Amazon's highly-anticipated Luna cloud gaming platform has officially hit the United States, complete with its own brand new peripheral device. Many free-to-play games are currently available through the service until March 31st, so if you're a Prime member, you should definitely check out what they've got going on currently.
What is Luna, and why should you care? Here's an introduction to Amazon Luna and why we're so amped on it ourselves.
What Is Amazon Luna?
Cloud gaming, in a general sense, is an entire gaming ecosystem that required no console to enjoy, other than your computer or TV and an internet connection. Amazon Luna is a streaming service devoted entirely to games, and it's finally available for the masses to try.
Amazon Luna comes free with an Amazon Prime membership—otherwise, you can get early access to what many are calling "the Netflix of games" for only $5.99 a month. You may also want to opt into other Luna channels later on for a small additional fee, although the only ones currently available are the Retro Channel, the Prime Gaming Channel, and the Jackbox Games Channel.
Much more is on the way, though, according to insiders. Luna hopes to compete with other cloud gaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and even Steam, bringing triple-A names to your device without the extra gear, set-up, download, and hassle.
Since being announced late 2020, a lot has changed, but the core of this service remains true to its original intention: to make cloud game streaming a standard, and to make gaming more accessible for anybody interested in playing.
The Amazon Luna Controller
Amazon<\/a>"">When it comes to cross-platform functionality, Luna knows no bounds—Fire TV, Fire tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebook, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android phones are all fair game.
Needless to say, you might need one branded peripheral to unite all of these ports of access. Enter the Amazon Luna controller, a wireless controller that can be used to game your way effortlessly. You can even order one with a phone display clip if mobile gaming is your thing.
Instead of pairing the Luna controller to each device individually, you'll instead link it up to Amazon Cloud direct first-hand, which means that you can hop from iPad to Fire TV to your desktop without pairing the controller through every leg of the race. Surprisingly, Cloud Direct is actually able to reduce latency by up to 30 milliseconds when compared to an ordinary Bluetooth connection; vital, especially when you have baddies to crush.
Outside of Luna, this device can be used via Bluetooth or USB on other platforms like Steam, although iOS devices are still off-limits at the time of this writing. If you love how it feels in your hands, it's the perfect accessory for those that plan on taking full advantage of everything that Luna plans on offering gamers in the near future.
World-Class Cloud Gaming From the Only Name We Trust
Now that Amazon Luna is finally here and ready for a test drive, it's time to put this AWS-driven gaming platform to the ultimate test, hopefully with the aid of a Luna controller in-hand or on the way. You can read the full disclosure here, on Amazon's press site.
You can scope out everything that's currently available to play for free through the Luna portal. We can only imagine the world of retro online gaming, remastered classics, and soon-to-be-released Amazon exclusives that we're able to bear witness to.
