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I never cared about Stadia, but Project XCloud blew me away

ManaByte

Gold Member
Today MS launched Project XCloud in limited testing on iOS (limited because of Apple's testing rules). You have to use TestFlight (Apple's beta testing app) and it only can stream Halo: MCC right now...but holy shit. I'm amazed.

I linked my Xbox One S controller that I use for PC gaming to my iPhone via Bluetooth and I was able to load up my Halo 2 Anniversary campaign save, and it was PERFECT. I'm streaming on my home WiFi and wasn't far from my router, but it looked and played perfectly.

I'm sold. I can see where MS is going with this. It's the same game I can play on my console at home. I can save the game after playing it on my TV and the console hardware, and then pick up that saved game wherever I am. So if I'm traveling somewhere with my laptop I just need a controller in my laptop bag and I can pick up right where I left off without needing my console with me.

Streaming won't replace consoles, but holy shit it's an amazing option to have if you want to play your same game from your console wherever you are.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Today MS launched Project XCloud in limited testing on iOS (limited because of Apple's testing rules). You have to use TestFlight (Apple's beta testing app) and it only can stream Halo: MCC right now...but holy shit. I'm amazed.

I linked my Xbox One S controller that I use for PC gaming to my iPhone via Bluetooth and I was able to load up my Halo 2 Anniversary campaign save, and it was PERFECT. I'm streaming on my home WiFi and wasn't far from my router, but it looked and played perfectly.

I'm sold. I can see where MS is going with this. It's the same game I can play on my console at home. I can save the game after playing it on my TV and the console hardware, and then pick up that saved game wherever I am. So if I'm traveling somewhere with my laptop I just need a controller in my laptop bag and I can pick up right where I left off without needing my console with me.

Streaming won't replace consoles, but holy shit it's an amazing option to have if you want to play your same game from your console wherever you are.

Exactly how streaming should be: an add on option to make things more convenient!
 

-Arcadia-

Banned
I really think this is going to be the cloud approach that actually pulls it off.

A hybrid approach between local hardware and streaming. Like others, Google pushed too far, on top of already having a horrible reputation as of late. Some ‘revolutions’ aren’t wanted.

If it’s performing and looking as passable enough as people say, then it should really be a great alternative.
 

pr0cs

Member
Xcloud works really well but
1) it's still early days, wait till more people use it, especially if they bundle it with gamepass ultimate at it's official launch
2) it uses a Tremendous amount of bandwidth, last I checked I played for 45 mins and it used 1.6gb of data.. On WiFi that's not an issue but mobile, at least here, it's a no-go.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
Exactly how streaming should be: an add on option to make things more convenient!
It really is convenient and works well. I was at my mom's for her birthday and she had been making a cake (cuz hell i can't bake for shit) and i just happened to have an xbox controller in my car. Hooked up the attachment, connected to her wifi...and I was shooting down enemy aircraft in Ace Combat for an hour waiting for her to get done. It really is amazing, though I don't think i'll use it much as moments like these are rare for me. Great for anybody who is on the go alot but has access to a decent connection.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
It really is convenient and works well. I was at my mom's for her birthday and she had been making a cake (cuz hell i can't bake for shit) and i just happened to have an xbox controller in my car. Hooked up the attachment, connected to her wifi...and I was shooting down enemy aircraft in Ace Combat for an hour waiting for her to get done. It really is amazing, though I don't think i'll use it much as moments like these are rare for me. Great for anybody who is on the go alot but has access to a decent connection.

I can also see MS selling a controller/clip bundle for like $60 with a Gamepass/Xcloud subscription for people who don't have a console. They get them into that ecosystem, and then when they want to play games at home they can buy an Xbox or PC and pick up right where they left off on the mobile version.
 

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
Today MS launched Project XCloud in limited testing on iOS (limited because of Apple's testing rules). You have to use TestFlight (Apple's beta testing app) and it only can stream Halo: MCC right now...but holy shit. I'm amazed.

I linked my Xbox One S controller that I use for PC gaming to my iPhone via Bluetooth and I was able to load up my Halo 2 Anniversary campaign save, and it was PERFECT. I'm streaming on my home WiFi and wasn't far from my router, but it looked and played perfectly.

