Nvidia GeForce Now - UPDATE More Devs Pulling Out But Xbox Goes In

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Sep 11, 2013
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Nvidia has officially launched its GeForce Now cloud gaming platform out of beta, opening up cloud gaming support across PC, Mac, Android, and TV (via Nvidia Shield) via existing PC game storefronts.

The service is split into two tiers: a free edition, and a paid founders edition. The founders edition costs $4.99 per month, and offers priority access to servers, play sessions up to six hours long, and access to games with ray tracing supported. Free users may have to wait in queues to access servers and will be capped at sessions one hour long, though there's no limit to how many times a user can queue in any period. Both plans support streaming at 1080p and 60fps. As it's a streaming service, all games are intended to function at these levels regardless of the power of the user's device.

Rather than offering its own library, GeForce Now allows users to add games from their existing libraries across multiple storefronts including Steam. At launch, it supports over 30 free-to-play games as well as 1,000 more titles available through single-session installs on Steam.




After years in development, Nvidia's GeForce Now service is finally available to all users. Hosting PC games in the cloud, GeForce Now ties into your existing PC library across a range of online storefronts, allowing you to play your games on computers, smartphones and tablets. 1080p gaming at 60 frames per second is the aim, with Nvidia even offering access to real-time hardware-accelerated ray tracing for users prepared to pay a small price premium. More power, more titles, more flexibility, portability with your games library - in theory it's an impressive offering and 4K streaming apart, its feature set leaves Google Stadia in the shade.

GeForce Now previously ran on a beta basis, with users required to sign up and wait for access to the system. This delay on using the service has now been lifted, with Nvidia offering two access tiers to the system. Most likely to draw attention is the free offering where users can access the cloud system for a session of up to one hour - good enough for a game of Fortnite (apparently the most popular game). After that, there's nothing stopping the user from starting another session, though if the servers are fully occupied, a wait may be required.

Then there's the Founder's Edition tier. Priced at £4.99/€5.49/$4.99 per month for the first 12 months - with the first three months free - Founders get to jump the queue for server availability and can also access hardware-accelerated ray tracing features in supported games. Nvidia says that Founders get access to RTX 2080-level performance and to put it to the test, I loaded up Metro Exodus. At 1080p resolution with all settings fully maxed out, including ultra-level RTX, the game ran flawlessly at 60fps on the demanding Taiga stage.

It's titles like Metro Exodus where the comparisons with Stadia are perhaps the most stark. 4A Games' latest gets a reasonable port to the Google streaming service - it's essentially on par in terms of features with the Xbox One X version, but with some performance issues. However, it's locked to 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, with the full 4K output only available to those with high bandwidth connections. While resolution may be limited to 1080p on GeForce Now, running the game at 60fps with enhanced physics, tessellation and stunning real-time ray traced global illumination is an altogether different, preferable experience. The fact that I had instant access to the game without having to buy it again (as I owned it already on PC) is an obvious advantage, as is the fact that Epic Game Store cloud saves automatically kicked in, meaning I could pick up right where I left off.
 
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So I can stream my Steam games via GeForce Now.....now? On my Nvidia Shield TV.
 
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I did not notice any lag with a computer using an ethernet cable. I have Spectrum's lowest tier.

I played Watchdogs 2 maxed out with no problems. However, once I started to push the anti-aliasing settings up with TXAA up to 4x the framerate dipped dramatically. So It didn't seem like it was RTX 2080 performance.

The Witcher 3 at max settings had hitching issues.

I benchmarked Arkham Knight and it ran very well.

The picture quality seemed a tad bit off, but something you get used to.

Yeah, so this is definitely a STADIA KILLER. With all the PC game sales and free games on Epic it's really a no-brainer at $4.99 a month. You should definitely get the 3-month trial while it's still there.
 
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I'm stuck at the hospital with my Mom. But when I get home, I’ll try this on my Nvidia Shield TV and let you all know how it performs.

I have 68 Steam games and no PC. I hope this works.
 
I still had Shadow Of War installed on my PC and could do a direct comparison. The picture quality is washed out on Geforcenow. I turned up the internal resolution to a few notches below 4K and had everything up on Ultra and the image looked noticeably worse than local at just 1080p. So you can't really make use of that extra power for anything besides ray tracing.

The picture quality is good enough though. The lag is what I was worried about the most and I couldn't tell much of a difference. It's funny I did feel like I was fumbling around a little more than unusual, but I just chalked it up to being rusty. These were games I had either never played or hadn't played in a few months.

I think services like this will have a perception problem because people have bad wifi-routers and really don't know it. You should be gaming over an Ethernet cable.

There really is no path forward for Stadia when they are asking you to invest so much into their platform.
 
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I did not notice any lag with a computer using an ethernet cable. I have Spectrum's lowest tier.

I played Watchdogs 2 maxed out with no problems. However, once I started to push the anti-aliasing settings up with TXAA up to 4x the framerate dipped dramatically. So It didn't seem like it was RTX 2080 performance.

The Witcher 3 at max settings had hitching issues.

I benchmarked Arkham Knight and it ran very well.

The picture quality seemed a tad bit off, but something you get used to.

Yeah, so this is definitely a STADIA KILLER. With all the PC game sales and free games on Epic it's really a no-brainer at $4.99 a month. You should definitely get the 3-month trial while it's still there.


