Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Dying Light: The Beast
  • Borderlands 4 review
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild screenshot showing Link, a male character with elf-like ears, blond hair, and bright blue eyes
Movies The Legend of Zelda movie is exciting, but I'm still begging for 5 specific video game movies to get adapted next
Best video game movies: Milla Jovovich as Alice in the first Resident Evil movie.
Movies The 10 best video game movies of all time, ranked
A warrior overlooking ruins on a grassy field beneath a grey sky in Shadow of the Colossus
Games The games industry might be built on borrowed ideas, but new ones have to come from somewhere – even if Fumito Ueda says "the era of game mechanics is over"
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
Adventure Games The 25 best video game stories to play right now
A screenshot of PUCK eating an enemy during the upcoming Xbox Series X game, Shadow Labyrinth.
Games The best retro remakes and reboots out there aren't afraid to get weird with it – as Shadow Labyrinth being a dark and gritty Pac-Man game shows us
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing companion Shadowheart, a young half-elf woman with long tied-back black hair
RPGs Baldur's Gate 3 dev says AAA is "perversely fascinated" by indie games, because those devs still understand how to make good ideas that aren't reliant on data
Jan sadly presses a hand on a screen that says 'deceased' in The Alters
Survival Games The Alters has changed the way I play games for the better, and after 18 years I can finally finish Mass Effect
Upcoming video game movies - Five Nights at Freddy's
Movies Every upcoming video game movie you need to know about
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad in Assassin's Creed
Action Shows Assassin's Creed live-action series greenlit at Netflix from Westworld and Halo showrunners: "We're committed to creating something undeniable for fans all over the planet"
Team Fortress 2 soldier holding two grenades
Games Valve "cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with" using diehard gamers and their backlogs, Steam expert says: "You get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly"
Bioshock Infinite screenshot showing Elizabeth about to hit someone with a book
PC Gaming If "good is the new bad" in games, flawed experiments won't have time to grow into future GOTYs
Red Dead Redemption 2
Adventure Games 25 best adventure games to get swept up in right now
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild screenshot of Link cooking over a campfire
RPGs The Legend of Zelda and Red Dead Redemption 2 have whetted my appetite, so I've found the 7 best cooking games to tuck into
Mafia: The Old Country
Action Games Mafia: The Old Country's divisive linearity is telling me everything I need to know about action-adventure games in 2025, and it all comes back to Indiana Jones
Steam Deck review
Games I'm too broke to buy Donkey Kong Bananza, so if you're sharing my FOMO here are the best Steam Deck games I'm playing instead
  1. Games

8 valuable lessons video games can learn from... Netflix

Features
By Ben Tyrer published 7 April 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Do cross the streams

Do cross the streams

Providing you have decent broadband girth, there is a 99.998% chance that you have streamed something online at some point. Theres even a good chance that youre using your console as a Netflix box. But now imagine that instead of watching The Raid again (which you should totally do as well), you called up a streaming service and started playing the latest in the critically adored Man Shooter series. That would be pretty handy, right?

Streaming has been playing a huge part in the worlds of music, film, and TV for ages. However, this year services like Playstation Now, OnLive, and Amazon Fire are trying to get gamers to embrace a discless and download free future. If theyre going to succeed, they need to sit down and take a cheeky peek at the notes of their older streaming classmates.

Obviously, you use Netflix a lot. Here's our guide to the 50 best movies on Netflix and another on the 30 best TV shows on Netflix. You're welcome.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Great games above ALL else

Great games above ALL else

The ability to stream games is great, but--to the surprise of no one--the games really need to be ones that you actually want to play. Theres no use being offered games youve already got or titles so niche that barely anyone wants to spend time with them. The most important aspect of this is filling the gaps that already exist in the libraries of gamers worldwide.

Netflix might not have the very latest releases outside of a few notable (and Marvel-shaped blockbusters), but it certainly has plenty of great films and TV shows that would slip past most people. Any game streaming service would obviously need some AAA games to entice customers, but they would stay for the games theyve barely heard of, let alone played. Heres to seeing forgotten curios like Mark of Kri, The Saboteur, and Metro 2033 getting a second shot at glory.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Don't bury the good stuff

Don't bury the good stuff

You know what you should do when you have a load of interesting films and TV shows you want people to know about? Bury them in layers upon layers of menus and give them no way of saving titles for the future. Oh, wait, maybe it isnt. But that was Netflix UK for a good while after it launched and while it made finding films exhilarating--Ill admit to a certain amount of excitement when I discovered Indie Game: The Movie on there--it was also a major chore.

Game streaming services should easily sidestep this issue by not burying content within a labyrinth of menus and sub categories. I want to discover games quickly, not have to trawl through page upon page of search results. Basically, as long as its possible to quickly search for a specific game AND browse around in the hope of discovering a gem, then thats a job well done.

