CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, is going on right now. Companies around the world are showing off their technical wares from televisions to electric toothbrushes. And NVidia may have already stolen the show by playing modern video games on a $200 laptop. Yep. NVidia is touting their new and improved GeForce Now, which has just launched on Windows platforms. A game streaming service that is so smooth that you can play on virtually any computer and get the same speed, graphics, and frame rate as a high-end PC rig.
Originally presented last year, the company faced some delays and push-back from gamers for the servers being slow. Stability with internet connections will always be an issue and one's streaming speed between the data center and their home computer will vary. But based on what we're seeing at CES this year, if you have an internet connection on a business line or 100 megabits, you're going to want GeForce Now.
While it is available now, it is still in beta testing for North America and Europe, after it was released on MAC's last year. It is free, but there is a wait list to access it. It will become a paid service eventually. The list of games that are supported will grow over time, but popular titles such as Overwatch and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds are there. Even World of Warcraft and Minecraft. The streaming service is still sticking to it's original promise regarding saved game files. I.E. if you install a game with Steam, Battle.net, or Ubisoft, your saved files can be carried over to NVidia's services so you can continue your same game on any PC.
It's cool that you can play PUBG on a $200 system, but that doesn't mean it's going to look great. The one thing NVidia will never be able to control is your monitor. If you don't have a monitor that can hold up to the quality and frame rate of the game, then the game isn't going to look nice. At the very least, if you're playing off a $200 PC, get a nicer monitor. Otherwise, for the cash-strapped gamer this is a great alternative! It will be interesting to see the pricing structure and what games are added down the line.
While it is available now, it is still in beta testing for North America and Europe, after it was released on MAC's last year. It is free, but there is a wait list to access it. It will become a paid service eventually. The list of games that are supported will grow over time, but popular titles such as Overwatch and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds are there. Even World of Warcraft and Minecraft. The streaming service is still sticking to it's original promise regarding saved game files. I.E. if you install a game with Steam, Battle.net, or Ubisoft, your saved files can be carried over to NVidia's services so you can continue your same game on any PC.
It's cool that you can play PUBG on a $200 system, but that doesn't mean it's going to look great. The one thing NVidia will never be able to control is your monitor. If you don't have a monitor that can hold up to the quality and frame rate of the game, then the game isn't going to look nice. At the very least, if you're playing off a $200 PC, get a nicer monitor. Otherwise, for the cash-strapped gamer this is a great alternative! It will be interesting to see the pricing structure and what games are added down the line.
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