There’s a lot of Windows 10 related news clogging up the internet’s veins this morning, but one piece of news stands out for PC gamers and users of the Xbox One console. Last night, Xbox chief Phil Spenser announced that Windows 10 devices will benefit from game streaming directly from the Xbox One console, practically allowing gamers to play Xbox One titles from the comfort of their tablets or any other Windows 10 device.
As we noted last night, it’s a feature that Microsoft really should’ve taken by the scruff of the neck before but at least moving into the year of DirectX 12 and with mobile processing power growing ever stronger, it makes financial sense. DirectX 12 promises double the power with half the power consumption, so big claims will likely transform into big gains for gamers.
No ad to show here.
Read more: DirectX 12: unlocking the full potential of Xbox One gaming
The streaming system will let users of a Windows 10 device control an Xbox One console over the network, streaming games from said console like Forza Horizon 2 as demoed by Spenser yesterday. Although it sounds brilliant in theory, in practice there’s one major issue here — network.
We know Sony has tried streaming to additional TVs in the house before with its PlayStation TV micro-console and found that it was rubbish on a poorly optimised network. A bad router could be the difference between a smooth or jittery game. Latency will also be an issue, but we imagine there would be a specific Windows service to deal with and privilege the Xbox One traffic.
Read more: PlayStation TV review-in-brief: should you buy it?
Additionally, Microsoft has noted that games will be streamed at 1080p at 60 frames per second according to GameSpot, higher than Xbox One’s current resolution of 900p for most games. So will the company be issuing updates to the Xbox One console that allows for thicker output? What will the PC hardware requirements be as well?
For now, it’s a fledgeling concept and expect the kinks to be strung out later in the year. For now, let us know what you think of the system in the comments section below.
Did you miss the big Windows 10 announcements last night? Fear not. Catch up on the major news here and hit up our Windows 10 portal for future developments.
