By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Advantages and disadvantages of the "cloud future"

I hate cloud because i will not own my game anymore i will just have the permission to play it



PS4 - over 100 millions let's say 120m
Xbox One - 70m
Wii U - 25m

Vita - 15m if it will not get Final Fantasy Kingdoms Heart and Monster Hunter 20m otherwise
3DS - 80m

Around the Network

Nahh, Trusting Sony and Microsoft with my digital purchases is the last thing on my list



                  

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850

The majority of the world is not well-equipped enough to utilize this technology and won't be anytime soon. Even if we finally reach that point, we still have to deal with the cons mentioned in the OP.



Not sure I get the con of hardware failure. In all my years gaming only had one system die on me, an Xbox 360 RROD. Other than that all systems have lasted a long time, I still have a Genesis and SNES that are functioning.

On the flip side I have experienced all sorts of issues with internet connections at my business or places I've lived or visited. Also, having to get internet would suddenly make gaming a much more expensive hobby, especially the kind that gaming would require. I really do not like the idea of paying $50 a month just to access my gaming library that I already paid for.

From what I've seen on PSN and the Nintendo eShop, going digital does not mean cheaper. If anything digital games hold longer than retail copies of games. I can plan on disc based games of most major titles dropping 50% within 6 months of release. I also have that option to let friends borrow it or sell it if I should chose to do so.

There is absolutely nothing appealing about the cloud model and I honestly could see publishers using it as an excuse to charge more for traditional physical releases down the road.



soulfly666 said:

Firstly, just to throw it out there, cloud computing is in no way whatsoever new technology, just FYI for those who don't know. It has been used extensively for 7-10 years by large software and services companies, and the concept was invented decades before that.

Secondly, here is where I stand on it in terms of gaming. The benefits it could achieve are staggering such as - No new hardware. No complicated setup. No game discs. No digital downloads. No game installations. No game patches, latency improvement, unified device gaming capability instead of "exclusives" forcing purchasing decisions and on and on.

My honest opinion, it won't work. Overutilization would crush its stability if it was depended on globally. Clustering, maintenance, monitoring, virtualization, storage, patching, and everything else that goes with maintaining a dedicated gaming cloud infrastructure will be EXPENSIVE. There is no way those costs won't be forced down to end users who mostly already don't agree with the premise of full cloud reliability. These demands would greatly increase and demand powerful local hardware when 4K is the new standard which, IMO is not that far away. Take a look at OnLive. It is a good idea of what we would be able to expect from dedicated cloud gaming - lower resolution and reliability issues rampant.

How do you reckon it can improve latency? For multiplayer online games?
The extra lag caused by transmission and (de)compression would make VR impossible via the cloud, unless there is some local processing to process head movements with the lowest possible latency.

It will work, a bit of extra latency and playing at 720p on medium/low settings is acceptable for plenty of people when the price is right. Hopefully that will still be too expensive as AAA exclusives will otherwise suffer like physical movie sales are declining due to readily available cheap streaming quality. High end pcs don't get the focus since the bulk of sales comes from consoles. If the revenue shifts to game streaming then consoles will also no longer be the lead platform. Getting the game to run 'cheap' will become the focus.