Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Anything relating to non Sinclair computers from the 1980's, 90's or even before.
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DarkTrancer

Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by DarkTrancer »

I know quite a few people missed out on the Spectrum Next because they don't read kickstarter very often,so i thought i would paste this up since it is relevant to Zx Spectrum and even Jim Bagley has used his golden fingers to code some of the services features.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/23 ... escription
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stupidget
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by stupidget »

Great idea but what’s the difference between this service and the links to JSspeccy or QAOP on each game on this site?
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Joefish
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Joefish »

The difference is that someone gets to cream a profit off it.
And the more they can threaten and shutdown existing free services, the more profit they think they can make.
(The same free services they're probably getting their content from in the first place).
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by StooB »

Joefish wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:40 am The difference is that someone gets to cream a profit off it.
Since when did a company with a multi-millionaire chairman like Ian Livingstone need a kickstarter campaign?!
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Bizzley »

The barrel is scraped and someone finds yet another way of making money off old games other people wrote. I think I'll pass thank you.
"He made eloquent speeches to an audience consisting of a few depressed daffodil roots, and sometimes the cat from next door."
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Joefish
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Joefish »

"the brainchild of CEO Steve Cottam and inspired by his involvement in 3DO development..."
3DO, now there was a business with a great future behind it...

"Get access to hundreds of retro games before anyone else by pledging..."
Tigger please. :roll:

No, seriously, here, let me fall over myself to throw money at another retro gaming kickstarter, since all those other ones turned out brilliantly.
Or better yet, apply for one of their advertised jobs within a company that's still on the scrat for its funding!
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FUD
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by FUD »

Just seems like another way to make money from 30 year old relics. There seems to be an air of righteousness in that there's talk of preservation and coders getting their well-earned money. It all seems a little disingenuous to me. I'm sure there are people involved who truly have the right intentions but, sadly, the minute money, profit and business models are a part of the equation right intentions often fall by the wayside...

Sorry to be old and cynical but nothing that "business" has ever done has worked out well for game history preservation.
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DouglasReynholm
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by DouglasReynholm »

StooB wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 11:00 am
Joefish wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:40 am The difference is that someone gets to cream a profit off it.
Since when did a company with a multi-millionaire chairman like Ian Livingstone need a kickstarter campaign?!
Not only that, Jon Burton, ex Travellers Tales boss, now a film producer who lives in Malibu is involved too, so they can't be too short of cash. Jim Bagley is part of the team as well and as I'm still waiting for my ZX Next, not sure if that's a good thing or not!
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Ralf »

I strongly dislike guys trying to make money on old software. They always claim they are doing something good while in practice they just appear on retro websites with angry demands of removing software from the site and threats of legal action.

Eventually there is also always some other crap involved. I remember some old cases. Nothing good came out of it.
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Einar Saukas »

stupidget wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:26 amGreat idea but what’s the difference between this service and the links to JSspeccy or QAOP on each game on this site?
Potentially this service could provide several benefits. A few ideas:
  • Even better, more accurate online emulation;
  • Allow players to save snapshots from games they are playing, storing them online so they can continue playing later (possibly across different platforms);
  • Play multiplayer games (like Gauntlet or Lords of Midnight) through the Internet. Each player would use their own keyboard (or joystick), but everyone would see the same output screen from the same shared snapshot. In simultaneous action games, the system would only accept certain keys for each player, configured per game. In turn based strategy games, the system would give full control of the keyboard to one player at a time.
These functionalities would provide good reasons for players to subscribe to this service for the convenience.

Notice that none of these advantages would be affected by availability of the same titles from preservation sites like Spectrum Computing. I really hope they can understand it!

Otherwise, if they try to forbid free distribution of titles from others in order to force players to subscribe, it won't really help anybody. In practice, Spectrum Computing would comply but there are plenty of other warez sites that wouldn't. And it would push away most of the exact audience they want to attract...

I think I will try to contact them and see how it goes...
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Joefish »

If I were you I'd have nothing to do with them. Let them stand or fail on their own terms.

We've seen far too many attacks on people and websites that have had only the most passing association with previous kickstarters, when they fail or get taken over and the trolls come out from under their bridges. Any 'agreement' you might establish will be worthless the day after it's given and can only lead to trouble.

This is a free site - ask yourself what you can hope to gain from talking to someone who just wants to make a profit. And do you honestly think they have anything to 'give' compared to all the 'taking' they have planned?
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Bizzley »

Einar Saukas wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 4:59 pm Notice that none of these advantages would be affected by availability of the same titles from preservation sites like Spectrum Computing. I really hope they can understand it!
How long do you think it will be before a commercial company that operates and aims to make a profit on the basis that customers will pay for something that can be obtained freely - if unofficially - elsewhere will sooner or later work out that removing said free supply would be in their best bottom-line interest?

BTW if you've got a few spare minutes look up Antstream Limited at Companies House and follow some of the director names, see if you can spot the link between a former director of RCL (Vega+ infamy) and one of the current directors of Antstream. Isn't the Internet great. ;)
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Einar Saukas »

Joefish wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 5:08 pm If I were you I'd have nothing to do with them. Let them stand or fail on their own terms.

We've seen far too many attacks on people and websites that have had only the most passing association with previous kickstarters, when they fail or get taken over and the trolls come out from under their bridges. Any 'agreement' you might establish will be worthless the day after it's given and can only lead to trouble.

