Sliding under the data capIf you're one of the many unlucky broadband customers subject to a cap on your data usage, you may rightly wonder how streaming HD gameplay from a remote server will eat into your monthly allotment. To see how the service scaled, we went into our router settings and intentionally limited the bandwidth going to the PlayStation 4. Of course, not everyone has such a healthy Internet pipe leading into their home these days (#humblebrag). If you set the PlayStation Now app next to a PlayStation 3 running the same game, we'd be hard pressed to tell you which was which. While pro-level players might be able to notice some dropped frames in a twitch-heavy game like Super Street Fighter IV, an intermediate player (including this reviewer) should see no apparent issues. The performance over this connection was identical over wireless and wired connections, and it didn't seem to dip even when someone was streaming video in another room. We saw a smooth, rock-steady frame rate and seemingly instantaneous responses to our controller inputs. After about 30 to 60 seconds of start up (including a required connection test to confirm bandwidth), PlayStation Now games ran at a solid HD resolution. At that speed, the streaming experience was practically indistinguishable from loading a disc on a local PS3. For one, we tested PlayStation Now on a relatively beefy (but still residential-level) 75 Mbps FiOS connection in the Washington, DC suburbs. Things have changed quite a bit in the intervening time.
Even with a 20Mbps FiOS connection, our reviewer "could tell that the game was not running natively" thanks to "framerate bumps, sudden resolution drops, and gameplay blips." Further Reading Ars reviews the OnLive microconsole, serviceWhen initially reviewing OnLive back in 2010, running a game through the offering's remote servers was a noticeably worse experience than running that same game locally.
0 kommentar(er)
