# Cloud gaming: are you interested?



## Costello (Oct 9, 2018)

With the recent announcements of Google, Microsoft, and with Sony's PSNow service, cloud gaming is a bit of a hot topic lately, to say the least.

What is your opinion on the concept of cloud gaming? Vote now.


----------



## Bedel (Oct 9, 2018)

Not really one of them. I just voted the 3th one. 
I don't like it, and I won't use it, but I know it's the future of gaming. I know it'll be usefull for people that can't afford a new console or a gaming PC (everyone that want any of this already have internet conection, and this will get better with time. Saying "in some countries internet is too slow" is not the point. 3 years ago I had 10Mb, now I have 300. This things only need time, but they do need it), but it's not my case. If I wanna play, I'll use my console or my PC to use it, and not a streaming service.


----------



## Sephrien (Oct 9, 2018)

They talk about bilions of people being able to use these services. I wonder how many of them will have suitable network bandwidth. 10 % sounds optimistic


----------



## The Real Jdbye (Oct 9, 2018)

I definitely like the idea, and I've used it a bit myself, but there are still huge issues with latency. For many games, that doesn't really affect gameplay, but it still keeps them from being as enjoyable as they would otherwise be.
You need a really low ping for cloud gaming to be indistinguishable from running a game locally, and that's difficult to accomplish, or even impossible/not viable with current technology.
Even if they solve that, there's still something to be said for having a game stored locally and being able to play it online or offline, on a laptop when you're on the go, or doing LAN gaming.
I don't think cloud gaming is a viable alternative given its current limitations, but I think it could become viable in the future. I don't think it'll ever replace running a game locally though.

Plus, people don't just buy/build gaming PCs because they have to to run the games they want to play, there's a whole culture around PC building for the sake of PC building and everyone likes to brag about their flashy gaming PC with nice specs. That's a sort of appeal that cloud gaming just lacks.

But, can it become mainstream? Potentially, it could live alongside regular gaming happily, but as said I doubt it'll replace it. But, for the same reason buying phones on a contract is so popular, cloud gaming could easily become mainstream when it works well enough. But, "future of gaming" is a bit much I think.

So, in short, you should add an option for "I think it might become mainstream but wouldn't say it's the future of gaming" as none of the options really seem to fit my opinion.


----------



## KingVamp (Oct 9, 2018)

1) As long as it stays an option, I don't care.
2) I would hate it, if it replaces digital and physical games. 
3) I like the idea of streaming games that I already and actually own.


----------



## yusuo (Oct 9, 2018)

It's gone from downloading games and then losing the ability to redownload if and when a server being turned off to being losing the ability to even play a game when the server gets turned off. 

Don't even get me started on the lack of infrastructure to do this reliably. 

I'll stick to physical games until I can't anymore

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Costello said:


> With the recent announcements of Google, Microsoft, and with Sony's PSNow service, cloud gaming is a bit of a hot topic lately, to say the least.
> 
> What is your opinion on the concept of cloud gaming? Vote now.


I doubt anybody actually asks this but although you've proposed the question what are your views on the subject?


----------



## GomenaSAIKE (Oct 9, 2018)

We keep getting more and more closer to anti-consumer practices... I can hear you say "How? How did you get that from cloud gaming?" 
Easy gaming is slowly but surely getting further from playing under your own terms and more to big companies. Cloud gaming = always online, always online = no offline gaming + potentially locking out due to service having a "$ubscription fee".
If you are still saying no way, remember that we used to have things better some examples are region free consoles/media, free online play, no nickle and dime dlc/microtransactions. Now? Now those are main stays and NO ONE bats an eye, again BETTER but not perfect.


----------



## Costello (Oct 9, 2018)

yusuo said:


> It's gone from downloading games and then losing the ability to redownload if and when a server being turned off to being losing the ability to even play a game when the server gets turned off.
> 
> Don't even get me started on the lack of infrastructure to do this reliably.
> 
> ...


I make up my mind after getting facts and reading opinions, for now my opinion is on par with the majority of people on this community


----------



## BORTZ (Oct 9, 2018)

PvP or anything that involves other players? I'm afraid we run into a big big issue
L A T E N C Y 



yusuo said:


> It's gone from downloading games and then losing the ability to redownload if and when a server being turned off to being losing the ability to even play a game when the server gets turned off.
> 
> Don't even get me started on the lack of infrastructure to do this reliably.
> 
> I'll stick to physical games until I can't anymore



I'm with you there. I dont use Spotify or straming music sites as my main source of music for one solid reason. When its gone, its gone. If that service, whatever it might be, doesn't have the album or song on file, that's it. I would rather rely on my own physical media or storage devices to keep ahold of my own personal collection. There are many many other points i could come up with here, but you hit on a few of the really big ones.


