27th March 2009, 6:37 AM
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47080.html?type=
Heard of this? It's apparently the next step of online games, cloud computing style.
The basis of this is that mass producing disks full of copies of software a million times for expensive copies of the same hardware a million times is extremely inefficient. In an example of efficiency that would make the borg blush, they are setting up a system where the entirey of the game code is running on a server (right down to graphics and sound rendering) and the completed image and sound is all that's sent. As a result, this will be able to run on any barebones computer capable of an internet connection and displaying live video feeds. Further, they'll also be selling a very basic device for the TV that accomplishes the same barebones thing. All the device needs from a user is basic input. Basically, MS is cashing in on the growing "too poor to buy a fully fledged video game system" market.
I think it can be safely assumed that they'll be adding support for the service to the 360 no problem, heck there's no reason they couldn't add support for it to an update to the original XBox too and considering the market this is aimed at, they would do well to do just that. Since it's just a video feed, they could port the software relatively simply to the Wii or PS3, well "could" being the operative word, as I somehow doubt that either company would approve of something who's chief purpose is to cut in on their business model.
MS is saying they have solved lag like... forever, or something. There are certain physical realities that tell me this won't work as well as they claim, such as the speed of light and the fact that at any time a user could be on the other side of the planet using this system.
Anyway, even if they have truly resolved the lag issues, while I'm very impressed by the idea, I disagree with this notion that this will be the ultimate solution to all software everywhere. People in the cloud computing business keep touting how this is the future of software, every single aspect all being online with only a barebones user interface user-side. My question is, do we really WANT this, for everything?
E-mail is one thing, but I will add that I actually DO use an e-mail program whenever I'm on my own computer, namely because I want copies of everything ON my computer. The internet is not omnipresent just yet. In fact to drive this point home Cox sort of dropped the ball all night last night and didn't get around to fixing whatever was going on until early this morning. There are times when I just need something to be local.
Further, as an extention of this, something that is a purely single-user experience is something I want to have local anyway. I have no advantage at all in sending it "to the cloud". For example, why the heck would I actually WANT to play Chrono Trigger cloud style? All that adds is the risk of headaches.
Anyway, this also fails to address portable consoles, unless cloud computer's dreams are of a planetwide engulfing in a wireless network that always works all the time.
Sometimes I just want to have something I can plug in and it works without invoking the internet. I'm perfectly fine with mass produced information for each individual. I suppose I don't mind such inefficiency. Cloud computing may be the future of online gaming, but for single player games, and also for games with multiplayer modes on top of single player modes, I want to keep the local versions JUST for me to use when I want without anyone needing to know or me needing to depend on extra services needlessly.
Save the uber-cloud computer utopia for when we all finally do get linked into the collective conciousness and only one mind ever needs to worry about being bored.
Heard of this? It's apparently the next step of online games, cloud computing style.
The basis of this is that mass producing disks full of copies of software a million times for expensive copies of the same hardware a million times is extremely inefficient. In an example of efficiency that would make the borg blush, they are setting up a system where the entirey of the game code is running on a server (right down to graphics and sound rendering) and the completed image and sound is all that's sent. As a result, this will be able to run on any barebones computer capable of an internet connection and displaying live video feeds. Further, they'll also be selling a very basic device for the TV that accomplishes the same barebones thing. All the device needs from a user is basic input. Basically, MS is cashing in on the growing "too poor to buy a fully fledged video game system" market.
I think it can be safely assumed that they'll be adding support for the service to the 360 no problem, heck there's no reason they couldn't add support for it to an update to the original XBox too and considering the market this is aimed at, they would do well to do just that. Since it's just a video feed, they could port the software relatively simply to the Wii or PS3, well "could" being the operative word, as I somehow doubt that either company would approve of something who's chief purpose is to cut in on their business model.
MS is saying they have solved lag like... forever, or something. There are certain physical realities that tell me this won't work as well as they claim, such as the speed of light and the fact that at any time a user could be on the other side of the planet using this system.
Anyway, even if they have truly resolved the lag issues, while I'm very impressed by the idea, I disagree with this notion that this will be the ultimate solution to all software everywhere. People in the cloud computing business keep touting how this is the future of software, every single aspect all being online with only a barebones user interface user-side. My question is, do we really WANT this, for everything?
E-mail is one thing, but I will add that I actually DO use an e-mail program whenever I'm on my own computer, namely because I want copies of everything ON my computer. The internet is not omnipresent just yet. In fact to drive this point home Cox sort of dropped the ball all night last night and didn't get around to fixing whatever was going on until early this morning. There are times when I just need something to be local.
Further, as an extention of this, something that is a purely single-user experience is something I want to have local anyway. I have no advantage at all in sending it "to the cloud". For example, why the heck would I actually WANT to play Chrono Trigger cloud style? All that adds is the risk of headaches.
Anyway, this also fails to address portable consoles, unless cloud computer's dreams are of a planetwide engulfing in a wireless network that always works all the time.
Sometimes I just want to have something I can plug in and it works without invoking the internet. I'm perfectly fine with mass produced information for each individual. I suppose I don't mind such inefficiency. Cloud computing may be the future of online gaming, but for single player games, and also for games with multiplayer modes on top of single player modes, I want to keep the local versions JUST for me to use when I want without anyone needing to know or me needing to depend on extra services needlessly.
Save the uber-cloud computer utopia for when we all finally do get linked into the collective conciousness and only one mind ever needs to worry about being bored.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)