KinoConsole review: Stream and play PC games on your Windows Phone

A few weeks back nosotros reviewed TouchFox, an app that allows Windows 8 gamers to play PC games using touch screen virtual controls. Command issues bated, being able to play reckoner games on a tablet is pretty impressive. Only you lot know what's even more likely to knock someone'due south socks off? Playing PC games on a phone.

That's only what KinoConsole makes possible. Kinoni, makers of the Kinoni Remote app (no longer published), have just released a gaming-specific version of that app chosen KinoConsole. By installing both the Windows Phone and PC apps, players can stream and play large-screen games to their phones. KinoConsole provides (iffy) virtual controls and even supports MOGA controllers! The app is gratis and works with 512 MB phones.

Preparing to play

After installing KinoConsole on your Windows Telephone 8 device, you'll need to go free Kinoni Remote Desktop programme for your Windows seven or Windows 8 computer or tablet. Yes, the Remote Desktop works on the Surface Pro – although the first Pro is not the beefiest gaming device.

Having installed the figurer programme (making certain to check the "Gaming extension" box), yous'll need to manually launch it. The KinoConsole setup guide mistakenly claims that the program's menu will appear on its own during installation. Nope! But launching it will bring up the menu, where you lot will gear up a password for the remote server.

Next, select Quick Launch from the same menu. Here yous will browse for Steam games, populating the Quick Launch list with any Steam games installed on your computer. Not all of those games volition actually work with KinoConsole though, so you'll want to disable annihilation you can't play (or just don't want to play) with the app.

Note that the computer programme is slightly too tall to fit on the Surface Pro's screen and can't be resized. How about shrinking it a scrap, Kinoni?

KinoConsole compatibility

Kinoni doesn't lay out the compatibility guidelines very plainly, then here goes. KinoConsole only works with controller-compatible games that support XINPUT (Xbox 360 controllers). Many modern games do back up controllers, then it's non an unreasonable requirement.

Second, a game must be run in Windowed way in order for its video to testify up on your phone. If the game hasn't been gear up to Windowed nonetheless, KinoConsole volition only brandish a black screen (with or without virtual controls) on your telephone. Unfortunately, a few PC games similar Sonic Generations don't back up Windowed style. Just generally it'south non a problem.

Using the KinoConsole app

With your Quick Launch list properly fix, information technology's fourth dimension to launch the phone app. KinoConsole can connect via the aforementioned local network as the PC, or connect remotely. The first y'all launch, you'll need to input the password that you prepare on the calculator.

From the KinoConsole "Games Library" screen, you should at present be able to scroll through all of the games you lot prepare on the PC'south Quick Launch menu. The game selection procedure could be a lot better. For 1, the menu but displays in portrait style. Every single game you launch will be in landscape mode, and MOGA controllers hold the phone in landscape as well. Kinoni needs to add together mural support to the carte du jour.

Speaking of MOGA, the controller can't control the bill of fare, forcing players to affect the screen and become it muddy. A mutual issue with MOGA-enabled emulators every bit well, merely information technology would exist nice for developers to design their UIs around the controller. Peculiarly with an app like KinoConsole that's most worthless without a controller (we'll become to that soon).

Many people ain hundreds of Steam games. Fifty-fifty after removing non-uniform games from the Quick Launch list, you could still stop upward with a ton of games to curlicue through. Game selection is simply too cumbersome at present, requiring the user to swipe through the list 1 title at a time. The option to display multiple titles at in one case or a text-only list would brand things a lot easier.

Launching a game

After selecting a game, the phone now displays a remote view of the PC desktop. At that indicate, you manually select a game from Steam and then striking the Play button on the Steam UI to launch information technology.

This function of the process has problems big and small. Small: selecting games from the Steam list is difficult on a telephone (fifty-fifty the Lumia 1520) because the text is and then tiny. As a workaround, you tin opt to manually launch the game from the PC. But we really need the pick to zoom in the telephone's desktop display.

Big problem: if the Steam window isn't currently active or on top of your desktop, y'all won't be able to encounter or interact with information technology. Somehow I got switched over to my spider web browser while playing in a unlike room and I simply couldn't go back to Steam.

KinoConsole desperately needs a way to zoom out the display and then that nosotros tin can access the organization tray at the bottom of the Windows desktop. Until that gets added (or revealed, assuming in that location is a manner that they only don't advertise), forget virtually really logging in from a remote location and starting up a game.

