GeForce NOW

Created by Nvidia, GeForce Now is a platform-equalizing gaming service. The branded cloud gaming service enables you to access the types of games that would normally only be playable on a high-spec gaming PC. In other words, you can play modern high-end Windows games when you use a device that's GeForce Now capable. In the past, the only device that has offered this capability is the Nvidia Shield TV, which is a powerful set-top box with some rather impressive gaming credentials. Now, however, GeForce Now can also be accessed on Windows and Mac computers as well.

If all of that seems a little hard to follow, try imagining the technology as a game streaming utility. The source system would be hosted remotely on a powerful Windows server, which can play high-end computer games, complete with all the expected graphical bells-and-whistles, including anti-aliasing. Unfortunately, on taking a more traditional pathway to gaming success, it takes several thousand dollars worth of hardware to build such a machine at home. Not everyone can afford the latest GeForce GTX graphics card (GPU), after all. That's where GeForce Now comes in handy as a virtual computer. The game streaming service stores compatible games on a virtual, cloud-based computer. Using a PC, Mac, or Nvidia Shield TV version of the platform, you stream that state-of-the-art video game straight to a lesser-powered Windows machine, laptop, or to your Shield TV controller. Is the game a heavy resource consumer? Is it the latest edition to come out of Steam or Ubisoft? That doesn't matter, not when you're downloading the gameplay through your cloud subscription to Nvidia GeForce Now.

So, what other benefits are there to this approach? For one thing, you don't need tons of hard drive space, not when a game is stored on the cloud. You will, however, need a fast internet connection to keep the streaming experience stutter-free. There's nothing worse than a momentary lag when you're about to perform the coup de grâce on a defeated foe. Apart from that, even a lowly i5 processor, perhaps one that couples to an integrated graphics card, will take full advantage of this streaming service. Is this all too good to be true? Perhaps, for there's a monthly charge to pay when you log onto GeForce Now. No matter, if you're a gaming enthusiast, a video game addict who currently doesn't have access to the latest computer hardware, this remotely stored game-playing platform will keep you right up to date with the latest graphically intensive packages until you're ready to upgrade your machine.