27th March 2009, 7:22 PM
Plus the bandwidth problems. We don't have enough bandwidth for many people to use things like this... even if you COULD get a fast enough connection for this (expensive!), in a lot of cases you'd just end up with your bandwidth capped and stuck... and you'd also need a very fast connection to run things at much of a resolution, I believe.
Yeah, 1.5MBps connection for SD resolution (480p), 5MBps for HD (720p). We're talking about an expensive connection here.
And yeah, the lag, limitations on what you could use (so you can't upgrade your own hardware anymore? As some people at GAF pointed out, what about hardware upgrades? Would you have to wait for them to upgrade their whole server bank before you can play a new game that requires it?), that having to be online for single-player games is annoying and not something people like, that it removes most all sense of actually owning anything, which is definitely part of having a game...
I know online games, etc, often don't have a physical box to own, but even so. Even there you often have the option of getting one, if it's a game being sold, and you expect online games to be, well, online.
Things like Steam requiring online verification before you can play single-player games, though... that's just annoying and not appreciated.
And for consoles, what about controllers, etc? You have to use their controllers, not something actually designed for the system? No thanks... And what about wanting to back up your files, or save files, to something else, like something you have instead of just on their servers?
This article's good too. Read it, it's quite good.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-wh...rk-article
Even beyond all the technical issues though, I just don't like the idea much. I'm sure some people would be interested, but I do like actually having things, and being able to upgrade (and own) my own hardware, and all those things... I very highly doubt I'd be interested, for sure. Maybe for more casual gamers, though, or a supplement or something... if it actually works, that is.
Yeah, 1.5MBps connection for SD resolution (480p), 5MBps for HD (720p). We're talking about an expensive connection here.
And yeah, the lag, limitations on what you could use (so you can't upgrade your own hardware anymore? As some people at GAF pointed out, what about hardware upgrades? Would you have to wait for them to upgrade their whole server bank before you can play a new game that requires it?), that having to be online for single-player games is annoying and not something people like, that it removes most all sense of actually owning anything, which is definitely part of having a game...
I know online games, etc, often don't have a physical box to own, but even so. Even there you often have the option of getting one, if it's a game being sold, and you expect online games to be, well, online.
Things like Steam requiring online verification before you can play single-player games, though... that's just annoying and not appreciated.
And for consoles, what about controllers, etc? You have to use their controllers, not something actually designed for the system? No thanks... And what about wanting to back up your files, or save files, to something else, like something you have instead of just on their servers?
This article's good too. Read it, it's quite good.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-wh...rk-article
Even beyond all the technical issues though, I just don't like the idea much. I'm sure some people would be interested, but I do like actually having things, and being able to upgrade (and own) my own hardware, and all those things... I very highly doubt I'd be interested, for sure. Maybe for more casual gamers, though, or a supplement or something... if it actually works, that is.