Xbox Cloud Gaming Has A New Competitor, Amazon Luna

So you basically have to pay for each “channel” you want. I feel like that will get super expensive pretty fast ...

I’ve been saying this, Microsoft wants to play a different game altogether, it’s better if everyone keeps an open mind and understands this sooner.

Amazon will try to push this with their huge prime install base whereas Xbox is in a way better position in the industry to implement something like this. Phil has the right vision for cloud gaming, he has always acknowledged that it will never going to replace native experience anytime soon but only as an additional perk. Xcloud is in a very unique position, they have a huge Azure cloud datacentre experience combining with the decades old history in gaming industry which’s why devs only need to make a single Xbox console version to make it work on the cloud at a push of a button. Also not to forget the unified DirectX 12 Ultimate API and the upcoming Gamecore platform for next-gen Scarlett development.

Aaaand there goes the other shoe.

Man this really highlights how proactive Microsoft and specifically Phil Spencer have been these past few years. They knew that services like this would become more frequent and new competitors would enter the fray. And unlike Sony, they've come fully prepared with their own service as well as acquiring more studios and IPs in order to make their service look more attractive than Amazon's and Google's. It's quite amazing if you think about it, since this is the future of gaming and Sony is going to eventually be left out.

Yep, I'll definitely be investing in Microsoft for the foreseeable future, no question about it. They are so far ahead compared to the rest.

I think for this to really compete with Gamepass, they have to consider a good bundle option with Prime membership, like a couple bucks extra.

Microsoft often do £1 offers on Gamepass. I think Amazon can afford to compete with that.

@LtSarge er... Sony have had PS Now longer than xcloud, Amazon, stadia etc. How are they going to be left out?

I'll just stick to Xbox for gaming, and Amazon for buying

@TheGamerKing yeah it’s weird as PS Now is always left out of the conversation like it doesn’t exist!

Didn’t amazon buy a few studios a few years ago? Wouldn’t be surprised if they started adding some exclusives to their service soon too...

@eggsbox Because Sony isn't going all out on PS Now like Microsoft is doing with Game Pass. That's how they've always been, they are always reactive and in turn produce half-assed products like PS Move, PlayStation All-Stars, PS VR, Vita, PS Now and then they abandon them completely. They never heavily invest in something except their consoles because they cannot afford the risk of investing in something in case it turns out to be a failure. That's why PS Now is never going to become relevant, Sony isn't going to bother giving it more attention until streaming services start to dominate the market. And then it'll be too late for them. We are seeing that now with Microsoft, Google and Amazon. Even Nintendo has bowed out of the competition and is doing its own thing. Only Sony is stuck in the past and a company without vision is doomed for failure.

@TheGamerKing That’s right nobody talks about the god forsaken service that has been abandoned even by the company themselves with mostly old generation games that serves as an excuse for backcompat and no solid promise of any current 1st party exclusives which is a big joke. Also didn’t PSN use to get hacked almost everytime? Maybe things will improve after they have said they will partner with Microsoft Azure.

@TheGamerKing Oh yes reality always hits hard and bitter. Always at service to wake up the sheepos from daydreaming. 🤣

@LtSarge Please don’t bother to reply the idiot who claims Microsoft has never invested in “handheld” (Nokia, Windows Phone OS, Surface, Kinect, Hololens).

@TheGamerKing "New" ideas? Sony has literally copied everything from other companies: PS Move from Nintendo's Wii Remote; handheld gaming from Nintendo's DS and 3DS; VR from Oculus Rift et al; and game streaming from Netflix, Spotify and other popular streaming services. They copied PlayStation All-Stars from Smash Bros and many, many other ideas.

And I believe you regarding Sony investing more in PS Now in the future if it turns out well, as I said in my previous post. But as of this moment, PS Now is completely irrelevant to Game Pass because Sony doesn't care about it. Tell me, how many reasons has Sony given you to invest in PS Now these past few months? Zero. How many reasons has Microsoft given you to invest in Game Pass?

• PC gaming
• Project Xcloud (smartphones)
• EA Play
• Bethesda
• First-party titles day one on Game Pass

And more reasons will come. That's why I don't care about PS Now and frankly I don't see how anyone would. Game Pass is the best deal in gaming right now.

That's the reason why I, after having spent six years playing mostly on my PS4, have decided to invest in Xbox henceforth. I've started saving so much money on not buying games anymore and instead I only pay €15 a month and can play hundreds of titles. I've literally saved hundreds of euros thanks to Game Pass, and as a poor university student I can't tell you how much this service means to me.

@TheGamerKing Well guess what smartphones will be the future of “handheld gaming”! There has never been any bright future for separate underpowered unnecessary mobile consoles in places where billions already have a way bigger and better smartphone ecosystem and hardware capabilities which will always grow YoY.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has mentioned in the past that he sees Google and Amazon, rather than Nintendo and Sony has the main competitors for Xbox moving forward and there’s a huge reason behind it.

