whole discussion becomes a rent versus own situation. All vendors involved are going to get their money one way or another. Do you want to give it to them up front and save a little? Or have them take it from you monthly while seemingly saving in the short-term?

 

[Johnpombrio]

This $5/month subscription price is VERY misleading. It is an introductory price for the Founders Edition ONLY and is good for up to a year. After that time, we will need to join the Premier memberships plan and NVidia has not yet published what that price will be.

 

[mac_angel]

The thing is, if a gamer hard wired on their desktop or gaming laptop (which do usually still have ethernet) ... then what do they need the streaming service for?

Nvidia's current minimum requirement of a PC on Wifi 5 and above is a pretty significant limiting factor - it pretty much rules out the majority of public and hotel wifi connections that people on a secondary or work laptop will encounter while away from their primary PC at home.
Are there many gamers out there who have a low-end PC with good internet and a library of owned games, but don't have better ways to play? There's gamers who's gaming PCs used to be good but have gone obsolete, I can't help but think Nvidia could make more money than $60/year by getting them back into the cycle of buying $300+ GPUs.
Is there even a point to using it around the house, like on a TV if you have a good PC in the other room that you don't want to sit at? I thought Nvidia has a thing where you can stream local games from your PC without buying into a service. I thought that was what the Shield was originally for.
I'm not really sure about that, but I am sure that Nvidia is going to try to get this working for as many people as possible, as quickly as they can.

I'm not disagreeing with you on any of that, and you're trying to prove a point that I am agreeing with. My statement is no matter what problem you may end up having in regards to ANYTHING over the internet, one of the first questions they will ask is if you are connected wirelessly, or wired connection. If you tell them wireless, they will tell you to try a wired connection. If you say you do not have one, they will probably limit the amount of support based on that fact. Too many variables, no matter what you claim about how great your wifi is, it will never be as stable, or reliable, or as fast as a wired connection.

What kind of router is it?
What kind of wifi card is it? (there are many different versions of "AC")
How many devices are connected to the WiFi?
How far away are you from the router? If you're using a mesh network, is the hot spot wired or wireless as well?
Microwaves, radios, cell phones, electronics, florescent lights, etc, etc, etc.

Personally, I think it was wrong to write a negative review where the complaint was about connection reliability without troubleshooting 101.

 

[King_V]

Personally, I think it was wrong to write a negative review where the complaint was about connection reliability without troubleshooting 101.

But there was no other trouble with the author's wifi connection, was there? Only GeForce Now insisted there was trouble. As stated:

The one catch (which applies to all cloud streaming services) is that you need a stable Internet connection that’s at least 15 Mbps, which operates over either Wi-Fi 5 (aka 802.11ac) or higher wireless, or Ethernet.

So 15Mbps. Not a hard threshold to reach. Yet

Having used the service on two different Internet connections (home and work) that otherwise achieve high speeds, I am concerned that the connection problems were not on my end but Nvidia's.

You're being unreasonable. Two separate locations (75Mbps at one, 140Mbps at the other, well above Nvidia's 15 Mbps requirement) that never had a problem with speed EXCEPT WITH GeForce Now. That sounds like Nvidia's problem, not the author's problem.