Remedy's critically-acclaimed action title Control has come to Switch – but not in the form you might expect.

Control: Ultimate Edition is available now, but it's a 'cloud' version – which means the game is streamed to your console over WiFi and will therefore be subject to a degree of latency. The upside is that the visuals should be better than the Switch could achieve on its own.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Resident Evil 7 adopted a similar approach, but both of these games were exclusive to Japan.

Hitman 3 – also announced today – is the cloud version, too. Perhaps we'll see more of this kind of thing as the next-gen war kicks off?

Damien has over a decade of professional writing experience under his belt, as well as a repulsively hairy belly. Rumours that he turned down a role in The Hobbit to work on Nintendo Life are, to the best of our knowledge, completely and utterly unfounded.

This idea... is not good. And it's why I always have a Playstation n addition to my Nintendo products

This is pretty significant IMO, regardless of one's feelings on cloud streaming. Resident Evil 7 and Assassin's Creed: Odyssey only really worked in Japan, so something that works in US/EU markets would open the door for more of these kinds of ports.

Purchasing a one-off streaming only game is on par with buying some rare car from across the world. You'll never have any support for it and when it stops working you'll be on your own entirely. At least with a streaming service from one of the big players you're guaranteed to have them backing the service. I hope other people answer this trend with keeping their wallets closed.

Dude what? This came out of literal nowhere. I might even be curious enough to try it.

There's no mention of pricing since the game is "free".

Sucks considering we have bad internet in the U.S. Other countries have internet that is at least ten times better.

I want to see how well this works on the Switch. This could open up a lot of options.

And now the Switch has both of 2019's best games from the Astral Plane!

It's a pleasant surprise, but I'll see how it runs. If it's laggy and compressed I'm not bothering.

@bert0503 You just need 5mbs for cloud gaming, usually.

Control works great over GeforceNOW.

Played all the DLC on the GO or at a hotel when traveling - even had RayTracing. Streaming is 10X better than butchering a game to get it running on Switch (or not playing it at all)

This is good news. Put GeforceNOW and Shadow on Switch.

@Casual_Gamer95 Why did you get rid of it? You could have still used it for nintendo games.

Ouch, not the best method, but I get it.

The big problem with cloud gaming is that even if your internet is excellent (which mine isn't) it will depend on where the servers are hosted for these games too be run which will increase the latency even more the further you are from them.

Any word on the pricing structure?

If it was like rent for a tenner for a week I could see some appeal.

@Agramonte while I can understand that streaming the game is better as your are getting top visuals from a gaming pc but the problem there is that when they decide too shut down those streaming pc then those games you bought are also gone.

At that stage you would be better off getting a gaming pc and get a shield if you want too game said game portable.

I'm number 144 in the queue for the enhanced graphics trial.

...your demo is important to us...please stay on the line....

"Buying" a game like this is very different than other alternatives such as games with ongoing revenue streams or unlimited play services like game pass.

Since we can pretty much guarantee they won't keep the servers up all that long this isn't for me.

@SilentHunter382 You do not buy any games on GeforceNOW or Shadow. It is whatever you have in your PC Steam, UPlay or Epic Store library (you get games there)

If they ever close them down you have all your games and saves on your PC anyway.

I had SteamLink and RainWay out of my home, but when the Mrs Started working from home (covid) the quality went down hill. And I can not tell you how many times I had an issue with my PC and had to call home for someone to restart my PC. Now (after 9 months with it) I rather just use the service than go back to that.

Nvidia is giving 12 months Free if you get a 3070 or 3080. A Switch client would be amazing.

Interested to give this a spin like Hitman 3. Let's see what cloud gaming is like on the Switch.

@Agramonte ah then if that is the case with GeforceNOW or Shadow then I am ok with that form of cloud gaming but the form likes Stadia (the buying of games individually not the renting model) or with the switch cloud games I hate.

I am completely fine with a renting model where you have access too all these games but you pay a monthly fee. That too me should be the way cloud gaming should be (like PS NOW).

They might as well save these for the Switch Pro then, nobody wants to pay full price to play cloud version of these games, if we do we would had just play it on Stadia.

It has not come to switch. It has come to a streaming service that the switch can access.

@SilentHunter382 yeah, Stadia is a trap. Not only are your games stuck there - but also all your saves, DLC and progression.

Or you will be playing this at home on a strong pc (where you have good internet) or on your switch at home as well, not really a downside I guess

Wow, this seems like an approach to bring some cloud gaming to the switch, it's good to have a variety of options on your switch, and having more options is always good. However, I think a subscription based model is better for cloud gaming.

@Agramonte I have Shadow.tech, it's basically a virtual game pc in the cloud with full GPU access. It's a normal Windows 10 environment that gives you full access to install what PC game you own (on Steam, or otherwise). To me it has less latency than Stadia and GeforceNow. And offers up to 4K gaming.

@sleepinglion I'm happy that you have a Playstation for this stuff, but not everyone does.

Control is the kind of game I'd only get if I had the console to play it on. PS4 has a lot of those games for me, and very very few "system sellers".

@Kalmaro true you just better hope all your devices are off at home and nobody is on the WiFi if you had that low of a speed.

While I am ok with streaming via services like PS Now, (mainly for ps3 games), for my Nintendo Devices I really want it all to be played local on the Switch, so these cloud games are a pass for me, I can play them better elsewhere.

@sanderev Yeah, I have the lowest level Shadow. It can't do RayTracing in Control or Metro Exodus. So ended up dropping the $5 for GeforceNOW Founder

I have a PC for 4K. So I only use streaming for on the GO.