I'm sold. I can see where MS is going with this. It's the same game I can play on my console at home. I can save the game after playing it on my TV and the console hardware, and then pick up that saved game wherever I am. So if I'm traveling somewhere with my laptop I just need a controller in my laptop bag and I can pick up right where I left off without needing my console with me.

Streaming won't replace consoles, but holy shit it's an amazing option to have if you want to play your same game from your console wherever you are.

If you are sold now, you might want to know that Stadia works better than xCloud. Their tech is unrivaled, just Stadia as a service sucks. And xCloud is just streaming at 720p or something like that. Completely different ballpark. So if you are surprised by xCloud, Stadia will blow your mind.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
If you are sold now, you might want to know that Stadia works better than xCloud. Their tech is unrivaled, just Stadia as a service sucks. And xCloud is just streaming at 720p or something like that. Completely different ballpark. So if you are surprised by xCloud, Stadia will blow your mind.

Can I continue my game progress from the Xbox on Stadia? No? Then it's not better.
 

FeldMonster

Member
I have really enjoyed Xcloud so far. As soon as I can sign up for real, I will. I now bring a controller with me on business and family trips. I love being able to play (some) of the games I own relatively seamlessly. Also, the beta has a Gamepass type element to it, as I am able to play games that I do not own currently. It even got me to buy a game I never would have otherwise (Battlechasers: Nightwar, it's awesome).

My complaints to date are the following:
  • Over 2.4 GHz Wifi, the connection is poor, on 5 GHz, it is awesome.
  • Compared to my One X, with games installed on an SSD, XCloud is so slow. I imagine this problem will disappear when Series X blades replace One S blades
  • Everytime I go back to my primary Xbox, it must re-sync my data for a game if I most recently played it on Xcloud. Since my primary Xbox is always on, I wish that it would do this automatically as soon as I terminate an Xcloud session, i.e. just assume that I will next play on console.
 

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
Can I continue my game progress from the Xbox on Stadia? No? Then it's not better.
I am talking purely about tech, like I said.

I have really enjoyed Xcloud so far. As soon as I can sign up for real, I will. I now bring a controller with me on business and family trips. I love being able to play (some) of the games I own relatively seamlessly. Also, the beta has a Gamepass type element to it, as I am able to play games that I do not own currently. It even got me to buy a game I never would have otherwise (Battlechasers: Nightwar, it's awesome).

My complaints to date are the following:
  • Over 2.4 GHz Wifi, the connection is poor, on 5 GHz, it is awesome.
  • Compared to my One X, with games installed on an SSD, XCloud is so slow. I imagine this problem will disappear when Series X blades replace One S blades
  • Everytime I go back to my primary Xbox, it must re-sync my data for a game if I most recently played it on Xcloud. Since my primary Xbox is always on, I wish that it would do this automatically as soon as I terminate an Xcloud session, i.e. just assume that I will next play on console.

Have you never played on more than one Xbox before? The synching thing will always be there. The console just sees a new savegame and doesn't know if it should overwrite the local one or not. xCloud is actually running on faster HDDs or SSDs. The loading times in games like Forza Horizon 4 or Sea of Thieves are substantially faster on xCloud than on a local console.
 
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FeldMonster

Member
If you are sold now, you might want to know that Stadia works better than xCloud. Their tech is unrivaled, just Stadia as a service sucks. And xCloud is just streaming at 720p or something like that. Completely different ballpark. So if you are surprised by xCloud, Stadia will blow your mind.
Is greater than 720p needed on a phone? It appears to be sufficient to me, though I wouldn't turn down 1080p. The screen is so tiny, pixel density doesn't matter as much, no?
 

FeldMonster

Member
I am talking purely about tech, like I said.



Have you never played on more than one Xbox before? The synching thing will always be there. The console just sees a new savegame and doesn't know if it should overwrite the local one or not. xCloud is actually running on faster HDDs or SSDs. The loading times in games like Forza Horizon 4 or Sea of Thieves are substantially faster on xCloud than on a local console.
I have two Xbox One consoles that I use, and yes, the syncing is present. However, I am thinking of a solution where I can designate a primary console that will sync automatically whenever necessary. If a console is always on, Xbox Live should push the latest save file whenever a session is complete.

It isn't a dealbreaker, just an annoyance that I would like improved. Trust me, I will be subscribing to Xcloud on Day 1.
 
