Well, hello there, strangers!
Thought it might be time to dust off my blog a little. It has been quite some time since I posted. About two months?
Sorry for abandoning everyone. I've been about here and there on Discord but I've been busy with other projects and that... shudders real life stuff.
Not too long ago while browsing the news on my phone I came across the announcement of Project Stream from Google.
I was pretty shocked that no one was talking about this, the latest and certainly one of the biggest named forays into the world of cloud gaming. The purpose of Project Stream is to allow supposedly ANYONE on ANY PC to run a graphics rich, super intense 4K game. As long as you have a strong internet connection, of course. It processes most of the game in the cloud eliminating load on your computer and allowing an amazing game play experience. This is why they picked the one game that would really test it's limits, Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Playable directly through your Chrome browser.
For a long time I was working with laptops and computers that were just not capable of running anything more complex than pinball, which is pretty much what this entire Beta is for. Now I am working with a much better computer with a pretty bitching graphics card. (An Acer Inspire i5 8th Gen with Nvidia Geforce 940Mx) However, I can tell that strain is a huge issue and my laptop gets pretty loud and hot when I decide to boot up StarCraft or Diablo.
So naturally, when I saw the announcement and that Google was taking names for the Beta, I threw my hat in the ring.
I did so while mumbling "There is no way in fucking hell..." but I did it anyway, because what was the harm in trying?
Then about a week or so ago, I checked my email and there was one sitting from Google.
YOU'RE IN!
Wut.
So now I am on the ground floor of 4K Cloud Streaming Beta from Google and I really don't know what to do with myself.
As previously mentioned, I am notoriously bad at video games even if I enjoy them. I couldn't stop thinking "Oh god, what if someone is watching my game play and shaking their head while I run into walls?!"
I have never been able to get the hang of Assassin's Creed on console and it was just embarrassing to watch me struggle. But I have to say, my first time playing on PC (just now) was remarkably better.
... So what if I have it set to normal?! At least I didn't go with "EASY"... stop judging me.
So now to what I CAN legally talk about when it comes to Project Stream:
It. Is. Amazing.
There is no load on my computer whatsoever. I couldn't believe it, honestly. I was expecting a helping hand with the streaming and for my computer to at least lose it's mind a little bit and the fan to sound like it was going to take off into orbit.
It barely even spun up. Not once over the course of an hour filled with beautiful 4K graphics did my computer make a single sound. I also got ballsy and decided to leave EVERYTHING running in the background to see what this was really capable of. (Everything being an active skype voice call, 20 tabs open on various browsers, Cloud9 ticking away in the background with a bot code running... oh, and Discord.)
I'll admit it, I am absolutely floored. Normally by now my poor computer could be used to light a cigarette and the fan would sound like a small child crying for his mommy like a little bitch.
In fact, the fan is spinning more as I write this than it did during a single second of game play.
I did experience a couple moments of lag here and there, but honestly, it was hardly notable except for in the very beginning when I had a little trouble executing actions in a timely fashion. This resulted in much swearing and regret for attempting to "test" it further by leaving everything running. But the delay was maybe one to two seconds tops. I am sure once I go back into battle with everything closed it will work like a well oiled slut.
So does Project Stream look like it is capable of doing what it promised? Hell. Yes. This project changes everything. Have a crappy computer? You will no longer be left out in the near future or have to keep a fire extinguisher at your feet.
If this gets paired with Project xCloud from Microsoft the eSports and gaming world will change in huge and revolutionary ways.
What a time to be alive, man.
(Also, sorry guys, I legally can't show you any of the game play! But rest assured, you'll be amazed when it hits the public. )