----------



## PanTheFaun (Oct 9, 2018)

I prefer to just play regularly on a console but there have been times where I have streamed games from my Nvidia Shield TV and it was really nice. I voted for the 3rd option.


----------



## The Catboy (Oct 9, 2018)

I hate the idea and I refuse to use it. It's too easy for things to go wrong, too easy to lose everything if the service goes down, and there's simply no guarantee for the long term future.


----------



## PanTheFaun (Oct 9, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> I hate the idea and I refuse to use it. It's too easy for things to go wrong, too easy to lose everything if the service goes down, and there's simply no guarantee for the long term future.


I see it only as an alternative to people who may not be able to purchase pricey gaming consoles. I much prefer the actual console and hope I never see the day that streaming is the main way to game.


----------



## PrincessLillie (Oct 9, 2018)

I think it's an interesting venture, but I honestly don't see this ever becoming a mainstream thing. Downloading games and playing them later is so much faster, at least for me and others that have a terrible internet connection.


----------



## Deleted User (Oct 9, 2018)

As a PC gamer, I'm entirely against it. Having a game streamed defeats the whole point of having a PC, the game won't be customizable, moddable, tweakable, moddable...

we wouldn't be able to fix completely broken-ass games on launch either....

however for those that don't have a gaming PC yet have good internet speeds, yeah I guess... but at that point you're paying so much for a good speed you're probably not far off from building a good PC

but personally, I'll be avoiding it unless it's in-home streaming from my own device to my own device


----------



## shaunj66 (Oct 9, 2018)

As an anal retentive who obsesses over things such as input lag and picture clarity etc. it's a no-go for me - at least for most games.

Even local gamestreaming over a personal network such as Geforce Gamestream etc. introduces too much delay for me. I suppose that for slower paced games streaming may work, but the majority of games I've tried just don't. 

I will always prefer a pure native experience when playing games whenever possible and the knowledge that I can play the game where and whenever I want without having to rely on an internet connection and DRM telling me what I can and can't do.

However I do see streaming becoming more common place and for some it may be fine. The appeal is there - a low cost piece of hardware capable of streaming and a subscription may win over some, compared to having to fork out £500 for a new console and £50 for each game.

I think there's a place for it as an option for those that can live with it, but it's not for me.


----------



## slaphappygamer (Oct 9, 2018)

Sounds a lot like Nvidia ‘s “geo now force” (or whatever it’s called). I’m sure new cloud gaming will be just as forgotten. Not everyone has internet or want to game online because of latency. For example, any FPS game, how would the experience really be if some users have fiber and some have dsl. Now the game will “optimize” your network. I know I wouldn’t want to be held back due to my teammates (or opposing teams) internet connection.


----------



## duwen (Oct 9, 2018)

Not interested.
Current netcode for online games struggles to come close to lag free - cloudplay will likely never get close to what we have with current hardware-to-hardware netcode.
If cloud gaming becomes the norm, you can kiss goodbye to competitive gaming.


----------



## Taleweaver (Oct 9, 2018)

My choice isn't there, but since it's an ambiguous one I would've settled for an "other, namely...". Instead I voted for *"I don't like the idea, but I guess it can be useful for a few people".

*
To be honest: I _do_ like the idea. Rather than the "you don't buy the games! You rent them!!!!" that gets thrown around as criticism, I choose to embrace that as a feature. Meaning: I don't see anything wrong with renting games. And I'm old enough to remember the initial reaction to steam in it's first few years. "Online games only? That will NEVER work!!!". I foresee this going the same way: as the technology advances, renting and streaming games will become the new normal, slowly but steadily suppressing the old way (how many video game stores are left nowadays? Their amount keeps shrinking while the gaming economy booms like never before).


...it's just that I don't like it for myself (yet). My gaming habit slowly shifts towards mobile, and aside the technological barriers and not-yet-really-affordable rates for always-online internet in these parts, I simply don't like my mobile devices being online all the time. I never bought the full game of Super Mario Run...not because it was "too much" (hint: it was one fifth of a NSMB version, cheapskates!), but because it required you to be online. And I just don't want to put my personal contacts more into potential jeopardy than they already are (for the record: I don't use facebook or whatsapp on mobile either).


