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I’ve played more games in the cloud than on a dedicated PC or console since late 2019. During this time, I’ve traded the common limitations of native gaming for a more versatile, untethered experience. These are the six reasons I prefer cloud gaming platforms like NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW over PCs and consoles.
Instant access to games
Waiting for downloads and updates is one of the most frustrating aspects of gaming, especially for gamers with little time to spare. However, when it comes to the cloud, these obstacles are largely absent. Services like GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Google Stadia host and stream games directly from their servers, which means that from the moment a game appears in my library, I can play it instantly with no additional wait times.
Game updates are also delivered automatically as soon as they are available; I never turn on my machine only to find a list of titles that need a patch. That said, there have been a couple of occasions where a game on GeForce NOW briefly crashes, but these have been rare for me.
First time I came across a patch that prevented me from playing a game on #GeForceNOW. Has anyone else seen this before? #cloud gaming pic.twitter.com/3bowAx4J3C
-Zach Laidlaw (@ztlaidlaw) May 28, 2022
display versatility
Whether it’s a console connected to a TV or an expensive GPU connected directly to a PC, both are considered stationary gaming options that would require some hassle to move around. However, with cloud gaming, almost every screen I have is a potential gaming platform.
I can play games at my desk after work, relax on the couch in front of a TV on the weekends, and even enjoy a game or two on my phone before bed. This level of power and versatility can only be found in a gaming system designed to fuse with a variety of device form factors.
Cloud platforms are also great for traveling and vacationing. While it’s a hassle to lug a gaming console or PC from one place to another, cloud gaming doesn’t require special hardware. With a stable Wi-Fi connection, my trusty phone, tablet, and laptop can become my gaming platform at any time.
Unlimited game storage
The more graphics intensive games become, the more storage space they require. This has been evident with titles like the one from 2019. call of duty: modern warfare taking up an absurd 231 GB of space. Add a few more entries like this, and an SSD PC or console will fill up fast.
These limitations do not apply to cloud players. All supported games on any service are on a publicly shared server, and players who own a license for these games can simply click on one in their library and dive right in. As a result, I have unbridled access to my entire library without having to install or uninstall games, manage multiple SSDs, or worry about running out of storage.
Unlimited cloud savings
Saving and backing up game data can be tricky on a PC. While services like Steam Cloud do a decent job, they can sometimes crash and cause irreparable loss (if your games support this feature). You can set up your own backup solution, but they are tedious at best. Fortunately, cloud platforms also shine here.
In addition to unlimited game storage, cloud gamers get unlimited cloud saves for all of their game data. Not only does this ensure that the latest saves are always available on all my devices, regardless of what screen I use, but services like GeForce NOW even add cloud save capabilities to titles that don’t natively support them, like Kena: Bridge of the Spirits at the epic games store. As a result, my game save data is always up to date, backed up, and ready for my next raid.
GeForce RTX 3080 Power without the hassle
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080 is one of the most sought after GPUs on the planet. Unfortunately, it’s notoriously hard to find, and even if you can get one on Amazon, they come with quite a few drawbacks. For starters, they draw up to 320 watts of power (RIP your electricity bill), generate enough heat to fry an egg, and need to be kept cool for optimal performance. In short, they are expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and generally complicated to use.
Or, as is the case with GeForce NOW, you can bypass all of these hassles and get the power of a GeForce RTX 3080 streamed to your devices via the cloud. For $19.99 a month, the GeForce NOW RTX 3080 tier brings high-performance graphics, stability, and ray tracing to not only my computer, but my phone, tablet, and TV as well. Even better, I don’t have to worry about turning it on, cooling it down, or maintaining it—NVIDIA takes care of all of that for me, leaving me with nothing to do but enjoy my games.
no more updates
Gaming hardware is expensive enough on its own. The cost goes up even more when you consider the time, money, and effort it takes to maintain that hardware and eventually upgrade it once it expires. For decades, it’s been commonplace to run out and buy the latest and greatest GPUs and consoles the moment they hit the market, but things don’t have to be that way.
Just as NVIDIA maintains the RTX 3080 that I use to stream games to my devices, the company will also update my gear when the time is right. That means that at some point in the not-too-distant future, I’ll get a 40-series GPU without having to physically search for one, buy it, swap it out at my desk, and maintain it. NVIDIA does all the heavy lifting so I can enjoy the best performance while saving tons of money and alleviating the headaches I would incur when trying to buy a new GPU.
How to get started with Geforce NOW
There are quite a few cloud gaming platforms to choose from, but there is only one that I consider to be the best. GeForce NOW offers the most games (1,300 free and paid titles from places like Steam, Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect), the highest performance, and the widest regional coverage compared to Xbox Cloud Gaming, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna .
Performance for you may vary based on your location and Wi-Fi connection, but there’s only one way to know for sure. Try GeForce NOW for free with the entry level, or unlock even more power and features with the Priority level for $9.99 per month or the RTX 3080 level for $19.99 per month.
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