Ever heard of the on-demand subscription gaming service Jump? It's an on-demand game streaming service and Icculus just ported The End is Nigh to it.
Recently, I wrote about how The End is Nigh might be coming to Linux. Sadly, that's not actually the case just yet. Announcing it on his Patreon, Icculus noted about his work to port it to the on-demand service Jump. They actually reached out to him to do it, as it turns out.
Fear not though, it may come to Linux too as a proper native game, as Icculus notes:
For those of you going "hey, what about a _native_ Linux port?!" To you I say: stay tuned. :)
So what is Jump exactly? Well here's how they describe it (from the FAQ):
Jump is an on-demand, video game subscription service that provides subscribers with unlimited access to a highly curated library of games. The service was created with the goal of delivering a unique platform for gamers to discover and play the games they want, with a special emphasis on unique, high-quality games by independent developers. Jump launches in summer 2017 with a library of more than 60 titles, first across all desktop systems and VR devices for a low monthly introductory fee of $9.99. Subscribers have a chance to expand their access to high-quality and groundbreaking video game offerings without the commitment to buy.
I've taken a look at streaming services before, but this is a little different. It doesn't stream games like other services, instead they use something they call "HyperJump". They already have the games, unlike other services it doesn't require your Steam account. That ticks a box for me right away!
Here's where it gets risky: Games might only be on there for a limited time, the developers of Jump state it will be for a minimum of 12 months with extensions possible. I wouldn't be amused if I got really into a game, to have it taken away months later, an issue I've had with Netflix for example.
I decided to try their service out, since they are so confident they offer a 14 day trial with no strings attached. I didn't even need to input any payment details to try it out, which was a very nice approach.
While their download page didn't have a download link, their "web app" did work. Input was a little odd, at times it didn't work at all, until I made it go fullscreen. Here's what you can expect to see:
Once you go fullscreen, as far as I could tell it worked exactly how I would expect it to. Honestly, if someone sat me down on their computer, with The End is Nigh from Jump in fullscreen so I didn't see the panels, I wouldn't have a clue it was running inside a browser window. However, trying a 3D title like Mirror Moon was a different story. It had noticeable mouse input lag sat inside the ship, but when moving around using the keyboard it seemed fine.
Personally, I've said for a while I absolutely love the idea of a proper on-demand gaming service, to play anything I want on any PC with a browser. I just think it's an extremely cool idea. There's obvious risks, as noted above like contracts expiring and games vanishing, poor internet connections might have trouble and so on. Nothing is perfect of course, but that doesn't stop me liking the idea of it. I'm keen to see what performance is like for more demanding games, their selection is a little limited right now.
What do you think to a service like Jump and Icculus porting games to it? Not technically Linux gaming, but it is gaming, that you can do on Linux. A fine line for some of you perhaps, but an interesting one.
Open up in the comments, would love to read your thoughts on the matter.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Also, for $10 a month you can get yourself a new humble bundle, which will quickly add up to 60 indie games (for keeps!) before the year runs its course. Or add two more dollars and get a highly-curated hb monthly bundle with both indie and AAA games, though admittedly not necessarily for Linux.
Quoting: GuestI have no interest in such streaming services. They're not even satisfactory on my 1gb LAN, let alone over the internet. Nor do I wish to 'rent' access to games. Nor do I want 'yet' another subscription.I am also prejudiced against this sort of arrangement. I sometimes feel like half my life is spent resisting new and innovative methods of getting me to shell out yet another monthly fee--which will then prove impressively difficult to cancel.
The value is terrible in the end to boot.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 21 September 2017 at 2:18 am UTC
Quoting: scaineHmmm, when he said "what about a native Linux port", I didn't get the impression that he was talking about "The End is Nigh". I imagined (perhaps optimistically) that he meant, "I've finished working on this, but I've also got an unannounced Linux port in the works".Well the whole post was talking about that game specifically, and the fact that it's not native. Then he mentions to stay tuned about a native port. Seems obvious to me.
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