Having tried Google's Project Stream I think latency issues are completely overblown

[ckareset]

So I have just started playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey and it's confirmed my thoughts that issues about latency and control response are overblown. The controls feel fine and responsive.

And some background... my internet is garbage. I have AT&T. In fact, I dont actually think I meet the requirements to play as I constantly have the internet warning. You need 15mps streaming data to play and I only cap out at like 10 and I was in fact blocked from playing. However, I kept trying by moving my laptop around and either they eventually let everyone through or I just got lucky. I dont generally meet the minimum requirements though.

That being said, I do of course have lag/skipping but none of it is in my controller (dual shock 4).

I also have PlayStation Now and have similar thoughts. Garbage internet is definitely a problem, latency not so much. Of course, I have not tried any online first-person shooters or fighting games, so maybe there it really matters but I can safely say that I have no problem playing games like Assassins Creed or other games like Sonic, Red Dead, Bloodborne

I think anyone who has reservations about streaming should try it out and see for themselves. It really works better than I expected

With companies like Google, Microsoft, and Sony getting into streaming we can put some pressure on ISP to give us better internet and stop data caps. We shall see.


As for my thoughts on the game: the animations have some jank to them but it works just fine. I'm still early but everything seems well done. I chose Kassandra lol

 

[Deleted member 1413]

They always have been.
Remember being blown away when I tried it on my Android MyTouch like 8 years ago.

Might not be good for competitive games, but I don't imagine most would care for other games

 

[ArnoldJRimmer]

I don't understand what your point is. Latency is going to vary depending on your location and your distance to a nearby Google data center that can service your game. People's experience is going to vary. Just because you have a low latency connection doesn't mean person X will.

 

[Deleted member 7450]

"Better than expected", "not as bad as people think", and stuff like that just serves to tell me that it isn't better than the real thing, just an alternative presented in a lower standard, so I'm always a bit wary.

 

[Deleted member 1326]

I never tried any of these, but even in-home which should be much lower latency I had problems.
I played Yakuza 6 a bit with remote play and while regular fights were doable, whenever I had a little bit more of a challenge, I just couldn't do it. Changed back to the PS4 and beat the shit out of those thugs without effort.
I guess if streaming really becomes a thing, games will be adapted around it, but the way it is today I don't see myself going for it as I have a better option for me available.

 

[ckareset]

"Better than expected", "not as bad as people think", and stuff like that just serves to tell me that it isn't better than the real thing, just an alternative presented in a lower standard, so I'm always a bit wary.

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Let me clarify lol.

It feels like the real thing. I said better than expected but I expected lag and got none. I mean I'm sure it's there, but wasnt noticeable

 

[fracas]

Project Stream is really impressive. Felt pretty much identical to playing on my own PC.

The video quality is hit and miss though.

 

[Nautilus]

So I have just started playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey and it's confirmed my thoughts that issues about latency and control response are overblown. The controls feel fine and responsive.

And some background... my internet is garbage. I have AT&T. In fact, I dont actually think I meet the requirements to play as I constantly have the internet warning. You need 15mps streaming data to play and I only cap out at like 10 and I was in fact blocked from playing. However, I kept trying by moving my laptop around and either they eventually let everyone through or I just got lucky. I dont generally meet the minimum requirements though.

That being said, I do of course have lag/skipping but none of it is in my controller (dual shock 4).

I also have PlayStation Now and have similar thoughts. Garbage internet is definitely a problem, latency not so much. Of course, I have not tried any online first-person shooters or fighting games, so maybe there it really matters but I can safely say that I have no problem playing games like Assassins Creed or other games like Sonic, Red Dead, Bloodborne

I think anyone who has reservations of about streaming should try it out and see for themselves. It really works better than I expected

I think however with companies like Google, Microsoft, and Sony getting into streaming we can put some pressure on ISP to give us better internet and stop data caps. We shall see.


As for my thoughts on the game: the animations have some jank to them but it works just fine. I'm still early but everything seems well done. I chose Kassandra lol

Click to shrink...

I don't have the same internet issues as you, but I definitely think the latency issues are overblown. Granted, AC isn't a competitive game and I still wouldn't use this for streaming a multiplayer fighting game or FPS game. I do think with Google stepping into this field along with Sony and Microsoft, this is will be a bigger product than most people might think. Google has definitely impressed me with this. Having tried the bigger streaming platforms like Sony and Nvidia, Google has definitely done it a bit better than either of these.

