'GeForce Now' for Mac: game streaming/cloud processing

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joeyluck
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30 Jun 2017

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/pr ... ow/mac-pc/

I'm impressed (based on examples I've seen). I've signed up for the beta.
The latency seems very low; as it would need to be. I guess it all depends greatly on your connection. We'll see!
Basically, the service streams the game; doing all the video processing in the server and it exchanges the data.

I can do a decent amount directly on my MacBook Air, running games like Doom 3, Bioshock, Lego Harry Potter, Star Wars: Force Unleashed. Nothing crazy. Curious to try this out.



I wonder what the future holds for cloud streaming and processing... As Internet connections become faster and servers more robust.

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30 Jun 2017

Thanks for the heads up JoeyLuck.

I've joined the Beta and I'm waiting for a slot. I'll let you know how I get on.

avasopht
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01 Jul 2017

I watched my sister playing PS4 via a stream. The speed is impressive, and that was just between PS4's.

OnLive was already doing this a good 5 or so years ago though, and it could be improved even further if they collaborated with internet service providers to run the GPUs in their datacentres to reduce the latency even further.

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QVprod
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01 Jul 2017

Signed up for the beta a while back. Got the access email the other day. Haven't tried it out yet, but I'm no fan of the pricing structure that'll be in place after the beta. $25 for 20 hours is pretty ridiculous for both hardcore and casual gamers.

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joeyluck
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01 Jul 2017

QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017
Signed up for the beta a while back. Got the access email the other day. Haven't tried it out yet, but I'm no fan of the pricing structure that'll be in place after the beta. $25 for 20 hours is pretty ridiculous for both hardcore and casual gamers.
I was looking for that. Where did you find it?

I only saw in the FAQ that the beta is free (no other price listed) and that GeForce Now for Shield is $7.99/month

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QVprod
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01 Jul 2017

joeyluck wrote:
01 Jul 2017
QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017
Signed up for the beta a while back. Got the access email the other day. Haven't tried it out yet, but I'm no fan of the pricing structure that'll be in place after the beta. $25 for 20 hours is pretty ridiculous for both hardcore and casual gamers.
I was looking for that. Where did you find it?

I only saw in the FAQ that the beta is free (no other price listed) and that GeForce Now for Shield is $7.99/month
The guy says it in the video. I then googled it to be sure and saw a thread on their forum.

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joeyluck
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01 Jul 2017

QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017
joeyluck wrote:
01 Jul 2017


I was looking for that. Where did you find it?

I only saw in the FAQ that the beta is free (no other price listed) and that GeForce Now for Shield is $7.99/month
The guy says it in the video. I then googled it to be sure and saw a thread on their forum.
Hmmm... I'm not sure how long it would take me to log 20 hours. Could be worth it for those who play every now and then. I guess they may figure those paying for the service aren't the most serious gamers; as those gamers have gaming computers. But then there's the perspective of it being a rental service which can be attractive to any gamer. I saw a thread as well. But they don't seem to be display this on their site from what I can see. So perhaps they are still considering pricing.

Heater
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01 Jul 2017

QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017
Signed up for the beta a while back. Got the access email the other day. Haven't tried it out yet, but I'm no fan of the pricing structure that'll be in place after the beta. $25 for 20 hours is pretty ridiculous for both hardcore and casual gamers.
Yeah. I was trying to find that info out as well. I guess I'm out. I'm not paying that much for access.

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QVprod
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01 Jul 2017

joeyluck wrote:
01 Jul 2017
QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017


The guy says it in the video. I then googled it to be sure and saw a thread on their forum.
Hmmm... I'm not sure how long it would take me to log 20 hours. Could be worth it for those who play every now and then. I guess they may figure those paying for the service aren't the most serious gamers; as those gamers have gaming computers. But then there's the perspective of it being a rental service which can be attractive to any gamer. I saw a thread as well. But they don't seem to be display this on their site from what I can see. So perhaps they are still considering pricing.
If you play any RPG games you'll eat that up before beating the game. Then on top of that, the service only works for games you already own. Their rental service (Netflix style) is Nvidia Shield. The FAQ doesn't list the price, but it does say pay as you go rather than subscription.

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joeyluck
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06 Oct 2017

QVprod wrote:
01 Jul 2017
joeyluck wrote:
01 Jul 2017


Hmmm... I'm not sure how long it would take me to log 20 hours. Could be worth it for those who play every now and then. I guess they may figure those paying for the service aren't the most serious gamers; as those gamers have gaming computers. But then there's the perspective of it being a rental service which can be attractive to any gamer. I saw a thread as well. But they don't seem to be display this on their site from what I can see. So perhaps they are still considering pricing.
If you play any RPG games you'll eat that up before beating the game. Then on top of that, the service only works for games you already own. Their rental service (Netflix style) is Nvidia Shield. The FAQ doesn't list the price, but it does say pay as you go rather than subscription.
Finally got an invite to the beta (but I think it's public now anyways).

I couldn't do anything with it because I don't own any games (as you mention as a requirement). Thought there might be some games to try in the beta. It's such a silly model.

So this is essentially for people who already own games...or those willing to take a chance on the service I guess. But those who already own games, must have previously bought them to play them on more capable computers, right? And now they want to pay a large fee to play those games on less capable computers? I don't know these people :?

I don't own any of those games because why would I have already purchased them to try to play them on my system that doesn't meet it's requirements? And NVIDIA doesn't even have a shop it seems. The service is linked to Steam and Battle.net. So if you have a bad experience with the service, you're then dealing with several parties. And I doubt the place you purchased the game from is going to care to hear your story about how you bought it for a service that turns out to not work well for you... I don't know how they handle this.

In some cases you have to be tethered to ethernet. But now macOS High Sierra natively supports external GPUs. So if you're forgoing convenience, an external GPU is the more sound purchase to make and not have to pay a fee to play games you own. Very confusing. I could see this doing better as a Netflix for playing games (as you describe Nvidia Shield). Something that is a monthly fee (not an hourly fee) and it also covers games that they host for you to play without buying.

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