ShadowCast is the simplest way to play console games on your computer. TVs aren’t always convenient so we made a way to take console gaming with you wherever you are without the need of an internet connection.     

As lifelong console gamers, we know there may be some PC master race gamers who gawk at the idea of playing Mario on their powerful gaming computer.  But we say the more games we can play, on even more platforms, the better! 
 

Seamless console docking to your laptop. It’s that simple!

Laptops are Really Versatile Screens

The biggest benefit of course is to take advantage of the screen you’re always carrying already.  Not one of those additional portable monitors but a laptop that we use daily for like… school, work, shopping and creative stuff. 

ShadowCast completely hides in the shadows of the original Switch dock!

Let’s imagine a time before 2020… and you were waiting at an airport for a flight to board and you wanted to get a couple rounds of Smash Bros in with a friend… or two… or three. Tabletop mode is nice… but let’s just say it’s not the most ergonomic. With ShadowCast you can easily plug your Nintendo Switch to your laptop and play on a screen over 4x the size.

Not quite as easy as adjusting the viewing angle of a laptop, is it?

You Could Always use Another TV

There’s also many situations where there just isn’t a HDMI display available – many of us are happy with our laptops and integrated desktop computers. I think back to the times when I lived in a dorm room or even living abroad for brief periods where having my laptop, a PS5, and a ShadowCast would’ve been amazing. 

Works with current-gen and next-gen with up to 4K input

And then there’s always competing for the living room television – whether it’s someone in your household streaming a whole season of the latest Netflix series or just having another gamer in the household. Oh and it also makes having a second television for multiplayer that much more convenient to set up. 
 

PS5 on an iMac – when a TV just simply isn’t available

Our App Makes the Difference

Accompanying the ShadowCast is our new Genki Arcade app. We literally have made it easier than reaching for the TV remote and hitting the “input” button. We’ve designed Genki Arcade from the ground up to minimize computing resources and prioritize latency for gaming performance. Just open the app, and it’ll auto detect ShadowCast and you’ll be playing immediately without any settings to fiddle with.

TV vs. ShadowCast – HDMI splitter shows a 0-0.02s difference in Smash Bros.

Genki Arcade (left) is 50ms faster than OBS (right) and uses less than 1/3 of the CPU

We’ve developed a native Mac OS app that’s optimized for both Apple Silicon and Intel processors as well as a dedicated app for Windows. Additionally, we’re in the process of making a web browser version that allows you to play on shared/public computers and other systems without installing any software (compatibility will vary, for example iPadOS currently doesn’t detect external video devices but we’re confident it will someday!).

Windows or Mac, we got your Animal Crossing addiction covered

 The beauty of being able to connect your gaming console to your computer means you can actually record, edit, and stream your gameplay. While it may not be at the same level as a professional grade capture card that costs 5-10x more, it’s more than capable for most gameplay capturing needs while being much more flexible and easy to use across multiple platforms. 

We’re making last year’s best capture cards feel a bit outdated.

Record To Your Heart’s Content

Sure you can use the built-in video recording feature on the Nintendo Switch but that’s limited to 30 seconds – that mean you’ll have to rush that epic boss fight or finish that speed-run extra fast.  It’s is also a pain to export and you’re limited by an already small internal storage and expensive memory cards. With ShadowCast you don’t have to worry about recording length and can rewatch your whole session of Among Us, add your commentary, and refine your strategy.

With a 30 second limit everyone is sus!

We’ve actually created what we believe is the most simple to use, not just for playing but also to record gameplay videos.  Here’s a sample of a recording of us playing on various consoles with the ShadowCast: