Topic: Cloud Gaming Acceptance?

So the more than general consensus on this site by users is that cloud facing is terrible and shouldn’t really be a thing (some people give the caveat that if it’s included as an option with digital downloads or physical disks, it may be fine). But what are the majority of people that don’t pay attention to Nintendo fan sites saying (ie with their wallets)? Are the cloud only games selling? Do people even know they exist as a different service on switch?

Basically, are we just going to have to get used to it? Or is there a chance these publishers are going to have to at least go back to also using digital/physical copies, too?

I feel cloud is the future. And I am ok with it in concept. However I am not ok with how publishers and devs are implementing it. I don't think that they are taking it seriously. Streaming games is not new...it should not be this hard to get cloud versions to work on switch in particular. Personally if I keep buying physical games like this for another 30 years then my dwelling is going to cave in...so I'm ok with a streaming digital future.

These games are not available in my country’s eShop, and I wouldn’t be able to play them in an acceptable state even if they were. So I don’t particularly care about them…

If cloud gaming is the future, then I'm going to just stop buying video games. I'd rather actually own my games, instead of pay full price for something that I won't be able to use when servers go down. It'll also kill game preservation as a whole, if cloud games are the future of gaming in general.

I don't even think cloud gaming is doing well as a competitor to physical or digital copies, given that Stadia was a complete flop. I do think cloud gaming could work if it's a supplemental material, but if it's flat out replacing actual ownership, I don't think I'd be able to support it.

Yea no, if cloud gaming is how we go, I’m probably better off being a pc gamer or just stop playing altogether, not that I think it will ever come to that.

The cloud gaming thing is just stupid, and hopefully if we keep pushing back, that might not be the case.

And from every site I have seen, nobody is happy about cloud games. Unless they don’t own a console that can has it.

It's an option for some, although a lot depends on what kind of gamer you are and your attitude to collecting games.

Very twitchy action games are going to be the worst, as high latency and dropouts may render them unplayable. At the opposite end of the spectrum, turn based strategy works much better though, and with a sound implementation can even survive disconnections for quite some time. Everything else is going to slot somewhere in the middle.

There's also a multitude of business models. Services like GeForce Now and Shadow are, for me at least, the top tier as they let you play games that you own on what's effectively a dedicated PC in a data centre. If you've got a huge Steam library, it'll let you play in pretty much any PC or even your phone in a lot of cases.

Others, like Game Pass, PS Now (both of which also support downloads to some extent) and Amazon Luna are subscription services that give you access to a rotating selection of games; you don't get to keep anything but at least you're getting a decent (and for Game Pass it's truly excellent) selection for your money while you're subscribed.

The ones you can get for the Switch are, unfortunately, the worst of all worlds though. You're just paying for one game and you don't get to keep it any play it by any other means. That feels really difficult to justify to me, even though I think streaming has its place with other services on other platforms.

@Matt_Barber The best part about all those services you listed, is that they let you (But PS now) download all those games, GEforce uses your steam library like you said, and gamepass lets you stream it, or download it.

If Nintendo did this for there games, gave a option, no one would care.

@Matt_Barber One thing that's good about those services is the fact that they treat cloud games as a companion piece, rather than forcing someone to pay full price for a game they don't even own. Unfortunately, some services really want to make it to where cloud gaming is the only way to game, and so they prop their thing up as a competitor, and force people to purchase individual games that will only be ripped out of their hands when servers go down.

I don't think you really have to be a collector to prefer owning a game, if you have to spend full price on said game in the first place.

I never like Cloud gaming whatsoever reason.

@Link-Hero Exactly! You still own the game as long as you still have the file on your storage, but with Cloud gaming you legit pay a premium for absolutely nothing.

Yeah the Square Enix cloud games are atrocious which is surprising since Control was actually very smooth. I hope Ninty start doing proper quality control to stop these sorts of messes in the future.

But something like Gamepass is great though but what I like about it is that it's focus is about actually playing games and not buying games you never play which collect dust in the corner of the room for years. I find collecting games is boring and playing games is fun so the Gamepass cloud subscription model of more games for less money is okay with me..

