Sony admits Cloud Gaming a Threat to Consoles...

Link.

It's quite clear that cloud gaming will become a threat... It's where we're heading. It's largely why Sony needs to address that aspect... Plan for cloud platforms on lackluster hardware. They bought and integrated Gaikai for a reason.

I reaaallllyyy don't want this

no i just bought kingdom hearts 3 physically no way this is happening anytime soon devs won't allow it PS4 for life

@Chutebox: For the record, i'm the same. I've moved to digital for PC, but I still much prefer physical systems and games.

It not time for this. It make no sense. It not even reach a niche service stage yet. Consumer not going to adopt service on top of service on top of service. Internet service plus psn/Xbox live plus cloud gaming.

People into technology it not uncommon to have video stream service, music stream service, and console system service.

They not even hit at how to properly make a paywall for cloud game. It a way off.

How much do you pay for ALL of your service? It rare when people limit themselves, but I know people who have cable internet, amazon prime, Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and psn. IMO this it already too much.

The Dreamcast is looking better everyday.

I'm OK with this in certain situations.

Amazon is currently working on a new MMO called "The New World" (iirc) and it's will be supported/built on a cloud network; what this means is that instead of having server supporting X amount of people per server, you can have infinite amounts of people on a single game world. That is AMAZING!

Not sure what consoles have against this, specifically.

Of course they know it's a threat, they started investing into it long before anyone did for this reason. They will be ready when cloud gaming takes over but even in the article they admit it's not something that will threaten consoles for a long time and they vow to continue supporting their consoles for a long time.

“Hardware will become unnecessary, some would argue. But on this point, I think that would take a much the longer the time required for games going to the cloud, it would take much long time, much overtime and also the platforms trying to reduce the revenue share percentage.”

Console gaming is safe for as long as internet isn't reliable and internet infrastructure continues to be weak and slow around the world.

As long as there are dedicated consoles that support physical formats for games then that is where my money will go.

It's fine as an option, but so many people have very slow, rural Internet that it would be unusable for them.

If these companies include internet connection to stream games as part of the subscription and I could use said connection to stream other content like YouTube videos with it then by all means. But if I'm paying out the fucking nose for internet separately and then paying XYZ company per month or year for content, I have no semblance of ownership of other then no thanks! As long as the industry doesn't get ahead of itself and treat it as a replacement to traditional media & direct downloads for offline access there's nothing wrong with it existing.

Edit: I'm straight digital on PC/PS4 & the only physical games I still buy are on Nintendo consoles such as Switch.

It's inevitable... but won't be for years yet.

Microsoft employee: "Our intel says that Soney has bought Gaikai"

Micro$oft employee no. 2: "Shit, this is scary"

Microsoft Employee no. 3: "Quick, copy and follow their move, make a cloud cloud computing game. Call the game Crapdown 3"

I used PSNow in the past and I will admit this, the streaming service is really good, at least from the games I played which is bunch of jrpg stuff. I played Legend of Heroes trails of Cold Steel and Eternal Sonata with the service.

Sony and MS are moving away from this, so your money won't be going to them. Nintendo probably will follow, late as usual though.

Beta and subbed almost every cloud gaming service out there: Sony is absolutely right it’s the future. But not likely until the PS6 to be a major threat. The fact that Sony has already built the PS4 to natively work it’s cloud games as if they were on the machine as well as have a download option means that they likely were serious about the PS4 being a 10 year console.

It could be come the low end competitor to Scarlett by next gen games via PS now with some games downloadable and native playing.

You idiot fanboys. Microsoft was knee deep in cloud computing in 2008 they released it as Windows Azure in 2010 and then renamed it Microsoft Azure in 2014. Sony didn't buy Gaikai in 2012. So how was Microsoft scared exactly?

See the main issue with fanboys. Creating false narratives to drive a shitty points!

Not true. Maybe in the next century but not in this century though. Keep in mind you still have dedicated Collectors who still wanna buy physical stuff. DVD/Blu Ray, & physical games are still alive & well, even music CD's for that matter. Both MS & Sony knows the world isn't ready to go fully Wi-Fi.

PREACH!

Some folks are in denial about the soon to come change in gaming as a whole. Digitally only is soon to become the standard distribution and streaming will be a major factor starting next year.

Well if that happens I hope the industry crashes & burns.

Digital only & streaming is a fucking terrible way for the industry to go.

I'm not a fan of streaming at all atm. I'm having a nightmare time with Netflix currently, as someone got into my account... Changed passwords and my parent's TV app (different house) just keeps saying to try the connection again. I just had to drive round there and fix it by factory resetting the TV... Whhhhy?

@i_p_daily: you're more likely to crash and burn before the industry does...

@Pedro:

Exactly. People forget the physical media is the means to transfer the product. Not the product itself. It would be just as inefficient to keep blockbuster stores around for the handful of people that prefer them but not willing to pay the thousands of dollars per rental neccessary to keep one open...

Even if they only sold half as much of the product its still more profitable than spliting the cost of having the discs pressed, shipping, stocked, sitting on store shelves, and sold by a cashier in a physical store.

