Google Stadia vs. Nvidia GeForce Now: What's the Best Cloud Gaming Service?

Google Stadia vs. Nvidia GeForce Now: What's the Best Cloud Gaming Service?
Ever since Google announced the creation of its cloud gaming service, Stadia, in March 2019, there has been a lot of speculation about what it would mean for the video game industry. How would a service that lets you play the latest Chrome browser games in seconds change the current status quo for hardware, digital distribution, and disc media? But this exaggerated hype ignores the fact that the PC is well managed on the cloud gaming front, with various services that let you use everything from the low-end laptop to the Macbook Pro as a gaming device. top game. of rank. We decided to test and compare three of these services (Parsec, Shadow, and PaperSpace) with each other and with Google's next steps. We tested these services with a direct 100 Mbps / 10 Mbps Ethernet connection.

Nvidia is working on its GeForce Now streaming initiative (Image credit: Nvidia) Nvidia is working on its GeForce Now streaming initiative (Image credit: Nvidia)

GeForce now

Currently in beta, GeForce Now is an evolution of Nvidia's cloud gaming program. Previously just a library of games organized with a monthly subscription, GeForce Now lets you play most of the latest games released on Steam, Uplay, and Battle.net. It's more restricted than other services because it doesn't give you a virtual Windows machine that you can play games on. This means that it only supports games specifically selected by Nvidia and doesn't support services like EA (Origin) yet. so no battlefield or FIFA for you). However, the lineup of GeForce Now games is very current, with most of the new triple-A games released, as well as a host of mid-sized and indie titles. You probably won't find games here that go back more than 10 years, but your old PC will be more likely to use them natively, so GeForce Now stays true to the task of letting you play "the latest games" on your computer. old pc. One of the advantages of GeForce Now is that there is no storage limit and you won't even need to install games on your virtual machine. You simply choose a game you own in the GeForce Now app, connect to Steam, Uplay, or whatever gaming platform it's installed on, then it's added to your game. GeForce Now library and available to play almost immediately. It's very simple, right down to the streaming settings that allow you to switch between a few presets and a "Custom" option (maximum resolution is 1080p at this point). At the "Balanced" setting, streaming quality suffers from no input lag, though it does sometimes lose some connection and fade a bit in high-intensity 3D gaming. The fact that online shooters like PUBG are perfectly playable is a testament to the quality of this service. GeForce Now is free as long as it's in beta (no pricing structure planned yet), but you'll have to sign up for a waiting list that can take months to arrive. You can sign up for the GeForce Now beta here.

verdict

Even if you're still in beta, this doesn't give you a full virtual machine, but the streaming quality is excellent, and the user interface lets you jump right into today's big games. hui. .

Google Stadia is the newcomer to cloud computing (Image credit: Google) Google Stadia is the newcomer to cloud computing (Image credit: Google)

Google Stadia

With existing cloud gaming services offering visions of cloud gaming that seemed like a pipeline just five years ago, what is Stadia doing and what isn't the rest? First, Google's infrastructure is not up to the task of startups. Google's servers are extremely powerful. Their cloud computer claims to offer 10,7 terraflops of GPU power with minimal performance. Google claims that less than five seconds after opening your Chrome browser, you'll be able to get started with 60ips gaming just as easily by opening a tab as any of your favorite websites. However, he already has one eye on the future, with plans to enable 8k streaming at 120 frames per second. Since current services often don't exceed 1080p resolutions, it's a big step forward.

Here are the recommended internet speeds for Google Stadia (Image credit: Google) Here are the recommended internet speeds for Google Stadia (Image credit: Google) As with Parsec (explained below), Stadia will use a feature called Stream Connect to allow you to play local online multiplayer games with people from everyone, while Crowd Play will let you play and play with YouTubers. during a live broadcast. You can then share the exact point you are at in a game with a friend, allowing them to play the game. There's a lot of cutting-edge stuff here that seems especially aimed at the younger generation of gamers. Google has also announced that the following games will be available at launch:

Google pricing also revealed pricing: € 9.99 / € 8.99 per month for full 4K HDR streaming via Stadia Pro. You can also buy games on demand with Stadia Base.

verdict

When we tested Google Stadia on different types of hardware and with different quality connections, we found that it generally ran smoothly, with the biggest drop in performance resulting from poor Wi-Fi connections. We played Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the same one Google used to test the service when it was revealed in beta back in November. The experience was significantly better than we remembered, with less compression and less image loss. However, there was less latency on the connection, although it may simply be due to the busy network everyone was connected to. Frame rates fluctuated between 30 and 60 fps, which wasn't noticeable, but we expect Google to stabilize it before the full release in 2019.

other alternatives

While GeForce Now and Google Stadia are probably the most popular cloud streaming services for PC gamers, there are some small companies doing cool stuff. Let's take a look.

