Game Streaming Platforms and Technology (xCloud, PSNow, Stadia, GeforceNow, Luna)

Discussion in 'Console Technology' started by lefantome, Mar 19, 2019.

  1. TheAlSpark

    TheAlSpark Moderator
    Moderator Legend

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2004
    Messages:
    22,146
    Likes Received:
    8,533
    Location:
    ಠ_ಠ
    Kind of curious about the implications for developers having dev kits on the cloud ( also for stuff like baking).
     
  2. Malo

    Malo Yak Mechanicum
    Legend Subscriber

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2002
    Messages:
    8,931
    Likes Received:
    5,533
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Aren't they provided actual physical dev kits? I thought they mentioned during the conference that hardware was provided to 100+ publishers or something.
     
  3. BRiT

    BRiT (>• •)>⌐■-■ (⌐■-■)
    Moderator Legend Alpha

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2002
    Messages:
    20,516
    Likes Received:
    24,424
    Was that just the Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra?
     
  4. iroboto

    iroboto Daft Funk
    Legend Subscriber

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2014
    Messages:
    14,834
    Likes Received:
    18,634
    Location:
    The North
    I'm sure there's a large DevOps cycle involved here. MS: They probably have a dev-cloud and staging-cloud as part of the workflow.
     
    TheAlSpark likes this.
  5. TheAlSpark

    TheAlSpark Moderator
    Moderator Legend

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2004
    Messages:
    22,146
    Likes Received:
    8,533
    Location:
    ಠ_ಠ
    They are, but maybe cloud development is the best way for studios to go about things just in case the building goes down in flames. :p Plus maybe they can take advantage of cloud on a per-need basis instead of having to setup their own internal farms and spend a bunch of money there to maintain it themselves.
     
  6. Jay

    Jay
    Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2013
    Messages:
    4,033
    Likes Received:
    3,428
    When you quoted me I was talking about the need to get content on the service to attract people and keep them coming back.
    I wasn't talking about keeping the cloud service exclusive.
    I can see them selling it like they sell any other part of their cloud service.

    The best way to have a game cloud service that other companies want to use thought is by making your own as successful as possible, as then you can invest to expand it.
    So to me still comes back to having content.
     
  7. Jay

    Jay
    Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2013
    Messages:
    4,033
    Likes Received:
    3,428
    Always wondered why this wasn't a thing for MS a long time ago.
    Super fast build and render times, being able to spin up when required.
    Can see true benefits for some studios.
    With remote desktop in cloud probably not far away.
     
  8. TheAlSpark

    TheAlSpark Moderator
    Moderator Legend

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2004
    Messages:
    22,146
    Likes Received:
    8,533
    Location:
    ಠ_ಠ
    Too many other things on Phil's plate, I guess? :p
     
  9. BRiT

    BRiT (>• •)>⌐■-■ (⌐■-■)
    Moderator Legend Alpha

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2002
    Messages:
    20,516
    Likes Received:
    24,424
    MS does have general cloud development, it's called Azure DevOps: https://dev.azure.com/

    The Azure Pipelines is for the builds/compiling/deployment aspects.

    Build, test, and deploy with CI/CD that works with any language, platform, and cloud. Connect to GitHub or any other Git provider and deploy continuously.
     
    TheAlSpark likes this.
  10. iroboto

    iroboto Daft Funk
    Legend Subscriber

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2014
    Messages:
    14,834
    Likes Received:
    18,634
    Location:
    The North
    Right, I agree.
    Yea I think on this topic,in this case I think for MS their go is that the whole xbox catalogue appears on XCloud. As it sounds like, MS is trying to make that happen so that developers don't need to code twice. I'm not entirely sure how Stadia works though.
     
  11. Jay

    Jay
    Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2013
    Messages:
    4,033
    Likes Received:
    3,428
    Thanks.
    Remember when they was pushing thunderhead, but don't remember them talking about cloud development for games.