I can see the allure (for some, but not for me) of cloud gaming if you're on a subscription service type deal, but where prices for cloud games are equivalent to full rrp physical games... not a chance. I just can't believe people even contemplate the likes of Kingdom Hearts.

I'm confident I have enough games for the rest of my life as is. I hope the Switch lifespan goes on as long as possible because I'm enjoying this wave. Depending on Nintendo's next hardware offering, I may completely withdraw from 'current gen' for a few years and concentrate on filling gaps in my physical collection for has-been platforms and try and restore some perspective - my spending has reached insane, unsustainable, levels thanks to Switch and I need to find a way to break free. If Nintendo remains committed to physical games then I'd like to stay in the game with them, but I fear a rise in subscriptions, digital-only and cloud streaming.

I'd rather give up the hobby than play over the cloud.

I think it's fine as a subscription service (I even subbed to Game Pass Ultimate over last summer just to play around with some things on my phone, mostly Forza Horizon 4) or as an extra option alongside a physical or downloadable version.

However it shouldn't ever be the sole option in which to play a game, and selling cloud versions a la carte (like what we have on Switch) equivalent to a physical or downloaded copy is a big no no.

As a supplimental piece it's fine but I just don't see the point of Cloud being the ONLY way to access a game. Even setting aside the preservation angle, it just seems like you are purposly limiting your audience. With digital games that's not so much the case since the games are still in your device and, even if your Internet is not the best, people can still access to it with some time, not so much with cloud. Just look at the map for Internet speed in countries like the US and it's clear that it's not a good idea. And, personally, I don't see that changing in a while still.

In my opinion, the main advantage of Cloud gaming is to allow machines that do not have enough power on their own to play more demanding games and that could be interesting and even help some people that don't have the latest PC tech to play the newest games. And... That's basically it.
I don't think the whole "you don't have to download anything" is that much of an advantage since you need a really good internet connection for Cloud gaming to work smoothly, meaning that downloads are probably not really that big of an issue in the first place.
And I don't think that is a good thing for handheld gaming on smartphones either due to mobile internet connections not being capable of handling it most of the time.

Also, the Kingdom Hearts collection on Switch is insulting. Except KH2.8 and KH3, all of those games could easily run on Switch. I get why KH3 is cloud tho, and it is better that it comes to the Switch this way than not at all but.. UGH.

I love the idea of being able to instantly play anything you want or having saves or other crucial components of games being saved into it so that you can never lose it.
However, we're are just not at the point where it can actually be utilised at the moment unfortunately. Whether it's selective choosing of games to be cloud-compatible (Splatoon 2, Pokemon, Animal Crossing), shoddy work on cloud connections (Kingdom Hearts Collection) or a general lack of commitment (Stadia), it seems as though no-one has a clue what they want cloud to do and thus half-ass it almost every time.

I get the appeal if you want to play modern games on a device you already own without having to buy an expensive new console, but for me the drawbacks far outweigh the benefits. I'd be interested to see how much the cloud games on Switch are selling too. There must be some people buying them I suppose.

Who ever started cloud gaming must be stupid. @Pirate1 what games on switch are cloud gaming I hope I did not by any of them and I am not sure thet exist. I know google stadia is cloud gaming.

https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/nintendo-switch-cloud-gam...

You would most likely be aware of it if you did buy them. I’m pretty sure there are a bunch of pop-ups/warnings when purchasing. At least there are when downloading the demos (that’s as far as I’ve gone with cloud games).

Cloud is DOA. Just look at Stadia that drop off the face of the earth. Cloud is a fancy term for We developers are too lazy to do the job right. They could make more money Digital or Better Physical option. This is called cash cow for them and nothing else matters. Fact in NA not everyone can afford internet let alone you need to have a ISP to begin to even have cloud access so let's be Factual here cloud can't happen unless you pay a ISP to have internet to access cloud. This is the part those saying how good cloud is conveniently forget to tell there is another cost you have to pay to have Cloud.