----------



## Kioku_Dreams (Oct 9, 2018)

Factually, there's something huge that is missing to make this a viable option for everyone. That would be a consistent and fast enough connection around the globe to allow at least constant 720p/60fps, without jitter/stutter or buffering, and allow a low ping to other players in multiplayer games. It's a great concept, but I don't like paying for a service where I'm pretty much the test subject.

OnLive tanked for a variety of reasons and was subsequently bought out by Sony which pumped out PSNow. A service that was and still is for a rather niche audience. Nvidia offers a free and I believe a paid service for cloud gaming. One to connect to your home PC and one to connect to a dedicated "cloud PC" respectively. Again, great concept, but the technology isn't there yet to consider this practical for everyday gaming.. I can't get behind them making a big push for this right now for this very reason.


----------



## FAST6191 (Oct 9, 2018)

Lag wise unless it is going to be installed in the local exchange or possibly cabinet level for the bigger cabinets I see latency being an issue for games requiring reaction speed. In my case my normal home internet is ADSL and shared between a few people so no go there. I would probably be the exception though so I can ignore that.

Graphics wise and processing wise I am expecting a bit of a plateau for the time being and for prices for local processing to more or less match that of a streaming box/card and similarly prices for graphics making to exceed returns (I don't know if we have quite reached gaming saturation but growth rates are going to be rather low for the foreseeable future so I am not sure we are going to reach the point where we can sustain 4 cloud artists for a game).

That pretty much leaves them using a local high performance computer to instead some really swish AI. Show me something and we can talk there. Maybe we would be able to get thousands of players multiplayer going on which could be interesting but again show me first.

Practically speaking I have seen companies take the piss far too many times this last few decades. Such a service would probably mean no second hand, no modding, a monthly bill (something I avoid wherever possible) and all the other things people have mentioned thus far and we have seen with similar services.


----------



## KingVamp (Oct 9, 2018)

Let's say a cloud only service cost $100 a year. You play for 7 years and decide that's enough. That's when you lose everything, unless you started paying again. That is, if they haven't pulled the game(s) or shutdown the whole service altogether.  

Meanwhile, you could have at least waited 4 to 5 years, to get a cheaper (use or new) console and games that you could have kept for life for around the same price. Granted, you might be late jumping on to the new consoles and games, but still.


----------



## tech3475 (Oct 10, 2018)

KingVamp said:


> Let's say a cloud only service cost $100 a year. You play for 7 years and decide that's enough. That's when you lose everything, unless you started paying again. That is, if they haven't pulled the game(s) or shutdown the whole service altogether.
> 
> Meanwhile, you could have at least waited 4 to 5 years, to get a cheaper (use or new) console and games that you could have kept for life for around the same price. Granted, you might be late jumping on to the new consoles and games, but still.



Depending on the person, that might actually be a good deal.

For example, my brothers only play a few games each year with Fifa (an annual release) being the main one which they buy on launch and even bought launch consoles for. If for £100 they don't need to buy new consoles, pay for online and get the new version on launch as well as other games they would actually save money.

It's only when it comes to those who want to keep games long term or need local rendering (e.g. poor internet connection) that it can become an issue.


----------



## DarthDub (Oct 10, 2018)

Not at all.


----------



## linuxares (Oct 10, 2018)

Sure, the companies will totally have our best intrest in mind.... /s


----------



## AtsuNii (Oct 10, 2018)

The only experience i really have with it is the Beta of Utomik a while back. I must say, it is not a bad thing but then again, games might get taken out of it while you're still busy with it is my biggest fear in it. Next to the connection issues certain people might experience through it. So I would rather have them advance in it a bit more technology wise so the streaming will go to a better standard. For myself personally, I'd rather not, I prefer to own my games.


----------



## DayVeeBoi (Oct 10, 2018)

One more option on the poll please, "It sucks, but I think we're stuck with it". Same way I felt when PSPgo came out with no option for physical media.


----------



## tech3475 (Oct 10, 2018)

DayVeeBoi said:


> One more option on the poll please, "It sucks, but I think we're stuck with it". Same way I felt when PSPgo came out with no option for physical media.



We had an option, not buying it.

