Microsoft or Sony Dropping Out of the Hardware Business, Predicts Gaikai

[GonzoGamer]

Gaikai have a point, but such a thing won't happen for perhaps another 2 console generations. By that time, Microsoft and Sony may develop their own cloud service and leverage their substantial weight in the market to easily get licenses for more or less every game Gaikai and OnLive will have to fight tooth and nail for.

Yea,we've only had one generation really for the gamers to dump enough money into PSN or Live that they wont want to switch.

Personally, after the shit we've been sold this generation, I kind of hope they all stop making consoles.

I'd like to see a new platform developer that releases a console that is actually made well AND gets good support but nobody is going to bother to release that when people will pay $100s of dollars for crap.

 

[Griffolion]

Gaikai have a point, but such a thing won't happen for perhaps another 2 console generations. By that time, Microsoft and Sony may develop their own cloud service and leverage their substantial weight in the market to easily get licenses for more or less every game Gaikai and OnLive will have to fight tooth and nail for.

Yea,we've only had one generation really for the gamers to dump enough money into PSN or Live that they wont want to switch.

Personally, after the shit we've been sold this generation, I kind of hope they all stop making consoles.

I'd like to see a new platform developer that releases a console that is actually made well AND gets good support but nobody is going to bother to release that when people will pay $100s of dollars for crap.

I see your point, I do think that one of the biggest selling points for the cloud gaming option is the barrier to entry. An OnLive console currently costs £70 or $100 and includes everything you need to get started. Couple that with a free AAA game on account creation (or one at a seriously reduced price) and you've got a system that costs substantially less than conventional consoles do AND delivers top notch quality through the server side rendering. Of course, the proviso for all this is a good internet connection, which is far from ubiquitous in the US, UK etc which is why I think we're not going to see cloud gaming peak for a good number of years yet.

I think another big USP is the proliferation of cloud gaming capability across form factors. OnLive have already developed and released apps for smart phones (Android and iOS) and tablets (same two) and have confirmed development of the software directly into the next generation smart televisions, Google's TV and Apple TV. When you couple this with the universal controller that connects via standardised Bluetooth protocol to anything that will listen, you do have an ecosystem with very far stretching arms, much longer than conventional gaming ecosystems in any case.

PS - I know all this about OnLive because I have the console and have played it (got given a free one at last year's Eurogamer). Granted, I have a decent internet connection, but regardless, it's really decent. All they need to sort out is the lag, which is something they said they are continually working on.

PPS - Contrary to what you may think, I am actually NOT a sales rep for OnLive, I have simply tried the system and really like it and see it's potential for the future.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Cloud is not even close to being feasible for a mainstream takeover. There are only a handful of countries in Europe and East Asia that can even pull it off, and parts of the US.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Gaikai have a point, but such a thing won't happen for perhaps another 2 console generations. By that time, Microsoft and Sony may develop their own cloud service and leverage their substantial weight in the market to easily get licenses for more or less every game Gaikai and OnLive will have to fight tooth and nail for.

Yea,we've only had one generation really for the gamers to dump enough money into PSN or Live that they wont want to switch.

Personally, after the shit we've been sold this generation, I kind of hope they all stop making consoles.

I'd like to see a new platform developer that releases a console that is actually made well AND gets good support but nobody is going to bother to release that when people will pay $100s of dollars for crap.

I see your point, I do think that one of the biggest selling points for the cloud gaming option is the barrier to entry. An OnLive console currently costs £70 or $100 and includes everything you need to get started. Couple that with a free AAA game on account creation (or one at a seriously reduced price) and you've got a system that costs substantially less than conventional consoles do AND delivers top notch quality through the server side rendering. Of course, the proviso for all this is a good internet connection, which is far from ubiquitous in the US, UK etc which is why I think we're not going to see cloud gaming peak for a good number of years yet.

I think another big USP is the proliferation of cloud gaming capability across form factors. OnLive have already developed and released apps for smart phones (Android and iOS) and tablets (same two) and have confirmed development of the software directly into the next generation smart televisions, Google's TV and Apple TV. When you couple this with the universal controller that connects via standardised Bluetooth protocol to anything that will listen, you do have an ecosystem with very far stretching arms, much longer than conventional gaming ecosystems in any case.

PS - I know all this about OnLive because I have the console and have played it (got given a free one at last year's Eurogamer). Granted, I have a decent internet connection, but regardless, it's really decent. All they need to sort out is the lag, which is something they said they are continually working on.

PPS - Contrary to what you may think, I am actually NOT a sales rep for OnLive, I have simply tried the system and really like it and see it's potential for the future.

I'm actually surprised I haven't signed up to Onlive yet. I definitely plan to and I will definitely use it when the next gen rolls around. The fact of the matter is that when I got the PS3 the promises of Sony were still fresh in my ears: of games crammed with extra content on the BluRay, games making use of a connected PSP, high def and high framerate games, custom soundtracks...it's all been BS. After their firmware has neglected/stripped any features but those that allow you to play games & movies, I'm thinking they could've made a machine that just played games & movies for a hell of a lot cheaper.

I'm starting to think that that was the intention of MS & Sony: for us to get so fed up with their crap that we welcome an experience that's more cloud based.