The Future of Cloud Gaming using Project Xcloud

What is Project XCloud?

What if there was a way to play all the games you enjoy on the daily on something as simple as a Smartphone device. If you told me this a few years back, I would think that you are mad as something like this is unfathomable to the normal being, however, the team at Microsoft have created a way to streamline all your games directly to your Smartphone with Low-latency and offer amazing quality games to be played all on the cloud. Microsoft has introduced a new way to play your favorite games on the cloud by utilizing the Xbox One S systems and turning them into a Server hub so you are able to stream on your mobile device. It is an interesting idea on paper but does it work is probably what everyone is thinking and to that, I say Yes, Yes it does extremely well. I was very fortunate enough to be selected into the Project XCloud beta and I am amazed at how easy it is to use on my phone and pick up where I left off on my games such as Ark, Resident Evil 2, and even games that I have not purchased yet as XCloud has a line-up of games that you can try using the app as well. There is a feature on the app that allows you to stream your games from your Home Xbox so any game that you have downloaded on your system, you are able to play it at a push of a button. Now, it is still not perfect in any way and needs some work but I truly believe that this is something that will revolutionize the gaming world.

How does XCloud affect Consoles?

It is worth mentioning to all that wonder if XCloud is so amazing and grand, is it really worth buying all these new consoles and staying in the norms of Console buying. I believe so as XCloud is not something that can replace your Home Entertainment Systems as it is more of the portability aspect that makes it so unique. A fine example of this would be the Nintendo Switch as everyone who owns it loves that you do not suffer from playing in either handheld or dock mode and the games are absolutely great to bring on the go. On the console such as the Switch, you do not suffer the various encounters that the XCloud has, which I will discuss next, as it is a console system that is made to play the games that you have either downloaded or own with your game cartridge. The main thing that XCloud fans have to remember is that it is cloud-based meaning you need three things to make your experience great and bear in mind that this is my opinion at the current state the application is in whereas it may change in the full release. It may not be an obvious thing to need but you will need a decent if not best smartphone out there currently like Samsung Galaxy/Note phones or (in the future) Apple devices (XCloud is currently only available to Andriod Users, Sorry Apple). These devices usually have top of the line network connectivity and RAM which makes running the app fairly smoothly while playing your games on your device. The major thing that is the bread and butter to using the app is your home internet if you are streaming from your Xbox and your phone provider as they will drastically hinder your gaming experience. I will say that you need a minimum of 15MBPS/15MBPS to be able to stream from your Home Xbox as speeds that are lower tend to make your video feed on your phone stutter which in some cases the app will kick you out and say feed was lost. The very phone provider you own is a huge one as well as you may have a strong signal and if you drop a bar of signal then your whole camera feed is stuttering and the list goes on and on. I do not have the best Phone provider (Cricket) however with full bars of 4G LTE, it still will not show any video feed so I often find myself on Wi-Fi where available and can play on the app for a quick multiplayer session or two. I have seen with T-Mobile phone users that it works fairly well and then cuts off ever so often but it is actually like playing on your home TV. In summary, I do believe that this will change as Microsoft spends more time working on the application and making it complete for launch.

Where do I sign-up for Project XCloud?

It is worth noting that signing up does not guarantee that you will be given access to play right away. Microsoft is doing waves at a time so they do not get bombarded by users and make it unusable for everyone. This is something that requires patience and understanding that not everyone is going to be lucky on sign-up and you will know when you have been accepted when you receive your email from the Xbox team. If you are interested, I have a few words of advice before signing up which is have a decent phone (Galaxy/Note phones work great or even HTC Phones), Great phone provider (based on phone coverage map) (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc...) and lastly your Xbox controller which does connect to your mobile devices being you have the Xbox One S model controllers. To Sign up. Click on this link to be redirected to the Project XCloud Sign-up Project xCloud (Preview). Thank you so much and have a Happy New Year.