I love the trailer. I always feel an urge to run through the city while playing my games.

@eggsbox Please show me how to play GoW, TLOU2, GoT and Spiderman with Razer Kishi. Make sure it works for eternity.

@LtSarge I relate to you because I also have a PS4. PlayStation Now is so irrelevant that I still haven't used my free trial. I wanted to use it for God of War but it was removed when I was ready to play it so I'm still waiting for a decent game to show up. I already own the remastered version of The Last of Us and the version included is the PS3 version which is ridiculous. I can't see any game that I want to play and I don't even have that many PS4 games, the problem is that PS Now don't have many PS4 games to offer me either. PS Now is a third-class service or worse that I wouldn't recommend.

@TheGamerKing I'm not denying that Microsoft is guilty of copying other companies as well, because they are. However, they don't have the same mentality as Sony does. Sony (in the context of PlayStation) is always looking to create their own versions of others' products, while Microsoft (in the context of Xbox) has a clear focus and is investing in fewer things instead of spreading it out like Sony. That's why Microsoft is looking much more tempting than Sony because they are going hard with Game Pass and consumers are acknowledging that. But right now, the only thing I'm seeing from Sony is that they just want to keep doing what they've always been doing and that's not really promising, especially when you have competitors who are doing other things now (Nintendo with hybrid gaming, Microsoft with gaming services and so on).

As a company, you need to clearly express to the consumer why you want them to choose you over the competition. And that's why Nintendo has been successful with the Switch and why Microsoft is going to be successful with Game Pass.

On topic, I think that Amazon Luna's competition is Google Stadia, they both seem to be the same, purchase and stream games. I don't know how well is Google Stadia after ten months.

https://www.ccn.com/google-stadia-hits-an-all-time-low-with-this-embarrassing-tweet/

@BlueOcean I actually have never used PS Now at all. I have though browsed through its library and there are indeed lots of games to play, especially PlayStation exclusives. But since I've been a PlayStation fan for a long time, I've played the majority of them already. And Sony doesn't update the service with that many games at all, while Microsoft is frequently adding more games including completely new ones. Can't express enough to you what an experience it was to play Tell Me Why on the same day as a new episode came out. You just don't get that kind of experience with PS Now.

@LtSarge PS Now has third-party games but the ones I like I already have on Game Pass, Gold or acquired. It doesn't have PS or PS2 games, it has a lot of PS3 games but no download but stream and I already have the PS3 games that I wanted remastered (Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection, The Last of Us Remastered, Wipeout Omega Collection...). There are no PS4 exclusives, no God of War, no The Last of Us II, no Ghost of Tsushima, no Ratchet & Clank...

On Game Pass you can download every game, every first-party game is included at launch and you get third-party games on top of that. That's a first-class service 😄.

@TheGamerKing Have they confirmed that you get access to the whole library on Amazon and at what price? I'm not really interested in this, just curious.

@BlueOcean
" I'm the kind if guy who wants to sit in a greasy spoon and think, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, butter and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jello all over my body playing Amazon Luna. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to. Okay, pal?" -Edgar Friendly

@TheGamerKing So it's going to be more expensive than that, it doesn't stand a chance against Game Pass + xCloud but yes, Google Stadia is a mess so probably Amazon Luna can take its place.

@Akimi Oh what's that? 😂

@TheGamerKing Yes but you can try Game Pass Ultimate (including xCloud) for $1/£1/€1. Amazon has apps on smart TVs, I think that Microsoft will start doing that kind of things for the TV casual crowd and PC browser (or PC app) support.

@BlueOcean
Quote from the movie Demolition Man. : )

@Akimi Ha ha OK. Is it worth watching, in between?

But who is this for? Any pc or console gamers thinking about getting this?

@BlueOcean
Honestly, I haven't seen it forever since it came out in like the mid nineties. But for some reason your running through the streets post made me think of that quote (had to look it up obviously). My mind works in mysterious ways. 😂

Who names these things anyway. Nyquil not cutting it? Get a good nights sleep with the new Amazon Luna. It doesn't scream gaming platform to me.

I wonder how this will do. Is the world ready for this stuff, or are they out there planting their flags? I just know I don't have the best internet speed and I have a data cap. I have no desire to upgrade when everything else I use it for is just fine. I think their biggest problem will probably be the same as Stadia - lack of content. Something Microsoft has now in spades.

@LtSarge I don't think that all of this equals to Sony being left out for at least another 10 years. Sony has been doing the whole "gaming" thing for a good 25 years now. They may not have "the banking" to compete with Microsoft or Google or Amazon. But a gaming industry without Sony and Nintendo is not something I look forward to seeing.

