A Benefit of Our New TV Is More Gaming Access.
Our Telly Bust... Time For A New One!
A doubly annoying event happened last week, our trusty 'old' LG large screen TV went 'poof'! 😒
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| Above: And we were just getting somewhere with our newly built media cupboard and TV wall mount... Arse! |
I say doubly annoying because we had only just paid for a company to properly wall mount it on a fancy articulated bracket. Ironically - and maybe what jinxed the TV - was that I jokingly said to the installation guy 'couldn't you accidently drop it so we can claim for a more modern one'?
He did not see the funny side. 😐
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| Above: Until the new TV arrived we had to make do with the spare bedroom telly!!! LMAO I needed binoculars! |
You see, as good as our old TV was, it was an earlier flat screen model that was not 'smart'. We had to attach various streaming devices to get the services that we watch, whereas modern Smart TVs have various streaming services built in as apps.
So it was kinda a sweet & sour moment when the LG finally died on us. Yes, it was a pain and a unplanned expense but it was also a chance for us to finally upgrade to a more modern Smart telly. Ah well.
Anyhoo, while we didn't go mad, and bought a fairly modest Samsung of just 50 inches - resisting the temptation to get something bigger - so that it was just a like for like replacement for our old LG, apart from the newer features...
And one of these new features came as a bit of a unexpected surprise - Samsung's integrated 'Gaming Hub'!
I had not known about this aspect of the TV, but it gives you access to cloud gaming services like Xbox Live, Amazon Luna, etc. Nice!
More Expense... I Need A Wireless Control Pad
This whole cloud/streaming gaming thing is all new to me, even though gaming news channels have been on about 'dumb client' gaming machines for years. So this is very new to me.
First thing, though, was I needed a compatible wireless controller - more darn expense (as it turns out that my old Xbox controllers are not compatible). So, it was going to be a newer Xbox gamepad... That hurt a bit. 😒
Well, that arrived this morning and so after a quick pairing setup with the TV I sparked up - first - Xbox Live through the Samsung Game Hub app................. Nothing!!! Huh, it did not like that and after a bit of Googling I discovered that some broadband/network settings don't play nicely with Xbox's service and may need some tinkering with. Bum gravy!
...I couldn't be bothered working that out - I wanted to play NOW - so I switched to Amazon Luna and the thing worked first time. And I spent a lovely relaxing afternoon playing Mario Cart of all things! 😂
To be honest, I only really ever used my Xbox and my big telly to play driving and flying games. I just cannot use a gamepad for shooters of any game that demand precise and coordinated use of the thumb sticks! So forget CoD and the like...That's what my PC (and mouse) is for.
So there we have it. I just have to decide what to do with my *old* Xbox 360 - which I used for playing racing games and the like.
But I'm pleased that I have a means of 'sofa gaming' and be able to access more modern games. I just have to sort out which streaming service I will eventually subscribe to (I have a free trial for Luna and will look into the Xbox live issue).
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