Plex Arcade(plex.tv)
plex.tv
Plex Arcade
https://www.plex.tv/blog/game-on-a-plex-blog-story/
74 comments
Can you elaborate on the tracking part? I am a Plex user but unaware of this.
I found this [1] but it appears to be that they were tracking only at a very generic level.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/5zrxtd/plex_the_compa...
I found this [1] but it appears to be that they were tracking only at a very generic level.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/5zrxtd/plex_the_compa...
>Can you elaborate on the tracking part? I am a Plex user but unaware of this.
I got rid of plex once they made everything (including metadata lookups) go through their system. And you cannot run plex without it calling home and requiring an account.
I got rid of plex once they made everything (including metadata lookups) go through their system. And you cannot run plex without it calling home and requiring an account.
I use it without an account. There's occasional nag screens that are quickly exited.
I just want something to stream movies from my file server to my TV and mobile devices in a way that's simple enough for the wife and kids to use, but Plex just kept shoving every damn other thing in front of my face. I finally went full Jellyfin last year when the Roku and iOS apps got official launches. There's still a rough spot here or there, but they're getting fewer.
> Plex just kept shoving every damn other thing in front of my face
This is why I left Plex too. It shouldn't be hard to find your own content on a service that exists to play your own content.
This is why I left Plex too. It shouldn't be hard to find your own content on a service that exists to play your own content.
You can customize and hide all of that though. Mine only shows my own media.
I'm using Emby; what's the difference with Jellyfin?
I dropped Plex because its quality was getting lower and lower, especially chromecast-wise.
I dropped Plex because its quality was getting lower and lower, especially chromecast-wise.
Another one I am keeping an eye on is Olaris. It's still in alpha but the codebase is quite nice (go for the backend, react for the front).
https://gitlab.com/olaris/olaris-server/
https://gitlab.com/olaris/olaris-server/
Jellyfin is an open source fork of Emby, they went closed source a while ago.
When I tested it the Jellyfin server worked great. But the client apps were terrible in comparison to Plex.
When I tested it the Jellyfin server worked great. But the client apps were terrible in comparison to Plex.
So Emby is now closed source? Wow. I didn't get that message. Not that I really care about that for a media server, but it's still strange that I didn't realize that.
I think that the main problem with Plex (some of those are the same as Emby) are:
* They are trying to add too many features (Plex Arcade? really?) while other features are not stable - chromecast queuing was working then not working then working again with every other release. In the end it stopped working for a while, and I quit using Plex. I just need something to have my collection organized, with a bit of metadata handling and a "watched/not watched" flag. Plex (and Emby) are trying to do an incredible amount of work on top of that.
* The price for the "deluxe" version is too steep for a self hosted solution. Netflix Standard is EUR 144/year, Plex is 40 EUR/year (about the same as Emby, btw). And I need to provide hardware, electricity, and content - it's just not competitive. I'd be happy to pay something between 10 and 20 EUR per year for a properly working software of that kind.
I think that the main problem with Plex (some of those are the same as Emby) are:
* They are trying to add too many features (Plex Arcade? really?) while other features are not stable - chromecast queuing was working then not working then working again with every other release. In the end it stopped working for a while, and I quit using Plex. I just need something to have my collection organized, with a bit of metadata handling and a "watched/not watched" flag. Plex (and Emby) are trying to do an incredible amount of work on top of that.
* The price for the "deluxe" version is too steep for a self hosted solution. Netflix Standard is EUR 144/year, Plex is 40 EUR/year (about the same as Emby, btw). And I need to provide hardware, electricity, and content - it's just not competitive. I'd be happy to pay something between 10 and 20 EUR per year for a properly working software of that kind.
I'm a reasonably happy Jellyfin user as well. On the one hand I'm grouchy to not have native apps for phones, PS4, etc; on the other, it seems to work pretty reasonably just through a browser.
Plex doesn't track your viewing habits for personal media...
What gets me is how they never stop harassing me to use streaming services I don't want to use. That plus the server often being slow to seek has me looking for an alternative.
You can turn off all their streaming options in the settings.
On web:
- Screwdriver/wrench icon top-right
- In the left panel look for the "<your username>" heading, underneath it, click "online sources"
- Click "Edit" and change "Enabled" to "Disabled"
You won't see those sources again.
