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Antstream: a retro game streaming subscription service?


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Hello All.

 

I'm curious to see what people think of this. This company Antstream is planning to rent and stream retro games. They claim to have 1000 titles licensed already, although there is no games list yet. The website does show some Dataeast games and a few others in photos and video. Do you all think this is a viable idea?

 

article:

http://www.indieretronews.com/2018/07/antstream-retro-game-streaming.html

 

website:

https://www.antstream.com/

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Official licensing is one way this is different from straight emulation. I'd want to know what it costs and who would get the money before venturing an opinion.

 

I agree with keepdreamin that if you're performing market research, it would be nice to disclose that.

 

I'm going to suggest a dedicated place in the forums for commercial type people to do their thing, so it won't be confused with conversation.

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I mean... I only have two things to say at this moment.

1. The giant video on front just kinda irks me as it loads up and is IN YOUR FACE, but that's just commenting on the site.

 

2. What makes this service more appealing than dozens (if not hundreds) of methods or sites for getting roms and emulators?

 

You can ignore the first statement, but I feel the second one would warrant an answer...

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Every time, and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, a company claims to have "thousands" of games, but doesn't name one title... it's a scam. This trend dates back to at least the Phantom, if not earlier.

 

I don't know anything about these bozos, but they just got off on the wrong foot... big time.

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Do you work for mentioned website? If you do, it would be wise to not hide any affiliation. It seems odd that just a 2nd post would be asking for feedback about some random website. :ponder:

No affiliation, sorry to have given that impression. I'm actually just fascinated by this whole retro-resurgence that seems to be happening right now. I'm wondering where it might go. Personally I would love to see something like this take off if it would give homebrewers a broader place to sell their games beyond physical cartridge releases. That would make them more accessible to me since I will likely never get to have one of each console and old computer. But I wonder if the market is there for that sort of thing, or just the games people remember(or maybe neither in this case). There's no indication that this site would plan to do something like that with homebrewers anyway, that's just where my thoughts went.

 

I mean... I only have two things to say at this moment.

1. The giant video on front just kinda irks me as it loads up and is IN YOUR FACE, but that's just commenting on the site.

 

2. What makes this service more appealing than dozens (if not hundreds) of methods or sites for getting roms and emulators?

 

You can ignore the first statement, but I feel the second one would warrant an answer...

In terms of availability, I'd imagine it can't compete with emulation at all. But not everyone is aware of emulation, or willing to mess with it. I agree about the website layout, pretty strange

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No affiliation, sorry to have given that impression. I'm actually just fascinated by this whole retro-resurgence that seems to be happening right now. I'm wondering where it might go. Personally I would love to see something like this take off if it would give homebrewers a broader place to sell their games beyond physical cartridge releases.

Thanks for the clarification, I believe your intentions are pure. ;-)

 

About the service? I dunno, it seems like the worst of both worlds ... many retro gamers seem to (justifiably) hate streaming and DRM, not to mention they can be cheapskates. Unless this were superduper cheap (like $10/year) I can't see people splashing out for yet another subscription. Better to pay once for the games you like on a DRM-free store like GOG, and manage your own media. I say that as someone who likes to support commercial emulation, doesn't mind digital distribution, and hasn't bought physical media in years. If this doesn't do much for me, about as friendly as an audience as you could hope for, forget about reaching the disk-and-cartridge crowd.

 

More and more I wish we'd just see some reformed copyright laws, in which most software is set free after a reasonable amount of time (in our lifetimes, please). The reality is that it's much more convenient and sensible to just grab what you like from an abandonware site and play in an emulator, which doesn't require a lot of hardware to do.

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Thanks for the clarification, I believe your intentions are pure. ;-)

 

About the service? I dunno, it seems like the worst of both worlds ... many retro gamers seem to (justifiably) hate streaming and DRM, not to mention they can be cheapskates. Unless this were superduper cheap (like $10/year) I can't see people splashing out for yet another subscription. Better to pay once for the games you like on a DRM-free store like GOG, and manage your own media. I say that as someone who likes to support commercial emulation, doesn't mind digital distribution, and hasn't bought physical media in years. If this doesn't do much for me, about as friendly as an audience as you could hope for, forget about reaching the disk-and-cartridge crowd.

 

More and more I wish we'd just see some reformed copyright laws, in which most software is set free after a reasonable amount of time (in our lifetimes, please). The reality is that it's much more convenient and sensible to just grab what you like from an abandonware site and play in an emulator, which doesn't require a lot of hardware to do.