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Get the price right

Get the price right

For people like myself who use services like Netflix or Amazon Video to help cut down on the amount of money they spend on films per month, one of the most important aspects of any game streaming deal is making sure that the price is affordable. When you take into account that buying a brand new game on average costs 40/$60, theres certainly an opportunity for streaming to become an affordable alternative to pretending bills dont exist every time a decent new game comes out.

Currently, the average for streaming prices seems to be around 8/$10 a month. Netflix is 5.99/$7.99 a month, Spotifys premium service comes in at 9.99/$9.99 month and--purely for us lucky Brits--Now TV is offering its television entertainment package at 4.99 a month. Gaming streaming services might be running a more intensive operation, but its unlikely that gamers will want to part with their cash if prices arent in this ballpark, offering a decent saving over buying a game outright.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
There's a need for speed

There's a need for speed

In the best alternate universe, everything is free, Timesplitters 4 exists (its amazing as well) and theres no such thing as latency. Lag, as all the cool kids keep calling it, is game streamings biggest issue and one that has no easy solution, outside of relocating every single customer to just outside their server rooms. That would be lovely, but isnt exactly feasible. Add on dealing with internet service providers (Netflix is currently having fun with this) as well as the issues with sharing a connection and... well, you get the idea.

Is there anything more annoying than streaming a video online only for the quality to drop in and out seemingly at random? Yes, probably, but its still pretty irritating and would only get worse if you were playing at times where anyone else on your internet connection was attempting heavy data usage. If theres a lesson to be learned about speed, its making sure that users know what to expect when their broadband starts chugging along like a Sunday League veteran.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Many players, one account

Many players, one account

Like a gentlemans code of conduct, account sharing is something that is never particularly brought up when it comes to streaming, but is pretty much tolerated. Netflix offers you the choice of creating profiles for family members, and Now TV will let you register a certain amount of devices that let you watch content from one account. Congratulations if youve already figured out where Im going with this, because game streaming should be no different.

From a business standpoint, it makes plenty of sense early on in a services life. One person lets his family and friends use his account until they decide they like it enough to go ahead and sign up themselves. But thats the boring aspect. Basically, account sharing is the new form of lending your mate a game you like and then when/if they return it, you get to gush about how awesome it is. Just because I dont physically own a game doesnt mean I dont want to share the experience with other people.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Bring on the exclusives

Bring on the exclusives

Where would Xbox be without Halo, Forza and Gears of War? Or Playstation without Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted? Or the Jaguar without, er, whatever the Jaguar had. Fledging platforms have always needed something to set them apart from the competition and game streaming platforms should be no different. Without an iconic title that no one else has, why should any gamer make your platform a priority?

Exclusives for streaming platforms elsewhere have also been creating a bit of buzz recently. House Of Cards turned Netflix into a 'very big deal' and shame on you if you havent laughed yourself silly with Arrested Developments fourth season. With Amazon getting into this game streaming malarkey and already acquiring Double Helix studios--of reboot Killer Instinct fame--it might not be long before exclusive games are beamed through the cloud rather than shoved through your letterbox.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Open access for developers

Open access for developers

Im going to bend my argument here, but one giant of streaming that I've neglected to mention so far is YouTube. Its been a ubiquitous part of the web and gaming culture, giving anyone with a camera--or capture card--the chance to broadcast themselves to the world (whether the world wants it or not is debatable, but still...). Now, imagine a game streaming service that offered a gateway for anyone to release their game how and when they wanted.

Whether its developers looking to test out a concept or a weekend coder who just wants to dabble with game design, it would give them an open platform to share their work with a large audience. Gamers benefit from getting to try out indie games without the commitment of having to purchase anything outside of the subscription and everyone benefits from the argument about Gone Home's length compared to its price tag becoming irrelevant. As long as devs are able to get money for their hard work, this could make streaming services a natural home for indie games.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Any game, anywhere

Any game, anywhere

Remember when you had to be at home in front of your computer to watch men falling over, or angry nerds raging about Call of Duty on YouTube? That was--at best--five years ago, but in such a ridiculously short space of time, its almost insulting when a streaming service isnt available on everything you own, including your fridge. I dont need milk, fridge, I need to catch up with Archer. Anyway, if you were so inclined, you could get up and watch Netflix on your laptop in bed, before carrying on with it on your phone on the bus, sneaking in a cheeky episode at work and capping the day off with watching it on your console.

So, obviously game streaming cant just be limited to PCs or a console. Tablets, phones, smart TVs, microwaves, the kitchen sinkBasically, anything with an internet connection should give us the option to continue with whatever game we were last on. Considering there are now more than a few controllers for phones--as well as the OnLive controller--it doesnt even have to come with severely limited touch screen controls. No excuses streaming big wigs, if I cant play Splitters 2 everywhere, then whats the point of living in your fancy-ass Cloud?