As for seeking, I never see delays when using direct play (which is near 100% of my usage). I tried seeking with a transcode just now and it takes ~1s from interaction to the video playing again, which isn't too bad and I don't think is avoidable.
If you watch transcodes a lot and this bothers you though, consider whether "Optimized Versions" (transcoding ahead of time) would be good for you. Aside from that, I don't think a solution exists, it's a problem inherent to seeking while transcoding.
Not a Plex employee or anything, I've just been using it for what feels like close to a decade now.
EDIT: I just watched some stuff through Plex on my Apple TV and seeking is actually instant. On the Apple TV, each button click jumps forward ten seconds or so and as far as I can tell, each jump is instantaneous, no buffering or delays whatsoever.
On web:
- Screwdriver/wrench icon top-right
- In the left panel look for the "<your username>" heading, underneath it, click "online sources"
- Click "Edit" and change "Enabled" to "Disabled"
You won't see those sources again.
As for seeking, I never see delays when using direct play (which is near 100% of my usage). I tried seeking with a transcode just now and it takes ~1s from interaction to the video playing again, which isn't too bad and I don't think is avoidable.
If you watch transcodes a lot and this bothers you though, consider whether "Optimized Versions" (transcoding ahead of time) would be good for you. Aside from that, I don't think a solution exists, it's a problem inherent to seeking while transcoding.
Not a Plex employee or anything, I've just been using it for what feels like close to a decade now.
EDIT: I just watched some stuff through Plex on my Apple TV and seeking is actually instant. On the Apple TV, each button click jumps forward ten seconds or so and as far as I can tell, each jump is instantaneous, no buffering or delays whatsoever.
What annoys me is that it insists on transcoding when streaming remotely. I have plenty of bandwidth and everything is set to maximum quality but it still tries to transcode and breaks more often than not. It works fine when I'm on a ssh tunnel and it thinks I'm on the same network.
Have you had a look at Server Settings -> Remote Access -> "Limit remote stream bitrate"?
And on the client, make sure Settings -> Quality -> (Internet|Remote) Streaming is set to the highest setting.
Which those settings, my phone defaults to Original quality (no transcoding) even on cellular.
And on the client, make sure Settings -> Quality -> (Internet|Remote) Streaming is set to the highest setting.
Which those settings, my phone defaults to Original quality (no transcoding) even on cellular.
Just for the record, setting all the client quality settings to the maximum solved it for me as well. No more transcoding. Thanks again!
Thanks for the pointers! That's good to hear that it's not a fundamental problem. I have checked all settings on the server side and there is no limit to the remote streaming bitrate.
I'll double-check the settings on the mobile client when I have a chance.
I'll double-check the settings on the mobile client when I have a chance.
What gets me is their servers have to be up in order for your Plex server to work, even locally within your own Network (or on the device hosting the server).
It happens occasionally that their servers go down and nobody is able to stream anything. I don't know why their servers are a dependancy in that chain at all, I probably looked it up before but I don't recall it being a good reason.
It happens occasionally that their servers go down and nobody is able to stream anything. I don't know why their servers are a dependancy in that chain at all, I probably looked it up before but I don't recall it being a good reason.
I don't believe this is true, do you have more details?
It's needed for authentication but locally, it should be nearly fully functional. At worst, you should need to set up a subnet that's allowed without auth in the server's network settings.
Aside from that, internet is mostly needed for downloading metadata and the server can work just fine without an internet connection.
It's needed for authentication but locally, it should be nearly fully functional. At worst, you should need to set up a subnet that's allowed without auth in the server's network settings.
Aside from that, internet is mostly needed for downloading metadata and the server can work just fine without an internet connection.
How bout' this: later tonight, I'll unplug my modem and try to play some Plex on my LAN. Stand by for a few hours, and I'll have an answer. :-)
While you're experimenting, try to set up the authless subnet in your settings. Settings -> Network -> "List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth".
My local Plex server to AppleTV client has always worked fine on the rare occasions my internet has been down.
Since I started using Plex near 10 years ago I’ve never experienced any sort of service unavailability.
You do need to be online though to set up a client for the first time to your local server, which is annoying, but has never been a problem for me.