Streaming can reach people consoles can’t.

People in countries where consoles are ridiculously expensive due to laws etc. can get their gaming on any device with the service MS is setting up.

Being able to run next gen Halo on their phones?

A place to buy any and all games to play on any device?

Why do you think MS is putting LIVE on the Switch and bringing it to as many platforms as possible?

MS wants to be the Netflix of gaming. It’s the future and it’s really really going to make a shit ton of money.

It’s why Apple has stated they’re getting in the game streaming business. They don’t want MS to get a strangle hold on that market, bc Sony doesn’t have what it takes as of right now. Not like MS.

Apple, though, has a lot to bring to the table for the masses if they do things right. They already have movies and music. They could bundle movies, music and games streaming services together for a good price and really destroy anyone else.

It’s why selling iPhones isn’t the business anymore it’s services. Sales of phones matter but being able to have your service on any platform for millions more people to buy into rather than just those on your platform is more money....lots more.

Bringing it back full circle...this is where the MS streaming and LIVE going to as many platforms and games being played on any device comes in.

You want Cyberpunk 2077? We’re pretty close to that. Where the core of cyberpunk is like a few or several huge companies ruling the world and influencing politics. It’s happening.

@that_old_guy:

Still dont understand the narrative that sony cant do something that theyve been doing for years yet MS already succeeded with a project they have yet to launch...

Maybe in 20 years.

@michaelmikado: I don’t know much about Gaiku or whatever it is but I don’t think from what I do know it has the same capabilities as what MS is doing.

It has yet to be seen if MS does this right.

I’m just saying they’re doing something that Sony isn’t. You can’t stream God of War to your tablet or phone. That’s what MS wants.

Not just streaming to exclusive devices...but ALL devices.

I reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy agree. I dont mind a streaming option but I want my consoles.

Well then if it means that consoles and physical games are still around when I crash & burn, then I can crash & burn a happy man :)

Perhaps the change is considered revolutionary or radical that people are in denial instead of gradual change.

I was actually surprised how well services such as parsec, shadow etc run. Get a lot of free time at work so occasionally fire up parsec to play my titles, runs at max settings with extremely low latency.

If a service did come out that was pretty much a Netflix for games I'd def sign up.

Same. I only used it during a trial but positively surprised by how well it worked -- even for more fast-paced games.

Sony is familiar that cloud gaming is wholly dependent on ISP infrastructure. Its reach is inherently limited currently, but there is no denying the advantages of not having to design, manufacture, and sell hardware and being able to focus solely on a SaaS platform.

We are years away, but the potential of 5G makes it more and more difficult to ignore. The ability to disrupt and unseat any and all “walled gardens” is undeniable, plus the global reach it could have - allowing consumers in population-dense countries equal degrees of accessibility - is monumentally promising.

Huh? Maybe you are unfamiliar with the history of PS Now.

https://kotaku.com/sony-announces-game-streaming-service-playstation-now-1496385001

PS Now promised, and delivered the exact same things that MS is promising 5 years ago... For a time PSNow did have an unreleased app operate on Xperia phones and tablets but Sony dropped support for all these devices. It has nothing to do with whether it is technically capable, because it definitely is. Again, everything that MS is promising Sony already did half a decade ago... They even literally used the same exact presentation and methods Sony did, from the promise of all devices to the use of console hardware in servers. It's almost beat for beat the exact same process Sony already did.

I actually covered the technical reasons behind why Sony dropped support for many devices in another thread. It's because their previous process replicated the entirety of the play environment, including the OS later with functions not related to gaming. This was inefficient and instead, moved those functions to the devices themselves capable of handling them. I.e. it created a hybridized cloud system by offloading non-gaming related functions to the PC/PS4 rather than emulating them in the cloud.

You realise Microsoft is currently fighting amazon for first place as the top company again right? How? Teh phones failed... Xbox losing to Playstation? Windows PC's outside of the work place are in decline? HOW?

Back-End Infrastructure.... the company is thriving on it.

Sony will either have to spend years catching up, or lose a heavy amount of profit by submitting to Amazon to compete.

Exactly. I love to talk about my experience in this sector because I was a long time advocate of the vaporware Phantom Console. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Entertainment Something I had been following since 2003. Around this time I also subscribed to GameTap in 2005 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameTap which I used until its eventual passing. Eventually I subscribed to OnLive and even remember using a 7inch Samsung tablet to play racing games from my desk at work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnLive. The idea of internet based digital distribution consoles with no physical media and a subscription model is no where near new. When PS Now was announced I immediately purchased a Vita (which I still use for remote play) and have subscribed ever since the subscription option was available (The initial offerings were rental only). When the $99 per year option launched I renewed annually for $8 a month which is less than Netflix, with the exception of this past January when I caught the $80 renewal for $6.67 a month. Can't beat that.