But yeah, you cant do PC Game Pass on GeforceNOW. And publishers have pulled tons of games from the service. If only 1, Shadow is the way.

I am just trying all the streaming services before settling on one

@Casual_Gamer95 I see you’ve accidentally missed your stop and got off at NL on your way to Push Square. Stay around a while, maybe you’ll see some of the amazing exclusives and remember what you’re missing?

Tried to go into the performance edition and was 909 in the queue, so I shut it down and downloading NMHs and the demo for Age of Calamity instead. May try again later.

Would like to know pricing! if almost a rental system and as @TheFullAndy said, a few quid for a week, I wouldn't mind trying... Although it'd make me want something like Game Pass/XCloud to simply come to Switch as there's a whole catalogue rather than just one game.

I would never pay full price for a streaming only game, and Stadia works the same way as this too.

It's not on eShop as of right now.

Why do some players here assume that every Nintendo Switch player owns a Playstation too? It's very wierd!

As I can already see this will really cause some serious debate about streaming games on Switch. Being what the Switch is all about I'd say I don't like it but I understand giving the option for it. I just worry about developers going with the streaming option instead of either properly optimizing ports and/or even building a new game from scratch. Seem's like we're opening the door now for developers to start considering it as a more viable option. That worries me.

@Casual_Gamer95 why are you commenting on a Nintendo site then? Also, you’re missing out. Playing Hades handheld is a wonderful thing. Sorry you don’t have a Switch.

@MisterMan @Casual_Gamer95 Yeah I was wondering the same thing. I think you're lost, son.

I tried it out and it plays like a dream. I have a 5 Ghz router though and i am from the netherlands. But still, buttersmooth 60 FPS, no latency issues and no lag whatsoever. Whoever made this cloud streaming technology, it's really impressive. Try it out for yourself. It's free to try anyways.

Cloud version?! Count me out. Already played it on PlayStation.

I play Switch on my commute to/from work on the train. No wifi for me and we go through dead zones, so cell hotspot is spotty. Guess this is a no go for me. I am getting a PS5 so I guess I will have to play it on that.

@graysoncharles Works fine for me and I'm at about 90ish from what I checked. My mobile internet is slower and I can still get it running.

It may also depend on who you're streaming from.

Damnit, the two most interesting ports in the direct, both cloud which means Ill skip them. They could probably port the games, but that requires about a year of work and some money to a porting studio.

With wired connection, what are people’s Download speed results when doing a Test Connection? Mine is always 48 Mbps which is strange as I’m on a 100 Mbps package. Is the Switch limited somehow ?

Already own this and love it. No point in 'streaming' on my Switch. Not really portable if you can't leave your wifi.

Think I'm the only one but I absolutely hated Control. Glorified wave shooter with contrived, sci-fi gobbledygook story. Really didn't get on with it at all. Yeuch. Didn't help that I got duped into finishing the post credits tidying office scene either. Ggggrrr. Deleted on completing the main campaign, had zero interest in going back for the remaining sidequests.

@RPGamer I have a PS4, and will probably get a PS5, but my roots are in handheld gaming, and I’ll always prefer playing on a handheld system compared to being tethered to the TV in my living room, even though – for the most part – that’s where the very best AAA experiences are at.

Didn't think much of the game itself, in fairness 10 minutes isn't long enough to really form an opinion greater than 'it didn't grab me'.

However I have to say I was impressed with the steaming aspect, once the game loaded the experience felt flawless to me, on both performance and enhanced graphics modes. I'll keep my mind open for Hitman.

@RPGamer I feel you, buddy. I’ve given in and bought a PS4 only to sell it twice over. I’m on my third PS4 and still can’t truly, you know, 'connect' with the thing. Maybe that will change when I finally pick up Persona 5 Royal. Though I’d happily pay through the nose to get either that or Persona 4 Golden on Switch!

So... Nintendo Switch Pro announced when?

Edit: So I took a closer look at the trailer and (correct me if I'm wrong) there's no porting studio to port this one wholesale.

@bert0503 Could be worse, Australia’s is pretty rubbish.

I've just finished my trial of the demo, enhanced graphics version. I only get WiFi in my playing room (i.e. no ethernet) so it wasn't the smoothest experience. There was a bit of ghosting with motion and the graphics weren't even that good, albeit in 1080p as far as I could tell.

Most significantly I think the latency was a bit too high for my liking - the camera still seemed to be panning a couple of split seconds after my thumb had already lifted from the right stick, and the action button took a noticeable while to activate after I started pressing down.

The trial didn't last long enough for me to see any combat but if these few minutes are a good indication of the overall experience then I don't think my setup will allow me to fully enjoy this title.

For reference Google WiFi says I get 91Mbps from my room mesh wifi point; in the demo I got two bars out of four in the signal strength(?) indicator.

@fluggy Yep even all the fancy rtx effects can only entertain me for so long, the facial animations (so many ***** eating grins) and constant zoom ins on faces never ceased to disgust me in it’s nonsensical story.

@Casual_Gamer95 Then why are you here? The Switch is an amazing system. I own every system plus a high-end gaming PC and wouldn't trade my Switch for anything. I own around 80 physical games and maybe a dozen digital. It's Nintendo's best system since the SNES.

@Casual_Gamer95 like really, not all 3rd party games need cloud. And not all 3rd party games are wanted on Switch, a lot of them don't even run optimally on other consoles either better then Switch but still bad considering the circumstances and not all of those games had found succes either to even desire them on Switch.

@RPGamer Great minds, my brother, great minds!

