Amazon Prime Day is coming up and Amazon has decided to offer free 7 day trials to its game streaming service, Luna, to Prime members in the mainland US. Until now, the only way to test Luna was to request early access or sign up from supported Fire TV devices. The Luna service is available on Windows PC, Mac, Fire TV, and via the web on your iPhone, iPad, and certain Android phones.
The regular price for Luna is $5.99 a month and grants you access to games like GRID, Metro Exodus, Sonic Mania, and more. If you want access to a large range of Ubisoft games, you can pay $14.99 a month for the Ubisoft channel beta and play the latest titles from the Assassin's Creed, FarCry, and Watch Dogs franchises. You will need to either create a new Ubisoft account or link an existing one in order to use this part of the service.
It's important to know that the above prices are only available for a limited time. According to Amazon, early access pricing will only be available during the early access period and will renew at the applicable monthly subscription price once the early access period is over. Users will be notified of the new monthly subscription price at least 30 days in advance of the end of early access. Users can cancel their subscription anytime.
If you're looking to go all-in on Luna, Amazon is also discounting its dedicated Luna controller by 30% from June 14-22. There is also a bundle package that includes the controller and a TV Fire Stick 4K discounted by $40. If you're a Prime member, this might be a good opportunity to try the service and see how it stacks up against the likes of Microsoft's xCloud or Google's Stadia.
The Luna controller talks directly to the cloud so there is no need for device-specific setup. The controller allows you to easily transition your game from one screen to the next on all of the different devices that support Luna. Most standard console controllers for the PlayStation 4 and XBox One will work just fine if you're not wanting to splurge on the Luna controller; the Razer Kishi Mobile Game Controller, as well as a mouse and keyboard, are also effective.
A review from The Verge says that Luna's load times are impressive, but that the library of available titles is somewhat small and higher internet speeds are required for smooth play. Amazon's FAQ says that the minimum recommended speed for game streaming is 10Mbps (35 Mbps for 4k). The better your internet is, the more effective Luna will be.
I personally prefer to have physical hard copies of games, or if nothing else at least something I can have downloaded and saved onto my computer. I don't like relying on internet access to be able to play my games, and that is obviously a downside for Luna - if your Internet goes down or is just slow in general, you're not going to be able to play a game to full enjoyment.
What about you? Have you tried a game streaming service and do you like it? Share your thoughts with us!