Since I started using Plex near 10 years ago I’ve never experienced any sort of service unavailability.
You do need to be online though to set up a client for the first time to your local server, which is annoying, but has never been a problem for me.
When my internet went down a few weeks ago, I couldn't stream from my Plex server (Windows 10) to my Xbox One X on the same network. Not sure if that's due to Plex not having an online connection or because most everything Xbox dies when the internet goes out or Xbox Live goes down.
Not even with the DLNA server that is included?
Are there Samsung TV clients for it?
If not is there a workaround? I often wonder if I should attempt to flash my TV’s OS. Does someone have experience with this?
If not is there a workaround? I often wonder if I should attempt to flash my TV’s OS. Does someone have experience with this?
It's easier to attach an external computer via HDMI and use the TV as a dumb display. You can install Plex or whatever on the computer. Get a wireless keyboard/mouse combo from Logitech.
Easier than what? I have a Pi connected to my TV. I don’t use the official app, because I couldn’t figure out how to build it. From memory browser playback sucked or didn’t work at all. I settled on the Kodi plex plug-in which works pretty well - sometimes at the end of an episode it ‘double skips’ to next+1. The one thing that does work well with a Pi is CEC but that’s a double edged sword - I woke up to the plex turning my TV on a few nights ago, no idea why.
For plex, I would recommend looking into an Apple TV, a new Android TV (the one where you can use a remote, older ones only support casting) or a nvidia shield - I can’t fully recommend them but i suspect they suck less than my experience. Failing that, a decent (i5+) nuc may work but ymmv.
For plex, I would recommend looking into an Apple TV, a new Android TV (the one where you can use a remote, older ones only support casting) or a nvidia shield - I can’t fully recommend them but i suspect they suck less than my experience. Failing that, a decent (i5+) nuc may work but ymmv.
> CEC
I've been using kodi but recently my hdmi cable started going bad. CEC worked with that one but for some reason that I don't understand I can't get another cable that it works with. I've tried old and new cables, microhdmi-hdmi, hdmi-hdmi with a microhdmi adapter, combinations of the above, but no matter what I can't find another cable that CEC works with. Would you happen to have any idea why this would be happening?
Also when I switch back to the cable that's failing CEC works again. I can't explain it. And yes, I have CEC enabled on the TV.
I've been using kodi but recently my hdmi cable started going bad. CEC worked with that one but for some reason that I don't understand I can't get another cable that it works with. I've tried old and new cables, microhdmi-hdmi, hdmi-hdmi with a microhdmi adapter, combinations of the above, but no matter what I can't find another cable that CEC works with. Would you happen to have any idea why this would be happening?
Also when I switch back to the cable that's failing CEC works again. I can't explain it. And yes, I have CEC enabled on the TV.
It’s possible only a subset of TV ports work with CEC. Kodi uses pulse8 drivers which I dare say are hacky. I’m no expert but CEC has been around for a long portion of the HDMI standard, so I imagine most cables support it.
I’d first try different ports on your TV, failing that try reformatting the system.
I’d first try different ports on your TV, failing that try reformatting the system.
I'll give that a shot but I don't think it has anything to do with the ports or system because if I keep everything the same and just change the cable my old one will work but whatever alternative I try won't, and then the old one will work when I plug that back in lol.
Googling a bit suggests it was introduced in hdmi 1.2 and updated in 1.3 - thinking about this it’s possible cable or TV version has impact on your functionality - E.g Kodi sending a newer CEC command because your cable says it’s fine but the tv cannot process (this is purely a guess btw, but I’ve seen dumber things). You might be able to find some cli tools that help troubleshoot, but yeah, not an expert here.
out of curiosity, why do you prefer a TV remote to a keyboard/touchpad combo?
For plex, it actually makes sense to use a remote aside from the interface being a bit clunky, it’s far more intuitive for my partner too.
It's less clutter and we also use the remote for other TV functions like netflix and cable (I know I know).
can't comment on using a pi. i use an old intel i5 laptop with Linux Mint 20 and a Logitech K400 keyboard/touchpad remote ($25). I wouldn't bother with CEC because I dont need an integrated remote control when I have a keyboard/mouse.
My TV actually allows me to install Plex and Emby, so I'm using the latter straight through it.
