I think a streaming service is a lock, and I wouldn't rule out a little box and controller for your living room. Something Apple TV sized.

So this all looks pretty cool! If this really works like they say it does, and doesn't require a bonkers broadband connection, this could be game changer...

I'd hardly call it a revolutionary concept. People have been trying to get people to stream games for years. Onlive, PS Now... In theory it's a great idea, but I just don't think networks are reliable enough yet. I supposedly have a 150mb connection, yet struggle to hit 50mb half the time if I do a speed test.

It’s not a new idea, but previous attempts have shown that if you don’t have the infrastructure you can’t make it work.

Google are probably best positioned of anyone to actually try it. But...

1) no mention of how you actually pay for it. Most people are assuming subscription, but is it?
2) no mention of how, as a developer, you’ll get paid for putting things on it.

That’ll come... but until it does it’s just a nice theoretical construct for most.

(Also, you absolutely will need damn good broadband for this to give you a 4K stream)

And it doesn’t matter how amazing your tech is and how many data centres you build...

You cannot send data faster than the speed of light. If you’re more than about 100 miles from a data center then it’s going to feel worse to you than playing on your Xbox.

For a lot of games, and a lot of gamers, that won’t matter much.

But that’s where the real rub is... google are banking on being able to get close enough to that to reach enough people with a good enough standard of service to make a profit. They think it’s possible, or they wouldn’t be going public yet. But then they also though Google+ would compete with other social media networks.

I don’t like the idea of it.

I appreciate the premise of it.

Oh hey, OnLive is back. Only now it sounds like a Final Fantasy Tactics spell.

Real talk though, the only people claiming "streaming is the future" are the corporate fatcats who want to control the market and tell us what we want. Streaming is a slap in the face of archivists and people who trade in games. This might be okay for "emerging markets" as Google's ilk call them, but I don't see it taking off in any meaningful way.

ThirdMan wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 6:15 pm

Alex79uk wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 6:08 pm I'd hardly call it a revolutionary concept. People have been trying to get people to stream games for years. Onlive, PS Now... In theory it's a great idea, but I just don't think networks are reliable enough yet. I supposedly have a 150mb connection, yet struggle to hit 50mb half the time if I do a speed test.

I take your point Alex, but if you watch the full show you'll see the full extent of what they're proposing.

Fair point, I've not managed to watch it yet. Will check it out ASAP!

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 9:55 pmReal talk though, the only people claiming "streaming is the future" are the corporate fatcats who want to control the market and tell us what we want. Streaming is a slap in the face of archivists and people who trade in games. This might be okay for "emerging markets" as Google's ilk call them, but I don't see it taking off in any meaningful way.

I disagree. Look at music and video. There is absolutely no way that streaming games isn't the future.

Physical CD and DVD/BluRay sales have plummeted year in year out for ages now, and it stands to reason games will follow. You're thinking of streaming as we know it now not being the future, but one day the latest releases will be day one streamable just like albums on Spotify, and owning things will be considered archaic. Maybe not even in the next ten years, but it'll happen. That's an absolute certainty.

We'll have a service as reliable as Netflix, you'll be playing on an app built in to the TV, carrying on the same game on your tablet later on, and finishing the level via 5G mobile data on your phone on your lunch break at work. It'll get there, and I am 100% in to the idea.

Personally, not a fan. But judging by my personal taste in anything vs the general public it will find an audience and a develop a consumer base. The push for streaming, regardless of quality, exists. My parents can't distinguish the difference between SD and HD, plus they love Sky News and Rupert Murdoch, so there's no accounting for taste or intelligence.

I'll just accept it as a generational difference. The quality of streaming vs having the content in it's entirety locally - no competition. Hell, I prefer wired controllers due to the response of zero latency!

But just because I'm not the audience doesn't mean there isn't one.

Yes, like it or not, it is definitely happening. It might never be the only way to play games, but it absolutely will be *a* way in the not too distant.

There are some important considerations to be worked through (of which archiving the most pressing to me), but if we can crack those then I’m all for it.

Physical games will be around for a fair old while yet though, but there will continue to be a divergence of (complementary) models.

Alex79uk wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 10:06 pm Look at music and video. There is absolutely no way that streaming games isn't the future.

Music and video don't require constant audience input, however. A movie being 5 seconds out of sync with the server doesn't negatively impact the viewing experience. But input lag will always be the main issue for me and what will probably make streaming technology remain virtually incompatible with entire genres of games for the foreseeable future. Playing low-intensity strategy games, turn-based RPGs or even 30fps cinematic action games like Horizon or Uncharted is one thing. But good luck playing fast-paced action games, shmups or fighting games on any kind of streaming infrastructure.