@TheGamerKing I don’t see how it’s an upgrade to “Gamepass” as Gamepass allows downloading to PC/console where as this straight streaming. I mean if all you were doing sure, but given that Gamepass (and PS Now) allow that native element; I don’t see it as an upgrade.

Even if you bought the cheaper S for your kid to only use Gamepass; still makes more sense that then straight at the moment. The States still has some very poor infrastructure for Internet. Granted, you’re in the UK; so the internet is most likely better?

Edit: Clarity on a phone.

Tbf, the service shows promise. Amazon could make a strong competitor for MS, Sony and Nintendo. MS to a greater degree since this is the company's strategy going forward, though.

@Akimi Actually, I like doing sports and stuff but not while playing, when I play games and watch films I like silence and darkness 😁 except for when I was playing Wii Sports in 2007 (I still play it sometimes).

I don't know who named this but "luna" means "moon" and the song is in Spanish. The problem of Amazon Luna will be content, indeed. They don't have first-party studios, if they want third-party games they'll have to pay, Ubisoft is already a premium channel and if they pay studios they have to charge users. Game Pass has 23 first-party studios plus third-party games and it's not expensive. As @Bruvas and @PhhhCough suggest, why would anybody add this subscription to Game Pass or replace Game Pass with this?

Lol, I give it 1 year before servers get shutdown.. I'm surprised Stadia is still up and running..

@mousieone While that is true, I could also see reduced "bundles" making a release.
A person might not sign up for Ubisoft for $7 and let's say EA Play for $7, but the same person could sign up for $10 for both.
Something like that.

But yeah, Microsoft will basically force others to rethink their pricing to stay competitive.

Currently I still don't see any real competition to xCloud and Game Pass.

@BrilliantBill Oh I don't doubt that Sony will have a healthy next generation with PS5. I'm thinking around the release of PS6, i.e. in roughly a decade, is when we are going to notice changes with their strategy from there on out. So yeah I agree with you on that point.

@tatsumi yeah I’d think they’d have. I don’t think they’ve finalized their model either because there is information about “unlimited hours” and “amount of devices”. It’s cool they are at least attempting an IOS solution.

That said they said they’d have, at least Ubisoft, Brand new releases which I question how as they don’t usually get movies day one releases.

I don’t think really competes either because of the native element to Gamepass especially for PC users.

Oh did you catch the news about xCloud in Japan first half of next year?

Aaaaand this is why they bought Bethesda.

@TheGamerKing oh that makes more sense. Lol

It want to see xcloud get a pc client, and I'd love to see it able to stream your whole purchased digital library stadia style. It would combine everything in such a wonderful way. My 300+games anywhere? Yes please!

@TheGamerKing I'm a PlayStation fan, but, seriously, Now is simply indefensible. It was awful when it launched and it only got slightly less awful when it tried to respond to gamepass. Cool if it works for you, but i didn't think any ps console fan could really defend that thing. It mostly exists because Japan doesn't buy the consoles anymore.

What I want to know is why I can play Amazon Luna on my iPhone/IPad/Mac but I can’t play Gamepass? In the description it says you play games on a web based app- why can’t Gamepass be delivered this way?

@LtSarge Very much agreed.

For full gaming experience, you should need a dedicated gaming hardware to play games. So xbox game pass is really strong. It lets you play games with your PC, your xbox and you can stream to mobile if you want. I also have PS Now sub to 7/2021 but I have to admit that the service is quite weak and not tempting. There are just a very few good downloadable ps4 games for toddlers. Sony is not focusing or improving PS now.

I wish companies would stop releasing stuff in “early access” and just finish it before releasing it publicly, all early access means is that they can release something broken before release but can’t complain, just like open public beta testing

I only have room for one Cloud gaming service in my life, and that is Microsoft's!

@TheGamerKing I have all current consoles, I will get The PS5 also along with the Series X. But you say this site is the most hostile. But 9 times out of 10 if I mention Xbox in a good way on Push Square I get jumped on.

@TheGamerKing Nobody should get personal, Gaming is Fun and something to enjoy. But to say a community is toxic because of one person is not a good take either. I wish you no bad, I am in a position where I can afford ( or I am just nutts ) to game on all systems, its just unfortunate that all community's have their toxic fanboys.

@themightyant It’s an internal term in developer documentation which refers to the next-gen development platform replacing the existing Xbox One ERA that isn’t optimised for next-gen Scarlett family. I heard the term first from Jez Corden, WindowsCentral. You should ask him about it or maybe it’s a different term.

@TheGamerKing Yea man, Nobody should be singled out and verbally attacked. I love a great constructive debate, it shouldn't get personal. Enjoy your day.