‘Plex Arcade’ streams classic games to Android, Chrome, TV

As we saw with Google Stadiums, there are benefits to cloud streaming, but it’s not just about high, graphically demanding titles. Sometimes it’s just about making games easily accessible. Today, ‘Plex Arcade’ begins as a way to stream classic video games to Android and Android TV devices, Chrome and more.

Plex started as a way to stream things like music, movies, and TV shows from your home computer or server to any of your favorite devices. With the announcement of Plex Arcade, the streaming server app expands to another important form of media: video games – specifically retro games.

Like Stadia, GeForce Now and other game streaming services, the idea behind Plex Arcade is to stream games from a Plex server to your device from a remote location – or in your own home. The underlying technology comes from Parsec – a free remote game application – which makes it possible to have the low latency stream needed for playable games.

For now, Plex Arcade only allows you to play games from one of about a dozen consoles, while the emulation aspects are handled by the open source LibRetro project. Out of the box, included with your subscription, you also get access to a small library of classic Atari games.

Plex Arcade does have some other limitations. First, the server you host games must be Windows or MacOS based and have a Parsec compatible graphics card. Those who offer Plex from a Linux machine, NAS or Nvidia Shield TV can not yet host games.

Furthermore, the game is limited to Android, iOS, Chrome, Apple TV and Android / Google TV. There are also no guarantees that controllers will or will not work, and Plex recommends that you use a DualShock 4 or Xbox controller.

If you have all the right hardware, Plex Arcade is available for $ 4.99 per month and offers a free one-week trial of the service.

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