Play PC games on your PS3 with StreamMyGame

by Griffin McElroy { Jan 20th 2008 at 5:00PM }

We're not just ragging on the PS3 when we say this -- we're all admittedly going through a bit of a video game drought. Perhaps there's a few PC games from last year's surplus that you'd like to play, but you've recently developed serious allergies to computer monitors ... and you lack the appropriate cables to hook your PC up to your television. Okay, the requirements for the StreamMyGame service to be useful are somewhat outlandish, but at least you have the option now, right?

The service lets you stream games running on your Windows or Linux PC onto your Linux-enabled PS3 via a LAN. It's not as complicated as it sounds, and is completely free of charge -- plus, imagine how freaked out your friends will be when they walk in the room and see you running Halo 2 off your PS3. Tell them it's the new PS360, and cackle maniacally as they run to Best Buy to get their own.

Tags: lan, pc, ps3, sony, stream, streammygame

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Tim B. @ Jan 20th 2008 5:15PM

Awesome!!

sifer2400 @ Jan 20th 2008 7:26PM

That WOULD be such an awesome trick to pull on your friend.

Patrick @ Jan 20th 2008 7:38PM

How the hell can you be in a drought, im still actively playing COD4 and halo3 multi, still haven't finished

Lekko @ Jan 21st 2008 12:37AM

I just beat COD4 multi. The boss at the end is really hard.

Dan @ Jan 21st 2008 4:37AM

Sony PS3 = world's most expensive VGA cable?

seriously, a PC can just plug straight into a tv, why do we need a PS3 in the middle?

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 3:36PM

@ at Dan 3

i do kinda agree with you. while it is kind of interesting, it doesnt seem too practical unless your gaming PC and PS3/HDTV are in different areas of the house. my PC and PS3 are right next to each other hooked up to the same HDTV so i would have absolutely no need for this. i guess its just a "look what i can do" type of feature.

T3H WICKERMAN (TMNT DF) (BWF) @ Jan 20th 2008 5:18PM

boo, I was hoping there was an actual way to run em on a ps3 using some download. I hate having a crappy old 2004 hand me down Dell laptop that can barely run Diablo 2 (but at least I can finaly enjoy it). Oh well its still good for the whole blog thing. Still pretty cool if you have a PS3 though.

Doom3killer @ Jan 20th 2008 5:29PM

is there any benefit to this besides a TV? as in, does the ps3 take off any load form your CPU or GPU?

i would by a ps3 if i could run crysis via lan on it

gunman00 @ Jan 21st 2008 4:38PM

Are you stupid, the video introducing this shows them streaming Crysis to the PS3

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 3:40PM

it says it can run Cyrsis if your PC can run it and it supports some high resolutions (i believe up to 3000x2400). i seriously doubt the PS3 will take any load off of your PC though since i think it's simply streaming a video and audio feed to your PS3 and sending keystrokes back to the PC.

mike @ Jan 20th 2008 5:31PM

this is the most useless thing of all time. goto monoprice and buy a dvi-hdmi/vga/hdmi cable. Any of those will let you view your computer on your big tv, without even having to use the ps3. Is all this work and effort, along with the fact that your ps3 has to be running, thus wasting more electricity and wear on your system, worth if vs a $6 cable?

Superstar90 @ Jan 20th 2008 5:33PM

lol, that's a good point

Zeus.:God @ Jan 20th 2008 6:08PM

Not really...

I'm pretty sure this setup takes most of the load off of your PC, allowing you to run games better than you would on the PC alone... Then again, I might be wrong.

bm @ Jan 20th 2008 6:58PM

"Then again, I might be wrong."

Yes, you are. That is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day.

LuckyEMS @ Jan 21st 2008 9:15PM

your wrong all it does is stream the picture over

Ted @ Jan 20th 2008 8:51PM

Well, I think the main point would be that if you have a big, bulky PC tower in your bedroom, it's really inconvenient to move it into the living/tv room if you want to play a game on the tv. Plus, my PC is really noisy, so this would almost be worth it for the fact that I could play PC games without background fan noises (especially since I already own a PS3).

Still, I'm skeptical about this... I wonder how big of a framerate penalty from using this.

