xCloud Preview impressions?

[piokos]

Have you tried xCloud Preview? What do you think?

I played a few xCloud games yesterday (just to try the platform, maybe 1h total).
The beta app is really slow and hangs all the time. And it took me about 5 minutes to start each game.
The actual game streaming works much better. I have some WiFi issues at home at the moment, so couldn't really play something fast paced like Forza 4. Slower games worked all right.

Honestly, if all Xbox games become available through xCloud, I can totally see myself not buying a normal next-gen console (Series S/X).

It would be nice if MS launched a simple, xCloud-only console for, say, $100. Or include it in some Game Pass plan.
Otherwise, a simple Android box or Intel NUC will probably work for me as well (not as easy to access games, but way more flexible).
Heck, I could even use the phone if my WiFi worked better (or if I had a dock with ethernet).


Comparing to GeForce NOW on Android - which I used for a few weeks already (the free version):
- NOW is clearly way more mature and works better - both the streaming service and the app itself,
- xCloud requires an Xbox controller connected to the phone, while NOW offers on-screen controls as well,
- xCloud is much easier to use (xCloud vs NOW is a lot like console vs PC).

I'm looking forward to the Windows xCloud client. Will it support keyboard and mouse? Will it start games faster?
NOW on Windows is perfect.

I will probably keep using both, since there is no confirmation of xCloud including a "bring your own license" approach (like NOW). It may offer just games from Xbox and Windows stores.

 

[quikah]

The game launching speed is basically because it is using an Xbox One S on the backend. All current Gen consoles take forever to launch games. Should improve once/if they upgrade the backend to next Gen. This is also why it is limited to 720p.

I tried it a few months back, it was OK. My phone is too small to really enjoy it (S9). If Apple weren't scum I would try it on my iPad.

 

[piokos]

The game launching speed is basically because it is using an Xbox One S on the backend. All current Gen consoles take forever to launch games. Should improve once/if they upgrade the backend to next Gen. This is also why it is limited to 720p.

Well, sure. But the major issue with game loading on One S is a very slow HDD. At least that shouldn't be a problem on xCloud.
Even with the slow SoC, it should be possible to load most games in few minutes.

I also wonder if they plan to keep this approach after planned Series X upgrade (2021) or move to a more "normal" cloud setup - with VMs run on flexible servers (NOW and Stadia made it work pretty well).

Either way, 10 minutes or so waiting to play something is unacceptable. I have a One S and this is probably the largest issue I have.

I tried it a few months back, it was OK. My phone is too small to really enjoy it (S9). If Apple weren't scum I would try it on my iPad.

Yeah, it's not great on a phone. Xbox games' UI is designed for large screens. Most games are almost unplayable - even if you have the phone pretty close to your face (e.g. mounted to the controller).

I played with the phone connected to the screen via HDMI (but not every phone supports that).
Sadly, there's way too much lag on normal WiFi screen sharing.

I'm really looking forward to the Windows version.

 

[quikah]

Well, sure. But the major issue with game loading on One S is a very slow HDD. At least that shouldn't be a problem on xCloud.
Even with the slow SoC, it should be possible to load most games in few minutes.

I also wonder if they plan to keep this approach after planned Series X upgrade (2021) or move to a more "normal" cloud setup - with VMs run on flexible servers (NOW and Stadia made it work pretty well).

Either way, 10 minutes or so waiting to play something is unacceptable. I have a One S and this is probably the largest issue I have.

Yeah, it's not great on a phone. Xbox games' UI is designed for large screens. Most games are almost unplayable - even if you have the phone pretty close to your face (e.g. mounted to the controller).

I played with the phone connected to the screen via HDMI (but not every phone supports that).
Sadly, there's way too much lag on normal WiFi screen sharing.

I'm really looking forward to the Windows version.

Ok, the HDMI to the phone pushed me to try it again. Works well, my internet is decent (~24Mb), still I had a few graphic glitches and some downressing every so often. Controls were fine, I didn't notice any lag. Low motivation to do it at home as I can just play other games locally. I will probably use it to demo games I might want to download. This will be great for my lunchbreak if I ever go back to the office...

Hopefully there will be some decent BF deals on larger screen phones, due for an upgrade anyway. The Razor Kishi looks like a good controller for this. I have a phone clip for a regular controller, but not the best for portability.