There’s no doubt that one of the biggest and highest-grossing forms of entertainment on the planet right now is the video game industry which continues to go from strength to strength with new and innovative technology that allows you to play wherever you are, not just at home from the couch.
PlayStation has made waves with the impressive Portal device that connects and streams your console while Xbox has been working at perfecting cloud service gaming essentially taking the console out of the picture altogether.
Cloud Gaming is a tricky beast as it’s driven by the quality of your connection and here in Australia we have pretty poor internet speeds unless you are willing to pay a crazy amount of money for what they call “super fast” and what the rest of the globe calls “standard”. It’s one of the reasons that the Google Stadia device failed. It’s been hard to recommend in the past, but the reality is, it is getting better.
I’ve found with testing over multiple devices that it’s really playable now. The Xbox app is available on multiple devices including your mobile device, some smart TVs, and even the Meta Quest 3 – which is fun playing it on the equivalent of a cinema-sized screen.
However one of the best versions of the app is actually on the Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max and not just because it runs it really well.
The device essentially plugs into a spare HDMI on your TV and turns it into a smart TV. You might be thinking “You already have a smart TV”, but I’ve found that this device has a much quicker user interface than some of the more affordable brand TVs and on top of that a device like this creates the option of unplugging it and using it on another TV or even a gaming monitor.
This also means that you only have to install your apps and log into them on one device that you can move around.
The Xbox app has just become available on the device and even though I had to do a few updates before I could install it, it does run very well, to the point that it’s an extremely affordable option for someone who just can’t justify forking out $800 on a console and then games.
Currently, the Xbox app runs on the Amazon Firestick 4K and 4K Max giving you retail options of around $79 AU or $119 AU depending on the model you choose.
Logging in is as simple as using your Xbox/Microsoft account and then if you don’t have it, activating your Game Pass subscription. Game Pass Ultimate is the tier you’ll need and that will give you access to hundreds of games with no download necessary. It will play directly from the cloud and therefore your options of titles are limited to the games in this section.
This still includes favourite titles like Fortnite, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite Fallout 4 and even the most recent soccer game EA Sports FC24.
The app suggests you run your TV in game mode if you have it which allows you to enjoy your game with low latency and optimised image quality. Your TV might not call it “Game Mode” but it’s likely something similar.
Next, it will pair with a controller, so if you have a PS5 already and want just the Game Pass subscription it will let you pair with your Dual Sense controller or another type of third-party bluetooth controller, I’ve found the best experience to obviously be using an official Xbox wireless controller.
The official Xbox website has cloud gaming listed as in “Beta” as they continue to roll it out an perfect it and it’s not perfect. You’ll find sometimes your connection is poor and the graphics will be pixelated from buffering, but it’s becoming rarer and rarer for that to happen and it won’t be long until the promise of a future without consoles will be true and accurate.
If you are a casual gamer, this is an excellent option. The app will be one of many useful entertainment apps on your Amazon device, next to your Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and YouTube selections. The best thing is, just unplug the firestick and plug it in wherever there’s a TV or even use it with a projector or other fun devices. The options of quality portable gaming truly open up when you go down this path.
