Xbox Cloud Gaming" Cloud Service Play Review! You can play domestic and international game titles on your smartphone or PC!

On October 1, 2021, Microsoft launched its cloud gaming service, Xbox Cloud Gaming, in Japan. The service is available not only in Japan but also in North America and other countries around the world, allowing users to enjoy more than 100 Xbox titles at a fixed price.

Cloud gaming is a service in which various processes and calculations normally performed on the console side are performed on behalf of the service provider's servers. Since only the resulting images are displayed on the player's screen, the performance of the device has little to do with the quality of the game. This has the advantage of making it possible to play major titles not only on game consoles, but also on smartphones and tablets. On the other hand, the transmission and reception of images may depend on the communication speed, and games lack stability.

How about the presence or absence of delay, and how it feels to use? In this article, we will report on the features and points of concern after actually using Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Almost no delay in playing on a PC

This time, the author enrolled in "Xbox Game Pass Ultimate," which offers the most benefits among the three courses. In addition to the cloud game service described in this article, the "Game Pass" allows users to install and play titles for the Xbox series, PCs, and mobile devices, as well as "EA Play" which allows users to play games provided by Electronic Arts and access exclusive content. The subscription fee is 1,100 yen per month. The subscription fee is 1,100 yen per month* (tax included), with the first month available for 100 yen (tax included).
As of November 2021

First, we tested it on a PC. Before testing the cloud game, the wired LAN speed of the author's PC was 216.5 Mbbs for download and 14.4 Mbbs for upload. Since Microsoft's official website states that the recommended speed for enjoying cloud services is 5GHz Wi-Fi at 10Mbbs (download) or faster, a wired connection with an optical fiber line should be no problem. If you are using a wireless connection, you may want to check to see if the frequency band of the Wi-Fi you normally use is 5 GHz.

The first game we played was "Yakuza7: Whereabouts of Light and Darkness International," a Japanese adaptation of "Yakuza: Like a Dragon," the Western version of Sega's "Yakuza7. Yakuza7: Like a Dragon" is a so-called "box garden" type of game that allows players to freely move around a vast map. The international version includes a higher frame rate and English audio.

I spent about three hours playing the game, and I could hardly feel any lag. There were a few moments of stoppage, such as when running through a crowd or fighting a battle, but it did not interfere with the play.

Next, we tried Square Enix's "NieR: Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition," a title based on 2017's "NieR: Automata" with additional downloadable content and perks. Since "BECOME AS GODS Edition" is available for XboxOne and Windows 10, it has been difficult for those who mainly use home consoles in Japan to get their hands on this title due to environmental reasons.

Perhaps because the action is more intense than in "Yakuza 7" above, the screen would sometimes stop while fighting a large number of enemies. However, it was only for a moment and did not bother me too much. In addition to this title, we played titles that seemed to be processing heavy, such as the racing game "Forza Horizon 4" (Microsoft), "Back 4 Blood" (Warner Bros.) for fighting off hordes of zombies, and the FPS "Battlefield V" (Electronic Arts), but no significant We did not observe any significant delays. If we had a longer period of time to verify the results, we would have different results, but at least for the purpose of this article, there were no serious delays.

Next, I wanted to try a wireless connection, but my PC does not have wireless capability. So I decided to test it with my smartphone.

When playing with a smartphone, pay attention to the specifications of the device.

I had just bought a new iPhone, so I tried it with the older iPhone 7 and the newest iPhone 13. The download speed at this point is about 95 Mbbs. I immediately launched "Yakuza7" and found that the delay on the iPhone 7 was much greater than on the PC, making smooth play much more difficult. The screen often froze for long periods of time, as if frozen. On the other hand, there was almost no delay on the iPhone 13. The advantage of cloud gaming is that the performance of the device is irrelevant, but the output processing of the received image itself may be difficult for some older devices.

For titles that can be operated by tapping or swiping, the buttons of the Xbox controller appear on the screen when the game is launched. This is fine on a large screen like the iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Pro Max, but on a smaller screen like the iPhone 7, it is somewhat difficult to see the screen because of your fingers. If you want to concentrate on the game, I recommend using a PlayStation or Xbox wireless controller.

Since I only have a PS4 controller, the DualShock 4, I would like to specify here just how to connect the iPhone and the DualShock 4. When the bar on the back of the controller blinks white, you are ready to go. Next, go to "Settings" on the iPhone, select "Bluetooth" and choose "DUALSHOCK4 Wireless Controller" from the detected devices.

Action games such as "NieR: Automata BECOME AS GODS Edition" are very intense, so a controller will be easier to use. In fact, when we played an action game with the iPhone 13 connected to the DualShock 4, the sensation was almost the same as when touching a home console, and there was no difference in latency compared to tapping.

Titles that can be played with cloud gaming

In addition to the titles discussed in this article, a wide variety of games can be played on Xbox Cloud Gaming. The following is a list of some of the titles that we picked up for reference on the lineup.

Some of the titles (in no particular order)

SCARLET NEXUS (Namco Bandai Entertainment)

HADES (Supergiant Games)

STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II (Electronic Arts)

Rainbow Six Siege Deluxe Edition (UBISOFT)

DRAGON QUEST XI: The Search for a Time Gone By (Square Enix)

A Plague Tale: Innocence (Focus Home Interactive)

BIOHAZARD 7 resident evil (Capcom)

AI: Somnium Files (Spike Chunsoft)

CODE VEIN (Namco Bandai Entertainment)

Dead by Daylight (Behaviour Interactive Inc.)

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition (Team Cherry)

OCTOPATH TRAVELER (Square Enix)

Tropico 6 (Kalypso Media)

Banjo and Kazooie's Big Adventure (Microsoft Studios)

Gears 5 (Xbox Game Studios)

Although there are still many limitations to cloud gaming due to communication technology, Xbox Cloud Gaming seemed to be the easiest to play. It is also characterized by a large number of foreign titles, both major titles and indie titles, making it attractive to those interested in "Western" games. As already mentioned, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which allows access to cloud services, can be tried for only 100 yen for the first month. If you are not sure whether to subscribe or not, why not give it a try first?

(Text by Yoshiyoshi Natsumuuchi)