Playing online has become essential and practically all titles offer us this possibility. But there are also streaming video game services like Google Stadia. Amazon Luna is Amazon‘s video game streaming service with different channels or title packages to which we can subscribe to play online without having to have a state-of-the-art console or any specific device.
We just need an Internet connection, a controller with a Bluetooth connection and subscribe to some of the channels that Amazon Luna offers us. We explain everything you need to know about the service, its advantages, etc.
What is Amazon Luna
Amazon Luna is a streaming video game platform that allows us to play and enjoy certain titles over the Internet without having to have a specific console or install the games on a computer. The different titles of its catalog are played online, in streaming. It works like any series streaming platform that we use every day: the titles are installed on Amazon servers and you access them through the Internet to enjoy them.
Therefore, the only thing we need to enjoy Amazon Luna and its video games is to have a good Internet connection, as well as a device or controller that allows us to use the different titles. Worse, you don’t need any specific console or any specific device beyond the Internet connection. At better speed and better connection, less lag.
It’s not the only one. There are already other streaming video game services such as Google Stadia or Xbox Game Pass that allow us to play different titles online and store the games in the cloud. But Amazon Luna is a bet that aims to differentiate itself through channels that we can add to the subscription to personalize the content with the titles of the catalog that interests us. Most of these services have an annual or monthly payment and we access all the games we want to play for free. Amazon puts it just the other way around: a free platform where we can pay for different channels and each of the channels includes a series of titles. Similar to Amazon Prime Video channels with series or movies but with video games.
Available channels
There are different channels that we can choose from. As we have explained in the previous section, Amazon Luna does not have a fixed price per month that we pay to access all the video games, but rather it allows us to add channels to our account to add available titles as we need one genre or another.
Depending on the one we choose, it will give us a series of games or others. Depending on what you are looking for, we pay one or the other. For example, if you want video games for children or to enjoy with the family or if you are looking for retro titles. If you want Ubisoft exclusives, you buy the specialized Ubisoft channel… It will depend on what you want and need.
- Luna+
The Luna+ channel includes “all your favorite games from all genres.” Action, racing, classics, adventure… It has a seven-day free trial and is priced at $9.99 per month and includes titles like Sonic Mania Plus, Team Sonic Racing, Mortal Shell, Observer, Grid, Merrto Exodus, Smite, Super Mega Baseball, Star Wars Pinball, Moving Out, A PlagueTale, Two Point Hospital, Megaman 11, Tennis World Tour, AO Tennis, Myst, River City Girls, Castlevania, The Surge 2, Call of the Sea, RIME, Bug Fables, Thr Surge, Katana Zero, No More Heroes, The Falconner, Disc Room, Dice Legacy, Atomix, Olija, Tacoma, SteamWorld Heist, The Pillars, WonderBoy, etc.
- Family Channel
Designed to play with children and adolescents, with titles for the whole family. It has a free seven-day trial at no cost and is priced at $5.99 per month. Includes titles for all ages such as Beach Buggy Racing, Spirit, Pile Up!, Adventure Time, Urban Trial Playground, Heave Ho, Bee Simulator, Garfield Kart, Snake Pass, Overcooked, Summer Paws, Space Otter Charlie, Smooths, Transformers Battlegrounds, Joggernauts, Monster Harvest, El Hijo, Wandxersong, PictoQuest, Kine, Buildings…
- RetroChannel
As its name suggests, Retro Channel is Amazon Luna’s channel for playing vintage and arcade titles. It has a seven-day free trial and is priced at $4.99 per month. Among the games we find are: Castlevania Aniversary Collection, Metal Slug 3, Higemaru, Street Fighter II, Flashback, The King of fighters 98, Commando, Ghouls’n Ghosts, Bionic Commando, PONG, Crystal Castles, Super Break Out, Shadow Man , Joe & Mac Returns, Forsaken, Heavy Barrel, Space Age, Another World, Two Crude…
- Prime Gaming
Totally free for Amazon Prime users and with games that vary every month, titles that change from time to time. For example, at the present time we find some like Mortal Shell, Tracks Toybox Edition, Amnesia Rebirth or The King of Fighters 98.