I wonder how streaming would work. It's seems like there would be horrible input lag, unless it would just be sending whole game and whichever emulator was needed before the game even launches on your device. Now that you mention GOG, it seems like it should be closer to the model of choice. I wonder why there isn't an equivalent to GOG for console games. DRM seems kind of pointless at this stage, considering everything is already available. Come to think of it, GOG has the Neo geo games, and the Turok games. Here's hoping they do more of that. My guess is it's an issue of how much it cost to license a game versus what they feel they can charge for it. But then again if it can work for a Neo Geo game, why not most other things.

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I'm actually just fascinated by this whole retro-resurgence that seems to be happening right now. I'm wondering where it might go.

Some call it "retro-resurgence", but I see it as the industry putting itself in reverse gear, up to a certain degree.

 

Take today's arcades, for example. The only arcades I can find in my city are located inside movie theaters, and when you give these arcade areas a quick tour, all you see are driving games and games with plastic guns mounted on sticks. You don't see the broad variety that you could see in arcades back in the 80s. There's been a trend developing this past year or so, with games like Pac-Man Championship, Afterburner Climax, or that new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game that's a love letter to the original arcade brawler. But you're unlikely to ever find games like Arabian, Centipede, or shooters like R-Type, because now you can play such games at home on your PC/console or even anywhere on your tablet or smartphone.

 

However, if you look at certain outlets like the 3DS eShop, you'll see lots of games with "retro" visuals that try to offer something new and different, or at least something that pushes all the right buttons even if it doesn't score points in the "innovative" department. It's not so much about spitting on first-person shooters and other current hardcore gaming genres, but it's more about revisiting 2D gaming and seeing what can be done with it that's fresh and fun to play.

 

I'd say this is what this "retro-resurgence" movement is all about. :)

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It's not so much about spitting on first-person shooters and other current hardcore gaming genres, but it's more about revisiting 2D gaming and seeing what can be done with it that's fresh and fun to play.

 

I'd say this is what this "retro-resurgence" movement is all about. :)

 

All good stuff for those of us who prefer an older style of game :) Thanks for pointing out the new Afterburner and new TMNT game, I didn't know those existed. I'll have to try to run across those at some point. Alas the arcade situation in my town also sucks

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I'm not a fan of streaming videogames, for reasons mostly mentioned above. For me it's just another unnecessary & flawed layer between you and the game...

 

I guess it could work for some casual gamers but why would they pay for it when all they have to do is type "play [system name] games online" and most likely this system is already covered by numerous free sites (plus archive.org) which appeared in recent years?

 

Maybe they should give Atari SA a call, keep hearing some rumblings about them getting into this biz :P

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I wonder how streaming would work. It's seems like there would be horrible input lag, unless it would just be sending whole game and whichever emulator was needed before the game even launches on your device. Now that you mention GOG, it seems like it should be closer to the model of choice. I wonder why there isn't an equivalent to GOG for console games. DRM seems kind of pointless at this stage, considering everything is already available. Come to think of it, GOG has the Neo geo games, and the Turok games. Here's hoping they do more of that. My guess is it's an issue of how much it cost to license a game versus what they feel they can charge for it. But then again if it can work for a Neo Geo game, why not most other things.

Given a fast enough network connection, the lag isn't terrible for certain kinds of games. When OnLive was alive, I had a decent enough experience, but it didn't hurt that I was within 50 miles of their data center.

 

Could be that "streaming" means just playing in your browser, like the Console Living Room from Archive.org

 

I'm not a fan of streaming videogames, for reasons mostly mentioned above. For me it's just another unnecessary & flawed layer between you and the game...

 

I guess it could work for some casual gamers but why would they pay for it when all they have to do is type "play [system name] games online" and most likely this system is already covered by numerous free sites (plus archive.org) which appeared in recent years?

Yeah.

 

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I guess it could work for some casual gamers but why would they pay for it when all they have to do is type "play [system name] games online" and most likely this system is already covered by numerous free sites (plus archive.org) which appeared in recent years?

 

 

Some won't do that because they consider downloading games to be immoral (no reason to get into that debate here though), and probably more won't learn to use an emulator out of laziness or giving up too quickly. Some emulators are very user-friendly, but not all of them are. Truly it doesn't get much easier than archive.org, but it leaves some things to be desired, such as save states and probably controller support.

Given a fast enough network connection, the lag isn't terrible for certain kinds of games.