Honestly I like PS Now, the streaming works relatively well for some games. This is a good idea in that the games are coming at all. Better that than it just never coming to Switch.

@fluggy You're not alone. I couldn't understand the story for the life of me. I wasn't the biggest fan either and I love Remedy Entertainment. Alan Wake is my favorite game from them, but it's overrated. The shooting was generic and boring. I only stayed for the visuals to be honest. The game also has zero replay value. I played it on PC when it came out with RTX and everything and it was pretty, but I literally can't recall a single thing about the story almost a year later.

Will be purchasing tonight after testing out free trial. More of this please Nintendo.

@graysoncharles What band is that in your avatar?

Love this game, top 10 of my favorite games!.... But I won't get the cloud version, even though it is a neat idea for some who can't afford other consoles. But yeah! I'm excited to play this on the PS5.... In a few years when it's more readily available and actually worth buying (need more games to play on it)

Well I tried it. Started the game, "it's only a demo, you will have to buy a pass to play the full game" Okay.. I click enter demo. "Your current place in the queue is: 1062"

Well... Clearly this is something I'm not going to be playing. Or paying for.

Who is actually streaming it? Nintendo or some other cloud gaming platform?

@graysoncharles I'm using it too and I get the same issue. Microsoft thinks my internet sucks but the games run fine :/

Boooooo take your cloud gaming elsewhere. I go full digital but that stuff is on a card that i can back up and keep forever. I refuse to go down this road.

Did I miss something here or was it me..

I am downloading right now from the Epic Store, and then see this! It's 27.99,minus 10 from a coupon, not bad at all for a game like this!

@graysoncharles Bandwidth isn't the same as latency, the internet by its nature is contended so you get latency blips at times. It's not a viable way to buy games at a higher price than their local alternative. £35 is too much a subscription service I could get on board with.

It runs VERY well. Much better version than one running on Switch hardware. I'd rather get cloud versions than no versions or subpar 540p versions of games.

If this is what it takes to keep the 3rd party games coming to Nintendo platforms, I’m all for it.

It's just a matter of time before we have a cloud only handheld gaming system from Amazon or something...

The big problem here is you tell someone you have control for switch. They're like, let's see it. You break out your device and their wifi is crap so the game just looks like a joke... Or you try to play this on the road and eat up all your hotspot phone data. Anyone know how much bandwidth it actually uses?

Id be ok if Nintendo had some kind of streaming service akin to Xcloud and PSNow, even though its not a service I'm really interested in.

But paying full price to be able to stream a game that isn't tied to a service that is in it for the long haul is not appealing at all.

@doctorhino do not even try to use hotspot haha

I tried it for a few minutes since it's free for some time before needing to pay up, and I have to say I wasn't really impressed. I played it in "graphics mode" and they still weren't very good, despite being streamed and not run by the Switch itself, and the performance was pretty choppy. I have a pretty solid connection so I was kinda let down.

@Jester151 For data reasons you mean? Cause my 4G in the city gets like 10MB/s downloads.

@doctorhino If its anything like Stadia, at 720p it will use up about 4.5gb per hour.

@blockfight That's a lot of data. Makes me wish we had portable game systems with native mobile data like back in the vita days if this is where we are going.

@doctorhino True. I play a lot on Stadia but I split my playtime between home and work so its less of a drain on my data. I dont have a data limit but I dont want to abuse the system either.

@clvr then it's the quality of your internet. Looked stunning for me

Not sure why anyone would object to this if the options are either not having it at all and or having a cloud version. You can always opt to buy it on a different platform aswell

There's a free trial on eShop right now. Dead on Arrival.

Was looking forward to trying cloud gaming out on Switch. Booted up Control, got an error message saying that the server is at capacity and that I had been placed in a que.... I was number 1142.

Hopefully these are just teething issues and capacity won't be an issue for future cloud games, but so far not so good.

EDIT I take it back. Few mins after posting the above comment, I managed to get into a game. Game ran surprisingly well, at some points there were slight dips in frames, but not enough to render it unplayable. If I didn't have an Xbox One, I could see myself purchasing this on the Switch.

I do have a 200mbps connection though, so your mileage may vary.

@MajinSoul Haven't you heard? Game streaming is the devil and we should all hate it. People love to complain. Let them. I think this a great solution for Nintendo.

@Jester151 it might actually be, as I don't have fiber where I live, but it's kinda weird cause my PC handles Titanfall 2 online at max settings and 60 fps with not a single drop.

But then again, I'm everything but an expert on Wifi and 4G, so I really don't know 🙌🏻

not such a great move at all x.x", they tried doing it with biohazared 7 and that flopped badly in japan :/...so..yeah thi..that isn't even a game at that point.

No thanks i have no interest in cloud gaming partly due to my internet being inconsistent and partly due to what will happen when the servers are shut down

This is FREE!? COOL!! I'm excited to try it.

I'll wait for a review, but i am super excited to play this game finally

I wonder ... how this is gonna work. And what will happen when the service is shut down. will buyers be able to download it ? Is there anyone here that tried the Japan-only cloud games for the Switch that could share opinions and experiences with us ?

Tried it out and it connected right away, but I lost my connection when I went to the home screen. Booted up again and now I’ve been waiting in a queue for an hour. Now I’m 77th in line to play. Can’t believe I’m waiting this long to play my own dang Switch.

@sketchturner just the launcher and limited time trial to test your connection are free

@graysoncharles Ah cheers. I will lol.

As much as I really, REALLY want to play this game, I also can't justify paying for a game (Is there a pricing model? Is this full price?) that's sitting out on a server that will eventually be shut down. Plus, even though my internet is decent those days, latency is still likely as I'm far from most of the common data centers in the US.

