CuCabeludo on 06 June 2019
| Shadow1980 said: I really, really hope this fails. Not because I have any particular ill will towards Google, mind you, but because the entire prospect of streaming games offends me at a gut level. I simply do not like that even single-player games are dependent on a constant internet connection. Your internet goes out? Can't play anything. The service's servers go down for any reason? Can't play anything. The entire concept of "offline play" completely ceases to exist in a streaming service. For physical and downloaded copies, offline play is still very possible for single-player experiences, and your progress in a level or mission won't suddenly come to a screeching halt because of a disruption to your internet connection or what have you. Also, if a game is removed from a streaming service, it's gone, perhaps for good if it was removed over some rights issue. At least with digital downloads, if you have a title downloaded before it's delisted it stays on your hard drive. And with physical, a title that has gone out of print is still available for purchase through the second-hand market, which makes it even better when it comes to long-term availability of titles. Think of all the titles that have been pulled from digital storefronts over the years. Now, imagine those games being gone forever because streaming was the only way to play them. Of all the possible ways of distributing games, streaming has the most weaknesses and fewest strengths by far. I hope it does not succeed in the long run, because I don't want even the slightest possibility of it being the only way to play games in the future. |
1 - It won't fail, if Sony, with a much lower datacenter infrastructure capability compared to Google's, managed to get 700 thousand subscribers for their PSNow streaming service, Google has potential to go beyond that.
2 - If electricity goes out, you can't play your local games either. This fear of having a temporary internet shut down is as baseless as fearing a temporary blackout.