I doubt MS would have backtracked on the disasterous Xbone pre-launch DRM, etc. If sales were still good.

That said, I remember an idiotic ‘review’ of the Go on the Gadget Show where they called the lack of physical media ‘good due to DD’, ignoring that the regular console still had DD as an option.


----------



## TheMCNerd2017 (Oct 11, 2018)

I'd rather be able to play singleplayer games without needing to purchase an expensive 100mbps symmetrical internet connection. Also, game streaming makes it much harder to archive any games that use it.


----------



## sj33 (Oct 11, 2018)

I'm really neither 'like' nor 'dislike'. It has a place. For people unable to afford dedicated hardware and regular full priced software yet can afford a monthly subscription, the benefits are obvious.


----------



## goober (Oct 11, 2018)

Cloud Gaming is 100% about removing ownership of games and making consumers be 100% dependent upon subscription services. If you don't believe me just look at every meeting that has been publicly disclosed about cloud gaming, music, movies, etc. aka sub services. All the investors and "leaders" in the companies drool at the prospect and promise to do what they can for that prospect. Sub services have proven to be huge money makers. Ownership of traditional media has only been shown to be money makers. Everyone wants a lottery ticket these days and "Cloud" Gaming is what these idiots think it will be since not everyone can be the beyond reasoning of success games like Fortnite and all the other ones before it.

If cloud gaming was always and forever a sideshow for those who don't mind it, fine. But this industry has a very defined abuse pattern of its consumers and its constant anti-consumer tactics, that means people who actually BUY stuff.

Just imagine what they'd do when they were no longer accountable, users no longer had ANY freedom for their media and they had a huge revenue stream to "protect".

Gaming history would get lost. Games would be forgotten not because they were bad or insignificant but because music rights expired and they couldn't be bothered to update/replace or licensing terms got out of favor so they just abandoned the title. There'd be no backups anywhere.

Above all else, though, "hysterics" aside, you wouldn't be able to play what you fucking paid for anytime you want and would be at the mercy of not only your internet provider (which if Republican Terrorism remains will be another bottleneck in this) but the service itself and hackers attacking that service because they got pissed for whatever reason.

No thanks. Whatever convenience and neatoness Cloud gaming could be if all the kinks got ironed out do not outweigh the very realistic alternate reality in which it thrived in.


----------



## Taleweaver (Oct 11, 2018)

goober said:


> Cloud Gaming is 100% about removing ownership of games and making consumers be 100% dependent upon subscription services. If you don't believe me just look at every meeting that has been publicly disclosed about cloud gaming, music, movies, etc. aka sub services. All the investors and "leaders" in the companies drool at the prospect and promise to do what they can for that prospect. Sub services have proven to be huge money makers. Ownership of traditional media has only been shown to be money makers. Everyone wants a lottery ticket these days and "Cloud" Gaming is what these idiots think it will be since not everyone can be the beyond reasoning of success games like Fortnite and all the other ones before it.
> 
> If cloud gaming was always and forever a sideshow for those who don't mind it, fine. But this industry has a very defined abuse pattern of its consumers and its constant anti-consumer tactics, that means people who actually BUY stuff.
> 
> ...




I get the concerns. Seriously: I do. But c'mon...there's a thing called exaggeration, and there's a thing called EXAGGERATION!!! You know damn well that if everyone sticks with physical games, these investors/leaders have nothing.

_"this industry has a very defined abuse pattern of its consumers and its constant anti-consumer tactics"_...yeah, those poor consumers who are totally unable to buy games in physical form or from sources like gog.com. These poor handful of millions of people are completely defenseless and outnumbered against the enormous army of a few dozens investors who will invade homes and trample any remaining cartridges, DVD's and (obviously legitimate) backups of games, all the while shouting things like "game streaming is the FUTURE! Embrace our PLATFORM!!!".

I'll also +9000 your post for blaming both terrorist internet providers and vigilante hackers alike for starting a war against each other with that will incidentally leave the abovementioned gaming group unable to play games. Can I throw in "if USA starts a war with Russia, China, Korea, the EU, Mexico, Canada and Belgium, then THIS MIGHT BE DETRIMENTAL FOR OUR GAMING BANDWITH!!!!", or is that jumping the shark?