Alright. I just gave it a shot. Control has two modes, a graphical setting and a performance setting. Only tried performance mode, looked pretty good. Little to no latency, although I haven't gotten to a intensive part of the game yet. Was playing in under 5 minutes. I'm on my works business wifi, so things are smooth.

An opportunity to give cloud gaming a trial on switch at least

Just tried it myself, for context I am in London and have an internet conenction with an average of about 40mbs download and was connected via wifi. Tried both graphical and performance settings and both ran well. There were a handful of frame hiccups in both modes, but overall impressive and very playable.

@Tyranexx you can try it for free, right now.

Weird. It’s a free game and yet there’s a tonne of people moaning 🤔🤷🏼‍♂️

Stupid companies thinking STREAMING is the future. It's not. You know what is? MODDING! Modding can make games last practically forever, and there is currently no legal way to mod console games. They could take on a Steam Workshop esque approach. Maybe lock it behind a membership which allows you to download new mods, but you keep what you already have even after the membership expires. It's a Win-Win situation.

I don't get people's hate for streaming. I was streaming PS4 games through a Vita 7 years ago by just using my phone as a hotspot, and it was AMAZING! With today's technology like XCloud and 5G mobile data, it's even better.

@Peach64 It's just the fact devs think that's what they should switch to ENTIRELY. That's where the problem lies. Not everybody has good internet. Microsoft I believe started it... Much like with paid online multiplayer.

No thanks. Appreciate that this game came to the console but not in this way, thank you. Hard pass.

my internet run between 8 to 15 MBit is unstable, but what if i use my iphone as a hotspot (4g)? and how many mega will consume for a day if I play about max 30 minutes? I have only 5 Giga of data

@HotGoomba I've had too many pairs of joycon drift, didn't like their online service, and thought it didn't get enough big third party games. That was on the regular Switch. Got a Switch lite after that but eventually had enough with nintendo making the digital mario games available for a limited time. And i was still worried my lite would drift so i sold it before it happened

I respect that they did this. Will try.

I haven't been able to make it work. It could be my location, though. My internet speed isn't bad, but I'm playing from Argentina. Server distance may be a problem.

As for the game itself, I thought it was great. (I have it on PC.) It definitely requires an investment, though, in terms of time, interest, and effort. You get back whatever you put into it. The battle system can get extremely tedious unless you're commited to switching things around and using telekineses as your primary attack, with guns and other powers as salad dressing. Same for the story. It's deliberately strange and opaque, and doesn't begin to make sense unless you really enjoy digging through documents and videos scattered in the environment. Even then, it's not a tidy narrative, because it wants to preserve a sense of mystery. But I think the broad strokes are clear enough — if, again, you commit to digging. The obligatory cutscenes aren't enough by their lonesome.

@MisterMan you dont have to feel sorry. I can play games above 720p on my tv now 😉. Most third party games still look decent on ps4 but they look like mud on Switch. Also I don't have to rely on a console that barely holds 30fps in last gen games 😁

Ran great for me Tried both performance and graphics, I suggest performance, smoooooooth frame rate. I've played this on my PS4 Pro as well, but I like fiddling with new tech when I can so I wanted to check this out. Who won rock/paper/scissors to get to review this?

I'd refuse to play a streamed game even if they paid me to do it.

@Casual_Gamer95 sorry to hear that. you should get a PC. You can play games at much higher rates than your old PS4 if that's what you're interested in. Also, Hades runs at 60fps and 1080p on Switch. Do the research before coming off like an idiot. Also, most people have multiple platforms to play games. I myself have a PC, Switch, and PS4 but I don’t go on Xbox sites and leave comments about not owning an Xbox. It’s just not something normal people do.

@PhhhCough Is it a trial version, or the full game? That's why I mentioned pricing in my previous post as there wasn't anything in the article (at the time of writing) that indicated that. Not in a position where I can check the Switch eshop right now, unfortunately. Either way, thanks for the heads up!

@Peach64 I have nothing against streaming overall. Game streaming...the world needs to advance more first. To keep things short: 1. There are some major differences between other streaming services (music, movies, TV) and game streaming. Connection speed and latency are very important for the latter, depending on the type of game. Many of the former examples only require buffering and are more passive. 2. Reliable, stable internet with large data limits isn't very common in some parts of the world. Heck, until fiber finally came through my area early last year, I was paying for an oversold 6 MB/s connection (down) that wouldn't even hit half that number during high traffic hours. Unfortunately that was my only broadband option. Phone hot spots also aren't fully reliable where I live due to trees and lay of the land. 3. Personal point: While I'm not against game streaming as AN option for those who desire it, I fear a day will come when it is THE option. I feel that this leaves very little control to the consumer. Game removed from a service? Goodbye time investment, goodbye save data. Not to mention there are many examples of games lost after the servers hosting them shut down for good.

Always been wanting to try this since I have an RTX card for my pc, cloud/streaming I tend to avoid though, tried psnow once and didnt like it

Yeah. I'm not paying $40 to rent a game. If this was like Now or Shadow, I'd be all in. Here's hoping we get one of those.

Finished it streaming on PS Now to my MacBook. The experience is totally worth it. An absolute gem of a game. (As all Remedy games are, basically.)

I may be in a minority here and this may be harsh, but. Those people who refuse to buy this game because... in 10 years it won't work? Guys, what's more important for you, is playing and enjoying the game and letting it affect/inspire you on a personal level or... owning a box with a cart on the shelf? I just don't get this materialism.

