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Blade Shadow

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Blade Shadow

Unread postby icycalm » 27 Apr 2018 17:26

https://shadow.tech/

Cloud-based access to GTX 1080-equivalent Windows 10 PC for around $35 a month.

You need at least a 15Mbps connection to make it work. I have 300.

Found out about it from this: https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/win-s ... h-over-330

Fanatical wrote:Shadow is available now in France, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and California. More data centers are being added, allowing Shadow to expand into further territories this Summer, including the whole of the USA.


If it comes to Spain in the summer, I might consider it. I would like to hear of the downsides first though.
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Unread postby icycalm » 27 Apr 2018 17:57

From Discord:

CULT|icycalm
Everyone without a PC who wants to play games with us should consider the above link
I might look into it myself this summer if it comes to Spain
It'd be good to have some feedback on it, so let us know if you try it

CULT|quash
I really want to believe something like that isn't too good to be true.

CULT|icycalm
Would they be investing so much money on it otherwise?

CULT|quash
If the money isn't theirs, yeah.

CULT|icycalm
lol true

CULT|quash
Not quite the same but there is an app in development called Rainway.
It links your PC/console to whatever device you have it running on.
Also has a web based client.
Haven't tried it myself though.
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Unread postby icycalm » 26 Jul 2018 13:03

I am currently using this and it's fantastic. Lots of details on my experience in the Discord, in the #games and #hardware channels (and full review coming on Patreon after I've finished a couple of games on it).

Official subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowPC/

I'll be checking it every day now.

Looks like they are getting read to roll out 1TB storage (currently it's at 250GB): https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowPC/comme ... dy_for_it/

From the picture it even looks like you get to have both hard drives.

Can't wait. 250GB is too small for a machine that's supposed to play heavy games. You can barely get half a dozen of them in there at a time.

Other things they are working on is dual-screen output, VR-compatibility and 4K 60Hz streaming (currently it tops out at 4K 30Hz).
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Aug 2018 15:28

Blade's Shadow game streaming service is expanding to the East Coast with new mobile app
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker ... nd-new-app

Stupid title. It's expanding to the East Coast with a new data center, not "with new mobile app". The mobile app is an entirely separate thing.

Anyway, here's the good news:

Chaim Gartenberg wrote:In all, 18 additional states will get access to the service on August 9th, including, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Nevada, and Oregon. Blade also promises that it will add more states in the future, with the goal of offering service to the entire US by October.
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Unread postby icycalm » 10 Aug 2018 20:45

If you want Shadow to come to your country, I would suggest going here:

https://shadow.tech/int

and entering your email address and country in the box. I just did that for Spain. I imagine that they look at these stats to determine where there is demand for expansion.
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Unread postby icycalm » 17 Aug 2018 17:01

Screenshot_2018-08-17 Shadow.png
Screenshot_2018-08-17 Shadow.png (27.12 KiB) Viewed 63936 times


Just ordered. Can't wait. (1 To is French for 1 TB, by the way. There's little bits and pieces of French all over the Shadow service, even for UK and US subscribers.)

I am going to ask if I can order more. Wouldn't mind at least a couple of them at that price.


EDIT: From official UK Discord:

Matthias I The Just wrote:@CULT|icycalm not yet. they said there will be possible to add "unlimited amount". but not for now.
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Blade Shadow Ghost

Unread postby icycalm » 21 Aug 2018 21:27

Just as my Shadow Box arrived (took a week to arrive to Rory in London, and then a further two weeks to arrive in Tenerife from London), they announce that they are ceasing production of it, and are releasing its successor, the Shadow Ghost, that can go up to 4K60 (the original Box can do up to 4K30).

Introducing: Shadow Ghost
https://shadow.tech/usen/community/news ... w-ghost-us

c6034104ee78d02f9dc0ecb58ceef00a0344cd77_5.jpg


Reveal Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VELrEDsN4xc

Blade wrote:
  • 4K UHD video at 60fps and 1080p at 144fpd in Full HD. To enjoy beautiful graphics on your favorite FPS games
  • Essential inputs: Ethernet, USB 2.0 and 3.0, HDMI 2.0 and 3.5mm jack. Connect all your peripherals even easier than before
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth integrated. Enjoy a cable-free experience for more freedom
  • Passive cooling and fanless! Never overheats and is always absolutely silent
  • Reduced consumption. Shadow Ghost consumes 30 times less energy than an equivalent local PC
  • Unique design. Compact, light, discrete yet remarkable with its soft red light, Shadow Ghost will fit in nicely in your setup


However, it's coming out Q4 2018, so I'll still get some use out of my Box, and moreover they are planning an exchange program for the old Boxes.

Blade wrote:Will my Shadow Box be replaced by the new one?

We are currently working on an exchange program and will be reaching out to current Shadow Box owners very soon.


