New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades

[TheMailMan78]

I see bunches of things in this.

For one, the tech works just fine. Incoming signal would be the equivalent of a live HD video, we can find these all the time. Outgoing signal would be the incredibly basic and tiny inputs from your controller to the host. Not much else.

This was done with a PS3 over wireless to transmit Crysis, it worked perfectly there with a 54mbps connection.

Also, this would likely be done with a server farm of highly optimized GPU clusters. You dial in for a game, the server fires up, and all it needs to do is send the image signal after it processes and renders everything.

This is a console killer, no doubt. No need to use em aside from glorified BD players, and sad excuses for a PC with DLC.

Speaking of DLC, that is what will keep the PC alive when this is released. Nothing can compare to the freedom and moddability of a PC, not to mention, they'll be around due to the business sector anyways. On top of that, developers will be releasing their games to load into a server farm, and will be easily portable to PC (comparatively being a single server, no big deal).

I'd imagine they'll have issues with laggy input response, but at the millisecond level. Possibly the occasional server crash interrupting your game, (unless they have a kick-ass failover system like the ones i build). Then there's the lack of doing anything resembling personalization, unless they give you a vHDD to store things on that it can access when you load a game. Even so, you get save games, but I wouldn't imagine they would allow you to DL a 500mb add-on to your Fallout 3, STALKER, CoD, etc etc etc.

No worries for PC gaming. This might actually help it out as it will get devs back to coding x86, instead of consoles.

You are assuming developers want to port the games to a pirate ridden platform. I for one would welcome this as a developer. Nothing hardware specific and 100% revenue. Man if this works its the nail in the coffin for PC gaming and console. I just wish I would have invested in this company before hand

 

[pentastar111]

So let me get this

They have a supercomputer

I dial into it with what ever download rate I have.

They do all the rendering, and I play my game?

Souds lik a great idea. On paper. But the experience would then depend on the reliabilty of their network and their machines and your connection. Those variables, in my opinion anyway, can add up to an experience that has the potential of destroying all fun in a 500 mile radius. If I want to play a single player game I have to download it? And if their system is down I don't play? No thanks!

 

[vampire622003]

This is exactly why I don't play consoles. Building a PC just to play games for me isn't what it's all about, it's a way of life for me and will be my career (IT). Yes, it's still PC games, but you can't get the satisfaction of building your own PC and playing a game on it knowing that -You built this machine, you CAN play this game, because of the hard work and dollars you put in it, and the fact that you put it together yourself. The sentimental values of hard work.- You can't get that kind of satisfaction from console or a all-ready built gaming PC. It's all about the mentality for me on this one.

I mean how did the PC industry become so famous?
Yea, maybe manufacturers won't let you upgrade because of hardware limitations, incompatibility, ect.
But, back in the day people would work for no money, no benefits, just to see what could be done with these machines. It was amazing and such a great time when expansion cards were on the rise, and now some people don't even want to work on their PC's anymore, the just want the satisfaction of using a mouse and keyboard to play a game without spending alot. I mean who doesn't, but that's when I come back to the mentality. YOU CAN'T GET THE -I built this. It works. I can play this game. I have the knowledge to put it together.- SATISFACTION.


I'm sorry, but it pisses me off.

This has to be one of the story's that has caught the most of my attention.

 

[DaMulta]

Let me just say this.

I have played like this before at AMOCO(aka now BP Oil)

On a terminal station with a SGI Supercomputer running game demos on a 10/100 network way way way back in the 90s.

You know what? It worked just fine.

All they would be sending back is a video, and the few commands of what's next.

Netfilx, hulu and others have proved to us that video can come down on the net just fine. The only difference is that there will be no buffers. It has to be live. Now the US on this will suck because we have the worst net there is. YET you can do some bad ass stuff on just 480p or 480i transmissions. To say you can not is a lie, pop in any PIXAR movie on a old TV will prove just that to you.

I want to see a live demo on what demos they already have running.

 

[Silverel]

You are assuming developers want to port the games to a pirate ridden platform. I for one would welcome this as a developer. Nothing hardware specific and 100% revenue. Man if this works its the nail in the coffin for PC gaming and console. I just wish I would have invested in this company before hand

Hell yes they would. It's not like pirates are stealing physical goods that cost them inventory. Piracy is unavoidable, and they know that, but they still release PC games.

As long as there is a market to sell to, companies will make money. Short of all PC gamers shutting off their boxes and closing their wallets, the market will continue.

 

[Lumpy]

This is pure BS.
Their just trying to sell this "technology" to some poor sucker.
by the time the worlds (internet) ready in 10 to 15 years it may work but will be a small niche for people with crapy pcs
The day that a pc is just a monitor with total dependancy on the internet for all its content, o/s,software, etc will come,and that is very scary.

