Xbox Cloud Gaming - The App Formerly Known As XCloud

Oddly enough I had a much better time with Googles Project Stream and Nvidia Geforce NOW as opposed to using Steam in-house streaming, both with Steam Link and with the app that came out on my TV. I had lower latency to Project Stream than I was getting in-home.

No f***ing clue how that worked out to be the case but it was certainly more stable too.
Interesting. Obviously MS home streaming isn't terribly optimized. I get frequent graphics glitches/latency on my Surface Go and high spec gaming laptop both connected over wired gigabit. Wireless is worse obviously. Would be nice if they improve this as a parallel effort as I'd prefer to stream in home while I'm at home but we'll see how this goes :).
 
Interesting. Obviously MS home streaming isn't terribly optimized. I get frequent graphics glitches/latency on my Surface Go and high spec gaming laptop both connected over wired gigabit. Wireless is worse obviously. Would be nice if they improve this as a parallel effort as I'd prefer to stream in home while I'm at home but we'll see how this goes :).
When I started this whole streaming I used the Xbox app and bridged my connections and it was good. I had to do it that way before I got my capture card.

So it depends on your hardware and setup.
 
When I started this whole streaming I used the Xbox app and bridged my connections and it was good. I had to do it that way before I got my capture card.

So it depends on your hardware and setup.
Yeah, I think if I had my Xbox hooked up to the same gigabit switch as my laptop/Go, then it might be a much better experience but in reality, it's all wired but just through 2 Gig switches. Also have issues whether other folks are on doing stuff or not. In the end though, it still seems really poorly optimized at least from my experience. Hope I can get in this beta next year.
 
Yeah, I think if I had my Xbox hooked up to the same gigabit switch as my laptop/Go, then it might be a much better experience but in reality, it's all wired but just through 2 Gig switches. Also have issues whether other folks are on doing stuff or not. In the end though, it still seems really poorly optimized at least from my experience. Hope I can get in this beta next year.
If you bridge your connection will improve. xbox ->PC or laptop
 
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Microsoft CEO on xCloud: We Have a Massive Cloud Advantage

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In early October, Microsoft finally unveiled the long rumored Project xCloud that’s looking to bring high-quality gaming experiences to any device via streaming.

This is a huge long-term bid for Microsoft and CEO Satya Nadella spoke about it during this week’s earnings call (transcription by Seeking Alpha).
[…] before I get to streaming, the thing that I’ll say is most critical when you think about gaming is having a platform where the gamers are already there. That means you need to have a platform that has a community around it and monetize as well.

So when you see some of the KPIs and some of the strength you saw in quarter, that’s the foundation of Xbox. Xbox has the key gaming community and the monetization capabilities. Whether it’s first-party games or third-party games, we are best-in-class in that monetization and that’s what’s reflected in the results.

So given that structural position, we are going to make sure that we keep increasing the strength of the community. You see that already with Minecraft going to all platforms and that increasing the intensity of the community and you’ll see us do more of that. Obviously, bringing Game Pass to even the PC is going to be a big element of that.

And then streaming is just a natural sequence of it. And the advantage we have with streaming is, we have a massive cloud advantage. And so we’re going to bring obviously what we’re doing with Azure, Azure networking, all to bear in ensuring that Xbox and xCloud is one of the best workloads for it.

So that’s how I see it. It, of course, will increase our reach, but what I am most excited about is the core content and community and the platform we have for monetizing that usage. And that I think is really what gives us even the permission to think about streaming.
Project xCloud will have to contend with Google’s Project Stream, which already ran a public (albeit very limited) test earlier this month with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Right now, these two companies are best positioned to usher in the cloud gaming era thanks to their widespread data centers.



https://wccftech.com/microsoft-ceo-x...ive-advantage/
 


It's Forza. She could easily have all of the assists on for filming purposes. That said... Streaming and Lag. Google is on to something with the Wi-fi controller... Guy is looking too hard into it. Hands on will clean everything up.
 
Xbox Project xCloud's coolest thing is its approach to phones

Finally, a company that gets why this is so important.

