Microsoft is working on a game streaming service called Arcadia

[HEXUS]

The new technology is said to replace 'Rio', demonstrated back in 2013.

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[Roobubba]

Am I missing something? I can't imagine why streaming games should be a goal. Maybe because I'm an fps pc gamer, I just can't see how you can get anything like an acceptable data rate and input rate. And if you could, would you want to be limited to play only when online?

very confused.

[shaithis]

Perhaps they have a great vision but I see it as a dead end.

If connections had progressed faster we might have been in a situation where it would have been a great idea (at least for a while) but we are probably about to see some large bumps in computing power and especially in FLOPS/watt....making game streaming a bit pointless in so many situations.

Although I would guess it's more about controlling the content and possibly a future where they can sell you a 300-400ukp console that is nothing more than a thin client.

[Tpyo]

re: Shaithis - kill the second-hand game market by not selling you the game itself or allowing it to run locally and sell it to end users as a favour to them so they don't have to worry about hardware upgrades.
Re: Pricing - hopefully if they did go this way, one of the other selling points would be the cut-down/cheaper hardware they could sell you relative to what you'd need to run stuff locally. I realise that 'fair' pricing wouldn't come into it, but it would behove them to flog it cheap to tie you into their ecosystem (leave and you lose all the games) but make money via the subscription model (X-box live! style, only this time they can justify it as doing the heavy lifting behind the games you run/ storing all your films/music to stream to your thin client).

[ZaO]

Am I missing something? I can't imagine why streaming games should be a goal. Maybe because I'm an fps pc gamer, I just can't see how you can get anything like an acceptable data rate and input rate. And if you could, would you want to be limited to play only when online?

very confused.

Here's how I see it from the point of view of some companies that want to use this tech:

* This will crush piracy, as no one can even get their hands on the software to make pirate versions of it.

* We'll have total control over how and when users can use the software.

* We'll be able to put even more paywalls between the user and their software. Infact, let's scrap buying a permanent license for software. It's always rented temporarily now. Subscription plans galore



Here's how I see it from hackers point of view:

* They can't keep anything from us. If it's connected to the WWW, we'll take it and do what we want with it!



Here's how I see it from my point of view:

* This is the inevitable future. It's undeniable that piracy somewhat drives this (but it's not the only cause. There is more control, and potentially more money available to the software owners this way).

* It's not necessarily a bad thing. As long as you have a good internet connection, you will no longer have to spend much on Pc hardware to run whatever games and apps you like, right? I dunno..

* I will miss having things locally on my computer. I'll also be screwed without a net connection.

* Nevermind. A whole new market of underdogs will open up. While all the big software Devs are using this streaming stuff only, we'll see new leaders in the traditional software market

[Saracen]

Some companies and analysts see cloud gaming as the future of digital games consumption, and Microsoft certainly seems to believe that its project could become a leader in that space. It actually refers to Arcadia, in the above linked job posting, as "the next big thing for Microsoft".

Maybe cloud gaming is the future of digital games, and maybe it's MSs "next big thing". I couldn't say. I can say my interest is somewhere between infinitesimal and zero.

It may be an incorrect assumption, but I'd guess this fits in with MSs plans to "monetatise" Windows, and that somewhere along the line, that involves a subscription. Well, it may well be a big thing, but for me, oh hell no. No way. I'll give up gaming entirely first, if it comes to it. But it won't. There'll always (IMHO) be a market for my type of gaming, even if it's small. I'll be there, or nowhere, in gaming.

[ZaO]

Maybe cloud gaming is the future of digital games, and maybe it's MSs "next big thing". I couldn't say. I can say my interest is somewhere between infinitesimal and zero.

It may be an incorrect assumption, but I'd guess this fits in with MSs plans to "monetatise" Windows, and that somewhere along the line, that involves a subscription. Well, it may well be a big thing, but for me, oh hell no. No way. I'll give up gaming entirely first, if it comes to it. But it won't. There'll always (IMHO) be a market for my type of gaming, even if it's small. I'll be there, or nowhere, in gaming.

Mate - Linux is rising. One day, we won't care a bit about running Windows to play games But, who will be developing games for local use on a Linux machine when all the big players move to the cloud, I don't know.. We'll always have the indie devs looking to impress. And this cloud thing could open up even more room for them.