Just had a go on the trial, so thought I'd lend my thoughts: I played entirely handheld in performance mode and I was incredibly impressed how smooth it ran!! No dips in picture and audio quality, nor really any noticeable input lag. Was shocked too that I was able to take screenshots and videos. Thought that function would be turned off. I was playing with other people in my home streaming Netflix etc too. My speed seems to average around 40mbps

Really impressed especially as I tried Stadia only the other day to try out Immortals: Fenyx Rising and had a terrible time with audio glitches, the image becoming pixelated and lag.

I won't be coughing up £35 though for one streaming game, but may get the ultimate edition physically on PS4 to eventually play on PS5. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, if something along the lines of Game Pass came to Switch, that would maybe be a more palatable investment as it's a whole catalogue of games to stream for a fee rather than just the one title.

What the hey?! More than disappointing, this is really interesting. So, only powerful hardware can really run this? Take note, Nintendo (if you haven't before).

The demo ran great with wired connection. Felt like 60 FPS and really responsive.

Oh no, not falling for this. I'm not about to rent a game that I won't even be able to play on my Switch on the go, not to mention having it suddenly stop whenever my internet connection has a hitch (which happens quite often, even though I have a fiber connection). I have no problem with a graphical downgrade for a hybrid system like the Switch, if they would just have bothered with a proper port. This is just beyond lazy though. Sorry Nintendo for complaining about Pikmin 3 running in 720p - at least it is a proper port running on my console.

"But Nintendo will never allow streaming services on Switch" -NL Users yesterday.

"But Nintendo will only do it for a few games, it's different!" -NL Users tomorrow.

@Bermanator OnLive started it, well before its time long ago. After that it was Sony that started it (and they bought the patents from OnLive's liquidation) with PS Now.

MS is actually extremely late to that party even though everyone seems to think Microsoft invented game streaming and wants to enslave their games.....

@blockfight oh well you must have a better carrier. Mine tries to limit the specific hotspot data itself. I never really use a hotspot and aren't signed up for a plan but thought that was some crap to do. Do you play stadia on your phone?

@NEStalgia paying full price for a game is different than what I said. Dude why do you have such a craw about it. There is no huge streaming library for one price here just a 60 dollar game.

It’s a no-go when a game is in the cloud. Let the user decide by offering the cloud as an option or the downscaled local game

No thanks... I think i am a switch owner, not a Stadia one...

Who'd have thought that the first time I saw ray tracing on a console it would be the Switch 😅

@sleepinglion as an idea, I found streaming games genius. We still have to wait for internet speed catches the genius of the idea.

@Scirocco7 why dont have both?

Ok, this runs really, really well on my setup.

However, I have not tried this undocked yet.... So I have no idea yet whether the benefit of the Switch is actually working for this game....

I might prefer getting the series S this holiday instead. Though I do like that Nintendo finally embraces technological advancements as well...

Big NO to streaming and digital media. I like to have things I own actually be real and not virtual or dependent on my Internet speed.

Doesn't seem to be available on the eShop in Australia

Finished this gem on PS4 and I have just had a go of the demo before on the eShop and it runs wonderfully. No lagging/latency issues and graphics are still beautiful.

I'd much rather stream this game on my Switch than have to deal with a situation like what I had to with the horrid 'The Outer Worlds' Switch port again.

Until Nintendo start to actually beef up their hardware, this is a good option for the time being.

No thanks I like owning my games.

@Kalmaro I am with you. I would rather have an actual retail release, however, it's free. I will give it a shot. Have a good one.

@doctorhino I play a lot on the phone. Both using WiFi and phone data. WiFi runs perfect. Data obviously depends on location but my work and home and the commute in between have great reception so that's a great option too for me. Stadia caps your data usage further if you're on phone data. Think it uses less than 2gb per hour on phone data.

@SilentHunter382 you really need to learn your “to” from your “too”

I just tried the demo and it looks and runs amazingly well, with only one or two instances of lag. This is by far the best experience I have had with a cloud streaming service.

My internet speed was 60 Mbps download + 5 Mbps upload, which is decent but far from extravagant.

@doctorhino This is basically the stadia model in switch which is pretty much worst case scenario.

But the real point here is, with new consoles coming out, and streaming picking up more of the mobile gaming torch, switch is going to find third party support drying up much faster now. And even if there's a switch 2, devs aren't going to be as likely to try to cram big games on light hardware now that they can stream to other mobile devices.

Nintendo experimented with streaming, no doubt expecting that, with 2 games in Japan. Now they're demonstrating continued interest in that path with 2 more games now worldwide. It's clearly not a one off experiment, there's serious interest here .

Now, stadias business model was rejected by the market. Nintendo can't get away with selling a console and selling full price streamed games while other services are offering access to the same streamed games on other devices people already have, much cheaper. This payment model isn't long term. The market won't sustain that. But it's a test. It's not a dead end test. They're working the idea is streaming into their ecosystem because that's the most practical way their hardware approach can stay in the third party game. Pricing will adjust at a time when they need to lean more heavily on it. Whether it's a catalog service, or a different mechanism than full purchase price for a service even less guaranteed to preserve your purchase than Stadia.

Streaming is here and it's part is Nintendo's ecosystem now, officially. What form it takes as it fully integrates, well see in time.

Control has already surpassed Hades in the eShop, and Hades is the #1 best selling game in the chart (you have to run a search to find the full list of free titles included, which Control constitutes since it gives you a free trial to test your connection).

And in just 8 hours. I’ve never seen a game skyrocket past the #1 selling game just 8 hours after going on sale. Even if a lot of the downloads are because of the free trial and even if a smaller percentage of people actually follow through with a purchase, that’s still a mind boggling performance. And it shows the developer that there is significant interest on Switch for their products.

