There is a storm brewing in the world of console gaming, and it’s called cloud gaming!
Players have been always bothered with hardware specifications and performance when it comes to purchasing high-end titles that offer the best at in-game graphics. Take a look Crysis – this first-person shooter will make PCs bleed to death if the specs do not fit the game’s technical requirements.
In the past two years, the international gaming population has slowly embraced this concept called cloud gaming, which basically eliminates the need for hard copy purchase of video games. This modern style of cloud computing technology allows players to subscribe and rent the game they want regardless of publisher and console format.
This set-up only requires a high-definition TV and a stable Internet connection. Multi-platform gaming can be achieved in this way. Console developers may really want to double-check the potential of cloud gaming because the latter can totally devastate the sales of DVD/Blu-Ray copies when the likes of the PS3 has exceeded its lifecycle.
What Makes Cloud Gaming Deadly and Lethal?
The potential of cloud gaming far exceeds its killer ability to reduce the clutter brought by the physical presence of licensed DVD/Blu-Ray game storages. In 2010, statistics show that the aggregate sales of physical PC games digital downloads plummeted by 21% and the blame can be hurled to one single culprit.
The promise of cloud gaming validates how far the gaming industry has gone. Cloud gaming offers its subscribing customers with different genres of games initially playable on single to cross platforms. The specialty behind cloud gaming is that players have access to tons of content that are outside the peripheral functions of a next-gen console.
Through cloud gaming, players can shift in between Assassin’s Creed and Farmville for a more casual break of silently dispatching friars and town guards. This breakthrough can literally paste together genres of contrasting flavors into a single gaming platform that can break the barriers of next-gen and social gaming.
The Primary Disadvantage Is…
Slow Internet connections. Console laboratories can relax knowing that the greatest nemesis of cloud-based technology is bandwidth speed inside homes, offices and public structures that run free Wi-Fi access. A recent study conducted by Euromonitor shows that streaming games in the cloud requires high bandwidth levels.
This drawback can pretty much be compared to performance issues encountered by players with weak hardware support.
Guest post written by Derek Vicente
2 comments
www.fraglabs.com.au
September 6, 2012 at 5:44 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
The gaming industry also upgraded to higher and more spacious when it comes to games. We can’t deny that ‘cloud’ is today’s trend online,a cloud gaming would not be surprising!
Jack
September 24, 2012 at 9:58 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
It would be very surprising. Cloud gaming will bring us all in a non-ending loop. Just put these factor in mind:
1- Latency (ping) from your home to the server will remain the same.
2- Streaming will require a much higher internet bandwidth (they can use coding and compressing, but this will bring you back to consoles idea).
3- The cost (monthly payments?) will inevitably increase.
4- The coming of the 4K resolution will bring hard time for every one.
5- Internet provider are not ready.
6- How people who live outside big cities will have access.
7- A lot of people wont like the Idea.
8- Risks (virus, hacks, bugs, servers saturation, etc.) are extremely higher.
…. Do I need to say more?