[Saracen]

Mate - Linux is rising. One day, we won't care a bit about running Windows to play games But, who will be developing games for local use on a Linux machine when all the big players move to the cloud, I don't know.. We'll always have the indie devs looking to impress. And this cloud thing could open up even more room for them.

And I welcome the day, brother. I resisted the temptation to delve into Linux for years, but MSs marketing team finally convinced me with their intensive pro-Linux incentivization drive, otherwise known as Win8 MUI.

As for local Linux games in an increasingly Cloud world, well, dunno.

Personally, and I accept I may be in the minority, my view on 'cloud' varies a bit depending on what type of computing we're talking about. For most of my own PC-based computing needs, be it personal or business, I don't need ANY internet connection. So, in that category, that all takes place on an unconnected, air-gapped network. For instance, my writing, document production, accounting (business and home) do not need a net connection. The software doesn't need it, and neither do my needs. So, NONE of that is going on the cloud. Period. And not only will I not do it intentionally, but I take steps to ensure it cannot happen unintentionally.

What little PC stuff I do do that uses the net can't access the 'private' network. And I'm extremely careful about any personal information on that/those devices/machines.

As for gaming, I'm not bothered about any form of online gaming. So, be it PC or Linux, it's likely to be on the 'private' network. If that means sticking with Win7, or Ubuntu 11.04, or whatever, and not using games that can't run local, without a net connection, so be it. If that means sticking to DRM-free games from GOG, etc, well, so be it, again.

In other words, for 'personal' computing needs, I WON'T use the Cloud, as a matter of principle. For gaming, it's not an absolute policy decision to remain clear-blue-skies (i.e. cloud-free ), simply that I don't see anything cloud-enabled games offer that I want.

[ZaO]

And I welcome the day, brother. I resisted the temptation to delve into Linux for years, but MSs marketing team finally convinced me with their intensive pro-Linux incentivization drive, otherwise known as Win8 MUI.

As for local Linux games in an increasingly Cloud world, well, dunno.

Personally, and I accept I may be in the minority, my view on 'cloud' varies a bit depending on what type of computing we're talking about. For most of my own PC-based computing needs, be it personal or business, I don't need ANY internet connection. So, in that category, that all takes place on an unconnected, air-gapped network. For instance, my writing, document production, accounting (business and home) do not need a net connection. The software doesn't need it, and neither do my needs. So, NONE of that is going on the cloud. Period. And not only will I not do it intentionally, but I take steps to ensure it cannot happen unintentionally.

What little PC stuff I do do that uses the net can't access the 'private' network. And I'm extremely careful about any personal information on that/those devices/machines.

As for gaming, I'm not bothered about any form of online gaming. So, be it PC or Linux, it's likely to be on the 'private' network. If that means sticking with Win7, or Ubuntu 11.04, or whatever, and not using games that can't run local, without a net connection, so be it. If that means sticking to DRM-free games from GOG, etc, well, so be it, again.

In other words, for 'personal' computing needs, I WON'T use the Cloud, as a matter of principle. For gaming, it's not an absolute policy decision to remain clear-blue-skies (i.e. cloud-free ), simply that I don't see anything cloud-enabled games offer that I want.

Haha yeh, I hear you.

I'm just looking at it as games becoming something that are only available via streaming. That's what I mean by 'cloud'. Tbh, if these services work well enough with my net connection, I'll probably use some of them. I'm not strictly against the idea, as long as it's done fairly and works properly. But I can't see it being a good option for years yet. The average connection probably isn't good enough for it. I'm not quite sure..

Star Citizen is being developed for Linux. Some other major games are already on Linux. And of course, Steam/Valve are helping with getting Linux gaming going. They're lining it up nicely as a platform to be taken seriously for game development. By the time this cloud gaming thing becomes standard place, Linux should be a pretty big gaming platform. Hopefully before then! With crowd funding really taking off in recent years (let me refer to Star Citizen again), I have no doubt there'll be devs running these campaigns with the promise of having games running locally Then again, Star Citizen, I'm pretty sure, requires a net connection to play once you're done with the single player (optional multiplayer) campaign. But it's just one example. I totally want to play Star Citizen online anyway. Looking forward to that persistent universe