I do prefer the design of the original Box though.
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Unread postby icycalm » 29 Oct 2018 00:30

I am looking at building a new PC in the next few months, once prices on the new Nvidias settle down, but I don't think I'll ditch the Shadow even then. For one thing, I won't be able to travel with my desktop, but the Shadow can go anywhere as long as you have even a lowly laptop with you. Then, I want a second PC at home anyway, which I can have running 24/7, as I can with the Shadow box (and using almost no electricity). Or think about having a friend over. What's more awesome than giving him a PC as powerful as yours to play all kinds of games together while he's there?

Another awesome application would be LAN parties. Everyone can go there with a lowly laptop, but they all use top-spec PCs via Shadow for a mere one month's subscription (which is even $10 off with a promo code). Worth it, if you've traveled half-way across a continent or country for the LAN party. Certainly beats lugging your desktop, and all the stress and fees you will incur as a result—unless you're there for competition in a genre in which every frame counts, in which case, yeah, you're going to have to lug your desktop, or a pretty expensive laptop.
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Unread postby earthboundtrev » 10 Aug 2019 03:05

Shadow is aiming to roll out of a ton of new features in the next 100 days, and they've even created a roadmap illustrating how far along they currently are with each of the different features they plan to add: https://shadow.tech/usen/features-roadmap

The main feature that I would like them to add is the ability to pay for new storage options to all users, which is coming around November of this year according to their roadmap. Here's hoping they can deliver on their promises.
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Unread postby icycalm » 21 Oct 2019 18:43

New subscription tiers based on varying hardware configurations have been confirmed, though without firm details yet. I am insanely excited for this. It feels like getting a brand new computer for a few bucks.

Highlight: The first International Shadow News! #StreamFreedom
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowPC/comme ... adow_news/

Mateo_Fr wrote:2) #Stream freedom

The next keynote is coming to you on 10/29/2019 in Paris (9h30 UTC+2, 8h30 UTC+1). Many major news will be unveiled:

  • It’s been one year you have the offer as you know it but we realized one offer didn't fit everyone’s needs (some wants more power, some cheaper price etc.). At the beginning of august we ran a questionnaire asking you if you wanted to pay the same price for much more power or pay much less for the same power: 80% chose the first one.

Knowing this, we chose to create the 3 tiers offers (low/mid/high) which will be fully and officially announced during the key note! Everything will change: CPU, GPU (RTX :)), Memory and many others things.

  • The storage issue will be fully addressed there. We know 256 Gb is not enough and everybody should have and get additional storage. We’ll also talk about our new storage solution, it’s efficiency and the price.
  • New developments: last 3 month were focused on stability, but there were also a lot of new technologies developed over the last year (VR, for example). They will be unveiled!
  • Many amazing guests, partners will be there to talk about shadow
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Unread postby Beakman » 22 Jul 2020 19:24

Shadow just sponsored a Linus Tech Tips video. Hopefully this will translate on more success for them. Linus mentions at the end of the video that this is not the first time:

What the heck is a GAMING SERVER??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS1FcT93Qy8

It's cool that the video is about one of Shadow's servers. Then he does a review of the service itself.

I wondered before if Shadow gave a full hardware setup to each user throughout his session, since this would decrease their revenue considering the cost of hardware. This video reveals that while every user gets a full GPU for his session, CPU and RAM are shared.

Another interesting tidbit that I wasn't aware of is that Shadow now has a selectable 240 Hz mode if you're running at 1920x1080.

I used to work with blade servers and I'm surprised that the motherboard is so tiny! But then again I never saw GPUs in those.

This is the previous LTT video about Shadow from 2018. In this one, Linus visits one of their datacenters (min. 1:36):

The gaming PC days are NUMBERED! - Shadow Tech Facility Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BQ4bXNdEQI
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Unread postby icycalm » 29 Aug 2020 02:47

You can see even from the name that Shadow is the better system. It's a beautiful word in its own right, and its connotations of distance and immateriality are a perfect match for streaming cloud computing. Meanwhile, Stadia sounds plain stupid, the obvious result of some hipster trying to sound too clever, while GeForce Now and PlayStation Now are utterly lacking in class and imagination, with one of the two latter companies even ripping the other off (not sure which was which and don't care enough to research it). xCloud sounds a bit better than the rest of the popular services, but still not as cool and classy and inspired as Shadow.

And you best believe the quality of each service pretty much matches that of its name.
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Re: Blade Shadow

Unread postby icycalm » 29 Sep 2022 00:38

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Soon I'll have a 3070 desktop on top of my 3080 laptop. I could even get Shadow in Spain in November when they launch here, eliminating the lag, but I'll probably keep it in Paris as it's more centrally located for travel within Europe.

My next upgrade will be 4090 Ti for triple-screen and VR Star Citizen, maybe a year from now if crypto recovers.
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