That said, I'm not too happy about Samsung pushing ads onto me after I paid many hundreds of GBP for the tv itself. It'd be cool if there was an easy way to flash some open source firmware onto it.
That said, I'm not too happy about Samsung pushing ads onto me after I paid many hundreds of GBP for the tv itself. It'd be cool if there was an easy way to flash some open source firmware onto it.
This has been my setup for nearly a decade now. I cant imagine using anything else. The keyboard/mouse thing is still cumbersome but my wife and I have gotten used to it. I use jellyfin as well. Running in docker on a smaller laptop. Its been great so far.
Works great with an Apple TV as well, I use the Infuse app to play stuff from my Jellyfin server.
My favorite part of Plex is that it doesn't touch my files but can scan and organize, add missing metadata, album covers, etc. I have a lot of media so this is huge.
Plex has been the best $120 or so that I've ever spent and I'm not kidding. It's a load off to not worry about managing media and adding music to various devices all the time.
How well does jellyfish seamlessly do these things?
Plex has been the best $120 or so that I've ever spent and I'm not kidding. It's a load off to not worry about managing media and adding music to various devices all the time.
How well does jellyfish seamlessly do these things?
Are there clients for AppleTV/iOS yet?
Here's the official one for ios, not tvos though. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jellyfin-mobile/id1480192618
Infuse has support for Jellyfin.
How does this compare with others like Kodi and OSMC?
Oh, Plex. Bless you for trying to move beyond your customer base that serves huge amounts of pirated video, I do hope you succeed (I say this sincerely as a lifetime pass holder).
An aside but I do find it darkly comic that we're now streaming retro games. The ROMs are at most a few MB big but this service will burn through that in seconds.
An aside but I do find it darkly comic that we're now streaming retro games. The ROMs are at most a few MB big but this service will burn through that in seconds.
Well that symmetric gigabit Google Fiber gave me isn’t gonna waste itself!
My assumption based the note that Linux Plex servers won't work with Parsec is that the emulation & streaming is done on your local network.
Either way, I've yet to have a suitably positive experience streaming anything interactive on either LAN or WAN. I see the improvements that have been made and many friends swear by it, but it may just be that I'm too sensitive to input lag and even the rarest encode/decode hiccup.
Either way, I've yet to have a suitably positive experience streaming anything interactive on either LAN or WAN. I see the improvements that have been made and many friends swear by it, but it may just be that I'm too sensitive to input lag and even the rarest encode/decode hiccup.
Which have you tried? I had similar problems as you with steamlink, but geforce experience+moonlight has been a godsend. Works incredibly well (if you have a Nvidia GPU)
Steam has been the only thing I've tried LAN (other than some early PS4 remote play years ago), so that may be the issue. Geforce Now is probably the best I've tried of the bunch, so I'll give their tools a shot locally next time.
> it is not available for servers running on Linux, NAS devices, or NVIDIA SHIELD
I hope this changes soon, I'm having a hard time figuring out how they launched with this. I know pulls aren't indicative of total users but: https://fleet.linuxserver.io/image?name=linuxserver/plex
I hope this changes soon, I'm having a hard time figuring out how they launched with this. I know pulls aren't indicative of total users but: https://fleet.linuxserver.io/image?name=linuxserver/plex
Parsec (server) doesn't run on Linux, and neither do any of the other high-quality, low-latency streaming protocols out there. So either they re-invent a major piece of technology, or they ship without Linux support.
If y'all have Kodi setup, I highly recommend the Internet Archive Game Launcher
https://github.com/zach-morris/plugin.program.iagl
https://github.com/zach-morris/plugin.program.iagl
Welp, I look forward to repeatedly removing this from my pins.
> We’ve also partnered with the most hallowed name in retro games: Atari.
Hilarious.
Joking aside, it's cool that's they're actually doing this legitimately, but you can already buy Atari collections on every platform imaginable. That doesn't feel like much of a draw.
Hilarious.
Joking aside, it's cool that's they're actually doing this legitimately, but you can already buy Atari collections on every platform imaginable. That doesn't feel like much of a draw.
Interesting concept, but I doubt it will go anywhere with the pricing structure for just Atari games and I guess it doesn't work with a plex client on your tv/streaming box besides appletv and maybe the new google tv.
