Well the Cell was actually used to offload graphics processing from the GPU, in the form of adding MLAA, or culling geometry. Those things simply aren't feasible for the cloud, too much data and too time sensitive. Even NVidea Cloudlight is already too much data traffic for anything that actually adds something significant to the scene that can't be done better locally.

The cloud can be used to better deliver MMO like experiences to consoles. It's nothing more then a universal system of dedicated servers. MS has stated that cloud features should work from 1.5 mbps of data, that's 192KB per second, or 3.2KB per frame at 60fps. You can send player positions and some AI in that, not much more.

You don't think the PS3's main CPU is useful?  What does it make games run with, fairy dust?

X1 cloud isn't even anything special.  You think that games targetting PS4 don't use cloud servers too?  Maybe their own, maybe Amazon AWS, Google App Engine.  PS4 games could even use Microsoft's cloud if they want to.  The only thing special is that MS pays for X1 cloud with your XBox Live money, and developers probably don't get a choice to use other services if they want to.  Woot.

All I was saying was that Sony could have just went with a standard cpu like on the 360 and it wouldn't have made much of a difference and the cell is/was not being widely used by anyone vs Microsoft's cloud technology is being integrated onto Windows, Windows Phone, Windows Server, Enterprises and obviously the Xbox One so the cloud is much more needed than the cell ever was.. As of right now, the cloud is useless for the x1 but in the future as Microsoft further expands its cloud, it has much more potentical to be useful than the cell ever was...

And its not about the fact that Sony can do it with the ps4 too, its about the fact that Microsoft has more experience with the cloud than Sony and they are taking it much more seriously than Sony is... Idk for sure if it will make any difference in the future but it has a greater potentical to

What did Sony promise that the Cell didn't do?  The Cell (an 8 year old tech) can actually number crunch more than the PS4 & Xbox One's CPUs can in 2013.

Depends what they do with it.  It's often fairly mundane services like sharing your prifile, things that you expect anyway these days without Super Marketing Hype Special.

Sony is doing PlayStation Now in the cloud, which is IMO more serious than providing Azure for X1.

Can't argue with that atm, thats for sure

I have been keeping up with X1 news and I am sure I never saw any statement from MS that promised 4K gaming.  Now if you said MS stated cloud processing would deliver 4x the performance of the X1 then you would be correct.

Great to see 90% think MS cloud marketing is full of bovine feces.

True that having a cloud based streaming service can be great but you also have to understand that Azure is not just one type of cloud service.  Azure is a platform for multiple different cloud services that goes beyond just SaaS Software as a service which is what Playstation Now is.  In the end, all of these cloud services will have to deliver and until they actually go full steam, who knows which will be the better service for gamers.

To add to that, the "Cloud" is another form of DRM.
If or rather when Microsoft closes down Azure/Cloud servers (Nothing lasts forever!), you can bet that the games that rely on it will cease to function, on the PC it's not so much of a problem, modders/hackers have historically reverse engineered such things in the past.

I'm still of the opinion that Sony would have been better served going with a simpler CPU core and boosted the Ram to at-least 1gb during the last generation, the Cell just wasn't that impressive.