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

vaporware

 

[tkpenalty]

Since the software needs to process your key inputs (Algorithms) then send it to the server which again needs to process it again or rather, decompress it, there will be a considerable latency. This is further worsened by the downstream which moreover posessses this.

Okay true, for those who can barely afford anything, this is great. Its not a bad idea at all in fact. Only issue is that if theres less people buying PCs then this plan goes out of the window as hardware costs and the squeezed demand in the IT sector will force prices up as the drops in price have been demand driven.

But at the moment, considering how most people have huge connection issues, this concept isnt desirable.

However I do see one HUGE advantage; multiplayer.

 

[technicks]

Well like said by more people. I will stick with my PC and enjoy the fun modding and oc'ing it.
Can't a man have his hobby's?
If it was purely about the gaming i would not even use it.
I spend more time modding and oc'ing then gaming on my pc

 

[vampire622003]

Well like said by more people. I will stick with my PC and enjoy the fun modding and oc'ing it.
Can't a man have his hobby's?
If it was purely about the gaming i would not even use it.
I spend more time modding and oc'ing then gaming on my pc

Exactly what I said, in a more basic manner.
People back then just wanted to see what you could do with them.
It just wasn't about ONE thing, like games.

And if it was just another console, I wouldn't care, but it isn't, it's aimed at PC gamers/users.

 

[tkpenalty]

Well like said by more people. I will stick with my PC and enjoy the fun modding and oc'ing it.
Can't a man have his hobby's?
If it was purely about the gaming i would not even use it.
I spend more time modding and oc'ing then gaming on my pc

That only applies to a minority of people and realise that not everyone is as wealthy. They aren't forcing this down your throat.

True, you do things other than game for your PC.

But for those who view the PC and Consoles as gaming platforms? Would they spend a large sum of money? or something chepa like this? Obviously the latter.

Though this concept really is ahead of its time as we'd need a world where everyone doesn't suffer from connection issues.

 

[vampire622003]

They should supply the connection also for a monthly charge, if the user doesn't have a good one or not one at all. Based on how much they play also.

 

[PCpraiser100]

it will fail .




just like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_(game_system)

Thank goodness that that happened! This is stupid. This means that if the hardware is too slow to take future titles of Crytek I would have to buy another console to stay up to date. This is more of a Mac! Besides, even if it will still run like a chap, Microsoft could be against it.

 

[vampire622003]

I bet you their computer still won't be able to play Crysis on max settings, lol!

 

[DrPepper]

Besides, even if it will still run like a chap, Microsoft could be against it.

Not if it said in bigass words MICROSOFT MOFO.

I still think this wont be as successful as expectations. It will probably work but imagine 1 million people playing crysis simultaneously, each at 60 fps thats unthinkable.

 

[Silverel]

I bet you their computer still won't be able to play Crysis on max settings, lol!

nope, it'd be limited to HD resolution at best.

 

[ShadowFold]

1920x1080 + 8x AA or GTFO. I don't think this will make it far. I sure as hell wont be buying one.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Not if it said in bigass words MICROSOFT MOFO.

I still think this wont be as successful as expectations. It will probably work but imagine 1 million people playing crysis simultaneously, each at 60 fps thats unthinkable.

Put an Apple logo on a pile of dog shit and it will sell. Anyway lets see what the review says. BTA you on this?

 

[Polarman]

I don't like this idea.

1. My internet connection limits me to 20 gig of download per month. This thing would gobble this amount in no time at all. Now try to imagine how much you would pay after you bust your limit.

2. I like my PC and enjoy doing all kinds of things on it like typing stuff on TPU.

3. When i play a game, i don't need some bigass company knowing about it.

 

[CDdude55]

Bandwidth was one of the issues, but no one asked them about how offline would work. All the games will be running off there server and saved on there servers and accessed by your Onlive account. So going offline would create a problem if you wanted to game on it.

If it takes off it could end alot of fighting between fanboys in terms of the console wars. But i doubt Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will let them take that huge of a bite out of the market, so they might show some interesting stuff at this years E3 to keep them on there side.

 

[TheMailMan78]

On-Demand Gaming Platform = Gaming Socialism.

 

[DrPepper]

I hope a company buys them over then scraps them so I can keep my rig

 

[alexp999]

I hope a company buys them over then scraps them so I can keep my rig

I'm sure MS could.

 

[DrPepper]

I'm sure MS could.

I'm sure most can because I doubt the business would be worth that much yet.

 

[TheMailMan78]

We could be looking at the next Xbox.

I'm sure most can because I doubt the business would be worth that much yet.

This is exactly the kind of thing I like to invest in.