Street Fighter IV (some latency)

Virtual controls

The virtual controls end upward being KinoConsole'south most disappointing feature. See, the app emulates an Xbox 360 controller – cool. Merely the virtual controls are missing one-half of the inputs establish on an Xbox controller! No d-pad, no right analog stick, no bumper buttons, and no Dorsum and Get-go. All we get are the left analog stick, the four chief confront buttons, and two triggers.

Talk about a design error! You can hardly play anything with KinoConsole's virtual controls because most games need those missing buttons and the second stick. Even a game that merely uses the face buttons probably uses Start to pause, save, and/or quit. It's almost equally if the virtual control designer doesn't play games.

KinoConsole does allow some mild control customization from a bill of fare accessed past pressing the phone'southward Dorsum push button. You can move whatsoever of the available on-screen elements to new positions, either to brand them more comfortable to press or merely get them out of the way. The command editor has a bug in which information technology swaps the locations of iii of the face buttons when you open information technology, which needs to get fixed.

Broken Age

One important pick that is missing: adjustable transparency. The virtual controls have no transparency and they're large, so they cover a lot of screen real estate. Players should be able to arrange their transparency in order to be able to see the game behind them.

Finally, the phone's Back push menu can besides launch the phone'south keyboard. Yous wouldn't exercise this as a form of game command since the telephone keyboard lacks arrow keys and such. Just information technology could be useful for inputting text in games that allow information technology.

Note that neither virtual nor MOGA controls are capable of pressing Shift + Tab in order to shut certain persistent Steam dialogs. This could be bothersome when playing far from the computer.

Fable 3

MOGA controls

Ah, the real reason to employ KinoConsole right now: MOGA controls! Starting time up a game later connecting the controller and launching the app and the controller should work, simply as if you were property an Xbox controller attached to your estimator. The KinoConsole people got the in-game MOGA support only right. You can play shooters, driving games, fighters, RPGs, any and enjoy the pitch-perfect controls of the MOGA controller.

A few games I tested successfully:

• Jiff of Death
• Broken Age
• Cthulhu Saves the Globe
• Legend III
• Magicka
• Retro City Rampage
• Street Fighter 4

Switching games

When you're ready to quit playing a game, press Back and choose to Disconnect. This returns to the KinoConsole Game Library carte so you lot tin can choose a new game. Information technology does NOT close the game you were playing on the calculator. You can resume the game if it'due south even so running, which will be helpful if KinoConsole ever gets disconnected and has to reconnect.

To actually quit a game, y'all'll need to exit using the game'southward native menus (most games allow this) or manually shut it on the computer.

Retro City Binge

Free versus Pro

The complimentary version of KinoConsole displays banner ads on the main carte du jour. It too throws upwards full-screen ads during gameplay every now and then, which annoys quickly.

Paying $iv.99 to unlock the Pro version will turn off the ads, enhance security, and better performance. I'd like to know about the performance comeback. Does Kinoni throttle the streaming speed for free users?

Fable 3 (latency issues)

Streaming issues

KinoConsole'southward actual streaming performance tin be hit or miss. At times, the video and sound return beautifully and it'south only like they squeezed a existent PC game onto your phone. Other times, the games I played would endure from horrible artifacting, making them well-nigh unplayable (see Fable 3 image to a higher place). The audio usually continued to stream perfectly (it sounds great by the way).

I experienced both conditions while playing from the same location on my home network. The problem could be my router (it does suck), or the app itself. Even in the best atmospheric condition, the farther abroad from the router both components are, the more than astringent the artifacting will be. I wouldn't play from an outside network unless both networks are amazeballs.

Almost there

KinoConsole has a lot of similar issues to TouchFox. Information technology feels similar nobody actually bothered to play a game (certainly not multiple games) with the virtual controls. They probably only got them working and then moved on. The carte du jour needs a major overhaul, and launching games and navigating the desktop from the app must be made easier. Let's not forget adding a way to press Shift + Tab somehow.

Still, the app itself is pretty astonishing. Kinoni already had a working desktop streaming app; implementing Xbox controller emulation adds and so much to that core concept. MOGA back up is brilliant too, basically justifying the being of the app. Hopefully Kinoni will fix the bug we discovered and brand KinoConsole a worthwhile app fifty-fifty when used without a physical controller.

• KinoConsole – Windows Phone 8 – 1 MB – Free – Store Link

Thanks to "Doubting" Thomas for the tip!

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/kinoconsole-review

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