Remote game services (OnLive, Gaikai, etc.)

Now with the new H.265 compression standard being finalized, I wonder what impact it could have on these remote rendering services. Delivering the same picture quality with just half the bit-rate, compared to H.264, may be 1080p streaming will finally be feasible? H.265 is also being heavily optimized for much simpler implementation as a real-time hardware codec.
 
How many current hardware would have no trouble decoding it? And in Sony's case, it would be interesting to see if they can make the Vita decode it.
 
Vita has built in media engine 2 for decoding video and audio, with that + the rest of the system processing power help decoding since it doesn't actually run the game, I don't think it I will have any problem at 720p.
 
Gitaroo said:
Vita has built in media engine 2 for decoding video and audio, with that + the rest of the system processing power help decoding since it doesn't actually run the game, I don't think it I will have any problem at 720p.
Click to expand...

But can that media engine 2 run the new codec, or is it hardware built specifically for 264?
 
no idea to be honest, since sony were planning on adding dlna in the earlier presentation, I assuming that it is design to support as any codec?
 
It's no longer their (OnLive's) talent when they laid those workers off already.
 
One also has to wonder what sort of useful knowhow those laid off will have, when presumably the most important core developers and engineers are part of the employees kept on for ongoing operations. And between OnLive and Gaikai, what areas won't be covered by patents for someone to develop their own streamed game technologies?
 
Everyone at OnLive was laid off. Just many of them will be offered a position at the new company. Certainly an opportunity for even their brightest talent to reassess their future.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
And between OnLive and Gaikai, what areas won't be covered by patents for someone to develop their own streamed game technologies?
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It would be interesting to know those patents and how specific they are. Most likely they can't have a patent on the streaming part of it, that has been around for I don't know how long. The central processing of the data I can't see being patented either, that has also been around since for ever. But most likely, if they expected to be bought for a billion $ then they must have something that is valuable...
 
The death of the dedicated game console?

This isn't looking good for the hardcore gamer. Whereas OnLive, Gaikai & others have stuggled in the Cloud Gaming business, I could definitely see cable TV/internet companies being a serious threat to the console gaming way of life...

Xbox Challenged as Cable Plots to Make Consoles Obsolete
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...as-cable-plots-to-make-consoles-obsolete.html

AT&T Inc. (T), Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) are gearing up for a push to deliver video games directly to televisions, said people with knowledge of the matter, a strategy shift that poses a threat to traditional consoles such as the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox.

Trials of cloud-gaming services are likely to start later this year so carriers can test and tweak the technology before wider deployments that may begin as early as 2013, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Other carriers are aiming for 2014, the people said.
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Tommy McClain
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That list left off Cox Communications. I can confirm they conducted multiple market research surveys over the past 4 months relating to "Remote Game Services". One survey focused extensively on service offerings, packages and pricing strategies.
 
That's interesting. That's my ISP, though I don't have their TV service, just Internet.

BTW, according to the link below Cox is the #3 cable TV company in the US behind Comcast & Time Warner Cable(excluding satelite providers DirecTV & Dish Network). I didn't think they were that big...

http://www.ncta.com/Stats/TopMSOs.aspx

Tommy McClain
 
AzBat said:
Xbox Challenged as Cable Plots to Make Consoles Obsolete
Click to expand...
But then again, you'll probably find as many articles around regarding "Cable TV Challenged as Consoles Plot to Make Cable Boxes Obsolete".

When a, previously separate, service starts encroaching on the business model of another; it seems only natural that they'd look for a way to fight back. Add in telecom providers and you have a nice three-way going, probably with each one having different competitive advantages in different markets.
 
To be fair, none of those cable companies are relevant outside of the US, so the console gaming business is in no threat as far as I can see.

If anything, the abject failure of Onlive, and quick sell-off of gaikai to Sony only goes to show how little most gamers actually care about online game streaming.

It always amazes how just because a new technology comes out, and is proven commercially viable, suddenly everyone is crying death to the current established companies, markets and business models. It actually takes a whole lot more than just the technology to disrupt an entire market and change the game significantly. It needs a company with vision, direction and execution that is near flawless.

So many new potentially disruptive technologies have emerged and flittered away into obscurity almost overnight, and yet people still rush to cryout anything new as "TEH FUTUR", regardless of how history has played out in the past.

Online game streaming will have its place certainly, but it will not be the mainstream gaming medium, talk less of it even coming close to deseating home consoles as the primary high-end gaming device in the consumer electronics space.
 
I'm not sure either the Onlive failure or the Gaikai buyout are much of a reflection on the consumers take for streamed gaming. Gaikai and OnLive are both companies clearly built to be sold, so the latter indicates some degree of success if anything.

I've talked to a couple of people at major publishers who've looked at hosting games in streaming services, and the general consensus is it's not financially viable today, the combination of infrastructure costs and bandwidth mean to make money the cost to the end user has to be too high.

I actually think cable companies have an advantage here, people outside the US may not realize but it's not unusual to have a $100 a month cable bill in the US adding a gaming service for another $25 or $30 per month doesn't have the same barrier to entry as starting a new service with a similar recurring fee.
 
ERP said:
I'm not sure either the Onlive failure or the Gaikai buyout are much of a reflection on the consumers take for streamed gaming. Gaikai and OnLive are both companies clearly built to be sold, so the latter indicates some degree of success if anything.

I've talked to a couple of people at major publishers who've looked at hosting games in streaming services, and the general consensus is it's not financially viable today, the combination of infrastructure costs and bandwidth mean to make money the cost to the end user has to be too high.

I actually think cable companies have an advantage here, people outside the US may not realize but it's not unusual to have a $100 a month cable bill in the US adding a gaming service for another $25 or $30 per month doesn't have the same barrier to entry as starting a new service with a similar recurring fee.
Click to expand...

Well here in the UK I pay about £55 a month on my Sky bill (incl. phone and internet), and that's just for the basic entertainment package. More and more people are consolidating their services with one company like this. If the rest of Europe is similar then it may not be as you say out here either.
 
rekator said:
Sony paid 300M$+ for a "proof of concept" so 1Md$ for 2000 customers is not so high. :) ;)

But yes, modern commerce was driven by mad people, we know this from the 2000 internet bubble, but don't learn and repeat the story again, again… The Easy Money attract is more strong than logical economy.
Click to expand...

rekator said:
My post was a joke about the 1 Md$ for 2000 customers, so yes the "proof of concept" is for the commercial part of Gaikai.
And 300M$ for a demo service… Someone got the Job's distortion time power!! :LOL:
Click to expand...
Well it seems that the guys at gakkai made a crazy good deal...
Sony not that much and that is putting it nicely.
 
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