Atari Games Are Headlining Plex's Video Game Subscription Service

The popular service used for streaming music, TV shows, and movies on your own computer, Plex, is now adding video games to its repertoire. The new gaming branch of the service will be called Plex Arcade, and will be either $3 or $5 a month depending on your current Plex membership.

As the "Arcade" part of the service's name implies, Plex will be focusing on allowing people to stream older games--Atari games to be precise. There are currently 27 Atari games available on the service, including arcade classics like Centipede, Missile Command, and Super Breakout. Games from the Atari 2600 and 7800 also make an appearance.

Signing up for Plex Arcade and using it won't be quite as easy as signing into a regular streaming service on your console. To get started, you'll need a Plex media server running on a Windows or macOS computer. You will also need a Parsec account, and will have to log into it through your Plex server. Once you've gotten all that set up, you'll be able to check out Plex Arcade and its relative freedom.

Gamers will be able stream games to Android devices, TVs, Google Chrome, tvOS, and iOS using Plex Arcade, and Plex has said that you can play with "just about any Bluetooth-enabled controller." The service will also allow users to add in their own ROMs and emulators.

While streaming these games for nostalgia or a hit of gaming history might seem like an attractive notion, be warned that you may not have an easy go of it. The Verge reported running into several difficulties while getting Plex Arcade set up, and ultimately their reporter was unable to actually play a game.

"Getting it set up was an exercise in frustration for me, and I wasn’t ever actually able to successfully play a game," the Verge's Mitchell Clark said. "The iOS and tvOS clients got stuck at a loading spinner, and keyboard controls didn’t seem to do anything when trying to play on Chrome."

If you'd like to check out Plex Arcade for yourself, Plex is currently offering a seven-day free trial, though you will have to provide either your credit card or PayPal information.