Toshiba bringing on-demand PC gaming to cloud-connected TVs this summer

Later this year, Toshiba will bring a line of televisions to North America that support cloud-based game-streaming, courtesy of the GameNow service from Taiwan-based Ubitus.

At CES 2014, Toshiba had its line of smart TVs on display, showcasing GameNow with the Windows PC version of Street Fighter X Tekken. The service will feature an array of Capcom-published PC games, like Devil May Cry 4, Dead Rising 2 and Resident Evil 5, as well as Warner Bros. games, including Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.

We played a few rounds of Street Fighter X Tekken, with a pair of wireless Logitech controllers, and found the experience playable, but laggy — unsuitable for a fighting game, but perhaps passable with other titles.

GameNow maker Ubitus has partnerships in place with Sega, Konami and Square Enix to offer cloud-based versions of games like Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 and Dragon Quest X overseas.

Three cloud-connected Toshiba models — L3400U, L5400U, L7400U — will support the GameNow service, and are expected to begin shipping stateside in the first quarter of 2014.