Tech Giants Targeting Online Gaming Infrastructure

Thanks to CNET News for its story discussing the increasing interest of large tech companies in online gaming middleware, explaining: "Inspired by predictions of brisk growth in the $1 billion online game market, IBM, Sun Microsystems and other companies normally not associated with dragon-slaying adventures have launched projects recently to handle the complex infrastructure needed to run online games." Steve Canepa of IBM is enthusiastic about the opportunities: "The gaming industry is really going through a transition now... we think there's a real opportunity for IBM to play a role in that transition [by backing Butterfly.net, among other things]." However, analyst Billy Pidgeon points out, in riposte: "There's just not a lot of profit to be made... the infrastructure stuff is not really that expensive or difficult a piece of the online game process, so the outsourcing players can't charge a whole lot."

Re:Not yet..

[Thyamine]

Well sure, if I want a standard FPS experience then all I want to do is run around and shoot people. But when I get onto a MMORPG I want to play the game, not have to worry about some 13 yo jack-off that likes to run around newbie zones and PK.

And just because _you_ don't like to craft doesn't mean that the hundreds (thousands?) of people that do enjoy it are paying any less to play the game. People want variety in their gameplay. They want to have options and depth. Otherwise they'll play UT2004 all

Re:Not yet..

[Xlipse]

About a month ago, EQ had 400,000 subscribers.. and everyone has their predictions about the next batch of MMOG's.. most of them are wrong.

since when is IBM not associated with gaming

[musikit]

they worked on the PS2. they worked on the PS3 and they are working on the neXtBox. i believe they also worked on the gamecube and the nextcube

Xbox Live- again?

[bigman2003]

Wow- this is similar to the last story about XSN Sports...at least both are on-line.

I would like Xbox Live to switch from the peer-to-peer network, to something with more centralized servers. I believe this would cut down on lag in the games, and allow for more players on a server (of course).

But the important thing for me, is that the story focuses on 'elves and wizards'. I know there are a few games out there that do NOT focus on standard D&D type characters (Star Wars Galaxies for one) but when will we get more HUGE FPS worlds?

Instead of paladins and mages storming a castle, how about the Allies attempting to enter a city that is full of German snipers? This could be Medal of Honor, with nothing but human players. The D-Day invasion played out with teams of 400 people? That would be great.

Of course, as worn-out as the D&D worlds are, World War II is almost as bad. The western genre is starting to get more attention, and I can imagine a game with a map the size of Nebraska. You could have classes like 'gunfighter' 'blacksmith' 'saloon girl' and 'stagecoach driver'.

This kind of game would need some huge back-end power, and enough on the client side to keep track of anyone within a few hundred yards. The infrastructure is getting there though.

I think that peer-to-peer (Xbox Live) may have run its course, and we need to see something really big happen for Xbox 2.

Re:Xbox Live- again?

[Blakey Rat]

Uh. XBox Live isn't peer-to-peer at all.

Actually, that's not entirely true since there are a few games that are-- Counter-Strike, for instance-- but they are few and far-between.

Most games, like MechAssault, Crimson Skies, etc, when you say "create a new game," your XBox is just telling the server to allocate some resources to it. The game is hosted from the XBox Live servers.

Re:Xbox Live- again?

[bigman2003]

Okay- let's assume that I don't know the intricate workings of Xbox Live (which is exactly the case).

For instance, Rainbow Six 3- someone with a fast connection can host more users on their 'server' than someone with a slow connection. Same thing for Crimson Skies.

I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that the central Xbox Live server got everyone together, handed out my IP address to the rest of the players, then we went ahead and played- with my box (the host) sending/receiving traffic to everyone. The nex

lag

[Lord_Dweomer]

Hey, if it does anything to help lag and load times, I'm all for it. Honestly, I just hope they develop the tech and don't worry about immediate profits. Online gaming is the way of the future, and it will only grow from here.

Outsource your kidneys

[BortQ]

I'm a one man game studio, and yet I have managed to create a persistent game-tracker, as well as an online ranking system. So I would agree that this is a silly thing for IBM to do.

Re:Outsource your kidneys

[lmsig]

I think the real question becomes: does your solution scale to 500,000 players? This is where a big company can come in and help you out building a system that can handle the load of half a million players hitting you up with ghost runs and high scores, let alone matchmaking services.

One extra dollar....

[MMaestro]

There's just not a lot of profit to be made... the infrastructure stuff is not really that expensive or difficult a piece of the online game process, so the outsourcing players can't charge a whole lot.

I don't know about most people but if I was given the choice of paying an extra dollar a month for absolutely no time EVER and much less lag, or not paying that one dollar and having to deal with downtime and annoying lag... well, I'd have to go with the extra dollar plan. I spend more on candy a month than I do on subscription based games so an extra dollar isn't gonna cause me to starve.

This is a good thing

[LordZardoz]

Getting some of these tech giants involved in creating MMPORG middle ware is probably a great thing. The developers should focus on making the game fun. So why spend their time on the 'boring' aspects (customer billing, database system for account management, server maintenence, etc).

If IBM and the rest can provide software and hardware services to do this, it will be a good thing. Does a customer really need to know or give a damn if their Everquest game uses the same server back end as Dark age of Camelot or City of Heros?

END COMMUNICATION

IBM Gaming Netcode?

[coleslawjoe]

IBM develops new counter-strike 3 servers. - Ultra Efficient! - Zero lag! - Reduced Loading times! Download Now. (System requirements: IBM Zseries 990 mainframe or better)