Server based game augmentations. The transition to cloud. Really possible?

[Billy Idol]

I wonder if this would be a smart way of using cloud: as a cut scene streamer.

This would help the DD version, as you 1) would not have to download such a big initial data junk but especially b) would decrease the burden on the (it seems to me) very limited 500GB HDD space of next gen consoles.

So during game, a cut scene kicks in and you just stream it in 1080p in whatever quality from cloud, like a TV show or so.

Maybe you could even use a transfer to upload certain parameters (like e.g. acutal weapon in the hand of the character, or outfit) to compute it in real time on the coud and stream it to the X1.

 

[liolio]

I wonder if this would be a smart way of using cloud: as a cut scene streamer.

This would help the DD version, as you 1) would not have to download such a big initial data junk but especially b) would decrease the burden on the (it seems to me) very limited 500GB HDD space of next gen consoles.

So during game, a cut scene kicks in and you just stream it in 1080p in whatever quality from cloud, like a TV show or so.

Maybe you could even use a transfer to upload certain parameters (like e.g. acutal weapon in the hand of the character, or outfit) to compute it in real time on the coud and stream it to the X1.

It is something I was thinking about for both vids and sounds if Google were to enter the show and want alleviate some pressure on both storage and RAM.

 

[Strange]

It is something I was thinking about for both vids and sounds if Google were to enter the show and want alleviate some pressure on both storage and RAM.

And risk choppy cutscenes that need buffering..?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I wonder if this would be a smart way of using cloud: as a cut scene streamer.

This would help the DD version, as you 1) would not have to download such a big initial data junk but especially b) would decrease the burden on the (it seems to me) very limited 500GB HDD space of next gen consoles.

So during game, a cut scene kicks in and you just stream it in 1080p in whatever quality from cloud, like a TV show or so.

Maybe you could even use a transfer to upload certain parameters (like e.g. acutal weapon in the hand of the character, or outfit) to compute it in real time on the coud and stream it to the X1.

It's possible but was definitely not one of the uses that MS had planned for Xbox One as the minimum bandwidth for cloud based assistance was 1.5 Mbps which is too low for 720p video. Might even be too low for 480p video, it's been a while since I had to try streaming video on a 1.5 Mbps connection.

Regards,
SB

 

[liolio]

And risk choppy cutscenes that need buffering..?

Well it is a trade off, and I would expect the stream to adapt to the available bandwidth. So I expect buffering to be a corner case but different users watching the cut scene at different qualities.
/speaking of GOogle they would simply use the youtube infrastructure.

 

[Strange]

Well it is a trade off, and I would expect the stream to adapt to the available bandwidth. So I expect buffering to be a corner case but different users watching the cut scene at different qualities.
/speaking of GOogle they would simply use the youtube infrastructure.

I have a good connection and Google/youtube doesn't always give me the acceptable amount of data for not buffering. So no I don't think streaming cut-scenes is a good idea.

 

[liolio]

I have a good connection and Google/youtube doesn't always give me the acceptable amount of data for not buffering. So no I don't think streaming cut-scenes is a good idea.

Well, which quality?
There is also something I noticed, the vids with less views (or not commercial links) tend to need buffering more than vids with high view counts or "commercial" stuffs.

So I think it is good idea to streaming cut scene (at quality that match one internet connection), I think it could be extend to sounds too, at least musics.

Tough I don't think it is an option for Sony or MSFT as they are pushing pretty high end platforms, high end experience, though for somebody like Google, I think it is a completely different matter.

 

[blakjedi]

So exactly how would gaikai work? As screen scrapes?

 

[liquidboy]

So exactly how would gaikai work? As screen scrapes?

I was always under the impression Gaikai was very similar to Remote Desktop (RDP) tech!?

 

[blakjedi]

I was always under the impression Gaikai was very similar to Remote Desktop (RDP) tech!?

Exactly but you still need proper bandwidth for fidelity.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

So exactly how would gaikai work? As screen scrapes?

