The Tiny Console Killers Taking On the PS4 and Xbox 720 349
An anonymous reader writes "As the next generation of consoles looms, we've seen a growing trend towards low price, compact alternatives such as the Ouya and GameStick, many of which run on the Android mobile platform. But this article on the trend raises a very good point: through the use of cloud computing and game streaming technology, it's entirely possible these machines will be able to keep pace with the powerhouse technology inside the Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 720, and perhaps even overtake them. After all, if these little boxes can simply stream from powerful servers, how can the stalwarts of gaming keep up?"
how can the stalwarts of gaming keep up? (Score:5, Insightful)
simply stream from powerful servers (Score:4, Insightful)
yea you know what, my shitty internet has trouble streaming from youtube sometimes
They will fail because (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people don't have fast enough internet to stream high quality without lag and a lot of people have data caps. If you can't even stream a Netflix movie without it buffering all the time or using up your data how are you supposed to game for hours on end?
latency (Score:5, Insightful)
We've talked about this a thousand times. After your normal input lag gets sent to a server, the video gets rendered and sent back, your latency is so bad that twitchy games are unplayable. I'm sure it would work fine for slow-paced games, but then... what do you need the server for?
Re:how can the stalwarts of gaming keep up? (Score:4, Insightful)
By focusing on profitability and not marketshare.
Sell enough to a dedicated group of people with good internet access and ensure that your profit center IS the console and you're set.
Although that GameStick controller looks simply awful. I wish they built a better joypad.
Streamed Games are Awful (Score:5, Insightful)
Bandwidth use, control lag etc.
A 6 year old kid can notice the lag in Lego Batman when used on a Smart TV not in Game mode and be irritated by it.
Even under the best conditions the lag by the 'games streamed entirely from servers' is worse.
I'd accept PS1 era graphics and tight controls over 'real-life' quality streamed graphics and horrible lag.
I don't understand (Score:5, Insightful)
Wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
They won't keep up.
Mommy may want to buy some shitty Ouya console cause its cheap, but little Jimmy won't want to play this shitty half assed games on it.
Seriously, do you think people WANT to phone quality graphics on a 60" TV? No, they don't even want to see it on a 15" laptop.
Anyone who thinks streamed games have chance hasn't played a game. Even for turn based games, lag that is noticeable sucks ass, and no ones internet is lag free all the time. Even if the last mile doesnt' lag, there are plenty of other hops to cause problems and introduce lag.
Consoles, current or next gen, have no worries at all about being beat out by a Gamestick or Ouya console, local or streamed. Anyone who thinks this is utterly disconnected from reality.
Cloud gaming - the next emperor's new clothes (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I don't understand (Score:5, Insightful)
The console-killer always has been the good old PC. A reasonably specced-out PC with a mid-range graphics card is far, far better than any console. But nobody listens to me.
Well yes and no.
You may not be old enough to remember but back before the Playstation and Xbox PC-pretenders turned up consoles were about casual, accessible games like Mario Kart. PC's were about in depth games, shooters like Doom and adventure games like Star Control 2. Then the PS/XB pretenders came a long and pretended they could be "hardcore" gaming machines. This was until Nintendo released the Wii and proved that consoles were about casual, accessible games like Mario Kart and made money hand over fist whilst it took the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 half a decade to achieve profitability (the PS3 still hasn't recouped it's investment yet).
Now mobile is muscling in on the casual game and this is where the "traditional" console is doomed. Casual audiences will be attracted to the cheapness, ease of use and multiplayer capabilities of the tablet-consoles (Tabsoles, Conslets?) and "hardcore" games will come home, back to the PC.
Re:latency (Score:4, Insightful)
i seem to have beaten borderlands just fine over onlive.
Worst idea ever (Score:5, Insightful)
Escalation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I don't understand (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously? Street Fighter? Final Fantasy? Romance of the Three Kingdoms? No More Heroes? The World Ends with You? *Dragon Quest*?
None of these games have "depth?" I think what you mean is "ridiculously thick manual and awful UI."
Anything that can plug into a display and spit sound out of it somehow can be full of casual or "teh hardcorez" gaming anyway. The PC, for example, is nothing but a final resting place for casual games and shovel ware and Pokemon is a ridiculously deeper game than it lets on.
If the traditional console is dead, then it is going the way of the arcade, screwed by the industry that spawned it or destroyed by non-gaming forces beyond it's control.
It's sad that we perpetuate myths, like consoles killed arcade games or there must be one dominant platform, so that way tech writers have something to write about and so fanboys can argue about these things.
It's funny, rarely in other industries do you ever hear that a product or product line will completely eviscerate another product. As far as I know, neither Canon or Nikon have wiped each other off the map nor do they have plans to.
Re:how can the stalwarts of gaming keep up? (Score:5, Insightful)
Rural areas. Dialup and satellite internet suck in this application.
You already need decent broadband on current consoles for some DRM-laden games.
Re:I don't understand (Score:5, Insightful)
The console-killer always has been the good old PC. A reasonably specced-out PC with a mid-range graphics card is far, far better than any console. But nobody listens to me. Nobody loves me.
The console killer was the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, etc. Apple sells as many iDevices each year than all the consoles that have ever been made, and has more games available in the App Store for its platform than for all consoles that have ever existed combined. They just announced their 40 billionth unique (non-upgrade, non-redownload) app sale, most of them games. Consoles and PC game rigs are both niches now.
Re:how can the stalwarts of gaming keep up? (Score:3, Insightful)
Rural areas. Dialup and satellite internet suck in this application.
You already need decent broadband on current consoles for some DRM-laden games.
And SSH into girlfriend's PC to kill Transmission (or equivalent).
Guns don't kill people. Lag kills people.