160°

The disappearing act of GeForce Now - Is it justifiable?

— PC Invasion:

Nvidia's GeForce Now may have launched to thunderous applause, but its first few weeks have been plagued by game removals. What's the issue?

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mandf1546d ago

I didn't have plans to buy but they did what other tech companies are doing so he its justifiable.

n1kki61546d ago

What i dont understand is how they can say its being removed from the service. Isnit being removed from mybsteam library fornremote access? I can spin up a virtual machine in azure, install steam, and stream my games. Why cant I pay nvidia for virtual hardware that allows access to my full steam library?

WooHooAlex1546d ago

The issue is game publishers are greedy and think they deserve another piece of the pie, even after the customer already purchased the game.
If it were up to me, I would let it play out in court. I wouldn't comply with publishers requests to "remove" the games.

bradfh1546d ago

Developer think it should be a new service like Playstation / Xbox / PC, but GeForce Now is cloud gaming for the licence you alrighty own. the future is dead if Greedy Developer hold your games hostage if you alrighty have the licence just to get a 2nd separate license for and now you know why people want to buy physical game vs digital because you dont own the game.

Shiken1546d ago

It is BS really. Using your steam library with GeForce Now to stream games is no different than using remote play to stream games to your phone from your PS4.

Publishers are entering very sketchy territory, and it is concerning. It is only going to get worse as they continue to push their own inevitable streaming services. If they can do this to GeForce Now, they could also do it to Remote Play if they wanted to.

SegaGamer1546d ago

And Microsoft are counting on Xcloud being the future of Xbox. Geforce now and Xcloud are basically the same thing. Geforce Now let's me connect to my Steam account to play my games through a stream, Xcloud does the exact same thing with my Xbox account and my Xbox games.

Microsoft must be concerned about this, it has potential to make Xcloud dead on arrival. I'm sure Geforce Now will be losing a ton of subscribers over the next month.

1546d ago
rainslacker1546d ago

Publishers already have the option to block remote play from ps hardware. Sony doesnt mandate every game use it. Kind if like region locking. Sony doesnt really have to bend to the publishers will on it, because technically, the software is being played on the system its licensed for. But, sony wants to keep good relations with these companies, so they give that option to the phblsiner.

I dont know of any game which cant be remote played though, so I'm not sure why nvidia is being targeted here. MS is going to likely have similar policies with their remote play solution, and ms is supposedly going to allow this with xcloud running the software as well, so I'm curious what's different here.

I've yet to see anyone provide a good reason why nvidia is not being allowed while others are. I also fail to see why nvidia needs to comply with these take down requests. Only thing I can figure is that nvidia doesnt want to upset publishers for some reason.

Atom6661546d ago

They're saying it's an unauthorized distribution of their content. Essentially, the devs are saying that their agreement is with Valve, not Nvidia, so they lose control over its path to consumers without any agreement in place.

We should make no mistake, though. They're really concerned with their inability to secure distribution agreements (paid) with services like Stadia, psnow, xcloud, etc. It's also been suggested that, because GN essentially let's you stream to other devices like mobile, it hurts the chance they have to port directly to ios or other mobile platforms.

I understand it, but it's BS. GN can help their sales more than it can hurt them imo.

rainslacker1546d ago (Edited 1546d ago )

I have no doubt that the reason they're getting pulled is because publishers want money for this, and having it on GFN will lessen the amount they can get for it. Either that, or they want money from NVidia for it, and NVidia is saying no.

What I don't understand is how they have any legal right to demand it be done, because as far as the licensing agreements go with the consumer themselves, no rules are being broken. If the game is being played on a machine it's licensed to play on, how it's output is inconsequential from a legal sense. It'd be no different than these publishers saying that you couldn't run their game on an AMD card, if it was released for an NVidia card. PC licensing isn't tied to the output method.

I'm not sure that NVidia has to comply due to legal reasons here, so unless there is just more legality to it that I can't figure out...which I assume there must be....I wonder why they're complying.

I'm just curious about the situation, and it seems like something that NVidia may want to fight for if they want to keep this service running. Giving into these publishers and paying them for them doing absolutely nothing to support GFN seems wrong, and it seems wrong to restrict a users access to their games when those games aren't breaking any licensing agreements.

Atom6661545d ago

There's an article floating around that explains it a bit better, but it ultimately comes back to the license agreement between pubs and places like Valve. In that agreement, Valve is allowed to distribute the game to us in a manner consistent with the terms of the agreement. Nvidia are interjecting themselves into the supply line so to speak.

GFN isn't part of that agreement between me & you and Steam, or the one between Steam and the pubs. Valve doesn't seem to care one bit. It also shouldn't be hard to include a change to the terms, and it shouldn't mean $$ to pubs, but some will use the legal argument to mask their real concern: limiting revenue paths for pubs.

Steam keeps its distribution agreement on lock down, so you may not be able to find the language you're looking for. On our end, the agreement begins with the good old: "Steam and your Subscription(s) require the download and installation of Content and Services onto your computer."

rainslacker1545d ago

Yeah, I saw the article. Made more sense, since gfn is apparently running the game. That is a lot different than remote play. I guess the legal question is, is gfn running it considered appropriate? Kind of a gray area since steam and other clients dont attach the game to your pc, but your steam account, or similar, and you are still playing under that account. In some ways it's not much different than going to a feiends house and playing the game there under your account. However, since gfn is a commercial property, it makes things less straightforward.

As far as I can tell, valve doesn't seem to have a problem with gfn. They still get the sale, and where you play is irrelevant to them for the most part.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1545d ago
Majors1546d ago

If I were NVidia I would downgrade the drivers for each of the games removed and charge the publishers to bring new drivers out up to spec

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80°

Evercade Alpha Reveals Affordable Mini-Arcade

This looks fun and affordable for fans of Retro Cabinet games.
Introducing Evercade Alpha, the first Evercade-compatible arcade machine. This bartop-sized arcade gives you everything you want in a home arcade machine with one big feature - full compatibility with the Evercade cartridge ecosystem.

darthv721d 20h ago

I like the Mega Man one more as it has a better variety of games. Strider, Carrier Airwing, Final fight... The other is all SF. Plus i like that i can pop in any of my evercade carts to play as well.

Garethvk1d 19h ago

As long as it is durable; it's a deal.

300°

Sony Says The PS5 Is Its “Most Profitable Generation To-Date"

During Sony’s recent business segment meeting and investor presentation regarding its game and network services, the PlayStation company revealed that PlayStation 5 is the company’s “most profitable generation to-date.”

It’s the top slide of the presentation, showing that in its first four years, the PS5 generation has already hit $106 billion in sales, having almost caught up to the PS4’s total $107 billion generated.

Operating income for the PS5 generation has also already surpassed that of the PS4, having now reached $10 billion.

ApocalypseShadow2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wouldn't doubt it. They released a high quality system. A lot of high quality games from themselves and their support of 3rd party developers and indies. They released many high quality remakes and remasters. They released a high quality GaaS game going against the naysayers thinking Sony would abandon single player games. And they most likely are profiting a lot more than PS1, PS2 PS4 and the loss leading PS3 that drained all their profits.

Now, I'll wait to see what's cooking tomorrow. But can you use some of those profits to better support your high quality VR headset? Because, by supporting it, you can sell more games and more systems and make more profits?

jznrpg2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I want RPGs for PSVR2! Good ones of course

shinoff21832d ago

If it had some rpgs I would buy right fking now. It looks dope and alot of fun, but it's biggest game resident evil 4(maybe) I've got no interest in. I'm not a fan of racing games, even with that metro game coming i was never much into that series. Rpgs would be fantastic.

MrNinosan2d ago

Lemme know if ya wanna play some Zenith 🙌
Bought it at release, but haven't played it more than 1-2 hours but for sure on my "todo list".

Cacabunga2d ago

Normal when they released mostly cross gen games so far. That’s a lot of money saved..
We haven’t seen what PS5 can do yet. 4years in and PS4 games still look great to me. The gen leap isn’t quite there yet.

--Onilink--2d ago

The interesting metric for me is the $106billion in operating income/profit (not sales as mentioned in the article) reaching the same as the PS4 did with only half the consoles sold.

In particular because they all are supposed to be making the most per hardware sold after a few years when manufacturing costs are down.

So even putting inflation aside(and the higher console price), it is interesting that they could reach PS4 $ with just half the consoles sold.

Maybe there is more to the metric thats whats seen at face value, but they have clearly been making a lot more money than before on the software side (with also less games released I suppose, given its only been half the generation so far)

VersusDMC2d ago

The bulk of the money has to be coming from the 30% cut on all games and microtransactions. Especially on all the free to play juggernauts like genshin, apex, fortnight, etc.

--Onilink--2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@Versus

They are definitely making a lot on that for sure (which the $70 price increase factors into as well), but its not like many of those games werent around for the PS4 too.

They might be counting the gen as a whole and not just PS5 itself (so extra profit from PC sales, whatever that may be)

PS+ price increase and different tiers probably amount to part of that too.

But in general, its still quite a surprising metric. Half the time, half the consoles sold, less first party games released so far and still already making more of a profit than last gen is quite something, and as mentioned, there is probably more to it that we dont know, after all, since we are talking about operating income, all the expenses they have also factor into it, so it is also possible that they have found ways to significantly reduce that + all the means of increased revenue that appear to be factoring into the equation

All in all, just an interesting situation from a business perspective

porkChop2d ago

It's for the whole generation, so it would likely be including PC. They also make much more profit on digital sales vs retail, and digital is far more prominent these days. The generation also started at the height of COVID when everyone was home, spending far more money on gaming/hobbies. It makes a lot of sense for this gen to be more profitable.

Abnor_Mal2d ago

This will surely shut up all the new trolling accounts trying to spread lies and non facts in other articles comment sections before this article is posted.

Hofstaderman2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Obscurely, those trolls or troll will not show in these articles as the truth is contradictory to his or their orchard-sized daily dose of copium and hopium.

Tacoboto2d ago

Or... They're intentionally trolling you guys specifically. Because they know it upsets you so easily.

Name-dropping Orchard, after this many months? How long has it been and he's still in your thoughts?

Elda2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I'm quite sure the individual is reading these positive comments downvoting & seething at the same time. Edit: It just downvoted my comment...lol!!

Hofstaderman2d ago

No I'm entertained by this individual. I love unhinged people, they are so interesting lol.

repsahj2d ago

Wow! I am super impressed that in just 4 years, ps5 already caught up to the PS4's. Congratulations.

JackBNimble1d 13h ago

That happens when half of your games are cross platform. I'm still waiting to see what the ps5 is capable of, because they sure haven't pushed any limits.

And where are all these ps5 exclusive games?

sagapo2d ago

Not really surprised as Sony barely has any competition at the moment.

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80°

Zotac To Reveal Their Portable Gaming PC At COMPUTEX 2024

This sounds like a very interesting mobile gaming PC. ZOTAC returns to COMPUTEX 2024 to showcase its biggest push yet into brand-new product categories from Handheld Gaming.

smashman982d ago

My last 2 gpus have both been zotac. No issues. I'm interested.

Garethvk2d ago

It will be interesting to see what they have to offer