Magetto @ Jan 20th 2008 5:38PM

Because streaming the output through the PS3 into the TV = playing PC games on your PS3. Amirite?

From what I understand it pretty much just uses the PS3 as a sort of a bridge to the TV. I guess it's cool if you want to play your PC games on your TV, and happen to have PS3 laying around.

William @ Jan 20th 2008 5:50PM

Completely free of charge? No, only if you like being limited to 640x480 resolution. If you want higher, you have to pay.

Neebs @ Jan 20th 2008 5:56PM

There's no real point to this other than forming a bridge. The PS3 doesn't play the games -- your PC does, you're just playing on a TV. And at the free version's 640x480 limit, what's the point?

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 3:49PM

oh god i never noticed that resolution limit before on the free version. well that's a load of bull lol. i would suggest getting a comfy office chair for your PC or some long VGA cables and a wireles KB/M rather than pay for this.

MinorHavoc @ Jan 20th 2008 6:08PM

Interesting, but what's the latency like? I tried hooking up consoles through a video capture card on my PC before when I didn't have a TV handy and the 1 second delay killed any reasonable ability to actually play the game.

Darren Tilley @ Jan 20th 2008 6:27PM

Latency is surprisingly good. Pretty much no more than a frame or two, but that is the only positive thing I have to say about it.

It's a very cool proof of concept but other than that, it's pretty pointless. The image is highly compressed and the sound is very bad on every setting I tried. The PS3-Linux client is really finicky and there's practically no support for it unless you happen to come across one of the more common problems.

ThornedVenom @ Jan 20th 2008 6:19PM

From now on, all video links from you are to be considered Rick Rolling. Why?

Because after the Nth time, you're not funny anymore.

ThornedVenom @ Jan 20th 2008 6:22PM

People may bash this limited-feature free program, but they're missing the point on one thing.

The PS3 is the first open platform console. Anyone can develop applications on it, commercially or non-commercially. Anything but PS3 games (but hey, you've got Linux and all of that processing power).

Adam Zey @ Jan 20th 2008 11:23PM

But if the Linux environment is so locked down that you can't do anything with it you couldn't do on a cheaper platform, what's the point?

If Sony allowed developers full access to the Cell and GPU, that'd be a different story.

It's interesting that Sony's approach to user-created software is to allow general purpose apps, but limit access to the hardware so that you can't make games. And Microsoft's approach is the opposite, allowing access to 3D accelerated graphics, but not providing enough flexibility to make general-purpose applications.

Now if only we could combine the two approaches...

ThornedVenom @ Jan 21st 2008 1:09AM

Thanks for your informative reply Adam, although it is the first time ever that I've heard about Linux being a
"locked down" platform. Isn't Linux supposed to be the ideal open-source operating system (kernel to be exact) supporting the development of open-source software?

But it sucks that they can't unlock the full power though.

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 3:56PM

yea thats the only reason i havent installed Linux on my PS3 yet. Sony doesnt allow you to use the full power of the PS3's hardware while running Linux. im guessing it more than likely has to do with the possibility of running pirated games through Linux, if you have access to ALL of the hardware on the PS3 then what is to stop you? i understand where they are coming from but i was excited about the possibility of a pretty powerful Linux box but since i found out it's gimped, i havent really thought of it much any more.

in the same vein, i think i read somewhere (dont quote me on it though) that the newest release of PS3 friendly Ubuntu allows you to use more of the hardware than the original PS3 Yellow Dog.

ClarkyCat @ Jan 20th 2008 6:27PM

Play last week's news on Joystiq!

Jake @ Jan 20th 2008 6:40PM

"We're not just ragging on the PS3 when we say this -- we're all admittedly going through a bit of a video game drought."

That's pretty old now, Don't you feel embarrased to be still using that...

Brett from Atlanta @ Jan 20th 2008 6:58PM

Can you use your ps3 controller to play these games you stream? I can see why everyone is saying to just hook up your pc to the tv, but if you can use your controller, then this is actually kinda neat.

Magetto @ Jan 20th 2008 7:12PM

If you find a way to get your PS3 controller to work on a PC, then yeah you can use the ps3 controller to play the games. You're still playing the game on the PC with the PS3 acting as a bridge between the PC and TV.

