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X-cloud preview program

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  • 18-11-2019 10:28pm
    #1
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,991 ✭✭✭


    Didn't see a thread for this so figured I'd start one.

    Got an invite this evening for the preview program. Link to the app in the android marketplace wouldn't let me download to the Irish region, but I was able to track down the APK handy enough and install it on my phone. Paired up my Bluetooth controller and off I went.

    Initial impressions? Surprisingly positive! Played 2 rounds of escape on gears 5, and had no problems outside of occasional video artifacting, which is more likely down to my crappy Vodafone issue router than the service.

    Also of note, you don't need to own the games available to be able to stream them - I don't have ace combat 7, but was able to start that and play a mission no hassle.
    Initial startup of a game takes about 20 seconds, I assume this is the server spinning up a virtual machine for you.

    One glitch at the moment is that the Xbox button on the controller doesn't function properly, it acts in the same way as if you said 'ok google'. I'd assume this is a fairly straightforward fix though.

    All in all, I'll definitely try it out a bit more, must install it on a Samsung galaxy tablet we have too, as the text on certain menus is far too small to read on a phone screen. I'm also thinking one of those cheap VR goggle things that hold your phone to your face might be an interesting experiment too!


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    #2
    marcbrophy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,428 ✭✭✭marcbrophy


    I'm actually about to try it outside of the home for the first time today.
    I tried it when it initially launched and because you are tied to WiFi and the WiFi in my place has a weird cycle of signal degradation, it actually sucked.

    Gonna try it in the office at lunch time and hopefully it's solid.
    If the same thing happens, then it might be the WiFi card in the phone and I'll try it on a tablet.

    I did find it very weird to grab an xbox controller and the phone leaving the apartment this morning. I would be more looking for the Win 10 version to launch next year and use it that way.

    It's never going to work on a holiday in Mallorca with their shíte WiFi and 4G signals, you know? :D


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    #3
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,991 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    Tried it again last night from the comfort of my bed, it wasn't as stable as when I had tried earlier (11pm vs 7pm). however, like yourself, The home wifi isn't great, we only have the standard vodafone router that isn't even putting out a GHz network, which actually flashed up some errors in the streaming app also. i haven't tried off the 4g yet, I'd be conscious of it going through data allowances pretty quickly.
    I need to update my controller firmware, apparently that stops the home button issues.


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    #4
    Lord Spence
    Registered Users Posts: 2,136 ✭✭✭Lord Spence


    I was playing it the other morning just after kids went to bed and it was very good , I was playing borderlands 2 and it was more then playable and it works with my gamevice.

    Then the other evening I tried again but it was a no go but I think thats because two kids were playing fortnite and netflix was streaming and god only knows what else. I am on 250mb virgin.

    Seems it a bit hit or miss now, but dont forget as this is a UK trial we may not be using the closest server possible, when it hits Ireland it will probbaly be run via Dublin servers so should improve matters. The concept is a game changer for me though.


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    #5
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,991 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    Lord Spence wrote: »
    I was playing it the other morning just after kids went to bed and it was very good , I was playing borderlands 2 and it was more then playable and it works with my gamevice.

    Then the other evening I tried again but it was a no go but I think thats because two kids were playing fortnite and netflix was streaming and god only knows what else. I am on 250mb virgin.

    Seems it a bit hit or miss now, but dont forget as this is a UK trial we may not be using the closest server possible, when it hits Ireland it will probbaly be run via Dublin servers so should improve matters. The concept is a game changer for me though.

    It might be safe to assume that we'd be using the same azure servers that titanfall used - they were based in dublin and I had pings as low as 7ms!


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    #6
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Tried it out this morning, played some Ace Combat 7, and it was surprisingly playable. A bit ropey when it started up, but once I got in game it was totally fine.

    I can definitely see myself using this now, which is something I wouldn't have said when it was announced. Now I'll have to pack a controller while going on holidays.


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    #7
    Lord Spence
    Registered Users Posts: 2,136 ✭✭✭Lord Spence


    CatInABox wrote: »
    Tried it out this morning, played some Ace Combat 7, and it was surprisingly playable. A bit ropey when it started up, but once I got in game it was totally fine.