- Ubisoft+
It is the most expensive channel of all those available on Amazon Luna but also the one that includes the most popular titles in exchange for paying every month . What we do is get the Ubisoft + service that we can also buy independently and that in Spain has a price “from 14.99 euros per month” (17.99 dollars from Amazon Luna USA). Includes all kinds of hit titles: Farcry, Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Monopoly Plus, Watch Dogs 2 Gold Edition, Scott Pilgrim vs the world, Starlink Battle for Atlas, UNO Ultimate Edition, Trials Fusion, Child of Light , From Dust, Beyond Good & Evil…
- Jackbox Game
Jackbox Games is a channel of mini-games designed to be played online with friends . It is priced at $4.99 per month with no free trial. It includes unique and exclusive mini-games of all kinds, designed to be played online. Some like Drawful, for example. About 40 different titles available for computers, mobiles, etc. But all of them designed to enjoy with friends.
Requirements and broadcast on Twitch
The only thing we need to play is to have an account, to have a controller and a good internet connection. Of course, we must bear in mind that Amazon Luna is currently only available in the United States and is not available in Europe and there is no news of its arrival, although the expansion will be a matter of time.
In the WiFi requirements we find a minimum speed to be able to enjoy games without lag. They explain from their help website that it is expected to consume approximately 10 GB per hour if games are broadcast at 1080p, but we can also play at 720p if we are concerned about our data plan or do not have fiber, for example. A minimum speed of 10 MBps is recommended, although the most advisable thing is to have a minimum of 35 Mbps if we want to play in 4K. luckily, it is a normal speed so we would not have any problem at home.
In addition to using it to enjoy the different together, there are other functions that Amazon Luna includes. For example, we can stream directly to Twitch from Luna. As they explain from their website: we can broadcast from Amazon Fire TV or from a compatible PC or Mac as we play. If we do it from the Amazon Fire TV we will use the mobile phone as a webcam and as a microphone.
Compatibility with devices and controllers
And what are the drivers we can use? We can play with the Amazon Luna controller itself but also with the Xbox One controller, with the DualShock 4, with the Razer Kioshi Mobile Game Controller or simply with a mouse and keyboard. We must bear in mind that the Luna Controller is not compatible with any game console but if we buy it it is a device that supports Bluetooth and USB to play on many different devices.
To play on Luna we must have a high-speed connection and a compatible device. We can use it on Windows computers, on Mac, with an Amazon Fire TV, with a Chromebook or with iPad or Android tablets. In addition, on Android mobile phones and compatible mobile phones we can use it without any problem.
The full list of supported devices is as follows:
- Windows 10 (Windows 10 with support for DirectX 11).
- Mac (hardware from 2014 or higher and OSX 10.13 or higher)
- Chrome web browser (version 83 or higher) for PC, Mac and Chromebook.
- Microsoft Edge web browser (version 90 or later) for PC and Mac.
- Safari web browser (iOS 15) for iPhone and iPad
- Chrome web browser (version 86 or higher).
- Pixel devices (3, 3XL, 3a, 3a XL, 4XL, 4a, 4a 5G, 5)
- Samsung devices (S9, S9+, S10, S10+, S20 5G, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra 5G, S21, S21+, S21 Ultra, Note 9, Note 10, Note 10+, Note 20)
- OnePlus devices (7, 7 Pro, 7 Pro 5G, 8, 8 Pro, Nord (Nord AC2001/AC2003 and Nord N10 5G BE2029), 7T, 7T Pro, 7T Pro 5G)
- Amazon Fire TV Devices
- Fire TV Stick Lite
- Fire TV Stick (2nd generation)
- Fire TV Stick (3rd generation)
- Fire TV Stick 4K
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max
- Fire TV (3rd generation)
- Fire TV Cube
- Toshiba Fire TV Edition
- Insignia Fire TV Edition
- Amazon Fire Tablets
- Fire 7 (2019 version)
- Fire HD 8 (2018 release)
- Fire HD 8 (2020 release)
- Fire HD 10 (2019 release)
- Fire HD 10 (2021 release)
How to buy: Amazon Luna Controller and bundles
Although Amazon Luna can be used from any compatible device you have at home , there are also a series of packs or bundles that allow us to buy the Luna Controller together with a branded device. For example, an Amazon Fire TV Stick or an Amazon Fire HD 8 or HD 10.
The controller can be purchased separately and works with Cloud Direct technology. The Luna Controller is priced at around $49.99 and is purchased from Amazon’s own website. It is compatible with all devices that support a wireless game controller via Bluetooth.
But also, as we say, we can buy different packs that include the controller along with different devices compatible with the video game service. For example, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K bundle along with the Luna Controller is priced at approximately $119. That is, about 110 euros.
We can choose to buy it with one of the two Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K or with the Amazon Fire 8-inch tablet or the Amazon Fire 10-inch tablet.