And even if certain internet access points became fast and reliable enough to handle this stuff, the world is a lot bigger than the small parts of US coasts, Western Europe and East Asia that can afford the latest technological advancements. I can't imagine local games media playback being replaced by streaming tech any time soon.

Oh God... internet infrastructure in Australia... yeah, less of an issue with movies and music, but geez... unless you really enjoy loading screens, error codes and menus they'll be a lot to sort out first.

But that's a problem for the next generation to solve! I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Hey! You can't just leave me like this!

I disagree that games are analogous to moves and music though. Sure, I think "games as a service" model things like Apex and Fork Knife and WoW will be streamable, and perhaps that will work out well. But movies and CDs rarely last more than 2 hours. They're a one-and-done kinda deal.

Games are a larger time and cash investment - there is a different value proposition in dropping $25 for a 45 minute CD (which I still do, by the way - I bought albums from Ashbury Heights, Night Club, Noiz+Zilenth and Priest in this past year, because they're smaller acts and I want to support them) than dropping $80 on a 10-100 hour game.

Music is "disposable" because the medium simply works better in shuffles and playlists than as a complete work (though I will defend albums like Ayreon's Universal Migrator series as musical operas that ought to be listened to EXCLUSIVELY as albums). And even despite that, there are still enthusiasts demanding high-quality vinyl releases - as games will surely have in the future, too.

Movies are an even worse value proposition, because the value of home video is still grossly overrated, even in digital formats. Why in the Sam hell is Deadpool 2 a $12.99 rental on the PSN store when I could have seen it in the theatres, on a big screen, for $7 on a Tuesday matinée? Can someone explain that bullshit to me? Movies simply aren't worth more than like $5 a pop, unless you're going to a theatre for that enhanced "experience", paying for facility upkeep and the like. So yeah, something like Netflix was the inevitable result.

Same deal with TV - why is basic cable $40 a month when it's increasingly full of ads? And especially since the likes of Twin Peaks and Dallas, TV has evolved more into long-form storytelling than serials, the cable subscription model just makes no sense in 2019.

To me, video game streaming is just cable TV. It's a step backwards, not forwards. It's designed so that big companies like Ubisoft can swing their dicks around and bully smaller devs out of "air time". And that only makes the industry worse.

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm Oh God... internet infrastructure in Australia... yeah, less of an issue with movies and music, but geez... unless you really enjoy loading screens, error codes and menus they'll be a lot to sort out first.

But that's a problem for the next generation to solve! I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Fun fact - my ex (who lived in Wynnum, QLD at the time) and I tried to play mother-honking Diablo II online, and her Internet was so bad - on the fastest available option, mind - that we couldn't play it properly. Dropped inputs, teleporting, lag out the koala, it was a miserable time.

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:57 pm

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm Oh God... internet infrastructure in Australia... yeah, less of an issue with movies and music, but geez... unless you really enjoy loading screens, error codes and menus they'll be a lot to sort out first.

But that's a problem for the next generation to solve! I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Fun fact - my ex (who lived in Wynnum, QLD at the time) and I tried to play mother-honking Diablo II online, and her Internet was so bad - on the fastest available option, mind - that we couldn't play it properly. Dropped inputs, teleporting, lag out the koala, it was a miserable time.

Yeah... that sounds about right!

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:49 pm

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Hey! You can't just leave me like this!

My generation fought tooth and nail the the great console wars of the early 90's! It's time for us to retire and live out our remaining years being sour and bitter about the youth of today!

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 20th, 2019, 12:42 am

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:49 pm

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Hey! You can't just leave me like this!

My generation fought tooth and nail the the great console wars of the early 90's! It's time for us to retire and live out our remaining years being sour and bitter about the youth of today!

Meanwhile, us poor kids were still fighting that fight in the late 90s, and Genesis games being cheaper than SNES ones at the second-hand store was a legit argument! Like, I still have a tough time believing OoT and FF7 are 20 years old now, because I didn't play them until the early 00s.

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑March 20th, 2019, 1:05 am

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 20th, 2019, 12:42 am

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:49 pm

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑March 19th, 2019, 11:45 pm I've got my generation of gaming to go back to anytime, and a front lawn to tell young people to stay off! Good luck guys!

Hey! You can't just leave me like this!

My generation fought tooth and nail the the great console wars of the early 90's! It's time for us to retire and live out our remaining years being sour and bitter about the youth of today!

Meanwhile, us poor kids were still fighting that fight in the late 90s, and Genesis games being cheaper than SNES ones at the second-hand store was a legit argument! Like, I still have a tough time believing OoT and FF7 are 20 years old now, because I didn't play them until the early 00s.

I look forward to telling my grandchildren tales of Zork, and refuse to move the story along until they give me the correct prompts.