Today MS launched Project XCloud in limited testing on iOS (limited because of Apple's testing rules). You have to use TestFlight (Apple's beta testing app) and it only can stream Halo: MCC right now...but holy shit. I'm amazed.

I linked my Xbox One S controller that I use for PC gaming to my iPhone via Bluetooth and I was able to load up my Halo 2 Anniversary campaign save, and it was PERFECT. I'm streaming on my home WiFi and wasn't far from my router, but it looked and played perfectly.

I'm sold. I can see where MS is going with this. It's the same game I can play on my console at home. I can save the game after playing it on my TV and the console hardware, and then pick up that saved game wherever I am. So if I'm traveling somewhere with my laptop I just need a controller in my laptop bag and I can pick up right where I left off without needing my console with me.

Streaming won't replace consoles, but holy shit it's an amazing option to have if you want to play your same game from your console wherever you are.

I'm actually set to give it a go for the first time soon. :)
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
I’m ready to give xCloud a fair chance as an alternative/situational method of gaming.

Streaming will never be my main avenue, though

For me, this is enough to sell me on a Series X. I'm not home all the time and if I can load up Halo or Forza on my lunch break and then save and pick it up the exact same game again when I'm home; that's a game changer.
 
If you are sold now, you might want to know that Stadia works better than xCloud. Their tech is unrivaled, just Stadia as a service sucks. And xCloud is just streaming at 720p or something like that. Completely different ballpark. So if you are surprised by xCloud, Stadia will blow your mind.
Stadia blows.
 

01011001

Banned
xCloud and Geforce Now are the way to go.

you buy or already own games that you can stream or play locally.
that's how it should be done, as a complimentary add-on to your already stationary way to play.

and for the people that only want to stream, well they can do that as well on xCloud
 

DocEbok

Member
Geforce now had really good input but servers were spotty non stop in eastern Canada. XCloud was way steadier and easier to get into but input was more noticable. I was more impressed with xcloud but hope they can improve on the delay somehow.
 

01011001

Banned
Geforce now had really good input but servers were spotty non stop in eastern Canada. XCloud was way steadier and easier to get into but input was more noticable. I was more impressed with xcloud but hope they can improve on the delay somehow.

the input latency also depends highly on the game you play. the more small detail on screen the higher the bit rate and the higher the latency it seems.

example, I tried Geforce now on PC with mouse and keyboard.
and I tried both Half Life 2 and Destiny 2. Half Life 2 felt almost lag less 30fps. it didn't run at 30fps it ran at 299 and streamed at 60 of course but it felt like playing a 30fps game locally.
then I tried Destiny 2 and it instantly felt way more laggy... noticably more lag than on Console at 30fps.
 
I was interested in Stadia but the idea that you’re in a different ecosystem is a complete deal breaker. GeForce Now seems really good and you can play Steam games, that’s a plus. But being able to play my Xbox library and have the same saves as my home console just makes it infinitely more appealing.
 

DESTROYA

Member
Where can I get those side controller things? I don't like the phone clips
One example

 

pr0cs

Member
Question for those who are in the insider program and in xcloud beta.
Insiders can stream from your local Xbox too, meaning your entire library...
How well does it work?
Local WiFi?
Remote (outside your local subnet)?
 
Xcloud works really well but
1) it's still early days, wait till more people use it, especially if they bundle it with gamepass ultimate at it's official launch
2) it uses a Tremendous amount of bandwidth, last I checked I played for 45 mins and it used 1.6gb of data.. On WiFi that's not an issue but mobile, at least here, it's a no-go.

Let me tell you that is a tremendous amount of bandwidth. We have the best data caps don't we folks?
 

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
Is greater than 720p needed on a phone? It appears to be sufficient to me, though I wouldn't turn down 1080p. The screen is so tiny, pixel density doesn't matter as much, no?

Absolutely, that's why they started with testing on mobile devices. But for mobile devices you have the data issue. xCloud can already use up to 2 GB per hour at these low quality settings. So how feasible is it as a mobile gaming solution? And if it is not that but more of a play on whatever you want approach, they will need 1080p and 4K streams. Hell, if they want to compete with Stadia they are pretty much required to offer a free 1080p stream (free with game purchase) and a paid 4K version. For your gaming sessions on TVs and laptops and tablets. Or Switch.
 
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