-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Amazon launches Luna game streaming service ...
- Thread starter Dr Bass
- Start date
Goalus
Member
He is probably still in denial about everything Gamepass-related.
aliadiere25
Member
Amazon about to buy Microsoft so they dominate all the markets.
Goalus
Member
I could see them being on PS5 as full-priced SKUs. The icing on the cake would be MS commenting on that decision: "we don't perceive Sony as a real competitor"
OrionNebula
Member
FunkMiller
Member
More likely to go the way of the Kindle.
The phone was a mistake. They were trying to enter an industry already sewn up by other manufacturers. Amazon got their fingers burned with that one.
This is different though. The streaming gaming model is still very much in its early days - just like the ebook industry was when Amazon entered it. They've obviously seen the opportunity to leverage AWS in a way that will give them a massive leg up in streaming games.
Last edited:
MadchesterManc
Member
Didn't expect it to take this long back in 2013 when beta testing PSNow for everyone else to jump on the cloud gaming train.
I'll probably try Luna at that price, Stadia works surprisingly well so I'm guessing this should too.
I'll probably try Luna at that price, Stadia works surprisingly well so I'm guessing this should too.
AetherMage
Member
I hope they fail hard. Amazon is big enough. The world is better off with more than 1 or 2 companies running everything.
Aladin
Member
Cloud streaming and Multiplayer games work with same principles. Latency is same thing in both. If multiplayer games are quite popular, cloud streaming will also become so.
Perceived latency is because of game emulation, the specialized mass hardware it runs on and game design.
And, It is tough to beat Azure in cost competitiveness in the near term. Any other game streaming service would have to shell out royalties to MS and others, as they would be running instances of windows and other proprietary graphics libraries. Ms neither does need to pay anybody and it has the scale to design hardware, develop and own graphics libraries to monopolize the game cloud streaming market.
Amazon's venture into gaming will fail, unless they target a particular gaming or market segment and build market share.
Perceived latency is because of game emulation, the specialized mass hardware it runs on and game design.
And, It is tough to beat Azure in cost competitiveness in the near term. Any other game streaming service would have to shell out royalties to MS and others, as they would be running instances of windows and other proprietary graphics libraries. Ms neither does need to pay anybody and it has the scale to design hardware, develop and own graphics libraries to monopolize the game cloud streaming market.
Amazon's venture into gaming will fail, unless they target a particular gaming or market segment and build market share.
Last edited:
T-Cake
Member
What's the betting Apple start blocking websites from Safari next...
Agent X
Member
I'm not sure if the notion of streaming games should be specifically aimed at mobile gaming. You can't simply transport any old PC/console game onto a mobile phone and say "that'll work".
There will always be some overlap between PC/console "big screen" games and portable games, but not every game is suited for every device. Developers sometimes need to tailor their games to the device itself. This isn't an automatic process.
mcjmetroid
Member
Lol the controller looks exactly the same as a switch pro controller. Good lord.
Bragr
Banned
This is why its important to have tons of studios under your belt, to provide games no one else has, cause these services are gonna be everywhere and cheap. And thats why Nintendo sits in a good spot, they already positioned themselves as an exclusive provider of games you wont get on these services.
Leyasu
Banned
Yeah I agree that not everything will be suited for cloud gaming. I was not thinking straight when I wrote that.
I should have said that streaming games enables companies like Amazon to get involved without having to put together the hardware like a console.
lastmessiah
Member
They didn't, they are using a "Progressive Web App", basically a browser-based solution.
Gamezone
Gold Member
So they allow this, which basically achieves the same goal?
lastmessiah
Member
I don't think performance through a browser is on par with a native application, though it is getting closer with stuff like Web Assembly. The big picture is that the majority of the consumer public is tech illiterate and would be confused at what a browser even is compared to a push-button app.
Andodalf
Banned
They can't really stop it, but one would expect the performance to suffer
NullZ3r0
Banned
There is latency in local games too, especially with many of them having online components. The holy grail for game streaming is to minimalize the local factors on the datacenter end so that it ends up being a wash as far as latency is concerned.
NullZ3r0
Banned
Stadia's model is likely a stopgap. They simply don't have the volume to be subscription only. Microsoft has the GamePass audience to feed off. Amazon just has money and the infrastructure costs them nothing.
Trogdor1123
Member
Can someone recommend me a gigabit ethernet adapter for my 4k firestick? I want to try this when it comes to Canada. I have a 4k and a PS4 controllers so the cost is next to nothing so I'll be a guinea pig when it comes to the land of snow, ice, and moose.
T-Cake
Member
I don't know whether this was covered in the previous pages it seems Luna is just using standard Amazon web servers which contain Intel CPUs and nVidia 2xxx GPUs and run Windows. This would explain how they've managed to get so many games available so quickly. No Linux/Vulkan shenanigans like Stadia.
anothertech
Member
Amazon will buy Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Nvidia just to shit on Stadia. Just watch.
Ash Sparrow
Banned
I'm kinda thinking that MS and Sony, even Nintendo should work together.