    I can definitely see myself using this now, which is something I wouldn't have said when it was announced. Now I'll have to pack a controller while going on holidays.


    Tried borderlands 2 again tonight and it was unplayable, but then tries ori and that played like a dream, weird


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    #8
    griffdaddy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,411 ✭✭✭griffdaddy


    Played a bit of Tekken 7 earlier and it was perfect. I've got 500mb Virgin and a Nighthawk router, haven't tried it on 4g yet. It makes the PlayStation streaming look absolutely awful. It's up there within Nvidia GeForce quality. Now all I need is a usb-c to HDMI cable or hub and I've got a portable Xbox!


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    #9
    Max Mafioso
    Registered Users Posts: 2,247 ✭✭✭Max Mafioso


    Got the email yesterday to say I was in the preview, when I tried to connect my phone with the Xbox it said it wasnt available in my region so I started up Windscribe and that seemed to do the trick however my controller doesnt seem to want to connect via bluetooth to my phone :/


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    #10
    Mickeroo
    Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,135 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Mickeroo


    Got the invite this morning, will see if I can get it up and running in the evening, seems to be blocked on the work wifi those inconsiderate bastards.


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    #11
    bazzz
    Registered Users Posts: 1,099 ✭✭✭bazzz


    Mickeroo wrote: »
    Got the invite this morning, will see if I can get it up and running in the evening, seems to be blocked on the work wifi those inconsiderate bastards.

    If you're going to use the Android Xbox Game Streaming App, it'll probably won't be available to install via the Irish Play Store. You're best getting the APK from a reputable site like APKmirror and install that way.


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    #12
    Mickeroo
    Administrators, Computer Games Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 32,135 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Mickeroo


    bazzz wrote: »
    If you're going to use the Android Xbox Game Streaming App, it'll probably won't be available to install via the Irish Play Store. You're best getting the APK from a reputable site like APKmirror and install that way.

    Yeah I've had it installed on my phone for over a month now but only got the invite today.


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    #13
    marcbrophy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,428 ✭✭✭marcbrophy


    Has their been any updates to the Streaming app since release?
    I assume I have to go back to APK mirror and get the latest version, if that's the case! :)


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    #14
    bazzz
    Registered Users Posts: 1,099 ✭✭✭bazzz


    marcbrophy wrote: »
    Has their been any updates to the Streaming app since release?
    I assume I have to go back to APK mirror and get the latest version, if that's the case! :)

    The latest version on APKMirror is Nov 8th. I'd say you have to go there.


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    #15
    marcbrophy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,428 ✭✭✭marcbrophy


    bazzz wrote: »
    The latest version on APKMirror is Nov 8th. I'd say you have to go there.

    Nice, better keep an eye on it so! :)


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    #16
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    Signed up and got my invite a day later, so anyone interested chuck in your name. Had to get the apk from apkmirror and i assume since i had to pick uk as my location that the data centre is in the uk.

    But still, it worked pretty well. I wouldn't chose it over the console but as an add on it is great.

    Played Ace combat and Gears, nice selection of games thanks to Games Pass.

    MS are really lining up everything perfectly from the software side. If they just release a gamer focused (not sports) console they will be unstoppable.


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    #17
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I'm getting noticeable lag. Playing Forza Horizon 4 I was all over the road over compensating.

    That's over wifi 1 metre from my router on a gigabit line. 4g was exactly the same.

    I'm fully aware this is a preview program and I'll be giving some constructive feedback.

    I have to say, very brave of them sticking a fast paced racer up.


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    #18
    FAILSAFE 00
    Registered Users Posts: 5,415 ✭✭✭FAILSAFE 00


    Anyone getting a notification saying your network may have issues.

    I get it in both wifi and 4G.


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    #19
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    I put the apk on my firestick, it wouldnt log in but i thought it might be related to the firestick.


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    #20
    Scruff
    Registered Users Posts: 4,222 ✭✭✭Scruff


    Grumpypants wrote: »
    Signed up and got my invite a day later, so anyone interested chuck in your name. Had to get the apk from apkmirror and i assume since i had to pick uk as my location that the data centre is in the uk.

