Cloud Gaming, DLC and how gaming is in danger.

[Clobclark]

This is an information thread, I want to let people know what I'm pretty sure is going to happen to the gaming industry. Feel free to rebuttal, but please read first.

1. Cloud Gaming is the future of gaming. Cloud Gaming is were the user (you) don't have to own anything but a T.V. or a computer the play games. Right now games are run from your house (such as an Xbox360, or a computer). With Cloud Gaming games are run from a server and are sent to the users T.V. or computer. Games will be bought exclusively from the provider in a "digital pass" sort of way. You will not own the games, you will not have a hard copy. Monthly fees will be mandatory to play the games you payed for.

-EB Games and any other gaming specific stores will revert to older games (SNES, PS1) until they are phased out by HD renditions of older titles on the cloud gaming network.

PROOF: ONLIVE will be the first Cloud Gaming network, starting up sometime in July. Sony just recently registered the new name PlayStation Cloud.

2. DLC (downloadable content) will be available for almost every game on day 1 before Cloud Gaming takes over. This DLC will be for locked content on a used game. New games will come with codes that only work once, thus a gaming company will still be making money off of a used game because you'll have to pay for the DLC to play the game to the fullest.

PROOF: EA has started this already, both by shutting down game servers and the above description of including one time use codes.

3. So what does this mean? Gamers like me and you have been getting shafted with DLC, price hikes and server shutdowns for years now, what's different?

I'll tell you what's different. Games will get worse. Borrowing games will be impossible and only the Halos, GTAs, Marios and Final Fantasys will be available.

[Koby]

If/when that happens gaming will be dead for me. I refuse to pay monthly for any game, and I will only buy a game if a hard-copy is available. I already don't like that they release games buggy now and release DLC later to fix them.

[Clobclark]

I'm breaking out my SNES right now.

[Cynthia]

Not to be rude, but I think you need more proof and sources than what you have here. Yes it's a possibility, but I don't think we're looking at the end of physical hard copies any time soon, especially with the release of the fairly new blue-ray disks. I doubt they would just toss out such an investment that they've already dumped tons of funds into.

I doubt anyone is going to just move everything to exclusively cloud computing, due to the fact that 1. there are lots of security issues, and 2. it's not nearly developed enough to be used in such extent any time soon. I'm in information technology, and actually did my final research project on cloud computing, so I know as a fact there are way more problems than just the two I've listed. Plus don't forget there ARE advantages to cloud gaming. You'll never lose your games, they'll always be there, they won't take up space in your home, you no longer will need to go to the store to buy them, etc.

We're more looking at the beginning of integration of cloud gaming, rather than the full implementation. Hard copies will be the primary source, while cloud gaming a secondary.

[Clobclark]

Edit: Sorry if I sound aggressive in this post, I'm not trying to belittle your opinion, I'm just very passionate about being taken advantage of by big business.

We're more looking at the beginning of integration of cloud gaming, rather than the full implementation. Hard copies will be the primary source, while cloud gaming a secondary.

The thing about this is that hard copies are being phased out already through downloads. More and more games on 360 are becoming downloadable, from small games to Halo 3 and GTA 4. Steam is doing the same thing as well.

I don't think we're looking at the end of physical hard copies any time soon, especially with the release of the fairly new blue-ray disks. I doubt they would just toss out such an investment that they've already dumped tons of funds into.

You say that they won't drop such a big investment... the bluray.... who won't drop it? ONLIVE wants to take down Bluray. Sony and I'm sure Microsoft and Nintendo understand that digital download>hard copies. Cloud Gaming is a step above that as well. Bluray will most likely be the last in the progression of physical media.

I doubt anyone is going to just move everything to exclusively cloud computing, due to the fact that 1. there are lots of security issues, and 2. it's not nearly developed enough to be used in such extent any time soon.

I personally think Cloud Computing is pretty far away as well, but Cloud Gaming is much different. Here is the link for ONLIVE for proof. June 17th 2010 is the drop date and there is an almost 100% guarantee that almost every next generation console will be some sort of Cloud Gaming machine.

Plus don't forget there ARE advantages to cloud gaming. You'll never lose your games, they'll always be there, they won't take up space in your home, you no longer will need to go to the store to buy them, etc.

1. "You'll never lose your games" - monthly fees, don't pay them and they might as well be lost.

2. "they'll always be there" - same reason.

3. "they won't take up space in your home" - truth, but don't forget that this also means it's completely destroying the modding community, something that has been strong since the start of gaming.

4. "you no longer will need to go to the store to buy them" - Sucks for anyone who enjoys midnight releases or looking to get the game cheaper than retail price.