    It's a shame that xcloud is 1S based otherwise could actually deploy and debug in cloud also. This is probably one of the reasons development isn't done in cloud (if that's the case)
     
    BRiT likes this.
  12. Jay

    Jay
    Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2013
    Messages:
    4,033
    Likes Received:
    3,428
    Main issue as I see it with gen 1 xcloud is 1S framerate performance. Otherwise they would be in a very good place for year or 2.

    Stadia will need actual game porting to be done. Probably powerful enough to brute force most games without having to spend too much time optimizing. That's if they use the console branch of the code base, think they did that for the AC trial.
     
  13. iroboto

    iroboto Daft Funk
    Legend Subscriber

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2014
    Messages:
    14,834
    Likes Received:
    18,634
    Location:
    The North
    Stadia uses Vulkan, so I'm not sure on the details there unless ACO was a special Vulkan/Stadia variant.
     
  14. Jay

    Jay
    Veteran

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2013
    Messages:
    4,033
    Likes Received:
    3,428
    https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2019-hands-on-with-google-stream-gdc-2019
    Don't know the full details of their approach but sounds like they started with the console branch.
    But don't see it as just a console port, probably due to all the work that needed to be done. But it's very wooly, be nice to get some of the details from presentation.
     
  15. MrFox

    MrFox Deludedly Fantastic
    Legend

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2012
    Messages:
    6,488
    Likes Received:
    5,996
    The target seems to be pretty much linux and vulkan.

    If google is successful bringing most third party developers on board, all those games will become much easier to release on a steam console or other linux gaming PC (since the linux/vulkan port is already done). Once the service gains market share, it becomes possible to launch an x86 google console supporting download and local play, offering something similar to PSNow where you can choose between streaming or download. Because streaming-only will remain a more limited audience based on the requirement for a high quality, stable broadband.
     
  16. DieH@rd

    Legend

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2006
    Messages:
    6,387
    Likes Received:
    2,411
    They clearly talked about it in the GDC presentation. Devs can use Stadia in the Google cloud, Stadia in their studio rack, or Stadia devkit on the table.
     
  17. PSman1700

    Legend

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2019
    Messages:
    7,119
    Likes Received:
    3,093
    Sony already offers both local and cloud gaming, they could just thrive forward with PSnow if competition from Stadia becomes a worry.
     
  18. bgroovy

    Banned

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2014
    Messages:
    799
    Likes Received:
    626
    This was an advantage OnLive was advertising 10 years ago.
     
  19. temesgen

    Veteran

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2007
    Messages:
    1,680
    Likes Received:
    486
    If Sony, Microsoft and Google all offer cloud gaming services, the differentiator will be likely be exclusives first and some combination of the quality of the service relative to price second.

    Both Microsoft and Sony have and IP advantage but Google could buy some developers or timed exclusivity or DLC to swing things their way. But does anyone expect to see a real commitment from Google in that regard?

    Has Google announced anything notable? With Epic moving in to compete with Steam and Google competing with traditional console market, perhaps we'll see some shake ups in gaming as a service....
     
  20. Alucardx23

    Regular

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2009
    Messages:
    549
    Likes Received:
    81
    Quick question for anyone that can answer it. Would it be possible to implement Freesync with a cloud game? I know that probably no HDMI or Display Port standard allows it at the moment, but is there any technical limitation stopping it from happening?

    The reason I ask is because I have this scenario in my head. Game X running in the cloud with an unlocked framerate (90 to 120fps range), while locally you have a 120hz monitor. The cloud will be sending every single frame it generates to the client.
     
    milk likes this.
Loading...

Share This Page

  • About Us

    Beyond3D has been around for over a decade and prides itself on being the best place on the web for in-depth, technically-driven discussion and analysis of 3D graphics hardware. If you love pixels and transistors, you've come to the right place!

    Beyond3D is proudly published by GPU Tools Ltd.
Loading...