In it's current form, assuming not much has changed? Reasonable since all that has been announced is PS3 gameplay and possibly PS4 demo gameplay.

In that case they have a PS3 machine/board (1 per connected user playing a PS3 game) that would run the game, goes to a fast video compressor, sent to users PS4 (or whatever allowed device), which then plays back the compressed video stream. Local control inputs are then sent to the remote server with the PS3 machine/board which then renders the next frame, etc.

I'd assume they have designed PS3 "blades" that will be able to fit into blade enclosures. Otherwise they are going to require a lot of space and power to host PS3 machines.

Same thing with PS4 demo. But with PS4 being based more closely on PC desktop parts (with customizations) it may or may not be possible to use non-PS4 hardware to run the game/demo. Hence, there's a possibility it may or may not require one PS4 machine/board per connected user playing a PS4 demo/game.

Not exactly cloud compute in the way cloud compute is advertised. And far far more limited than Microsoft, Google, or Amazon cloud services with regards to pure compute.

Regards,
SB

 

[baten]

With Gaikai, would it be possible to leave the rendering locally to the PS4 GPU for the PS3 games? That would mean less BW needed from servers...

 

[BRiT]

With Gaikai, would it be possible to leave the rendering locally to the PS4 GPU for the PS3 games? That would mean less BW needed from servers...

And just what exactly would the server be doing in that setup?

 

[hesido]

And just what exactly would the server be doing in that setup?

DRM

 

[-tkf-]

I wonder if this would be a smart way of using cloud: as a cut scene streamer.

This would help the DD version, as you 1) would not have to download such a big initial data junk but especially b) would decrease the burden on the (it seems to me) very limited 500GB HDD space of next gen consoles.

So during game, a cut scene kicks in and you just stream it in 1080p in whatever quality from cloud, like a TV show or so.

Maybe you could even use a transfer to upload certain parameters (like e.g. acutal weapon in the hand of the character, or outfit) to compute it in real time on the coud and stream it to the X1.

It's a good idea, would be easy enough for ms to build this with silver light afaik it has a very good streaming adapting quality technology. Would still be weird to see cut scenes in lower quality than the actual game, first time I saw it in skylanders on the 360 I thought something was wrong

 

[-tkf-]

yea... no... much more than "dedicated servers"

Going to be some very cool things to come down the pike in a while...

Basically "Cloud deniers" will not admit it until it is up in their grill and even then they will just say... oh well could woulda, shoulda been done by anyone, nothing special.

Microsoft still needs to show us just how those magical 3*xbone power is going to work. So far they have shown us, well absolutely nothing that can't be done today.

The only thing I can think off is development tools that integrate server services easily into game development. But I thought xbox live did that already...

 

[Strange]

And just what exactly would the server be doing in that setup?

The server can render candies and rainbows and ponies.

 

[Cyan]

Microsoft still needs to show us just how those magical 3*xbone power is going to work. So far they have shown us, well absolutely nothing that can't be done today.

The only thing I can think off is development tools that integrate server services easily into game development. But I thought xbox live did that already...

I think AI and persistent worlds will work better with the cloud. Some physics simulations will offload the CPU so they can be more complex. Even so, I don't expect the cloud will improve graphics that much, the additional capabilities provided by the cloud will be spent elsewhere, as Mark Cerny has also suggested already.

http://www.videogamer.com/news/ps4s...ost_graphics_wont_work_well_in_the_cloud.html

 

[Kaotik]

Microsoft still needs to show us just how those magical 3*xbone power is going to work. So far they have shown us, well absolutely nothing that can't be done today.

The only thing I can think off is development tools that integrate server services easily into game development. But I thought xbox live did that already...

They actually did show demo where the amount of asteroids on screen was increased dramatically by the cloud

 

[Betanumerical]

They actually did show demo where the amount of asteroids on screen was increased dramatically by the cloud

And I am yet to believe there claims of 10x the performance from 3x the power. It would be nice if they showed a real world scenario, in a game, on a home internet connection.