I actually think this might be more positive for Sony, cause considering whats happening in gaming I just am not sure they can make it alone. I actually think there may be more money to be had together. Plus Sony entered the market trying to get partnerships, no one would bite and they actually made it on their own, but things are different now. TBH I'm not sure why I have a sort of xenophobia. But I dont want Amazon, Google etc in gaming.
I actually think this might be more positive for Sony, cause considering whats happening in gaming I just am not sure they can make it alone. I actually think there may be more money to be had together. Plus Sony entered the market trying to get partnerships, no one would bite and they actually made it on their own, but things are different now. TBH I'm not sure why I have a sort of xenophobia. But I dont want Amazon, Google etc in gaming.
FunkMiller
Member
Amazon has 150 million Prime subscribers to feed off. That's the most important aspect here. Marry that with the fact they own the best cloud service, and have pots and pots of cash, and anyone who thinks Luna is going the same way as Stadia is going to be very disappointed.
FunkMiller
Member
I actually think they’re more likely to follow the same model they did with ebooks... which is to absolutely own the technology and hardware for product delivery, and hold publishers/developers to ransom. They’ll also probably start an indie development arm like Amazon KDP to get small developers on board.
Last edited:
Bryank75
Banned
How can they hold developers and publishers ransom?
FunkMiller
Member
With the Kindle, they basically took over the ebook market. They killed off the Kobo and all the other ebook devices (equivalent of Stadia and Xcloud) and then dictated terms to the book publishers.
Publishers then tried to circumvent Amazon by colluding with Apple, and got hauled over the coals for it. Basically, Amazon won by taking over the market, by offering a better service to customers than anyone else.
I can see exactly the same potentially happening with Luna. They’ll do it bigger and better than the competitors, and become the market leaders.
This really is the biggest piece of news in gaming for a long time. The Bethesda buy out pales into comparison.
Bryank75
Banned
Yeah I could see them beating MS for the streaming service and Sony and Nintendo just sticking to consoles.
FunkMiller
Member
Precisely.
I don’t think Amazon care what Sony and Nintendo are up to. Console manufacture is obviously too much of a ball ache for them (although they did consider it at one point) and why bother, when you can own the streaming model with less R&D because you already own the most robust cloud service?
This is why Microsoft bought Bethesda. They’re very worried about Amazon walking all over their subscription games services - because Amazon have precedent for entering developing business models and technological advances, and owning them completely.
Bryank75
Banned
Yeah, I thought the Luna pricepoint was very aggressive and similar to when Netflix started, without even considering inflation etc.
FunkMiller
Member
It is. It’s very cheap, includes a hundred games at launch, is easy to develop for as its PC based, uses the most solid cloud service so latency will be good, will be integrated fully with Twitch, and will leverage Amazon Prime.
Given how Amazon operate, I’d be very worried if I were another company getting into games streaming.
Bryank75
Banned
I really think Stadia is dead....
FeldMonster
Member
I don't understand this strange (albeit seemingly popular on this forum) sentiment. People on here rail on and on about "owning" games and the need for physical media (despite EULA's making this an utter fallacy), and then suddenly on a streaming service, people would rather "rent" an unstable list of games that might not even appeal to them? I much prefer the base Stadia model, free unlimited streaming, buy only the games that you want. I guess I am old school, as GamePass does not appeal to me in the slightest either, despite being deeply entrenched in the Xbox ecosystem. If I weren't so loyal to Xbox, I would consider Stadia as an option. Do people really fear Stadia's supposed shutdown so much? Google has enough money and Stadia costs them almost nothing, considering it is simply based on their servers, that Stadia will continue for years.
jigglet
Banned
It's only a matter of time before they purchase a developer of note though. It's not going to be pleasant.
FunkMiller
Member
Luna's going to kill Stadia stone dead. Whether you consider this a good or bad thing depends on your mileage.
I'm not particularly keen on the streaming model myself, but I am an avid gamer, and if I can play games on tech I already have (Ps4 controller / Fire TV) for a very low monthly fee, then I'm sure as hell going to do it. And there's every chance this will go free to Amazon prime subscribers anyway at some point, which will make it just a complete no brainer.
The barrier to entry for Luna is insanely low. Far lower than Stadia. That's why it's going to wipe the floor with it, and I'm not even that sure how Microsoft are going to compete. Amazon's so bloody ubiquitous to everyone's household.
Kokoloko85
Member
I smell fear from certain fanboys lol. They want to be the only trillionnaire company with no organic talent That can buy its way to victory. After Bragging about how you can buy everyone out, Im glad Luna got announced.
FunkMiller
Member
Important to distinguish between publishers and developers when it comes to who Amazon may or may not buy or want to get involved with.
Believe me when I say, Amazon don't give a fuck about publishers. They just see them as unnecessary middle men. They'll probably never buy a video games publisher, unless it's for a song.
They will however strongly encourage developers to put their games on Luna. They will make it as easy and convenient for them to do so as they possibly can. They'll also make it incredibly profitable for them. Developers won't be able to resist coming to make games for Amazon, because they'll get paid more, and have a better time doing it. This is how Amazon operates. Just watch.
Last edited: