Wednesday, March 25th 2009
New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades
We all regard PC games, as an entertainment medium, but spend hundreds to even thousands of Dollars regularly, to keep our PCs up to date, to be able to play the latest PC games. Imagine a medium that rids us of that, and we are able to consume PC gaming like any other content, like the TV or radio. Well, that the potential a new on-demand gaming platform holds - to make you never have to buy/upgrade a gaming PC again.
Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called "micro-console" that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game - whichever you're subscribed to and playing - the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today's games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).
For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.
Source:
Kokatu
Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called "micro-console" that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game - whichever you're subscribed to and playing - the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today's games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).
For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.
246 Comments on New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades
But it's not 100% that it will work and that's what worries me.
as for threatening the gaming pc, i can see it as a real contender in the low/ medium end of the market
and rofl bta.
I hear there is a good deal on edinburgh caste
I would imagine most people around the world wont have a connection of 5mbps stable all day, I know I dont, I get about 7mbps, but not at peak times. I'd be lucky to get SD in the evenings.
I can't imagine a server having the processing power for modern games and pump it out to every one, only costing around £40 a year.
I'm not convinced, this could slow progression of the gaming world too. I like my gaming PC and being able to play at high res.
What about user mods? What about sitting there knowing your hard earned cash and build time has gone into the awe that is being generated in realtime in front of you.
It wont be the same.
I would say it would be about 5 - 10 years before enough people had fast enough connections all day for it to be feasable. By which time that bandwidth wont be enough for the games of the time.
Catch my drift?
It's possible this would just end up focusing on casual gamers though, a la the wii. I would like it for sure.
Just think about computing power requirements? Come on even your ISP has "fair usage" in your contract. And the least problem for this to work is your internet connection. This idea is such BS i can't think about it anymore without my head hurting!
1. How much data is going to be passed back and forth between the client and server? Remeber, companies like Comcast are already looking at bandwith caps for internet service that something like this could easily trigger if you're talking about a game like Crysis Warhead.
2. What if say a million users all hammer the servers at once trying to play a particular title? Can we still be assured a decent experience?
3. What about those customers that have an average latency of about 20ms due to the distance from the MPOE for their DSL connections will the system still allow for a zero-latency experience even under these conditions?
And this is not even going into the overall cost of trying to maintain something like this. Granted, if they can solve the bandwith and hardware costs this would be something that would get more into PC gaming but I just do not see how something like this could ever replace a dedicated system no matter how they try to pitch it.
I mean I could get one for me and my kids, this would save me lots of cash each year.