 

[iareharSon]

Someone should do a field test where they bring in unknowing test subjects to do Quality Control on a game that they believe is being locally played, because they have no reason to believe otherwise, and then ask for their impressions to see if there's any mentions of the game being blurry, unresponsive, etc.

 

[LifeLine]

My problem isn't with input lag, but the noticeably worse graphics. The image looks softened up and not very sharp, much more like a YouTube video than a native 1080p game.

 

[ckareset]

My problem isn't with input lag, but the noticeably worse graphics. The image looks softened up and not very sharp, much more like a YouTube video than a native 1080p game.

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Yeah, actually you could say that describes it perfectly. Looks like I'm playing a youtube video.

Of course my connection is trash, if it looks like that on a regular/high speed then they have issues they need to work out

 

[Deleted member 43872]

I have pretty good internet (fiber, 50 Mb both ways, Ethernet from router to PC) and while I haven't gotten my invite to Google's service yet, I played around with GeForce NOW yesterday. The latency sucks. Any kind of fast action or aiming feels sluggish and wrong. I'm still going to try Project Stream if I get an invite, but my expectations are low.

 

[Stinkinmushroom]

Try it with a multiplayer online game

 

[Mesoian]

So I have just started playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey and it's confirmed my thoughts that issues about latency and control response are overblown. The controls feel fine and responsive.

And some background... my internet is garbage. I have AT&T. In fact, I dont actually think I meet the requirements to play as I constantly have the internet warning. You need 15mps streaming data to play and I only cap out at like 10 and I was in fact blocked from playing. However, I kept trying by moving my laptop around and either they eventually let everyone through or I just got lucky. I dont generally meet the minimum requirements though.

That being said, I do of course have lag/skipping but none of it is in my controller (dual shock 4).

I also have PlayStation Now and have similar thoughts. Garbage internet is definitely a problem, latency not so much. Of course, I have not tried any online first-person shooters or fighting games, so maybe there it really matters but I can safely say that I have no problem playing games like Assassins Creed or other games like Sonic, Red Dead, Bloodborne

I think anyone who has reservations about streaming should try it out and see for themselves. It really works better than I expected

With companies like Google, Microsoft, and Sony getting into streaming we can put some pressure on ISP to give us better internet and stop data caps. We shall see.


As for my thoughts on the game: the animations have some jank to them but it works just fine. I'm still early but everything seems well done. I chose Kassandra lol

Click to shrink...

Keep in mind, Project Stream is doing some black magic somewhere.

Latency is the main issue, but PS is doing it better than literally everyone right now. Like, compared to PSNow streaming, it's like night and day.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

Let me clarify lol.

It feels like the real thing. I said better than expected but I expected lag and got none. I mean I'm sure it's there, but wasnt noticeable

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You said in the OP that you had lag and skipping. Now you are saying here you didnt notice any. Which is it?

 

[ghibli99]

With a good connection, I was impressed a long time ago even with OnLive. In-home streaming via Steam is so damn good I can't even tell a difference from native play. Latency/response is the least of my issues with streaming. For me, it's ownership or not being able to play games if you don't have an online connection.

 

[ckareset]

You said in the OP that you had lag and skipping. Now you are saying here you didnt notice any. Which is it?

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I have stream/internet lag but no noticeable controller lag

 

[Deleted member 11413]

I have stream/internet lag but no noticeable controller lag

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Gotcha. That still sounds less than ideal tbh.

 

[headspawn]

Try it with a multiplayer online game

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I played PUBG and Overwatch on Nvidia's Geforce NOW; it wasn't the worst thing ever.

 

[Deleted member 31133]

I still have issues streaming films. My internet is crap, but I can't get anything better because I live in a rural area. I have the best I can have at the moment. My internet is so slow, it took 6 hours to download the Fortnite season 6 update.

 

[DanteLinkX]

This latency/input lag issue is just like framerate, resolution and everything ever, some people dont "mind" it and therefore think its "fine", I have read countless of people saying that they cant tell from 720p up to 4k, and that 540p is fine for them, and then others just say that cant tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps and 120fps, when at least to me there is a clear difference between them, So yeah, be thankful that you are impervious to this latency thing, but the fact that it exists and its there, its real, and It will affect some people, you are just of the lucky few that arent affected (I am one of thoese lucky people with PS VR, it doesnt dizzy or make me feel uncomfortable for hours of play, while others cant stand more than 15 minutes without throwing up, so yeah we exist!)

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

It doesn't have to be ideal, just good enough

 

[jroc74]

My problem isn't with input lag, but the noticeably worse graphics. The image looks softened up and not very sharp, much more like a YouTube video than a native 1080p game.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, actually you could say that describes it perfectly. Looks like I'm playing a youtube video.

Of course my connection is trash, if it looks like that on a regular/high speed then they have issues they need to work out

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And with the push for 4K, streaming has a long way to go before replacing local playing.

What I see happening tho is 4K becoming the hard limit for resolution.

 

[LCGeek]

how they are overblown whh all people share a unique link from their router from their own to their isp to isp backbone to isp peers and then to the destination in which latency problems occur? What about people whose ping is well above a tolerable rate for stream for 30fps or 60fps steaming?

Your own connection only represents your current link. For instance I like my att fiber when it works and I'm in milwaukee current. I don't want to be in panama city again using their shitty dsl network to try out stream project.

 

[joylevel11]

of course they are. for the vast majority of people input lag/latency is a non issue.

if streaming consoles end up cheaper then nobody will care about input lag lmfao.

 

[LifeLine]

Yeah, actually you could say that describes it perfectly. Looks like I'm playing a youtube video.

Of course my connection is trash, if it looks like that on a regular/high speed then they have issues they need to work out

Click to shrink...

I'm on a 80mbps down connection and that's the image quality I get.

I can see it making sense for games like Fortnite or other titles where graphics isn't a big deal. Or games on mobile phones, where the screen is so small, you won't notice the difference.

For Odyssey though, as much as I want to play the game for free on Project Stream, I feel like I'm missing out by not opting for the non-stream version. The fact that even for free I don't want to play it, says a lot about what kind of success the service will get with the core audience without improvements.

Also IIRC, I didn't have this issue with PS Now back when I tried that. But I haven't tried it recently, so not sure if they went the same route.

 

[Lothars]

of course they are. for the vast majority of people input lag/latency is a non issue.

if streaming consoles end up cheaper then nobody will care about input lag lmfao.

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I don't agree for some it won't matter but it would have to be a half or quarter of the price for people to really care and even than it depends on where you live and the type of connection.

 

[Ombala]

The real thing is better that's all that matters to me tbh, streaming will never be as good as playing locally.

 

[Damaniel]

I don't know how close Google's server is to me, but it feels exactly like playing locally to me. I haven't perceived even the slightest bit of lag. My main complaint is that the stream seems to max out at 1080p, which makes the whole game look a little soft on my 1440p monitor. I know the image quality isn't a bandwidth issue since I have 1 gig up / 1 gig down fiber internet service.

That being said, game streaming is dead in the water until ISPs drop their stupid data caps. My provider doesn't have one, but based on Google's estimate 25mbit requirement, playing 40 hours worth of the game at that speed would consume nearly 500GB of data. Good luck with Comcast if you want to play any more than that.

 

[The Albatross]

My experience with Project Stream was really impressive... Game looked great, streamed great, and the latency was barely perceivable to me. For a game like Assassins Creed, it's a perfect platform for it because the game does not require any precise motion or movement. I have good internet (300mbps+), and I live in the NOrth east so likely near a google center somewhere... And it was great.

I mean, let's remember, this is a beta... that launched a week ago.

 

[m29a]

The input delay was immediately noticable to me, and was enough for me to stop playing after around 10 minutes. Felt exactly like I was playing on a TV without game mode on. I'm way too used to playing games locally at around 90-144+fps on my monitor.

I do believe for the average person, it's more than acceptable.

 

[Themaddestgamer]

I'm on a 80mbps down connection and that's the image quality I get.

I can see it making sense for games like Fortnite or other titles where graphics isn't a big deal. Or games on mobile phones, where the screen is so small, you won't notice the difference.

For Odyssey though, as much as I want to play the game for free on Project Stream, I feel like I'm missing out by not opting for the non-stream version. The fact that even for free I don't want to play it, says a lot about what kind of success the service will get with the core audience without improvements.

Also IIRC, I didn't have this issue with PS Now back when I tried that. But I haven't tried it recently, so not sure if they went the same route.

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All this talk has me about to try the free week of PSNnow. I tried it when it released and it wasnt bad it I've got a lot faster connection now.

Also going to try this google streaming beta later tonight. I'll see what any perceived differences are personally.

 

[Crayon]

Did you ever consider that many of the people talking about it have never actually tried it? A good lesson. People have word wars on the internet. Opposing sides compete to spam comments. Each side tries to create an echo chamber. A lot of people don't even care if they are right. They can be proven wrong, and they'll move on to the next word battle without missing a beat.

 

[eso76]

A lot of people switched to streaming music despite the lower fidelity (that most people never really noticed) and video.
It's not as good as CD or Blu-ray but at the end of the day you're willing to sacrifice ultimate quality for price, content and convenience.
Sounds like streaming games is next, and its sooner than expected.