    But still, it worked pretty well. I wouldn't chose it over the console but as an add on it is great.

    Played Ace combat and Gears, nice selection of games thanks to Games Pass.

    MS are really lining up everything perfectly from the software side. If they just release a gamer focused (not sports) console they will be unstoppable.

    Where exactly do you sign up? I signed up to the xbox insider program and installed the streaming app from apkmirror. Is there somewhere else I need to register?


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    #21
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    I just signed up here. 24 hours later i was on the invite list and could log in.

    https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-streaming/project-xcloud


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    #22
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    This is a screengrab of Gears 5 running on an old Samsung S7 :pac:

    Picture quality took a hit by being a screen capture of the phone, and not an in-game screenshot. Then I had to shrink it, and then upload it to Boards. And it still looks pretty good.

    Even though the performance is a little worse than stadia, I'm more inclined to let it slide due to the list of free games to play.

    496230.jpg


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    #23
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,991 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    Grumpypants wrote: »
    This is a screengrab of Gears 5 running on an old Samsung S7 :pac:

    Picture quality took a hit by being a screen capture of the phone, and not an in-game screenshot. Then I had to shrink it, and then upload it to Boards. And it still looks pretty good.

    Even though the performance is a little worse than stadia, I'm more inclined to let it slide due to the list of free games to play.

    496230.jpg

    Have you tried streaming from your console at all? I'm not on the dashboard insider ring so dont have access to it, but it'd be interesting to see how that performs in terms of latency vs the cloud servers.


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    #24
    Scruff
    Registered Users Posts: 4,222 ✭✭✭Scruff


    interested to know if you can stream from your own console too with this as i'm not on the dashboard insider ring either


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    #25
    Stone Deaf 4evr
    Registered Users Posts: 7,991 ✭✭✭Stone Deaf 4evr


    Scruff wrote: »
    interested to know if you can stream from your own console too with this as i'm not on the dashboard insider ring either

    You can, but its not open to everyone, theres an option in the top left, if you click the 3 lines, you'll see 'switch to console streaming' , but it appears to be limited to people who are on the insider programme.


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    #26
    marcbrophy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,428 ✭✭✭marcbrophy


    Also Grumpy, those free games are only to test while the product is in preview, which is pretty cool, as I can finally play AC7 :)
    But on release, it'll only allow you to play ones that you already own or are part of Gamepass!


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    #27
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    marcbrophy wrote: »
    Also Grumpy, those free games are only to test while the product is in preview, which is pretty cool, as I can finally play AC7 :)
    But on release, it'll only allow you to play ones that you already own or are part of Gamepass!

    True but Game Pass is a pretty big library. Stadia I have to buy games I already own on Xbox/PS4 again, at full price. :mad:


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    #28
    Grumpypants
    Registered Users Posts: 7,749 ✭✭✭Grumpypants


    Scruff wrote: »
    interested to know if you can stream from your own console too with this as i'm not on the dashboard insider ring either

    I didn't check this to my phone, but I have used their console to PC streaming via the xbox App before and it is perfect. So I would expect console to phone via xcloud to be pretty great. Especially if you are in the same house.


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    #29
    marcbrophy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,428 ✭✭✭marcbrophy


    Grumpypants wrote: »
    True but Game Pass is a pretty big library. Stadia I have to buy games I already own on Xbox/PS4 again, at full price. :mad:

    I know, GP is turning out to be a quality product, that's for sure :)


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    #30
    Lord Spence
    Registered Users Posts: 2,136 ✭✭✭Lord Spence


    Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »
    You can, but its not open to everyone, theres an option in the top left, if you click the 3 lines, you'll see 'switch to console streaming' , but it appears to be limited to people who are on the insider programme.

    You can stream from console now but you need to change your location within the xbox itself to the UK or US. I can tell you it works flawlessly, it does for me anyways and you can even power on your console from within the app. I've been playing the witcher 3 well just starting too. Also had a quick game of apex legends which is online only and that also ran very very smooth.


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    #31
    Scruff
    Registered Users Posts: 4,222 ✭✭✭Scruff


    gaming streaming from your xbox is live everywhere now!
    https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-console-streaming-now-available-everywher/1100-6472830/


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