I tried GeForce Now before it was called Geforce Now, it was called Nvidia GRID, and it was absolutely terrible but that was like 7 or 8 years ago and I am sure it is improved but not to my liking. I'm very sensitive to input lag and all that BS, to the fact that I could notice a difference in response times from my old TN panel (lightning fast) to my new IPS panel (very fast but not as fast) and when you're playing at 100fps+ , you notice stuff like that in mouse response.
 
So I got Metro Exodus on sale for $13.99 even though it's available via Xbox gamepass for free just so I could try it on GeforceNow. The ray tracing didn't make a bit of difference. There was that one train area that was too dark with ray tracing off, but it really didn't improve the experience with it on. That would have been the only reason for me to keep my GeforceNow subscription.

I tried GeForce Now before it was called Geforce Now, it was called Nvidia GRID, and it was absolutely terrible but that was like 7 or 8 years ago and I am sure it is improved but not to my liking. I'm very sensitive to input lag and all that BS, to the fact that I could notice a difference in response times from my old TN panel (lightning fast) to my new IPS panel (very fast but not as fast) and when you're playing at 100fps+ , you notice stuff like that in mouse response.

Yeah, I was fumbling around quite a bit in Metro Exodus and didn't really put two and two together that it was actually a slight lag. I couldn't get past this one part. Then I downloaded the game and played it locally and got past it easily. A casual would think the game is running smoothly and that they were just bad at the game.

Lol, just saw another game I deleted long ago, Fallout 76. I'd like to see how it plays on GeforceNow.

Edit: The game is built around lag, but once you add another layer of lag to it it just doesn't feel lright.
 
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Nvidia’s GeForce Now feels like one of the very best ways to get a free taste of cloud gaming, but it’s got a gigantic catch — it lets you play PC games you already own only if the game publisher allows it. Today, Nvidia is revealing that Activision Blizzard is no longer playing ball, pulling down its catalog of games including Overwatch, WoW, and the Call of Duty series.

That means one of the service’s biggest publishers, as well as its Battle.net catalog of games, will no longer be available just a week after the service’s formal launch — a launch that was already missing many games from Capcom, EA, Konami, Remedy, Rockstar and Square Enix, all of which seemed to have pulled out after Nvidia’s beta period ended.

Nvidia wouldn’t tell us why this is happening now, but it’s strange, because Nvidia previously told us it was contacting every publisher ahead of launch to make sure they were OK with their games staying available with the service. Did Activision Blizzard reneg on a deal, or did Nvidia fail to get permission? We’re waiting to hear back on that from Nvidia; Activision Blizzard didn’t respond to a request for comment.
 
I tried this yesterday and I don’t know if my ISP just sucks or what, but I had major artifacting. Also the resolution was set to Mr Magoo.
 
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It looks like Google is pressuring developers behind the scenes to drop GeforceNow. So I guess you have your answer about whether GeforceNow is a "Stadia Killer". This is the same problem I had with Epic, :txbrolleyes: but at the end of the day there is really nothing you can say if they are actually proving real value. In that sense Stadia is much worse than Epic because at least Epic gave out free games and had great periodic discounts.

They really should never have had a say so in it to begin with since you can take your Steam games to any PC you have a steam account on.

I tried this yesterday and I don’t know if my ISP just sucks or what, but I had major artifacting. Also the resolution was set to Mr Magoo.

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Dno69 - My internet speeds were less than 5% of that just 6-months ago.
 
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Nvidia said on Tuesday that Activision had asked to have its titles removed from GeForce, but didn’t explain why. It turns out that the video-game giant wanted a commercial agreement with Nvidia before they proceeded -- and the situation stemmed from a simple misunderstanding, Nvidia said on Thursday.

Because Activision participated in the beta test of the service, Nvidia thought that agreement extended to the initial trial period after GeForce’s Feb. 4 launch. The service, which hosts games online and sells superscriptions to players, is now available to the general public. Nvidia has been offering a free 90-day trial to its initial crop of customers, which it calls “founding members.”

“Activision Blizzard has been a fantastic partner during the GeForce Now beta, which we took to include the free trial period for our founders membership,” Nvidia said in a statement. “Recognizing the misunderstanding, we removed their games from our service, with hope we can work with them to re-enable these, and more, in the future.”
 
It looks like Google is pressuring developers behind the scenes to drop GeforceNow. So I guess you have your answer about whether GeforceNow is a "Stadia Killer". This is the same problem I had with Epic, :txbrolleyes: but at the end of the day there is really nothing you can say if they are actually proving real value. In that sense Stadia is much worse than Epic because at least Epic gave out free games and had great periodic discounts.

They really should never have had a say so in it to begin with since you can take your Steam games to any PC you have a steam account on.





Dno69 - My internet speeds were less than 5% of that just 6-months ago.
This is your internet?

Sorry but it sucks.
 
My experience has been terrible. I did a speed test and I have 47 megabits down and 12 up.
shouldn’t that give me a decent experience?

I do have about five other people in the house leeching off my WiFi.
 
Never mind. I guess I have AT&T’s lowest tier. Which is weird. I usually go for the highest tier.
 
This is your internet?

Sorry but it sucks.

Yep, It's the lowest tier I could get on Spectrum. I'm just letting him know what kind of connection I had to get the results I did.

Never mind. I guess I have AT&T’s lowest tier. Which is weird. I usually go for the highest tier.

I had AT&T's highest tier DSL just last year and I got like 10 Megabits down. Surprisingly, there isn't much I do differently with this faster connection. Hard drive's almost full as it is.
 
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