I wonder how a game of pong would go :lol:

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Some won't do that because they consider downloading games to be immoral (no reason to get into that debate here though), and probably more won't learn to use an emulator out of laziness or giving up too quickly.

 

 

I was referring to sites which do exactly what Antstream does, only for free, now. Which is why I wrote "all they have to do is type 'play [system name] games online'. Try it maybe ;)

 

Most of them probably do not have any "licensing" so you can bring the moral/immoral angle into equation again, but...eh, I don't know, maybe they will be a big hit. Frankly, I don't really care. People will do anything in the name of convenience these days, even if it involves paying for an inferior experience.

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  • 2 years later...

I just tried this out last week.

 

It was terrible, had a lot of glitches. Which is fine, I expect some connectivity issues.

 

But for twitch games, shooters, maze games, it will jump ahead several frames, and then your player will usually end

up somewhere, where you do.


I tried the 7 day free trial, but then they subscribed from another month, which i didn't want.

(Yes, it said something when I first clicked, but i figured they would ask me if i wanted to renew it).

 

Well, now i have another month to test it.

 

Lots of great atari, namco, arcade games, and console games.

 

And surprise, surprise, today they added Batllezone arcade. Which haven't seen in quite awhile licensed.

 

Playing on a windows computer.

 

later

-1

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On 7/7/2018 at 3:36 PM, KeeperofLindblum said:

2. What makes this service more appealing than dozens (if not hundreds) of methods or sites for getting roms and emulators?

It is legal, you have much lower risk of getting malware on your computer and it is convenient.

 

The cons are that it costs money and the gaming experience is poor (too much lag in many games).

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/11/2020 at 11:59 AM, Lord Mushroom said:

It is legal, you have much lower risk of getting malware on your computer and it is convenient.

 

The cons are that it costs money and the gaming experience is poor (too much lag in many games).

I don't know what emulator you use to get malware.

 

I've been using them since the 90's and have never had an issue.

 

Streaming isn't any more convenient. You can find emulator on any pc, tablet and mobile device.

 

later

-1

Edited by negative1
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/25/2020 at 1:11 AM, negative1 said:

I don't know what emulator you use to get malware.

I have never had malware from ROMs or emulators either, but I have downloaded very few of them. But I have read that malware is a problem if you are downloading ROMs from the wrong sites. Especially if you open .exe-files.

 

As for convenience, if you stream, the games are all there. But if you play ROMs, you have to first find the game you want, and download it before playing. I have also read that you have to update emulators, if you want the optimal experience.

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1 hour ago, Lord Mushroom said:

I have never had malware from ROMs or emulators either, but I have downloaded very few of them. But I have read that malware is a problem if you are downloading ROMs from the wrong sites. Especially if you open .exe-files.

 

As for convenience, if you stream, the games are all there. But if you play ROMs, you have to first find the game you want, and download it before playing. I have also read that you have to update emulators, if you want the optimal experience.

so, you think people are downloading roms, and running unknown exe files?

 

and how exactly is that a risk. i don't get it. ROM files don't have malware in them,

so how is that risk.

 

maybe i don't don't understand the issue.

 

how big are roms files for retro games, a few K, that takes a few seconds, how is that an inconvenience.

 

also updating emulators is only if you want recent modern games or features, old emulators work on

most retro games just fine.

 

i see no advantage to streaming, only disadvantages and you have to pay for lesser quality, issues, and problems.

and if you have no internet (or bad internet), you can't even play the games offline.

 

later

-1

Edited by negative1
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2 hours ago, negative1 said:

so, you think people are downloading roms, and running unknown exe files?

 

and how exactly is that a risk. i don't get it. ROM files don't have malware in them,

 

how big are roms files for retro games, a few K, that takes a few seconds, how is that an inconvenience.

People who don´t know what they are doing may run unknown exe-files.

 

Another way of getting malware is simply by visiting an infected site.

 

I thought ROM-sites had games listed individually. But of course, if you can install a lot of them at once, that makes it more convenient than otherwise.

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  • 10 months later...

i've been using it a lot in the last week or two.

 

i finally have a highspeed internet account.

 

there is still lag. and poor control support (no joysticks, so using joy2key, which has lag).

 

i can do patterns in pac-man, but not consistently, and galaga and dig dug play ok.

 

i really like the tournaments and challenges.

Currently first in pac-man 1 life:

 

image.thumb.png.82fb0c1d2e67a455243c4d5dfad4644c.png

 

 

but trackball games suffer, since no mouse support.

 

later

-1

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