The phone is terrible for cloud gaming

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

The promise of cloud gaming is that you can do it from anywhere using any device with internet access and a good enough browser. Even if you don't feel like sitting on the couch, you should be able to play games even if you don't have a laptop. If you have a phone then you have all your games in the cloud.

This idea is not a good one. I'm not going to attempt cloud gaming on my phone again after spending the last few weeks playing games in the cloud. It has made me realize that sometimes dedicated gaming hardware is good. The Swiss Army knife approach to mobile gaming is just as useful as a real Swiss Army knife. I don't want to use it.

I try to use cloud gaming on my phone. I have tried a lot of games, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. These are demanding games that require a lot of expensive hardware to play on my phone, so I am struck with wonder. Tech companies made a promise to me a long time ago.

When you cloud game on your phone for long periods of time, the wonder wears off. The cloud gaming depletes the phone's battery quickly so you can feel the battery anxiety. As I waited for a flight at the airport, I thought cloud gaming would be a miracle, but as my phone grew hotter than the sun and the battery ran out, I was more worried about finding a place to plug in. I still needed my phone to work.

All the other things phones are good for are interfered with by cloud gaming. Notifications from other non-gaming apps can be quite annoying. You will be kicked out of your game if your mom calls. A friend is texting when you should be picked up. To respond, you will have to leave the game. If you lose your progress in a game and then have to wait as the phone tries to connect to the cloud gaming server, you can't check social media.

The controls are one of the worst parts of cloud gaming. The majority of services have a touch screen. If you have never gotten the knack for on-screen digital joysticks, you will be frustrated. The Backbone accessory is supposed to make the phone a better tool for that kind of hardcore gaming, but I still have to remember to bring it with me, even though I have used it many times. The Kishi isn't something I put in my purse or in my pocket when I leave the house. If I have to bring a controller to make cloud gaming on my phone even remotely enjoyable, I won't be able to play at all. It would be better to have a whole separate device.

I was forced to reckon with my affection, but also with my unhappiness with cloud gaming on the phone after my steam deck arrived. For the last two weeks, I have been playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on Xbox Cloud gaming on my Steam deck, and besides feeling the same sense of wonder as when I first cloud game on my phone, I also get the bonus of actually liking the experience.

Cloud gaming is a first choice when I play it on the steam deck. I can't wait to see the cloud gaming solutions from Sony and the others up and running. There isn't a game that feels crowded. The controls are easy to use. I don't have to worry about being completely disconnected from the outside world if I run out of battery.

Is there a better way to play cloud gaming than the steam deck? It's definitely true. The possibility of having a really good mobile gaming solution without the need for custom chips is closer now that phones can do the work. The companies are trying to build them. If the goal is to just cloud game on the go, I don't need a graphics card. The internet is good enough for cloud gaming. You don't need the most powerful processor. You just need a device that sips battery, supports 5G, and has rock-solid wi-fi.

I know it sounds like a phone, but it shouldn't be one. It should be something of its own. I don't want to go back to my phone now that I've experienced a really fun mobile cloud gaming experience. Cloud gaming is not one of them.