@Agramonte You know what? Yesterday I would have disagreed, after trying the game for myself I’m actually inclined to agree. It runs fantastic and I can hardly even tell it’s not a native game. It even has less lag than some native games, like Darksiders and Alien Isolation.

We all know some AAA games are just off the table. Either they can’t run on the system or if they can, they end up looking like Outer Worlds. Frankly, I’d rather have them streaming than hacked to hell too. Now, there’s a line to be drawn. I am willing to make some concessions. Games like YS IX and Trails of Cold Steel IV? Switch all day. But games like Control and Hitman 3? Ya, give us a cloud version. Why not.

Streaming is inevitably going to take over anyways and it gives comparable visual Fidelity to other consoles. Ya, it’s only good for playing at home, how is that any different from playing on a PlayStation or Xbox? Those are only played at home too. It essentially allows switch to offer all the value it already did with its native games, but also doubles as a power console via cloud versions of more demanding games. If they added gyro aiming and actually brought most other games over, I probably wouldn’t even need a PC anymore. Of course that will never happen. We’ll only get select titles. But I’ll certainly take the ones we get.

@doctorhino It’s not $60. It’s $39.99, and it’s the Ultimate Edition.

This was a huge surprise for me! I’m glad that people get the chance to play this game on Switch because it’s fantastic. I’m not sure why some people would want a downgraded version of this game on a cart though... it would be bad. I doubt a “Switch Pro” would do this game justice either. I had performance issues on my One S. I think streaming this game is the best bet here and if it proves successful we may see some other big titles coming to Nintendo via streaming.

Maybe this is amazing technology and the future of gaming. But I want no part of it.

this works pretty well and is totally acceptable I mostly play on PC so hopefully, that's a good endorsement.

@sanderev weird. I got on no issue. That sucks man.

I'm in Singapore, and I started with graphics version of the demo. Was initially worried because it was quite hitchy / inconsistent framerate.

Switched to performance mode and I literally cannot believe it's streaming. The input / controls feel great and the graphics still look awesome. Got in the demo firefight and no hitches/lag that I noticed.

Also, only $40?! Instabuy. (It probably helps that the developers are Finnish. Suomi! Suomi!)

This could be the future of what 3rd party support on Nintendo platforms look like; everything will just be streaming.

@yuwarite for bigger games, i think that's very likely. not everything, switch isn't about to become a stadia dongle, but non first party and "handheld style"games, i think long term, yes. I can't imagine many companies trying to do complicated ports of demanding games that look terrible of they can push this and get away with it.

Kinda makes switch seem overpriced though. Maybe switch "pro" is actually a cheaper streaming model?

Streamed gaming. The most controversial area of the video games industry.

In the end, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. I would rather have a game that registers slight input lag and dips in frame rate than have a port that's absolute garbage. Not every developer is capable of porting a game successfully onto the Switch, not every company wants to spend the money to port it, and not every game can even fit on the Switch unless someone paid so much money for a goddamn microSD.

Sure, I get everyone's fear about how the servers would be deactivated and this game wouldn't work anymore, but by then, we've probably already moved on to future consoles to even give a crap about one specific game from a previous console.

Besides, this was a Game of the Year nominee. Who can resist?

Not sure if it’s posted above, don’t feel like digging, but here to report some nice findings while testing this out!

Firstly, I’m not overly a fan of cloud based gaming, however I do see the qualities behind it. Personally I’d rather own a physical cart, or at least have the data on my card so I can play anywhere and time.

Having said that, honestly the game runs pretty well this way. I played the opening intro, few stutters here and there, mainly during cutscenes. Walking around was smooth, and only noticed lag while opening a menu. Otherwise it operated as I’d expect from being directly on hardware. I also chose the “Enhanced Graphics” mode instead of “Performance Enhanced”

Another note, pricing is vastly better than RE7 was in Japan - which was monthly rental. This is a one time $40 payment for unlimited access. So it’s close to being just like a digital purchase.

Lastly, all things considered above, I live in a rural town without the best of data infrastructure. I have the max speed offered for my area which is 25mb down and 1.5mb up on ATT DSL, and my current pings show I’m only getting about 15mb tonight.

@Agramonte I can also recommend parsec in this situation. It is basically remote desktop but it lets you stream your video games from your pc to an android or pc. Heck it even works for Microsoft store games and game pass (which is pointless if you use this already with xcloud unless ios).

This is so smooth in performance mode! I am impressed gotta admit

@NEStalgia Yeah, maybe streaming is a smarter idea for Nintendo than doing a "Pro" model. They could even use Gefore Now's servers to accomplish it. I mean, they do have a parnership with nVidia, afterall.

@NEStalgia while I don't disagree with that for certain games I find it hard to believe they will leave full portability behind. It won't always be feasible to stream games so there will still have to be a fair share of games that play natively. I love stuff like gamepass because I use it at home in front of one tv with a hard wired connection but I like having switch to play anywhere in any internet/lack of internet setting. I dont have the stomach for this model either, hopefully it doesn't catch on. I don't know how much mileage Microsoft get out of streaming games to smart phones and tablets but I don't use it.

I feel like we just got close to the finish of this long strange trip to everything becoming digital and stuff like this just reaffirms people's fears that game companies want to take away ownership from the players for good.

I think we will see another nvidia portable streaming device before Nintendo go all in on this.

@JaxonH dude about your comment on it being #1. It shows up as free. Don't you think most people are downloading it to see what it is and if there is a demo in there? Cause I doubt sales are even 1 to 100 downloads at this point.