 

[Deleted member 12833]

I'm trying ps now right now and I'm impressed. I have 100 down. I can notice the latency in Resistance 3 but it's still enjoyable. Honestly can't really notice it in Ratchet and Clank ACIT. 60fps seems to benefit it.

Image quality is good as well

 

[brainchild]

Someone should do a field test where they bring in unknowing test subjects to do Quality Control on a game that they believe is being locally played, because they have no reason to believe otherwise, and then ask for their impressions to see if there's any mentions of the game being blurry, unresponsive, etc.

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I've already done this with many of my family members and friends who casually play video games when I had them play on my NVIDIA Shield. They had absolutely no idea that the games were streamed, and even after telling them that it works like Netflix, they still couldn't appreciate the significance of such a technological achievement. The games just worked, and that's what they payed attention to.

 

[itchi]

Played through The Last of Us on PSNow and while there was some input lag the game was perfectly playable though playing a game at 30fps affected me far more than the input lag. Was it the best possible experience? Of course not but it was a far better choice than going to spend £200 just to play one game. And seeing how Bloodborne is the only ps4 exclusive I've really wanted to play I'll be doing the same after I'm done with FH4.

 

[P-Switch]

It doesn't have to be ideal, just good enough

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Exactly.

Playing games on a console box is less than ideal...but mainstream, casual gamers don't really care about visual/performance sacrifices.

Just like most gamers put up with sub optimal/variable resolutions and sub optimal/erratic frame rates and poor AA and low graphic settings etc etc etc....most wont care about negligible latency or input lag or streaming artifices ala YouTube quality.

Streaming is already good enough to be the main way for most to game. And it will only get better

 

[Renna Hazel]

After trying that PS4 streaming thing, I have serious doubts. I need it to be as good as it is now, otherwise I see no reason to downgrade. Hopefully it works well on the newer streaming platforms.

 

[adso]

I guess something is messed up on my end. I usually get decent ping, but with Project Stream I've got horrible lag. The game feels like 20 fps and the control delay is maybe a third of a second. It's solid 1080p though.

 

[tbyte64]

That's really scary then. The tech not working well was the only hope that this won't take off.

 

[DSP]

Of course, for single player game like this it's non issue but you don't want to play Overwatch on this right?

Overall I think streaming will incentivize developing more single player games again that might have some difficulty with current business models and increasing developing expenses as you can sell them to a lot more people. Remember that with streaming services you don't buy the games, you pay for server time instead and you can play whatever you want. That's how Geforce Now is supposed to work and I think it's the most sensible way to sell these services. When you're paying for time, publishers can try to sell in game "time savers" to capitalize on this model. I don't think Odyssey was picked randomly for this test, it's something they are probably considering for future.

 

[brainchild]

Of course, for single player game like this it's non issue but you don't want to play Overwatch on this right?

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I play Fortnite, Paladins, and Realm Royale on GeForce NOW just fine.

Remember that with streaming services you don't buy the games, you pay for server time instead and you can play whatever you want.

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No, I pay for and own the games that I stream on GeForce NOW (with the exception of Free to play games, or games that come with the Shield).

 

[Deleted member 17643]

Having played around with Project Stream I would say it's not anywhere near the real thing. It's certainly playable with a game like Assassin's Creed, but the audio cuts in and out, the graphics are blurry, and there's noticeable lag at times.

 

[Powerofthecloud]

I just got in and ran it fine. YMMV as was expected to begin with as far as quality goes. Solid option for in certain scenarios IMO.

 

[Monkeyball]

"I need the game to run locally" will end up like "I need the game on a dvd!".

 

[Ponchito]

I think latency is the least of the problems here.

It's the fact that outside of limited countries in the world, there are not the internet services requiered for this. I'm talking about speed, availability and even data caps.

 

[Dyle]

I'm very impressed by it, it's more playable than it would have been on my 3 year old pc. Assassin's Creed is a pretty loose game so the latency doesn't matter, this won't work for a tight platformer but it works great for an open world action rpg

 

[Powerofthecloud]

I think latency is the least of the problems here.

It's the fact that outside of limited countries in the world, there are not the internet services requiered for this. I'm talking about speed, availability and even data caps.

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You are correct but you got to start somewhere.

 

[DieH@rd]

Latency was never an issue for people that live close to the servers. Image Quality and bandwith are ever present problems, and many people live far away from servers. IMO, streaming will never be able to fix those things, but it can also easily serve a lot of people well.