Also I use R-play on my ipad/iphone and Remote Play via internet with my Vita. PSNow lets you download PS1/PS2& PS4 games so I can play all of them via remote play on my phone even when I'm out on the street. I've been using my PS4 remotely for years and even tried on out on the handful of PS3 games that support it. Almost forgot. I actually own a PSTV!! but I purchased it for $20 when the price came down. I have a powerline ethernet connection that lets me play in my bedroom while my PS4 is connected downstairs to my 4K tv. So I essentially have a PS4 in both my main room and bedroom which I can play when the other TV is occupied on start them up on my Vita or iPhone/iPad! This connected environment has been amazing for me and something I had always envisioned 15 years ago.

Hmm, not sure how it would be a threat, it´s not like streaming music or movies which you can do from a toaster or a 10-year-old iPhone.

Cloud gaming requires a fast internet connection and also pretty decent hardware to make it anything you would expect on a console.

So we are at least a decade or two away from Cloud gaming being anything more than an experiment, and yes I know PSNOW is around but even with a decent connection it has issues that you would not see on an actual console.

Sony is dooooooooooommed!

None of what you is said is true. Sony has had a functional Cloud based gaming service for 5 years straight. Microsoft hasn't even started the race...

I detailed a bit of me following internet based cloud gaming for the past 15 years. I can tell you we are at the point where it becomes mainstream. Anyone who has actually been following this knows that we were "a decade or two away from Cloud gaming" 15 years ago.... We are 5, 10 years tops from mainstream cloud gaming and that includes on mobile networks. Like I said. I've been following digital distribution gaming and subscription services for the past 15 years.

I use "cloud gaming" NOW and on my smartphone/tablet right now. No caveats. People have been using cloud gaming on mainstream consoles for the past 5 years already. The Wii U was essentially build around the premise of using remote hardware to play a game on a less powerful device. These are all the same concepts on display here. Yes the specific implementations may look different but the principles remain the same. Gamers are already and have already been playing games on hardware other than their physical consoles for years already. The expectation that this concept is 20 years in the future is misguided and ill-informed even about current trends in gaming happening today.

I wonder how this would affect digital platforms like Steam. Will people buy digital games when they can just stream them instead? Even on a slow internet you can download a game and then not have to worry about a poor internet while trying to stream. I remember back in the early 2000's when I had dial-up and I had to download a patch for Morrowind that was just over 1 GB, I could foresee rural places going to this.

The nice thing about physical gaming though is even if they stop making consoles or everything could just be streamed, there is a very large history of video games to collect.

Even though I buy pretty much all of my games digitally these days, I wouldn't want to be playing them on a "cloud" so to speak. Internet here in Australia is pretty mediocre compared to the rest of the world. I'm really not keen on Playstation Now either. Does anybody use it???

@michaelmikado: I don't like it and I completely agree with you that streaming is where it's all going, but I honestly don't think it's the better idea. We're building (have built) a world where we value consumption over enjoyment.

You made the claim that blockbuster was inefficient, which is true, but that doesn't account for the value to life it added. Going to the movie store used to be an event. It was normally something you did on a Friday night, possibly with a buddy, and you probably walked out with a game, movie, or maybe both. Maybe you walked out with more. I'm not trying to speak for you, but that was my average experience. Then you went home to see if you made a good choice. Maybe you got a dud, maybe you chose wisely, but either way you were stuck with your decision and had to make the best of it. But that also either made you an advocate or an enemy for your choice. After putting in the effort you become committed, and from my perspective that leads to stronger opinions of love and hate versus the prevailing emotion I normally get now, which is "meh". And that could just be the quality of entertainment we're sold now, but I think it factors in.

I'm probably just rambling now, but seeing great box art was a huge part too. The artists had to try harder to grab attention from the box sitting next to their product. Now compare that to Netflix where it's some generic screen grab.

Then you speak of how streaming eliminates the need for pressing discs, shipping, stocking and the cashier that rings you up. Look at how many jobs that just killed.

Just out of curiosity, how old are you? It's not attack on you, but I'm curious if the defenders of streaming were around for the alternative.

This culture of consumption that we're breeding disgusts me to no end, but no matter how I feel, streaming is an inevitability. As humans it seems like we always follow the path of least resistance, but that doesn't always seem to be the better course.

How exactly is it a threat if consumer have shown it is not?

Sony would certainly like it to be as it would give them more control of the content. Would the gaming consumer be gullible to bite into it?

Wait maybe it is a threat, but it would be dependent on the userbase not the technology.

@Xabiss: Knee deep in cloud computing?

Yea, maybe. Perhaps.

But cloud gaming on console? I guess not untill Sony do that thing first

Keep sucking that Sony dick

Keep sucking Bill gates and Phill spencer's massive dick

Sorry I ain't a fanboy. I just play games, I don't hate on something for the sake of hating, you're a fucking sheep and the only three words that float around in your brain are suck Sony's dick. Come back when you actually have something useful to say other than Sony this and Sony that.

sorry, you are a fanboy, a micro$oft fanboy to be exactly, who pretends to be neutral.

if you aint a fanboy, you are not gonna defend m$ and saying "kheep suck suck sony dick"

try harder

If cloud gaming removes the need for a console, I wonder how you'll access cloud gaming? Will it just be an app on your phone or TV, similar to Netflix? Wouldn't Sony at least need to sell a controller for it?