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Living the stream dream

Living the stream dream

Those are the main lessons that game streaming should learn from those that have come before it. I hope they do, as the idea of taking a game wherever you are makes the thought of work bearable. But do you think that game streaming will finally take off or are PlayStation Now and OnLive (amongst others) doomed for the pile of ideas that didnt quite work out?

Hmm, you're still here. Okaaaay, this is awkward. Um, why don't you read some of our other features, then. Here's one on 10 Games That Make You Feel Like A Badass. And another on Gaming Secrets You Were Never Meant To See. And here's a dog dressed like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Ben Tyrer
Ben Tyrer
Contributor

Ben Tyrer is a freelance games journalist with over ten years experience of writing about games. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism he's worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as GamesRadar+ (hey, that's this website!) as a news editor. He's also contributed to Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. His game of the year - no matter the year - is Rocket League.

See more Games Features
Read more
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild screenshot showing Link, a male character with elf-like ears, blond hair, and bright blue eyes
The Legend of Zelda movie is exciting, but I'm still begging for 5 specific video game movies to get adapted next
 
 
Best video game movies: Milla Jovovich as Alice in the first Resident Evil movie.
The 10 best video game movies of all time, ranked
 
 
A warrior overlooking ruins on a grassy field beneath a grey sky in Shadow of the Colossus
The games industry might be built on borrowed ideas, but new ones have to come from somewhere – even if Fumito Ueda says "the era of game mechanics is over"
 
 
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
The 25 best video game stories to play right now
 
 
A screenshot of PUCK eating an enemy during the upcoming Xbox Series X game, Shadow Labyrinth.
The best retro remakes and reboots out there aren't afraid to get weird with it – as Shadow Labyrinth being a dark and gritty Pac-Man game shows us
 
 
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing companion Shadowheart, a young half-elf woman with long tied-back black hair
Baldur's Gate 3 dev says AAA is "perversely fascinated" by indie games, because those devs still understand how to make good ideas that aren't reliant on data
 
 
Latest in Games
Anthem
BioWare realized late in Anthem's development that "this game was coming in on fire" after EA told the devs "we were targeting a game in the 70s" on Metacritic
 
 
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Harper skin
Activision doubles down on Call of Duty skins problem, makes Black Ops 7 skins less goofy "after receiving community feedback specifically related to the Black Ops 7 Vault Edition"
 
 
Borderlands 4 trailer screenshot of Rafa around a bonfire
Gearbox and Randy Pitchford aim a fire hose at the Borderlands 4 PC port, share "optimization guide" and a tip to "boost your performance" which is, big surprise, enabling DLSS performance with frame gen
 
 
Characters from Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade
Final Fantasy 7 Remake gets 2026 release date on Switch 2 and Xbox with Rebirth and Part 3 to follow
 
 
Link relaxes in front of a tree in artwork for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
For 33 years, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past fans have chased a mystery man named in the SNES classic – turns out he's some guy with "very little interest or excitement about having his name in a video game"
 
 
Dying Light: The Beast promotional screenshot
Dying Light: The Beast is launching 1 day early because Techland is super jazzed about hitting 1 million pre-orders: "We pushed ourselves to make the impossible possible"
 
 
Latest in Features
Man of Tomorrow concept art showing Superman and Lex Luthor teaming up superimposed over a group of heroes from the cover of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Almost 90 years after Superman was first called the Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn is reviving the name for his big sequel
 
 
A screenshot of the upcoming Switch 2 game, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave with a character using a purple energy blast
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave – Everything we know about the strategy game's Switch 2 debut
 
 
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey helped me through the toughest times, but The Grand Finale feels like the perfect time to wrap things up
 
 
Upcoming video game movies: Mario, Princess Peach and Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie release date, cast, plot, and everything else you need to know about The Super Mario Bros. sequel
 
 
Hade 2 early access screenshots
After 105 runs in Hades 2, I suddenly unlocked three huge side stories I thought were bugged and I guess I'll be here 'til launch
 
 
Cronos tips
Bloober Team just teased its unannounced Switch-only horror game for maybe the first time since 2024, and my dream of seeing Nintendo get NSFW has been reignited
 
 
  1. Gwent: The Legendary Card Game box on a wooden surface, with cards visible in the background
    1
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  2. 2
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  3. 3
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  4. 4
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  5. 5
    Cronos: The New Dawn review: "An unabashed mash-up of survival horror greatest hits, from Dead Space to Silent Hill, with plenty of its own gory ideas"
  1. Vera Farmiga as 'Lorraine' in The Conjuring: Last Rites
    1
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  2. 2
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  3. 3
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  4. 4
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  5. 5
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  1. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams in Wednesday season 2 part 2
    1
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  2. 2
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  3. 3
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  4. 4
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  5. 5
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...