This is a free site - ask yourself what you can hope to gain from talking to someone who just wants to make a profit. And do you honestly think they have anything to 'give' compared to all the 'taking' they have planned?
I'm not planning to "give" or "take" anything, or to make any kind of "agreement". And certainly nothing to do with Spectrum Computing, I'm neither owner or admin here so I'm not entitled to represent it when speaking with anybody else!

I just happen to believe that lots of problems and misunderstandings may be avoided by simply opening channels for dialogue. I also believe initiatives for businesses based on retro content don't necessarily have to be a bad thing (think about the commercial Retro Gamer magazine for instance), if done properly.

So yes, I will try talking with them and see if I can influence a positive collaboration from their initiative with our community. There's nothing to lose from trying, if done properly.
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Einar Saukas »

Bizzley wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 5:40 pmHow long do you think it will be before a commercial company that operates and aims to make a profit on the basis that customers will pay for something that can be obtained freely - if unofficially - elsewhere will sooner or later work out that removing said free supply would be in their best bottom-line interest?
It depends whether they realize that trying to kill the retro community will attract negative publicity and shrink their potential audience, thus hurting their own business in the long run.

Frankly I'm also concerned about their strategy. And that's exactly the reason I think it's important to open dialogue.

BTW if you've got a few spare minutes look up Antstream Limited at Companies House and follow some of the director names, see if you can spot the link between a former director of RCL (Vega+ infamy) and one of the current directors of Antstream. Isn't the Internet great. ;)
I assume you mean Darren Melbourne. However he was never involved in Retro Computers (RCL) and Vega+. He's only involved in Retro Games, that has released one product and it's late on another, but it doesn't seem to have any major issues. This is somewhat similar to current ZX Next status, personally I don't see a lot of problem there.
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by djnzx48 »

I guess this is supposed to work similarly to the recently announced Google Stadia game streaming thing? The main point of it was that it allowed you to play games on low-spec hardware that wouldn't normally be able to run them, but it seems a bit pointless if you're just dealing with retro games that can be run on pretty much anything. And the latency was reportedly a big problem with that service, especially with fast-paced games. So it's not sounding that great so far.

If you do try to contact them, try to be careful I guess. Didn't a guy called Gamestage contact Activision about game permissions and then ended up getting all their games denied?
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Ralf »

Didn't a guy called Gamestage contact Activision about game permissions and then ended up getting all their games denied?
True.

On the other hand he just did what WOS at that time encouraged users to do: actively seek permissions for games. He tried and failed.
The proper approach was probably just never ask them and let sleeping dogs lie. This way they would never know and never care as it
worked for years before.

So yes, these are delicate matters and sometimes it's better to leave things alone. Choose carefully, Einar.
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by patters »

I was curious about this and installed it on my phone. You can't even try the service for free, something you'd expect to be a pre-requisite for a subscription decision. I mean the emulation might be poor, so as a customer you'd need some tangible proof to the contrary. Instant uninstall for me.
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Antstream is disappointing apparently

Post by holycross »

**post merged by PJ"

The Netflix of old games does not let you remap controls and has poor image quality:/

When I asked them why they would not sell games but stream them, they said this was because it is better forquality because the size of the files is going to increase with the number of games(?????)

I found out Tencent invested money in Antstream.Maybe they think they have foubd a honey pot and that streaming is more profitable...

https://www.gamesradar.com/antstream-arcade-review/
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by holycross »

I posted a thread aboutit, should have replied this one I guessed. They have poor image qualityand you can't remap controls. Tencent invested in the company...

https://www.gamesradar.com/antstream-arcade-review/
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by DouglasReynholm »

holycross wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 2:51 am Tencent invested in the company
Well now it's a definite swerve from me.
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Turtle_Quality »

Bumping an old thread here, but here's an article about AntStream going (from December 2020) to a model of free subscription with ads and some restrictions, or a premium subscription.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/antstrea ... -14206523/
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Turtle_Quality wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 9:04 am [...] a model of free subscription with ads [...]
The first thing that comes to my mind is this: :mrgreen:

Image





Sorry, I couldn't resist...
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Einar Saukas
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by Einar Saukas »

Turtle_Quality wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 9:04 am Bumping an old thread here, but here's an article about AntStream going (from December 2020) to a model of free subscription with ads and some restrictions, or a premium subscription.

https://metro.co.uk/2021/03/08/antstrea ... -14206523/
Well, this is going a lot better than I expected!

They never went against preservation efforts like SC/ZXDB (so users wouldn't have the choice to find the same games somewhere else). Instead, they have adopted the strategy of selling this service simply as a "more convenience experience" for regular users. This is great.

Their decision to change to free subscription with adverts should work much better for them.

If they continue along this path, I wish them good luck!
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by namco »

I only got into Antsteam after seeing Jim Baguley's stream on Nebulus and I wondered if I could beat his score (which I did). Since then I've enjoyed the challenges/tournaments and discovering new games.
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Re: Antstream - Retro Game Streaming Service

Post by bluespikey »

Turtle_Quality wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 9:04 am model of free subscription with ads and some restrictions, or a premium subscription.
Thorin arrives.
Thorin sits down and sings of gold.
Thorin starts telling you about Skillshare, an online community where users share tutorial videos about anything, such as how to slay dragons.
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