The home-video streaming platform Plex is getting into games with Plex Arcade. This is a new service that Plex members can use to stream games from the cloud. This enables media lovers to build a digital library of movies, TV, photos, music, and now games all in one place.
Plex Arcade starts at $3 per month for Plex Pass members or $5 per month for everyone else. That fee gets you access to a library of Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 games that stream to you using the Parsec cloud-gaming technology. You can, of course, try Plex Arcade for free for seven days.
I’ve tested out Plex Arcade, and I like the concept. I already use Plex to manage my movies, and it’s cool to see a list of games in the same easy-to-use interface. What’s even better is that you can add your own ROMs to your Plex library just like you can add your own movies or music.
I have not had any luck getting my own ROMs to work yet. And, for that matter, I could only get the built-in Atari games to run on my Android phone. It also supports iOS and Chrome browsers, though.
I see a lot of potential here, but Plex Arcade is definitely still in its infancy. The Atari games are hardly worth paying a monthly fee for on their own, so Plex will have to improve that offering. But if it can streamline the process of playing my own ROMs, I might consider using this as an alternative to something like Retroarch — especially since Plex could stream my games to me outside of the house.
And if all that works, my entertainment could get even more convenient in the future.