----------



## mightymuffy (Oct 11, 2018)

Another one for 'personally not keen, but we're stuck with it' - I can see this being the next battle between Google, Microsoft and probably Amazon. (Nin will sit it out and carry on with their own agenda, Sony might partner with one of them, Apple? Well fukk knows.. probably same as Nintendo)
I'm very interested in seeing how the whole thing develops ....just, not sure I'll be taking any part in it!


----------



## evilone (Oct 11, 2018)

I completley refuse it, perhaps im simply to old for this. I grew up in the Time, where PC / AMIGA / C64 Games was sold in nice shiny big boxes (which i still collect) and was already really pissed at the Time when they start to sell Mini Big Boxes and DVD cases, from this time i really stopped buying games just for collecting, i only buyed games which are really interessting for me, the rest only for the retro collection. I already refuse steam, for sure here i own also already alot of games due to the years, but the plus is here simply you can get the keys fucking cheap after a while. 

I fear with cloud gaming it will be even worse then with steam, if there would be something like Netflix for Games for a good price it could be interessting, but to pay 60-70$ only to get something activated on their servers, i dont like this feeling. I really like it when i have something physical in my hand.


----------



## Deleted User (Oct 11, 2018)

i dont think it will last but its probably useful for somebody
i definately wont be able to use it cuz the internet here sucks
ranges form 0.5kb/s-700kb/s and shuts off for ~15mins at 16:00 because my isp (only one in my town lul) gets overloaded when everyone gets off work
and thats the fastest i can get since i moved


----------



## DayVeeBoi (Oct 12, 2018)

tech3475 said:


> We had an option, not buying it.


And that's exactly what happened. Nobody bought it, but did it matter? Not really, they just keep thrusting more and more DRM disguised as convenience, and other Anti-Consumer "innovation" down our throats. That's all this is as well, companies wresting control over the products we (used to) own.

*FCKDRM.com*​


----------



## spiderman1216 (Oct 12, 2018)

It's probably the future when it becomes more reliable I suspect most people will go for it.

 A fast internet connection is useful for many things a console isn't at least not as useful as what most people already have in their homes like a smartphone, or a tablet. 

 It's more convenient to the consumer all you need is the display and a fast internet connection which in turn saves you money on hardware. Just get a fast internet connection, a display, and a controller if it works the way xCloud works where you buy the game and stream it anywhere and if the subscription is incredibly low cost or if there is a subscription at all it can take streaming by a storm and normalize it in the future.

Though there still needs to be things worked out for it to truly take hold.

We need to be able to trade in games, we need to be able to preserve games maybe like a library of games. My idea would be something like a digital library something like the public library we already have but digital where games are uploaded it to for keeping so if a service goes down the games don't go with it.

You are still free to purchase said games or if you already purchased them you can just continue using them.


----------



## eworm (Oct 12, 2018)

Please add a "The hell is cloud gaming?" option to the poll, 'k thx.


----------



## CrimsonMaple (Oct 13, 2018)

I think the idea is alright and that it probably is the future of gaming but not for a long while. I won't be using it for a long while.


----------



## invaderyoyo (Oct 13, 2018)

I have a Shield TV and GeForce Now works great! You can buy games on Steam and just run them on there. You don't need a PC. You own the games.

That said, I have a 300 Mbps connection. If your internet is bad then, yeah it won't work. If the internet goes down, you're screwed. Idk if it's the future, but it definitely could be.


----------



## Deleted member 331788 (Oct 13, 2018)

Providing people don't buy in to it ...it will be gone faster than VR!
No internet means no games!!!


----------



## Captain_N (Oct 13, 2018)

I will not support game streaming. I dont like spending my hard earned cash on things i cant keep. I dont even subscribe to any streaming services now. I use free sites to watch media. and i download what i want to keep. I will wait till the games are jacked off the servers and it cna be ran on a home server. then ill stream it from my own server.


----------



## Kikirini (Oct 13, 2018)

Cloud gaming is neat, but as someone who lives in an area where internet/cell service is not even slightly ubiquitous, it will never be useful for me.


----------



## froggestspirit (Oct 14, 2018)

Maybe if it didn't rely on wifi? Personally, I don't like the idea of subscription based gaming. It might be nice to play games in more places with less hardware, but I would not want to rely on it primarily. Having 500Mbps and my router in the room next to mine, I still experience shortages from time to time. I would have said "I don't like the idea, but it could be helpful", but that would give the companies the impression that they just need to "convince" people like me. I would rather it be over something more stable. Who knows what kind of wireless connections we might have 10-15 years from now.