The opposition to this is bonkers to me. If it's not for you, it's not for you, but this is the only way Control was ever going to see a release on the Switch, and it works remarkably well, which you can verify for yourself for free with a small download if you want to. For folks who want to experience a really good game and don't have another way to do it, there's no downside to this.

Stadia works well. GeForce Now works well. Shadow works well. XCloud and PS Now... work. Sometimes well. Game streaming is no longer theoretical, it has multiple working commercial implementations. You also don't "own" your games on Steam, or your games on the eShop, or the downloaded games on your phone, if the license holders should decide for some reason to pull them. Everything is a license purchase, and has been for years. There are folks who can't take advantage of this because internet sucks in a lot of places, and there are other folks who have the means to play these games better locally. But for the people this works for, it works, and lets them play a good game. That's a good thing.

(Should you decide to give the demo a try, I recommend spending the short time limit in Performance Mode, not Graphics Mode, as they're very similar aside from ray tracing and some other effects you'll barely notice, and the Performance Mode has a much smoother FPS.)

@doctorhino Agreed, i can't see Nintendo, yet, just counting on an all streamed ecosystem. Too much of the market can't actually use it, for starters. But thinking about where third party is headed, something drastic has to change. I don't see another Outer Worlds type port being high priority for any publisher. Bethesda was a big switch contributor and they're possibly xb only now (or not). While part of me can't imagine Nintendo streaming their own games yet, switch may find itself in an awkward place where it becomes largely a streaming platform for many, but far overpriced compared to stadia/Luna controllers/dongle. All the "switch pro" rumors would actually fit a cheaper streaming device. Higher res screen makes no sense for local processing, but for streaming there's no real limitation. "4k" is rediculous for a local processing switch, but 4k streaming would work. It's possible there's no "switch pro" but a "second pillar" testing waters for an all streaming budget device.... A cheap switch streamer would be more elegant then the crazy controller phone clamps.

Though that would be ideal when built in 5g, and that doesn't sound very Nintendo.

Yesterday it was all hypothetical. Today we have Nintendo showing the really are expanding seriously into switch as a streaming client. These are big games, following a smaller 1 country test of two other big games.

It would be tremendously ironic if the company that made game streaming common place wasn't the Big Data conglomerates, but Nintendo of all places... And while we all fretted that GoogAppAzonBook was going to kill consoles, Nintendo was actually out ahead of them...

@cookiex Resident Evil 7 certainly did NOT work very well in Japan... I tried it. Choppy sound, lots of lag... basically unplayable.

I got a flawless experience on the enhanced graphical mode at around 37mbs.

However, I will never ever pay more than £15 for a cloud game. It's basically a rental. They should charge £10 for a months access and that's it.

Great. So this is probably how Nintendo will carry on with 3rd parties on Switch. People said Witcher 3 was impossible. Yet Saber Interactive took the time and effort to deliver us a great port of a game we can now play anywhere. How about this sh*t? Play anywhere.. unless you're not around wifi. Then don't play at all. If they want to completely undermine the portability of the Switch, then why even bother calling it a portable? That's what home consoles are for. Oh and how about trusting your game library to a bunch of independent publishers to run their servers flawlessly 24/7 for years to come.. until they decide the money well has run dry and they just cut support..in which case you're left with nothing. I sincerely hope people don't jump into this so we can have some bit of hope left for dedicated AAA switch ports. But we can trust publishers to take the lazy way out and Nintendo to not give two sh*ts about game preservation.

Just tried the demo in performance mode and it ran great which is surprising as my internet is anything but. I’m all for more choice and options and this really opens up the door for more games on Switch that would otherwise never happen. I won’t be buying Control or HM3 as I’m not particularly interested in these games but I wouldn’t rule out going the streaming route if it’s a game I really want and the price is right.

@JaxonH Yeah, same here. Back in 2019 I was one saying how streaming would never work. 10 months with Shadow and GeforceNOW changed my opinion completely.

Glad you think you can consolidate even your home PC. But I am not there yet. I have a 2560X1600 in the Office and a 4K TV... and on both screens streaming I find a worst experience than playing Native on my PCs.

"Ya, it’s only good for playing at home"

I also use it when away for the weekend at my Girls parent house. And in some Hotels and ACELA to Boston. It is hit and miss, but some have worked fine.

I am sure you will find other places outside your home that Streaming is a viable solution. At 720p it is very forgiving.

Anyway - Hope you enjoy Control. I loved it myself. The "headphone" level is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! (She will put hers on, that means go get yours 😉)

@rhaydeo Closer attention shows that this is definitely a test to set up those conditions. I agree a la cart is not the best way to do this but as I am playing it it runs extremely well. BETTER than I expected. So if a deal can be struck to get these done game pass style I'm all for it!

@Agramonte Very nice! Spot on these services are getting better! I think this is something new for switch owners so negative responses to it arento be expected even without trying it! 3+ hours in with headphones nonnin handheld and looks and runs amazing!

Hi, cloud-gamer enthusiast here! I'm super excited to see this! It is such a perfect move for nintendo to invest in cloud-gaming! It's just a dream come true for me!

I'm using Shadow, GeforceNow and streaming games from my PC to my TV via Nvidia GameStream.

I instantly bought Control on the switch and I'm super happy with it! What strikes me is, that it works really good via 2.4Ghz WiFi!

Having no 4k isn't such an issue for me and I guess it isn't for the most of the switch-users, GFX can't be that important to you if you play on the switch! Which is also why this move seems so perfect from Nintendo!

