With the arrival of Hitman 3 to Nintendo Switch, many users have known for the first time that the company offers something they call Nintendo Switch Cloud Streaming, but what exactly is it. And then, what are the available titles and if it is like xCloud, Google Stadia or similar. Let’s see it.
The game in the cloud
Gaming services via streaming are already quite popular and known by most users. At least for those who are a little more interested in this world of technology applied to video games.
However, doing a quick review, Geforce Now was one of the first to offer this option to play via streaming. But what exactly is this about playing through the cloud. Well, to make it easy to understand, what this technology allows is to run any type of game on a remote server and receive the video signal with which you can interact in the same way that it was executed locally.
Thanks to this, in a priori unsuitable hardware you can enjoy demanding games at the CPU and GPU level . So it is not necessary to know much more about all the benefits that these types of solutions provide. Mainly now that the vast majority of us always carry a device with an internet connection in our pockets.
Because that is basically the only thing that is needed to access proposals like Microsoft‘s xCloud, Google Stadia or Amazon’s Luna. And that is why more and more accessories have also been presented that allow these phones to become almost portable consoles, with gamepads that fit perfectly to the sides of the same in landscape mode.
Nintendo Cloud Streaming
Nintendo Cloud Streaming is basically the same thing that all these services offer to their users. A Nintendo service where games are run in the cloud , on their own dedicated servers for such a task. Although there are differences with respect to the rest of the proposals, which is not surprising knowing how the company has been adopting different technological advances and in particular all those that affect online.
The first is that it is only available for the Nintendo Switch. That means that only owners of the handheld console can access it. So forget the idea of playing those titles from another device. And the second big difference is that it is not any type of service that you access by registering with your user account , but it is acquired by purchasing each of the games available as Cloud Version independently.
For everything else, it is basically the same idea that is had in other proposals, although if you have not heard of it before it is because it has barely attracted attention from the catalog and because it is, until not long ago, something that only users from Japan they could enjoy.
Nintendo Switch Cloud version games
The low popularity of the Nintendo Cloud Version games is due to the fact that they are very few really. That’s why you really asked some NIntendo Switch user what it was and they didn’t know how to answer you well. These are the titles available for Nintendo Cloud Streaming:
- Control
- Hitman 3
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
The last two, the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, only available in Japan. Control arrived recently and on January 20 Hitman 3 will be launched, which could be the one that would give this service a little more visibility.
Requirements to enjoy Nintendo Cloud Streaming
Now that you know what all this Nintendo Cloud Streaming is, you will wonder what the requirements of the service are, how much it costs, how to access it, etc. So let’s go step by step.
The only requirement to access Cloud Version games on Nintendo Switch is to have an internet connection . If these are good, regardless of whether you use a 4G or 5G network, fiber or ADSL, you can enjoy these games on your portable console. But make sure you have the minimum bandwidth required and that it is stable, because if it is not, you will suffer cuts or an experience not up to scratch.
Regarding the price, here there are no monthly payments but what you buy is the game directly. So it can be said that it is a single payment. The difference is that instead of running on your console, it does so on the Nintendo servers.
To access these games you can only do it from the NIntendo Switch . Nothing to continue the game from a smartphone, tablet or computer. It would be great and could even be a great idea for Nintendo, but the company not only makes its living selling games but also hardware. And this, although sometimes offers an experience similar to that of any other console, it also has elements that differentiate it and give shape to that very particular philosophy of the Super Mario company.
Finally, even if it is a service to play over the internet, it does not require payment from NIntendo Switch Online . Another thing is that the game does offer some feature, as with Mario Kart or similar, for which it is necessary. But if it’s to access Nintendo’s servers and run the game remotely, you don’t need to pay for the online one.
The future of the Nintendo Switch Pro?
With the rumors of a possible Nintendo Switch Pro that would include greater autonomy and a 4K screen, the use of this technology by Nintendo would make a lot of sense. Because if the same processor and GPU power are maintained, taking the execution of the most demanding games to the cloud would allow them to offer that higher image quality and almost equal to platforms such as PS5 or Xbox Series X / S without changing devices.
Of course this is all speculation and first we would have to see if that Nintendo Switch Pro goes on sale and if Nintendo is ready for an infrastructure of this type. But it never hurts to have in view this possibility that could give a lot of play to one of the most attractive consoles even today.