----------



## Tigran (Oct 14, 2018)

I can see it useful as a rental service. For example, you can rent Assassin's Creed for 48 hours total playtime for 8 bucks *just pulling shit out of my ass here folks, please don't think I have any actual numbers*. And at the end of the playtime a message pops up and flat out says, "You are out of time, if you'd like you can rent again, or purchase a digital code for PC/Xbox/Sony/Nintendo, for a discounted price and you're save game will transfer over." 

IF they did that, I think it could be really useful, as it would give people a chance to actually rent and fully play the game, and the company gets some out of the rental, AND they could sell it to you and you'd get you're copy. *maybe even add a physical option in there.. who knows*.

That way it would be a Win-Win-Win.

Until about 4 days ago, I would have said it wouldn't work, as I live in fuck-all Georgia, but Googles AC beta was actually -very- good, so my old complaints do not appear to be valid anymore. However, I would at least like the option for the Digital Download.

Currently, I do not see it replacing consoles directly, as there is still a visual quality drop, and I don't expect 4k to be a thing anytime too soon. *of course I could be wrong*. However it may be a way to bridge the generational gap.


----------



## Song of storms (Oct 18, 2018)

I can see it happening. Definitely a good thing for budget phones/consoles. Imagine a PSTV2 that costs one tenth of a PS4 but can still play games thanks to the cloud. Maybe it's also the time we will see and end of having upgraded consoles and just have one PlayStation every 10 years that can play all games in Cloud at 4K. That would need a hell of a fiber, but I see it can be a reality in a decade or so.


----------



## Yepi69 (Oct 22, 2018)

I've been trying the beta of Geforce Now, so far so good. Connection is really speedy (I did a speedtest within a browser on the streamer's machine, download speed was 1254.33 Mbps and Upload speed was 796.23 Mbps, so they know what they're doing) and I was able to play some Steam games that I owned at 1080p60 no problem with little to no input lag what so ever, tho that really depends on your connection.


----------



## cvskid (Oct 22, 2018)

Would rather have another video game crash like back in 1983 than to have cloud gaming as the norm.


----------



## Argonitious (Oct 22, 2018)

Ok... so there are three problems with this concept, which is why I think it will only be useful for a (relatively speaking) small number of people.

Latency.
Compression. (Sorry, real time video compression usually just burns my eyes.)
Bandwidth. (If you aren't fortunate enough to live in Europe or one of the few US cities with decent ISPs, you will bog down your connection just by attempting to stream games or videos.)
I know bandwidth is not a major issue for everyone, but it is still a major problem for a number of people. I have personally experienced slow bandwidth and constantly dropped connections for the last 10 years. Just playing an online game like Splatoon 2 is sometimes a nightmare on a day when the connection drops a lot. I don't even want to think about how terrible things would be if I tried to stream a game!


----------



## huntertron1 (Oct 23, 2018)

just stream the files and make sure you have the cpu and gpu. ive tested this with my own server in the living room. the only thing is loading times. then it should be only slow, but if it constantly loads (depending on how much it does it) it will load really slow. the games that i tested so far was sonic heroes, and pony island. sadly my server only has 40 GB of storage due to it being a old dino. i think the next games i will test will be portal 2, sonic mania, and just shapes and beats.


----------



## Pokepicker (Oct 23, 2018)

I'm sure cloud gaming would be an awesome experience with my internet connection.
Depending on the alignment of the stars, and the time of high tide I can have 0,45 Mbit/s download, with a snappy 630ms response time.

Maybe if it was a cloud based Chess game.


----------



## the_randomizer (Oct 23, 2018)

Not being able to physically or digitally keep the games on an HDD or on NAND, no thank you. What's the point in paying for a game you don't own in one form or another? If I wanted to stream a game, I'd watch let's play videos on YouTube.


----------



## Frankbel (Oct 28, 2018)

For casual gamers or casual gamimg, streaming is fine, but for gamers Console or PC are necessary. 
The problem is that casual gaming market is as big as the non-casual one.


----------



## the_randomizer (Oct 28, 2018)

Cloud gaming is just a lazy developer's excuse to not put forth any conceited effort into a game just to make money.


----------



## FAST6191 (Oct 28, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> Cloud gaming is just a lazy developer's excuse to not put forth any conceited effort into a game just to make money.