I also see this move as another hint for a new switch coming, since 4k docked is rumoured, which makes sense with streaming 1080p and scaling it up. But you would also need to upgrade the WiFi hardware of the switch. Who know, maybe we get a SIM-Slot for it too? Maybe 5G, which is just perfect from Cloud-Gaming due to its low-latency! I don't think so, but dreaming is allowed!

With all this Cloud-Gaming Services coming up like Stadia, Shadow, GeforceNow, Luna etc. with all the hurr-durr around it, it puts a smile on my face how nintendo just sneaks up from behind!

Docked you can play 4k with better then XBOX/PS4 Graphics WiFi + Portable you can play HD with better then XBOX/PS4 Graphics On the plane you can Play offline, high quality games

@NEStalgia I think it's more about survival for them right now. I hate to see Nintendo sell out to streaming companies in order to keep games going. I lost power overnight due to storms and broke out the 3DS this morning. Nintendo are still my goto for portables and I just hope they don't end up losing their integrity over wanting new third party games.

Maybe I was just in denial before that this could be a reality because I don't like it anymore than you do.

I would hate for it to become that system that's cool when it works, and also has some crappier looking games on it you can play anytime. Rather than, that system that doesn't value graphics over gameplay and values the user's experience over all else.

@doctorhino Yeah, I had a similar experience with 3DS years ago with a big hurricane - hadn't lost power but lost internet, and just kind of went catatonic playing Mario 3D land over and over and over again while the world around was sucked into a vortex of doom. It got me through it sane(ish)....and streaming wouldn't have done that.

But Nintendo is in a pickle. Handheld has been their lifeblood since '89. The rise of mobile was a false alarm because it never amounted to more than simple games, more or less and didn't appeal to the same audience. But the threat from streaming is real now....everyone can have a "switch-like" experience with hardware they already own. And it can play all those popular games Switch didn't have because it can't run them.

Switch has done great with developers interested in tapping a mobile market. It took money, work, and older games, but Nintendo gave them that opportunity. But with streaming rising....that market exists outside Nintendo now with lower costs to deliver. Tasked with spending millions hiring someone else to port their game to run dodgy on Switch hardware, versus run the cloud version they already built for Amazon, Google, and Microsoft..... and add Switch too.... It's an easy choice.

There's still tremendous demand for a locally running console. The PS5 and XSeries preorders certainly prove that. Switch 2 is a given, I think. But I think Nintendo's traditional stronghold of handhelds becomes a challenging position now and the unique appeal of a hybrid seems more ordinary via streaming. Is there as much demand for a bespoke pure handheld experience as there was? No. And Nintendo isn't going to go back into the power console market, they can't buy their way into that big budget fight.

Switch is an interesting middle ground. But it's position now has challengers. In a sense a combination of "traditional handheld type software" plus "Nintendo games" plus being a purpose-made portable streaming device would "triple down" on the idea of being a hybrid. And some hardware improvements could make it the defacto choice for streaming versus phone mounts.

That's probably still preferable to the idea of Nintendo just going totally off the rails in a Wii-like direction trying to invent a new non-console market again. I don't love "buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games and stream everything else." But I do suppose it's better than "Buy Nintendo consoles to pretend it's a WiiU and have only 3 games a year and buy a PS for everything else you might want."

@doctorhino If you read my comment all the way through, you’ll see I already addressed that. I said despite the fact it’s a free trial, and I said despite the fact a smaller percentage of people will actually purchase. Despite these things, it’s still insane to see it overtake the #1 game in 8 hrs without anyone knowing it was releasing beforehand. And, despite these things, it still shows interest for their products on the platform.

@JaxonH never underestimate the power of a free trial m rated game where kids don't have to ask for a parents credit card.

@Tyranexx it's a trial. Don't know the exact length. I don't have a nintendo online account and I was still able to play it. Here's an excerpt from theverge: "In order to buy the game, players will be required to use a launcher application to test that their connection can handle its requirements for five minutes. It will also require buying an Access Pass, priced at $39.99."

@PhhhCough @tyranexx it's just a network test, not a demo. Five minutes as it says. You see the into cutscene, walk through the lobby, really to the creepy janitor, go through a few rooms, an elevator, and that's about it. No weapons, abilities, enemies, maps etc. Just enough to be sure your internet handles it.

Cool start... But why another zombie game? I mean they're technically not zombies...."puppets" whatever... They're zombies.... Why is video gaming uncontrollably obsessed with them?

@PhhhCough Thanks. Wish the original article here contained that information. I did have a chance to give it a spin last night; I had some issues with an over-responsive camera in performance mode, though that might be my Joycon. Graphics mode was better, though there were a few frame drops. Nothing drastic though.

@NEStalgia Yep, network test is probably a better description. It's definitely on a timer. I blew through the cutscenes the second time through (graphics mode) and actually made it to what I assume was a tutorial section (complete with a handgun) before the launcher pulled the plug. I was offing some smokey humanoid particle things, and boom - no more game.

Long time no see, by the way.

@Tyranexx haha, I've been here, just splitting my time more on Push Square and Pure XB along with the ps&xb threads here with all the launch goings on! I've probably been around TOO much! Hard to keep away from launch hype

@NEStalgia Hah, fair enough! We've just been haunting different parts of the site then. I've been remotely following news on the two, but it'll likely be awhile before I invest in one or both ecosystems. PS5 took the lion's share of my interest until I saw the design lol. Not that it's terrible, but I would need a more compact system than that.

@NEStalgia yeah, I skipped the page with the info, on accident. That's as far as it'll let you go? I'll stick with xcloud

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