Parsec is doing something interesting with cloud gaming (Image credit: Parsec) Parsec is doing something interesting with cloud gaming (Image credit: Parsec)

Parsec (Amazon Web Services and Paperspace)

Parsec has many qualities that set it apart from the other services we've tested. First, it doesn't host its own servers, but rather partners with cloud streaming services Amazon and Paperspace to give users some options. Prices are calculated on an hourly basis and exactly match the price you would pay if you used Amazon and Paperspace web services directly. What makes Parsec unique is the focus on your community, which allows you to add friends, chat with other players, and play games together. You can also set your personal computer as a host to allow Internet users to play offline games with you. This means that you can essentially turn local multiplayer games into online games. It's totally free and a bonus you don't get with other services. As a platform to meet and play with other users, Parsec wins, even if the streaming quality offered by its cloud gaming providers is an issue. Hands down, Paperspace is the better of the two Parsec providers, offering better gaming performance at slightly more than half the price (starting at $0,51/hour and $10/month for storage). 250GB). ). This capacity decreases daily and stops charging you if you delete your machine in the cloud. At this price, you get a powerful Nvidia Quadro P4000 graphics processor and 30GB of RAM, which is ample enough to run any modern game. It gives you the use of a full Windows virtual machine, so you don't have to limit yourself to the games you can install. However, even if the virtual machine itself is less expensive than any game (up to 4K resolution), the stream itself is subject to artifacts with more graphic games.

Battlefield 1 suffered artifact artifacts in Parsec (Image credit: EA) Battlefield 1 suffered from artifact artifacts in Parsec (Image credit: EA) In something like Battlefield 1, there's no mistaking that you're playing video, as h.265 compression blurs the image to reduce input offset (even in this case, there may be some delay). Even 2D games with lots of moving elements like Hotline Miami can get very dark, while performance on the challenging low-end 2-bit 8D platformer The Messenger was close to perfect. If Paperspace's performance is correct (especially given the generous price), Amazon's web services can hardly be justified. You'll pay at least $0.98 per hour for a system with a mid-size Nvidia Tesla M60 GPU. On top of that, you pay €22 (about $20, AU$30) per month for 200GB of storage. Performance, at least in the UK, is slow and fuzzy, and there's no reason to use it on Paperspace unless you're far from a Paperspace server. It's worth remembering that Parsec is first and foremost a social gaming platform, with great free features like hosting games on your PC. Its current cloud cloud partners are lagging behind the best in the industry, but this should improve as Parsec partners with more and more cloud gaming providers, which tells us you were looking for it.

verdict

The very competitive hourly rates (at PaperSpace) make it an object of choice for lighter gamers, even if the streaming quality doesn't match competing services.

Shadow is an emerging online gaming service (Image credit: Shadow) Shadow is an emerging online gaming service (Image credit: Shadow)

shadow

Shadow is offered at a hard price of €25 (£25, approx AU$35) per month for a 12-month package, or €34.95 (£32, approx AU$50) per month for a monthly fee, with no option to upgrade. time, Shadow is the hardcore gamer's choice. On paper, the GTX 1080 GPU, 12GB RAM, and 256GB storage space are less than what you get with GeForce Now or PaperSpace, but still more than enough to maximize performance. Latest games. The internal ping speed does not exceed 1 ms, and the download speed is a flawless 1 Gbit/s, ensuring virtually no ping or delay to worry about on the server side when gaming online. It's that Shadow offers the best streaming performance of the pack, giving you a full Windows virtual PC so you can play any game of your choice. Online shooters like Battlefield and PUBG have minimal input lag, and while you may have noticed that the sharpness wasn't the same as in native mode, the balance between playback quality and picture quality is very good. Some less demanding games like Messenger and Dead Cells would suffer from quite noticeable input lag when using a controller, which we didn't know as much about with other cloud gaming providers. Fiddling with settings such as choosing "Preset Reliability" instead of "Favorite Speed" or lowering bandwidth didn't help, but we also had a hard time duplicating the issue in other games, so it's not necessarily a widespread issue. Shadow doesn't have different pricing options for creating different virtual machines, but for some users, this simplicity will be part of the call.

verdict

The high ticket price can be confusing if you only play a few hours a week, but Shadow offers the best performance of the providers we tested.

So which cloud service is the best?

In the battle of Google Stadia against Nvidia GeForce, we have to admit that Google Stadia offers the most compelling service of the moment. This is due to Google's impressive track record in cloud services, its aggressive courtesy to game creators, and the fact that Stadia will be available on a wide range of devices. However, it should be noted that both services have yet to be officially launched. For Stadia, this means that Google's big promises may not materialize in the face of reality. For Nvidia GeForce Now, this means the service could grow and evolve as soon as it comes out of beta. Also, if any company can compete with Google in server hardware and skills, it's Nvidia. But what about the lesser-known services? Shadow is out now and doing what the bigger services promise. It's more expensive, but if you want to take a look at what cloud gaming is capable of, Shadow is definitely worth signing up for.

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