They really should have linked the support page in the post.
> just Atari games
Which platforms can be scanned in and show metadata in Plex?
We support showing metadata for a range of retro cartridge-based systems. Only games for the following platforms can be included in the Games library
Arcade
Atari (2600, 5200, 7800)
Sega (Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, 32X)
Nintendo (NES, Super NES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance)
> it doesn't work ... besides appletv and maybe the new google tv
Which player apps support Plex Arcade?
The following Plex client/player apps currently support accessing Plex Arcade:
Amazon Fire TV
Android (mobile)
Android TV
Apple TV
iOS
macOS (desktop) (Keyboard control only; no gamepad support)
Plex Web App (Chrome and Chromium based browsers only)*
Windows (desktop) (Keyboard control only; no gamepad support)
more app support coming soon!
> just Atari games
Which platforms can be scanned in and show metadata in Plex?
We support showing metadata for a range of retro cartridge-based systems. Only games for the following platforms can be included in the Games library
Arcade
Atari (2600, 5200, 7800)
Sega (Genesis, Game Gear, Master System, 32X)
Nintendo (NES, Super NES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance)
> it doesn't work ... besides appletv and maybe the new google tv
Which player apps support Plex Arcade?
The following Plex client/player apps currently support accessing Plex Arcade:
Amazon Fire TV
Android (mobile)
Android TV
Apple TV
iOS
macOS (desktop) (Keyboard control only; no gamepad support)
Plex Web App (Chrome and Chromium based browsers only)*
Windows (desktop) (Keyboard control only; no gamepad support)
more app support coming soon!
They are doing all this stuff and still don't support audiobooks or syncing positions between clients. I would pay money just for those two extra features.
This feature is fine, but I would really like to have more control and deactivate features that they try to push on me.
I don't need news and I probably want need these games, and I don't like stuff just 'showing up' unasked.
This feature is fine, but I would really like to have more control and deactivate features that they try to push on me.
I don't need news and I probably want need these games, and I don't like stuff just 'showing up' unasked.
It seems like podcasts support has also regressed. The past two weeks it is a roll of the dice whether my morning podcasts will be there for me while I'm getting ready for the day or if they won't show up until well into the afternoon when I no longer have any interest in listening to them.
There's no way to force a refresh either.
There's no way to force a refresh either.
Interesting. I just started getting into using Parsec (which is apparently what Plex it partnering with for this). I was able to get it set up streaming from my gaming PC to a raspberry pi 2b (note, the only _officially_ supported rpi is the 3.0 or 3b, but the 2b actually works with it, while 4.0 support is in development), and was a little underwhelmed. Had to lock the fps to 30 or my rpi couldn't keep up, and had to run wired or the wireless network couldn't keep up. at 30 fps lock, the fps was _very_ noticeable, unfortunately.
I tried using a Windows 10 laptop (Ryzen 5 2500u) to see if it was any fault of the raspberry pi, and noticed the decoding time for the video went from 1.8ms on my rpi to like 14ms on my laptop, which was using the Vega gpu to perform the decoding. No bueno. Was able to turn the fps up to 60, and things seemed okay, but when I got into a good action game (Warhammer Vermintide 2), it was not a good experience. The latency on decoding was just causing too much of a dissonance between my input and the video output for it to be playable.
I will note that the video decoding was lightning fast on the raspberry pi, though. Makes me wonder if maybe the rpi 3.0/3b might perform better. I don't really want to buy one to find out (would rather wait and get a 4.0 once they release support for it).
In the end, I really couldn't get anything running to my liking. I'm sure it is fantastic for game streaming for some people, though.
I tried using a Windows 10 laptop (Ryzen 5 2500u) to see if it was any fault of the raspberry pi, and noticed the decoding time for the video went from 1.8ms on my rpi to like 14ms on my laptop, which was using the Vega gpu to perform the decoding. No bueno. Was able to turn the fps up to 60, and things seemed okay, but when I got into a good action game (Warhammer Vermintide 2), it was not a good experience. The latency on decoding was just causing too much of a dissonance between my input and the video output for it to be playable.