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 4:04PM

well i use my PS3 controller on my PC all the time to play ROMS, im sure there has to be a similar solution for Linux as well.

you can use this YouTube video to see how to do it on PC. the video's description has a link to a very detailed directions of how to do it also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyn5W02NqMA

KeenCommander @ Jan 20th 2008 7:11PM

That's...actually useful. Nooooooooooo! Must hate PS3! Gah!

konajinx @ Jan 20th 2008 7:14PM

And here I was almost joyous that PS3 owners would finally have something to play on their systems.

FM @ Jan 20th 2008 7:29PM

Crimson Skies on PS3 here I come...

Monge161 @ Jan 20th 2008 8:35PM

wow, that's cool

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Jan 20th 2008 8:41PM

ugh really? Please that stopped being funny the first time.

LaughingTarget @ Jan 20th 2008 8:58PM

Lame. 1080p is a lower resolution than computer monitors these days.

mike @ Jan 20th 2008 11:03PM

erm? Show me a monitor that supports higher then 1080p.

computer monitors these days are 1680x1050 and if you spend a bit more, you can grab a 1080p (or 1920x1200) monitor. Theres nothing higher. Well there is, nut not available to consumers for anything less then a small fortune. I think your confused about what technology we have "these days"

Lekko @ Jan 21st 2008 12:48AM

@Mike.

Okay 2560 x 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824113013
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176071
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001098

Shall I continue?

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 4:08PM

yea mike 1080p isnt the highest resolution available. and the prices on some of the monitors that do support higher arent any more than you would pay for a 1080p TV. the program itself supports up to 3000x2400 in the paid version.

morganfell @ Jan 20th 2008 11:48PM

The article naturally begins as we have come to expect from Microstiq.com - with a sideswipe at the PS3 even though it is the one showing the most current and future promise. I don't see the 360 having any of these latent capabilities.

While this software isn't earthshaking, it should be realized by those with at least a single brain cell that this is a harbinger and a wakeup call on what that black box can do. More here:

http://www.gameblews.com/?p=2848

and especially here:

http://www.gameblews.com/?p=3335

Spoit @ Jan 20th 2008 11:51PM

You just answered your own question 1920x1200 IS higher than 1080p. Besides, there've been 30" monitors that go up to 2560x1600 for years now

unboring @ Jan 21st 2008 2:01AM

@ Lekko and Spoilt

I think the greater point is this. what does it matter if this software will only support up to 1080p, who cares if monitors can go higher? This is really designed as a solution to console/pc gamer who wants to play a pc game on his television through a wired or wireless network right? So why would it need to be higher then 1080p? Although monitors do come in higher resolutions televisions do not? 1080p is very high and this is certainly a handy application. Is it impossible for some of you diehard anti-sony microsoft fanboys to give credit were its due? I just don't understand why we are talking about monitors when the application is cleary to be used with a television.

Mark @ Jan 21st 2008 2:09AM

Does this mean you can use other apps such as Firefox, Microsoft Office etc? I may never have to leave my living room!

B1gC72 - PSN: KillaKornbread @ Jan 21st 2008 4:11PM

i know you can use Firefox in Linux, not sure about Microsoft Office though. there are similar solutions in Linux but im not sure if they offer Microsoft office though. im sure a simple Google search will answer your question though.

Mark @ Jan 21st 2008 2:11AM

Even better can I run all of my emulators? Mame, Dreamcast anyone?

unboring @ Jan 21st 2008 2:14AM

also as a side note, I do see why a vga or hdmi from a computer would also allow me to play a pc game on my television. Howevvvvvvvver, this game streaming solution is the only way that I can play my pc games on my rig in my office on the second floor of my house when I am in the living room on my 52" lcd. Their is definitley a big use for this, writing it off as useless is again bias and closed minded.

unboring @ Jan 21st 2008 2:19AM

@ Mark

You've always been able to use firefox on ps3,

instead of ms office you can just use open office, which is just as good, and fully compatible with ms office files, allowing work to easily be transfered between the two programs.

ps3 supports linux operating systems which is why software like the one in the article can be developed for it independantly.

I would love to play old roms via emulator on my ps3. that would be sick dude. you try it , im lazy, tell me if it works.