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Few things make me want to never play a mobile game quite like the words "on-screen gamepad," being such a universally awful experience. But it doesn't have to be that way, as proven by Microsoft at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) while showcasing its Project xCloudplans. For developers, a key component of the xCloud experience is what Microsoft has dubbed the "Touch Adaptation Kit," and how it'll make any Xbox game feel more natural for phones.

It's a huge deal, and something only Microsoft has spelled out in such clear and understandable terms. Here's how it works, and why it matters.

No controller needed for Project xCloud

When most think of playing an Xbox One game on your phone, there's a general lean towards using a physical gamepad. But having to walk around with your controller at all times is absurd, and doesn't address the generation of gamers growing up with a glass screen as their first input method. Instead of shying away from this, the xCloud team has fully embraced the concept and come up with an incredibly elegant solution.

It starts with the standard Xbox controller layout, represented on the screen. Every button, present on the glass.

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Not a great look, if we're all being honest. A lot is going on here, and for a lot of Xbox games you end up needing to use a bunch of these buttons at the same time, which you can't do with just your thumbs. So instead, developers can tweak this layout to suit the immediate needs of the player at the time. In some cases, like Cuphead, this is super easy.

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You don't need a ton of buttons for Cuphead, and there's no real demand for the full controller button labels on the screen. So instead, you get the icons for what those buttons do and a single simple joystick. It looks way better.

xcloud-tak-forza.jpg


And for more complicated games like Forza Horizon 4, you don't have to use the traditional controller layouts or button styles. Instead of a joystick, you get a steering wheel icon with left and right curves. On glass, it makes way more sense and makes even this busy controller layout a lot more manageable.

It's a huge deal to create an environment where there's a lot of room for developers to play around and offer a unique experience.

Glimpsing at the glass future

xcloud-tak-menus-maps.jpg


The plans for this kind of input variation go far and wide. It will be possible for you to use standard touch inputs for things like menus or pinch to zoom for in-game maps. Developers will be able to give access to these tools with relative ease, according to Microsoft.

But the coolest thing, in my opinion, was a glimpse of the future. During the demo, Microsoft described ways in which Halo on your phone might work, and it was super exciting.


The xCloud approach feels new and exciting, and wow do I suddenly want to play Halo on my phone. I never thought I would say that.


You do a lot of different things in a game like Halo, so what would it be like if the controller layout was always adapting to Master Chief's current needs? What if your controller layout was optimized for vehicle combat when you were in a Scorpion or optimized for turret combat when you were on the back of a Warthog? What if the controller layout for tactical combat was unique, so when you were hurling grenades or sniping from a distance it's standalone experience inside the larger game on your phone? What if the controls disappeared entirely in the middle of a cut scene, and return once you spring back into action?

This is what the xCloud team is thinking about, and it feels so different from any other game streaming content plan right now. Microsoft seems to really get the idea of gaming where you are, instead of forcing the player to adapt, and that's incredibly promising. We still need to see game companies deliver on these experiences, of course, but for right now the xCloud approach feels new and exciting, and wow do I suddenly want to play Halo on my phone.

I never thought I would say that, which makes me feel this whole xCloud thing is probably on the right path.




https://www.windowscentral.com/coole...pproach-phones
 
Playing a console style games on a phone is never going to feel good enough IMO, the screen is already small even on the largest phones and your thumbs block a good percentage of the view. Games made for mobile are fine but high end games just won't work properly or at the very least the experience won't be anywhere near as good as it is on a console. I'm glad they don't look at streaming as a replacement for consoles, adding options for people isn't a bad thing but I don't know anyone who's been saying they want something like this yet we see Google, MS, Amazon and Walmart supposedly looking into this.
 
If cloud-gaming (xCloud and Stadia) do not offer a gameplay experience equivalent to current mobile online gaming (i.e., Fortnite), it will not succeed. If there's one thing gamers are finicky about, it's lag. Unfortunately from the demos I've seen online, this has not yet been achieved.