The one thing that worries me the most though, about all of this is one simple reason. Greed.

DLC was looked upon by almost every gamer as a great thing, hell, it's one of the best things to happen to gaming in a long time...but greed consumes. DLC was taken advantage of to devalue used games, demand the consumer pay more money for the same content and make games that come out day one worse, due to future download content for saved for later.

What makes you think they are going to treat Cloud Gaming any different? when there is no EB games selling Halo 3 used for $35 why would they not just go ahead and charge $70? $80?

Why focus on making the game good now, when you can release DLC to make it better?

[Koby]

You say that they won't drop such a big investment... the bluray.... who won't drop it? ONLIVE wants to take down Bluray. Sony and I'm sure Microsoft and Nintendo understand that digital download>hard copies. Cloud Gaming is a step above that as well. Bluray will most likely be the last in the progression of physical media.

You do know that Sony has already developed a new disc that holds 5x what a Blu-ray does. They are still working on improving it or something. I read about it somewhere, but I can't remember where. As for me, hard copies will always be better than digital download because I prefer to actually have the content. If that wasn't the case, I would just keep the downloaded files I have instead of buying the actual DVD's for movies, games, and Anime.

As I said before, if Cloud Gaming ever took over, it'd be the end of gaming for me. I would not participate. Not unless they advance so far as to have something like "The World" from the .hack// series. Haha, which I don't think would ever be possible.

I'm never paying monthly to play something I've already had to purchase.

[Clobclark]

You do know that Sony has already developed a new disc that holds 5x what a Blu-ray does.

Was Blu-ray not big enough already? lol.

... I still doubt that it will reach commercial success unless it can play off of Blu-ray players.

[Koby]

Was Blu-ray not big enough already? lol.

... I still doubt that it will reach commercial success unless it can play off of Blu-ray players.

Actually I looked it up. I was wrong. It doesn't hold 5x as much. The new disc can hold 5 TB of data. While a Blu-ray holds less than 60 GB. But yeah I honestly don't see it going anywhere, or the use of such as huge disc at the moment. It would be awesome though, think of burning my 5,000+ dvd collection to 1 disc. xD EPIC.

[Clobclark]

5Tb of data is absolutely massive. just think how high quality a 5Tb movie would be. You could see their cells.

[Cynthia]

Edit: Sorry if I sound aggressive in this post, I'm not trying to belittle your opinion, I'm just very passionate about being taken advantage of by big business.

The thing about this is that hard copies are being phased out already through downloads. More and more games on 360 are becoming downloadable, from small games to Halo 3 and GTA 4. Steam is doing the same thing as well.

You say that they won't drop such a big investment... the bluray.... who won't drop it? ONLIVE wants to take down Bluray. Sony and I'm sure Microsoft and Nintendo understand that digital download>hard copies. Cloud Gaming is a step above that as well. Bluray will most likely be the last in the progression of physical media.

I personally think Cloud Computing is pretty far away as well, but Cloud Gaming is much different. Here is the link for ONLIVE for proof. June 17th 2010 is the drop date and there is an almost 100% guarantee that almost every next generation console will be some sort of Cloud Gaming machine.

1. "You'll never lose your games" - monthly fees, don't pay them and they might as well be lost.

2. "they'll always be there" - same reason.

3. "they won't take up space in your home" - truth, but don't forget that this also means it's completely destroying the modding community, something that has been strong since the start of gaming.

4. "you no longer will need to go to the store to buy them" - Sucks for anyone who enjoys midnight releases or looking to get the game cheaper than retail price.

The one thing that worries me the most though, about all of this is one simple reason. Greed.

DLC was looked upon by almost every gamer as a great thing, hell, it's one of the best things to happen to gaming in a long time...but greed consumes. DLC was taken advantage of to devalue used games, demand the consumer pay more money for the same content and make games that come out day one worse, due to future download content for saved for later.

What makes you think they are going to treat Cloud Gaming any different? when there is no EB games selling Halo 3 used for $35 why would they not just go ahead and charge $70? $80?

Why focus on making the game good now, when you can release DLC to make it better?

Darling, I just want to point out that downloadable content is not part of cloud gaming. The game is still stored on your physical hard drive, in cloud gaming you would not even require a hard drive.

Just because ONLIVE is going to be making the jump doesn't mean all gaming will make the advance. Keep in mind, it's about the consumer. If the consumers don't like it, and don't buy it, they won't be able to push it onto other mediums, as no company will want to pick up something that isn't successful.

One additional advantage though, is that there will never be a shortage of copies for a game.

