Amazon Luna on iPad

Amazon is gearing up to complete with the likes of Xbox Gamepass, Playstation Now, and Google Stadia. Enter Amazon Luna, Amazons video game streaming service. There are no downloadable games on Amazon Luna. A strong internet connection is required to use the service. In this review I will provide my thoughts on the service and my experience playing games from its library on my iPad Pro and iPad Air 2. At the time of writing this review, Amazon Luna is not available to the general public. I recently received an invitation to try out the service.

First Things First: Is it Good?

Yes! Its an amazing console tier gaming experience for the iPad thats smooth, seamless, and highly entertaining . Console games, for iPad already exist on the App Store but being able to subscribe to 70+ games and enjoy content from publishers that you would never see on app store is amazing.

Its great! But only when it works…

Amazon Luna works without a hitch if you have GREAT (not good) internet. In my experience, your iPad need a signal strength of about 300 Mbs. Check your speed at Speedtest.net

My Thoughts…

With mobile devices like smartphones and tablets becoming more popular than at-home consoles, and the future advancements of 5G networks, streaming services like Amazon Luna are the future of mobile gaming but, I don’t think we are there yet.

What’s the value proposition of game streaming service? I would answer: access to a curated gaming library, console tier games being playable on my mobile devices at home AND on the go. I often hear Game-streaming described as “Netflix or Spotify but for games”. It’s a fair description that describes what it intends to be…someday.

The Games: There was a nice selection of games on the Luna+ channel. They aren’t the newest triple AAA tittles but If you can find at least 2 games worth playing, I would say it’s worth a shot because at $5.99 a month, that’s $72.00 a year. Your average game on the platform is worth about $30.00 to $40.00 to purchase.

Streaming: Here is the grey area. I am also a subscriber of PlayStation Now which offers a similar service to Luna but only for PS4,PS5, and PC platforms. I’ve used it on my PS4 and it has been a flawless gaming experience but that was with my PlayStation directly plugged into my router via Ethernet… Video-game Streaming as a whole, requires great (not good) internet connection. If a playable gaming experienced is tied to being plugged into or in close proximity to a router, then you might as well continue paying games via consoles the old fashioned way.

The year is 2021. Things need to simply work. I don’t think gamers have the patience for an inconsistent experience. Not being able to Play games on Luna on my iPad whenever and wherever I go leaves the experience of game streaming redundant at best. In contrast, Netflix and Spotify simply works on all my devices seamlessly 95 to 100% of the time.

It’s not you Luna, it’s the internet…

Amazon Luna is awesome. I think Amazon did a great job. But I think you should wait. Streaming is the future but the future isn’t here yet.

Let’s cover the setup

There is no iOS app for Amazon Luna, instead, there is a browser based (Safari) web app that can be added to the home screen from the Amazon Luna website. After it has been added to you iOS home screen, it looks, responds, and feels just like an app.

They really put the “app” in web-app with this one…

Next up, the controller. Amazon Luna is compatible with both the Playstation DualShock 4 and the Xbox One Controller. Amazon Luna is also combat-able with the Luna controller and it comes with added benefits. More on that later.

Pricing

Like its streaming competitors, Amazon Luna is a monthly subscription service. Where it differs from its competitors is its channel structure. Each channel represents a gaming library. Currently, Amazon Luna offers 2 channels: Luna+($5.99) per month and Ubisoft($14.99) per month. You can cancel anytime.

Games

The Luna+ offers a mix of 70 games from various developers. Some of my favorites included: Trials of Cold Steel 3, YS XIII, Sonic Mania Plus, and Control.  The Ubisoft Channel some of the publishers best games to include: a few of latest entires of the Assassins Creed series, Crew, Tom Clancy’s series, Farcry, and Watch Dogs.