I don't doubt the thought of paying by the hour (possibly up front and possible with a subscription) and never being able to resell or lend while not having to do downloads or discs/carts has various greedy bastards having to go change their underwear, however I don't see how it is going to allow them to get away with not putting in the effort in the broad strokes. About all it might allow is for them to not have to optimise as hard or have to get truly down and dirty with network code to deal with crappy consumer ADSL when it is effectively just a LAN game.


----------



## the_randomizer (Oct 28, 2018)

FAST6191 said:


> I don't doubt the thought of paying by the hour (possibly up front and possible with a subscription) and never being able to resell or lend while not having to do downloads or discs/carts has various greedy bastards having to go change their underwear, however I don't see how it is going to allow them to get away with not putting in the effort in the broad strokes. About all it might allow is for them to not have to optimise as hard or have to get truly down and dirty with network code to deal with crappy consumer ADSL when it is effectively just a LAN game.



I just don't see the appeal, not to mention the garbage internet infrastructure we have here in the US doesn't make it viable.


----------



## Deleted User (Oct 28, 2018)

Nope nope nope and nope. I'd never even consider using a cloud gaming service. Look at Resident Evil 7 on the Switch. Classic case of taking the piss. A single player game you need to own a license.... and pay hourly for it? If I was running a company and came to me with that idea, they'd be fired on the fucking spot for being such a retard, then I'd fire the person who hired them on behalf of my company.


----------



## SonicRings (Oct 29, 2018)

Any subscription-based service will end up costing more than simply owning said service after a set period of time. Gaming included: after a few years you'd have spent the equivalent of a console. After this point you'll only be spending more and more, making cloud-based gaming cost more than simply owning the hardware.


----------



## ZachSZ (Oct 29, 2018)

I used to completely reject it until I tried a Steam Link. I know Steam Link is completely controlled by the user's network and not streamed from a cloud server, but it wasn't until the Steam Link that I experienced the great potential that cloud gaming could be one day.

That said, while I've played through many games over my Steam Link and had a blast, any other streaming service like PS Now and Project Stream have had bad latency. Until they can solve the latency issue, all continue to pass on it.


----------



## aykay55 (Oct 29, 2018)

It will never become mainstream, people just don't have the WiFi speeds. However, it will grow into its own industry. Services like Rainway will be replicated by third parties and companies like Microsoft, Sony, and maybe even Nintendo, and they will allow you to pick up the game you were playing on your console/PC and continue it on your phone and play it anywhere with a WiFi connection, but streaming will never replace local storage.


----------



## FAST6191 (Oct 30, 2018)

aykay55 said:


> It will never become mainstream, people just don't have the WiFi speeds. However, it will grow into its own industry. Services like Rainway will be replicated by third parties and companies like Microsoft, Sony, and maybe even Nintendo, and they will allow you to pick up the game you were playing on your console/PC and continue it on your phone and play it anywhere with a WiFi connection, but streaming will never replace local storage.


People seem OK streaming fairly high resolution video and while it has not out and out killed physical media yet it is very much a mainstream thing. Speeds are also only going one way and if they do start sticking server farms in or next to internet exchanges or cabinets...
Defining the rural population is tricky ( https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/definition/index.html ) but probably going to be around 20% and is only dropping as time goes on (not to mention even they are getting better speeds).

It will be a sad day if it does come to pass that I can not have a copy of a game to play by myself in 20 years time if I felt so inclined.


----------



## grossaffe (Nov 3, 2018)

Can't we have poll options that separate opinion from prognostication?  If one believes the concept is terrible but will stick around anyways because the industry will never stop trying to trick us into accepting it, what are they supposed to vote?


----------



## Dan-the-Rebirth (Nov 7, 2018)

The more interesting question is: will cloud gaming be the end of piracy?


----------



## FAST6191 (Nov 7, 2018)

Dan-the-Rebirth said:


> The more interesting question is: will cloud gaming be the end of piracy?


Assuming it somehow takes off and encompasses all, or essentially all, of gaming* then I am sure people will still pay with funny credit cards and whatnot. Similarly if they are going to stick it in a cabinet at the end of the street/in the exchange (because... you know, physics) I am sure someone will have a crowbar they can play with.

*I have previously pondered what might happen in the event of a crash and reckoned open source, mod making and whatever else would keep us sitting pretty. I imagine similar things would happen in the event cloud became the dominant mode.


----------

