AtGames MK11 Legends Ultimate - Really?!? - The Real Deal

RetroRalph·video·5m 51s·analyzed·Nov 11, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.022

TL;DR

MK11 on Legends Ultimate requires PC streaming workaround with significant performance loss

Summary

RetroRalph debunks viral claims that Mortal Kombat 11 can be played natively on AtGames Legends Ultimate cabinets. The D2D server runs Windows Server 2016, which cannot run MK11; the only workaround is streaming from a PC via Steam through AtGames' cloud service, which results in degraded performance (~30-40 fps instead of 60) and control mapping issues (6 cabinet buttons vs. 8 required). AtGames has promised Windows 10 instances but none are currently available.

Key Claims

AtGames D2D servers run Windows Server 2016, not Windows 10, preventing native MK11 execution
high confidence · RetroRalph demonstrated via Task Manager that the OS is Server 2016; verified through direct inspection
MK11 can only be played on Legends Ultimate by streaming from a PC via Steam through AtGames cloud service
high confidence · RetroRalph demonstrated the streaming workflow using the down-arrow stream option on the cabinet
Streaming MK11 results in approximately 30-40 fps instead of native 60 fps due to cloud latency
high confidence · RetroRalph measured live fps on his gigabit ethernet connection and observed ~30-40 fps peak
Legends Ultimate cabinets have only 6 buttons, while MK11 requires 8 buttons for proper play
high confidence · RetroRalph stated this limitation and referenced his custom 8-button MK11 arcade build for comparison
AtGames claims Windows 10 server instances will be available 'shortly' but none are currently deployed
high confidence · RetroRalph stated he contacted AtGames and was told no Windows 10 servers exist in D2D yet

Notable Quotes

“Did you get super excited because you saw a video online saying that MK11 could be played on your Legends Ultimate cabinet? Well, I'd say you're about to have this happen. Yeah, a whole lot of nothing.”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 0:02 — Opening statement establishing the debunk narrative and setting expectations
“The D2D server is running Windows Server 2016 which MK11 will not run on.”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey) @ 01:45 — Root cause explanation for why native MK11 execution is impossible
“So you can see, you're going to have a greatly reduced frames per second experience, probably about half of what you'd expect for a game like this.”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 4:08 — Quantifies performance degradation of streaming approach
“I have what's called the gigablast service from Cox Communications. So it's a fast service, but you will see you're going to maintain 30, 40. It doesn't even really get to 40.”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 4:17 — Real-world performance measurement demonstrating streaming limitations even on premium connectivity
“The only way you can play it is if you stream it through another PC. And because you're doing that, you're getting a less than ideal frames per second.”
RetroRalph (Jon Hey)@ 4:49 — Summary statement of the only viable workaround and its inherent limitations

Entities

RetroRalphpersonJon HeypersonAtGamescompanyLegends UltimateproductMortal Kombat 11gameD2DproductWindows Server 2016productSteamproductCox Communicationscompany

Signals

?
business_signal: AtGames committed to Windows 10 D2D deployment but timeline unclear and currently unavailable
medium · RetroRalph contacted AtGames who confirmed Windows 10 instances 'coming shortly' but provide no ETA; contradicts apparent claims by other content creators
?
community_signal: Viral videos falsely claiming MK11 playability on Legends Ultimate creating unrealistic community expectations
high · RetroRalph opening statement acknowledging multiple viewer inquiries based on incorrect online videos; no explanation for how other creators claim success
?
product_concern: Legends Ultimate control panel design (6 buttons) insufficient for games requiring 8+ inputs; streaming workaround introduces unacceptable latency and frame rate degradation
high · RetroRalph measured 30-40 fps on gigabit connection; MK11 requires 8 buttons for proper play; cabinet capped at 6
?
technology_signal: AtGames D2D infrastructure fundamentally misaligned with modern game requirements; Windows Server 2016 unable to support current AAA titles
high · Direct OS inspection showing Server 2016; MK11 installation failure; AtGames acknowledgment of Windows 10 deployment delay

Topics

MK11 Legends Ultimate CompatibilityprimaryAtGames D2D Cloud Gaming LimitationsprimaryArcade Cabinet Hardware ConstraintssecondaryNetwork Streaming PerformancesecondaryViral Misinformation in Arcade Communitysecondary

Sentiment

negative(-0.72)— RetroRalph takes a critical but educational tone, clearly frustrated with misleading viral claims about MK11 compatibility. The video is structured as a debunk with empathetic acknowledgment of community excitement followed by systematic explanation of why the hype is unfounded. Tone is professional and helpful rather than angry, but the underlying message is dismissive of the capability being advertised.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.018

Hey guys, welcome back. Did you get super excited because you saw a video online saying that MK11 could be played on your Legends Ultimate only to have this happen? Yeah, a whole lot of nothing. I'll give you the real deal. All right, guys, so why this is happening is quite simple. If you have your keyboard, you can hit Control, Shift, and Escape, and you will actually bring up the Task Manager for Windows. We're going to go over here. I know you can't see this very well, but I'm going to zoom in in a second. And I'm going to say File, Run New Task, and I'm going to actually run Explorer. Okay, now in order for me to actually get Explorer to really launch, I've got to go back here, right click and say restart, and now I'm going to get a full Windows view of the file system. So I'm going to go to, I believe it's actually system, and when you look, the reason why it will not play is because this is not running Windows 10 The D2D server is running Windows Server 2016 which MK11 will not run on So there is a way that we can play MK11 on this cabinet and I going to show you how right now but it doesn't come without its caveats. All right, so now I'm over at a Windows laptop. If I am indeed so dead set in running MK11 on my AtGames cabinet, I can simply do this. I can go over to the laptop that I have or desktop, open up Steam, and I can download MK11 to this machine. And then I'm going to stream it to the AtGames stream service. Now, in order for me to do that, this computer needs to be on my network and needs to be logged into Steam at the same account. And what you'll see is I can obviously play it on my local laptop. Keep in mind, this game is like 70-something gigs, so if you are going to download, it's going to take you a really long time. But I just want to let you know that. So if I go back over to my AtGames machine here, you will notice something. See, there's a little down arrow here. If I click on that, it actually allows me to stream it from another device. So actually, it says stream. I picked the right one. That's my laptop. If I click on that now, it is actually going to launch MK11. But keep in mind, you're really going to want to take a close eye on the latency in frames per second, because how this is actually working which is really bizarre is it actually streaming from my laptop up to the cloud into the D2D servers on the AtGames side So you can see you going to have a greatly reduced frames per second experience probably about half of what you'd expect for a game like this. The other caveat is that obviously on a control panel on an at-game, I only have six buttons, while MK11 requires eight buttons. So if you go over here, I'm sorry the lighting isn't amazing in here right now, But if you go over here to my MK11 build that I had made a while back on the channel, I have eight buttons, so I can actually cover all of the action buttons on MK11 or on an Xbox, which is what I need to play MK11 properly. I can't do that here, so even though you can play it, you technically can't play it with the accurate frames per second and with the right amount of buttons. Now, AtGames is saying they're going to actually have Windows 10 instances up in their cloud service shortly, so I have no idea how those other people are playing it that are showcasing their videos unless they got lucky enough to, I don't know, go on some sort of mysterious Windows 10 server that they're offering. but I did contact them and they said there are no Windows 10 servers in D2D for this purpose right now. So you can see, you're going to have a greatly reduced frames per second experience, and you're actually not going to have as many buttons as you need. And now I connected with the pretty fast internet I have gigabit ethernet here So I I have what called the gigablast by Cox communications So it a pretty fast service but you will see you're going to maintain 30, 40. It doesn't even really get to 40. So it's a little under 40 frames per second. So not a great experience for MK 11. So anyways, I know this was just a short video, but I wanted to inform you of this because I actually had people reach out to me and say, how the heck can you play this on your cab? Well, the only way you can play it is if you stream it through another PC. And because you're doing that, you're getting a less than ideal frames per second. I will keep you updated as AtGames works on this because they are saying they're going to offer a Windows 10 server instance. So if you do go to Steam and you do try to download this on your AtGames D2D BYOG, you will not be able to play it. It will just cancel out on you. So anyways, guys, I want to give you that quick video update. I hope all is well. And if you like this video, please like it. Give us a thumbs up, put your comments below, and please subscribe to the channel if you enjoyed the content. And we will see you on the next one. Take care. you