NVIDIA Releases GeForce Share & GameStream Co-Op Early Beta
by Ryan Smith on September 15, 2015 7:05 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- GeForce
- NVIDIA
- GeForce Experience
Last month alongside the release of the GeForce GTX 950, NVIDIA also announced that they would be releasing a new suite of updates for GeForce Experience called Shared. The cornerstone of this update would be GameStream Co-Op, a new GameStream feature that used the technology to allow a remote player play a local co-op game via streaming.
At the time NVIDIA announced that Share and GameStream Co-Op would be released in beta form in September, and today they’ve done just that with GeForce Experience 2.6. Curiously, NVIDIA calls this an “early access beta,” where it isn’t clear how this differs from a regular “beta.” But, I suspect, the naming is marketing driven given the success of the Steam Early Access program.
In any case, along with today’s release NVIDIA has also published a few more details about the feature. Co-op game streaming is fixed at 720p30, for which NVIDIA recommends 7Mbps of upload bandwidth. Host games by and large work so long as they’re DX9+ and run in full screen mode, though NVIDIA has a compatibility list up with their findings for major games. Meanwhile on the client side only Google Chrome is currently supported, which is accomplished via a Chrome Plug-In.
Finally, we've also been informed that there is a 1 hour time limit on GameStream Co-Op connections. This would appear to be in place to prevent abuse of the system for non co-op purposes, such as using the tech to stream games outright to friends as a means to avoid buying a proper copy of a game.
Source: NVIDIA
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Wardrop - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
This whole remote gaming/game streaming fad is the most bizaare thing to me. It's a dead-end technology in my opinion. No matter how much bandwidth you have or how good your streaming technology is, you can't improve latency beyond what physics allows. This is especially a problem with VR.It's funny how you have some technologies that seem to go against wider industry trends. Distributed computing for example is the most cost effective computing solution out there; the ability to distribute computing load to cheap client machines instead of expensive more-specialised data centre infrastructure. What's the end goal here with these streaming solutions?
otimus - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Uh, the goal here is to share your game with a friend over the internet whereas it'd otherwise be impossible to.HollyDOL - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Actually I might have a use for it... Used to play games with my father, but living remotely we get to play... 10hrs a month or so. This could do, at least for games we play together.nathanddrews - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
The end goal of all the big names in the gaming-related world is to establish paid game streaming services like videos are on Netflix and music is on Pandora. Monthly fees, micro-transactions, no physical media, no direct downloads of game content, no hacking, no piracy, no mods (except endorsed expansions), all nanny-cammed to the extreme.The end goal of this is to sell GPUs, sell NVIDIA Shield and NVIDIA Zone software (or whatever they call it now), and to allow gamers to play co-op remotely in games that otherwise require physical presence. Basically, Kaillera.
Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
If the server is located relatively close by, like within 1000 miles, the latency will be more than acceptable.todlerix - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
I just tried this, the latency is amazing. Basically whatever your ping is, is the latency. Can't wait until the res/fps gets higher for an even better experience.Fiernaq - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
It's called an early access because while the product itself may be good to go, the number of people who actually have an ISP in their area that offers >7Mbps UL speeds is extremely limited and people would question a fully launched product that could only garner such a small amount of customers. In my opinion this is a wise marketing strategy to not scare off potential users while waiting for internet infrastructure to continue building to the point where gamestream becomes viable for the general public.Google fiber is currently "building" in my city but that could still be years away. Until then, the best consumer internet offering available in my area is 300/5 and that's pretty good compared to what's available to a lot of people. I'd be interested in seeing a map with an overlay showing all the regions where >7Mbps UL speeds are available.