You're looking at it like "ONLIVE IS COMING, OH DOOM AND GLOOM", when in reality it might not even catch on. No matter what a company pushes, they won't just implement it and get rid of the old stuff right away. They have a phasing out period, and if people refuse to accept the new technology, or they previous technology proves to still be more profitable (which no doubt it will), they will either cross out the new tech, or sell it alongside the old tech. Cloud gaming is a LITTLE different from Cloud computing, but still highly similar.

Obviously this is to make an attempt to stop piracy as well, which in reality will only make it easier. Everything will be right there on the internet, just a few hacks away. Will it be harder to hack into the game to download it and create stand alone copies? Yes, but since they're all on the cloud, you get in once, and you have the entire library available. No doubt people could easily create cloud emulator to emulate the cloud in a stand alone copy they have cracked.

I see this more of an experiment to see if cloud gaming will catch on, rather than the final stretch for hard copy games.

[† The Joker]

I think if games become solely 'cloud' based, i too would stop gaming. I prefer a disk based game, that way its just a one off payment, end of and free to enjoy as you want. if they start charging for each month, then casual gamers are just gonna stop buying em.

[† ballard]

The thing I personally don't like about cloud gaming is that... say for example the servers go down for awhile. You couldn't play the games that you paid for. Another thing is that if the company went down you would lose all the games that you bought through them. I want a hard copy of the game I bought... I don't trust it otherwise. If everything switched over to cloud gaming I would give up on the latest games and stick with the consoles and games that I have now.

[Botzz]

I don't think this 'Cloud Gaming' will work very well. I think ONLIVE will be a very good thing for people with older computers and the like, for sure, but once it comes out, the demand on servers and internet connections will be FAR to great for them, at least this is what I forsee. Plus, a lot of people are like me and like the collectable addition to having a hard copy of the game on hands. For me, the more good games I have is like bragging rights

[AaronScythe]

You haven't seen the really scary part yet.

First off, the distributed computing is yet to come into effect, where it does use pretty much a cloud of microscopic chips (they were thinking of using carbon nanotubes first), embedded in almost every surface of your home, to work towards the common processing goal (sort of like how a quad core works, except much larger scale, more like threading gone insane)

Second, the guy that invented the modern resistor in computers these days, has already finished a working prototype of another. This new resistor is special in the fact that it is both smaller, and can contain a tiny bit of memory (remembers last charge placed through).

Now just imagine the cloud network applying to a system so spread out, that it is both invisible to the naked eye, and works wirelessly.

Thats scaring me....

[Clobclark]

Darling, I just want to point out that downloadable content is not part of cloud gaming. The game is still stored on your physical hard drive, in cloud gaming you would not even require a hard drive.

I know, I wasn't trying to say DLC was part of cloud gaming....more of an example of how Hard copies are already being phased out before cloud gaming even comes in to play.

[letitrain]

I agree. Gaming will be made worse. I do not mind okay games, like web browser games, being played through the Internet, but I much prefer to have a hard copy of the game.

That is also the whole point of buying the collector's edition with all the box art and other cool, tangible stuff.

[Clobclark]

I agree. Gaming will be made worse. I do not mind okay games, like web browser games, being played through the Internet, but I much prefer to have a hard copy of the game.

That is also the whole point of buying the collector's edition with all the box art and other cool, tangible stuff.

Truth.

I think when Cloud Gaming hits full circle i'll just end up playing flash games.

[Bindy]

In theory cloud gaming is a great idea, except for the monthly paying. It would stop people from getting their hands on the game through friends who have already finished it or others who want to sell it. The monthly fee to keep games would be the major killer of it all. If this were to be implemented, in my eyes, it would fail miserably, it would be like Aion compared to World Of Warcraft, it started off well but then everyone realised that World Of Warcraft was better and stopped playing Aion. Probably best example I can think of. Anyway that is my 2c.

[Cynthia]

Loves, cloud gaming is really in the development and testing stages still, we're still light years from it going full fledge upon us, and eliminating gaming as we know it. Conceptual wise, it's a brilliant idea, but like communism, that idea only works on paper. No matter what happens, people will find ways to pirate games. It makes little sense to force people to buy a high speed internet connection to play a single player game, and it's not fair to a market that can not afford such, or live in an area where such a thing is unachievable. Hard copies will exist as long as people without internet and single player games exist.

[Clobclark]

If this were to be implemented, in my eyes, it would fail miserably, it would be like Aion compared to World Of Warcraft, it started off well but then everyone realised that World Of Warcraft was better and stopped playing Aion.

Bad example, in both of those cases you are still paying a monthly fee to play a single game. If anything the success of WoW should show that people don't mind paying monthly.

Loves, cloud gaming is really in the development and testing stages still

OnLive has a full scale release in one month.