I will note that the video decoding was lightning fast on the raspberry pi, though. Makes me wonder if maybe the rpi 3.0/3b might perform better. I don't really want to buy one to find out (would rather wait and get a 4.0 once they release support for it).
In the end, I really couldn't get anything running to my liking. I'm sure it is fantastic for game streaming for some people, though.
Was pretty excited about this when i first saw the post. There are a couple of major things missing though. Mainly Linux server support, ios remote client support, and a metric ton of platforms.
Getting started is also annoying as it seems you need to manually provide bioses and there don’t seem to be any good guides by the labs team. There seems to be a third party tool that does help. https://github.com/vanstinator/core-manager
Finally the supported gpus in arcade’s page seem to not be correct. My hackintosh is running a gt710 which is in the list but trying to play anything results in a parsec error 15000.
Getting started is also annoying as it seems you need to manually provide bioses and there don’t seem to be any good guides by the labs team. There seems to be a third party tool that does help. https://github.com/vanstinator/core-manager
Finally the supported gpus in arcade’s page seem to not be correct. My hackintosh is running a gt710 which is in the list but trying to play anything results in a parsec error 15000.
I've been pretty skeptical on the whole game streaming thing until I installed moonlight and tried it out myself on my android device - it works surprisingly well on LAN.
I wonder if it's possible to play a local multiplayer game using this/parsec or moonlight. I'd love to set it up such that I could play something like Unreal Tournment split screen with two different people in two different locations streaming the same game to both devices and using our controllers are separate inputs on the same computer.
I wonder if it's possible to play a local multiplayer game using this/parsec or moonlight. I'd love to set it up such that I could play something like Unreal Tournment split screen with two different people in two different locations streaming the same game to both devices and using our controllers are separate inputs on the same computer.
Stadia works unbelievably well. If you have any mainstream controller then you can try out Destiny and Bomberman on their free tier.
I've been a big user of plex for a long time--and this seems like a very good direction for them to go in, especially the arcade console portion.
I'm curious though how this will work on all the different devices. One of the benefits of plex is that it's available on everything--iOS, roku, samsung TV, apple TV, you name it. However, most of those controls are not meant for arcade games.
If anyone from the plex team is reading this--I'd love to hear if there's any plans for controller integration or anything?
I'm curious though how this will work on all the different devices. One of the benefits of plex is that it's available on everything--iOS, roku, samsung TV, apple TV, you name it. However, most of those controls are not meant for arcade games.
If anyone from the plex team is reading this--I'd love to hear if there's any plans for controller integration or anything?
There's some more details here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/plex-arcade-faq/
Looks like it's built on Parsec + RetroArch.
Looks like it's built on Parsec + RetroArch.
Plex seems to be winning in terms of ease-of-use, but aside from out of the box operation, what are the key differences between this and a kodi/retropie combo?
KODI and Plex share the same history of being XBMC at one point. Plex they focused on a single headend unit to do decode/re-encode of data and many simple devices running a client GUI. The head end controls the metadata. KODI on the other hand has stalled out on the headend bits but added in full on emulation via libretro a couple of years ago. So each KODI instances is complete thing. Unless you add in something like mariadb. In many ways Plex is 'better' (streaming, support), in many ways KODI is 'better' (better skinning, bluray ISO playback, etc). Ease of use is about equal between the two (again not surprising their shared history).
I would like to use Plex for streaming but it does not support my particular set of media use cases (ISO files). That may have changed but I gave up waiting years ago.
I would like to use Plex for streaming but it does not support my particular set of media use cases (ISO files). That may have changed but I gave up waiting years ago.
I would also be quick to point out Plex’S streaming capabilities far outweigh that of Kodi - I have the plex app on my phone, my Samsung TV, and my web browser - all of which connect to a single plex backend running Linux w/ no X11 and work ‘good enough’.
Conversely, Xbmc requires X11, and last I checked (2016) didn’t do a great job at central server for storage and pretty much only ran on Linux/Windows thick client hosts.
Conversely, Xbmc requires X11, and last I checked (2016) didn’t do a great job at central server for storage and pretty much only ran on Linux/Windows thick client hosts.
It sounds like this Parsec-based setup runs the emulator on the server, and streams the video. A kodi/retropie setup might load media/roms over the network, but would run the emulation on the client.
https://jellyfin.org