Tag: Gaming

Why I switched from Nvidia GeForce Now to Amazon Luna

Game Streaming is still a work in progress and has struggled to truly take off in the way that video streaming did slowly with RealPlayer and then solidifying with YouTube and Netflix.

The issue with Game Streaming vs Video Streaming

Video streaming is an easier concept to understand for most people. Simply have video delivered by digital information transmissions rather than analog signals. Even with the analog televisions, it is a simple concept. You turn on the television and switch to a channel which receives a signal. In many ways, it is still magical experience. You have a screen which puts people in a box and you hear their voices and see their movements. However, it is a concept which is simple to explain to the ordinary customers, especially in an age where tinkering isn’t a popular in our nation.

Video Games have been on the sidelines for many years, unable to break out its role as the strange cousin of the realizable standbys of television and earlier, radio shows. Another issue is that video games are not movies. They are interactive experiences which separates them from movies and puts them in the same place as the circus or sports. This comparison may make some gamers have an inferiority complex as they want to constantly have video games be taken seriously. Even with all the great stories, video games are still seen as a product of immature people even though many of the people making those statements belong to industries that exploit video games for content to make their movies and shows.

The way to change this is Game Streaming.

However, streaming a video game isn’t the same as streaming a movie. The difference in bandwidth is immense and video games began largely as physical objects, now mostly digital and now there needs to be a reliable to stream a video game from a server without requiring downloads or physical means. While some gamers may prefer physical copies, which I can agree with, most people will be satisfied with having a digital copy. However, the issue of storage is coming back one again. On my computer, I can only fit so many games and these huge games are making it tough to enjoy a variety of games, leaving me to play really old games or a single release. Such a situation leads players to concentrate their attention onto a few games or to not even pay attention to their backlog at all, making it tough for independents to make an impact on the industry when players all play the same game.

Game streaming can help bring gamers of all stripes together. Nvidia’s Geforce Now is a great compromise, allowing for a much larger library of games to be played as you have just add your game library and you can stream tons of games that would otherwise be unplayable on her computer. I have already explained how GeForce Now is a great service. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to play the Remastered version of the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

However, I had to switch to Amazon Luna.

Why?

Simply because it’s already bundled with my Prime Subscription. That helps in reducing the cost of the service. With Nvidia GeForce Now, the premium option (the best option) costs $19.99 and it has the best graphics chips in the servers. However, it is not worth the price right now. You have to buy the games separately and this adds to the cost. Some games on GeForce Now are free to play games but other game services have free to play games, so this is not as exclusive or as important as it seems here.

Amazon Luna has less games, but it is already bundled with my prime subscription and that is very important. I do not have to add anymore subscriptions to my account here.

Amazon also provides a Premium subscription with more games which costs more but bundling it with the Prime account is a great move on their part here. They also have other premium subscription choices to link up with other stores. The real star of the show which made me use the service was the inclusion of Skyrim in the service. My steam copy of Skyrim was getting glitchy on my computer and I needed another way to play this classic game.

Skyrim on Amazon Luna plays well and that is all I really needed. My laptop often overheats when playing a game installed on the machine, so I needed a virtual way of passing that issue.

Nvidia GeForce Now is a great service, but I needed to switch as it fits with my budget right now. Battlefield 6 was the main reason why I was paying for the service. As Battlefield 6 has many hackers and issues at the moment, I am going to wait and let the people who work on the game to smooth out any problems so that the gameplay experience is more enjoyable for me and other users.

Amazon Luna is probably the best game streaming service right now if one wants to just play and not have to worry about space on their computers. There is a limitation in games available but that if that really worries you, there are other premium additions that you can add to the service. Many people already have a prime subscription as one can clearly see with all the Amazon vehicles on a daily basis moving around America’s cities and communities. It is worth the money and I recommend that people subscribe to Amazon Luna if they want a way to stream without taking space.

It is also a great way to expose more people to gaming as it can be kind of an elitist space, but game streaming makes more available to those who wish to enter this incredible cyberspace of play and entertainment. The video game industry has great potential, and we need to be able to expand the culture of gaming beyond what we have seen before here. Being able to just pick up and play will bring in new people and maybe ideas so that gaming can start to innovate once again and bring some much-needed creativity into America and the gaming community.

Why Civilization 7 is not successful: It is 3 Mini Games in One

Civilization 7 is a game that I have not played since the Winter, and I am not interested in playing it until the game removes civ switching. While it is unlikely the developers will attempt this, I think that this is one of biggest issues with Civilization VII. The game is divided up into three different game modes which correspond to three different eras. Instead of being holistic, the game essentially resets and takes away units and cities. While you do not start at step 1 like in 4000 BCE, it is jarring and is not helping with the flow of the game.

This is why Civilization VII has been struggling to get players. While it may have a core fanbase who seeks to support the game, it is not much bigger than that here. Civilization VII is appealing too much to people who haven’t played the civilization games. At this point, they have enough data to understand that people do not want to be playing three different games which basically splits up the gameplay flow. Such features should have been their own separate game mode.

Until Civilization VII separates these game modes, the game will continue to have issues with convincing more skeptical fans to buy it and maintain the community around the game.

Can Meta’s Glasses make AR popular?

AR (Augmented Reality) can provide the diffusion of computing power that this age really needs. Instead of staring at TV screens, smartphones or computers. Right now, the only company really paying attention to this is Mark Zuckerberg’s company, Meta. The company that began as Facebook is only just pouring money into hardware as well as AI. While many people are criticizing him, Meta is one of the few companies capable of being able to compete with China in these areas. Many Americans still think of China in the 1970s which it isn’t anymore. Even under Mao, they managed to launch satellites into space and build their own spaceport. America needs companies competitive in many high-tech areas and Meta can be one of those companies which help our nation here.

The Meta Glasses are in continuity with another one of Zuckerberg’s projects, the Occulus Rift, a VR headset which has sold hundreds of thousands across the globe. However, the device is still niche in spite of its success. The main issue is one of style and how it can integrate with people and how they already interact with computers. The issue is to make it fashionable more than just another black slab on the table but something that can wear as jewelry amongst their colleagues.

The secret that we need here is to have technology return to the zeitgeist of the Y2K.

That is an era of style and beauty here.

While some may see it as tacky, Y2K had something unique which our current age is missing, a holistic integration of form and function. In our age now, form has become less important, and it is function which is often more important here.

What we need is style in tech again. Ray-Ban, a popular glasses brand has teamed up with Meta to make a new kind of glasses. These Ray-Ban Meta Glasses are a sign that computing is becoming more than just about keyboards and mice. Mark Zuckerberg has already stated that the glasses have sold some 2 million and this is very impressive for a new device here. Even Amazon is going to be introducing smart glasses for its drivers on the roads. Such devices are going to be integrated into everyday life which is important for the sales to increase. Consumers have to see that this product is practicable not just a hobbyist tool or a niche corporate tool which only affects small sections of an industry.

AI glasses can make the digital age spring out of the screen and onto the streets. That is the great promise of this technology. No longer will we be looking at blue light alone. It will integrate with meat space and revolutionize our lives and state.