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Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#21

Post by deckar01 »

lawrenceyan wrote: post #10
Waterluvian wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And Nvidia GeForce Now. I'm wildly impressed by Nvidia's streaming solution.

I remember when Nvidia first launched GeForce Now in 2015 with their attempt at mobile gaming using the Android Shield. It was a good idea in principle, so I was sad to see it not do as well. Glad that Nvidia is pivoting to moving the service back to a full computer setting. The Shield while cool, really could have done with a better screen.

The only thing they pivoted on was their pricing model. GeForce now was just them beta testing on shield users. Once they were feature complete they flipped on the switch for PC and started charging more money.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#22

Post by skohan »

tzakrajs wrote: post #11
lawrenceyan wrote: post #5

I assume this is in response to Stadia?

Stadia has overcome the speed of light, so yes it's a viable product now and needs a response. /s

There might be cases where Stadia will be too high-latency for some games/gamers, but I would wager it will make huge inroads in the untapped market of people who want to play games but can't or won't invest in gaming hardware.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#23

Post by skohan »

shmerl wrote: post #18

Google finally advances Linux+Vulkan gaming using a side door that bypasses the market share blocker altogether. MS and Sony don't like it and plan to mirror Google. Instead, they should stop being lock-in jerks, and should support Vulkan as well.

I'm a huge fan of the fact that Google is embracing a Linux + Vulkan stack for gaming, but I also want them to have meaningful competition. Yes it would be a dream scenario if MS & Sony started supporting Vulkan, but it would also be a nightmare scenario if Stadia started dominating the gaming market, and gaming technology stagnated for a decade at Vega56-class GPU's because there is no competitive pressure to push the envelope.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#24

Post by bredren »

Will the most powerful titles white label or use their own custom cloud gaming? For example, Dota 2 or what pubg did with its App Store.

Removing the end user capital expense of a gaming rig sounds like a huge change. Would drastically reduce the cost of VR setups as well.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#25

Post by skohan »

bredren wrote: post #24

Will the most powerful titles white label or use their own custom cloud gaming? For example, Dota 2 or what pubg did with its App Store. Removing the end user capital expense of a gaming rig sounds like a huge change. Would drastically reduce the cost of VR setups as well.

I can't imagine cloud gaming will be viable for VR anytime soon. It's far too sensitive to latency.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#26

Post by shmerl »

skohan wrote: post #23
shmerl wrote: post #18

Google finally advances Linux+Vulkan gaming using a side door that bypasses the market share blocker altogether. MS and Sony don't like it and plan to mirror Google. Instead, they should stop being lock-in jerks, and should support Vulkan as well.

I'm a huge fan of the fact that Google is embracing a Linux + Vulkan stack for gaming, but I also want them to have meaningful competition. Yes it would be a dream scenario if MS & Sony started supporting Vulkan, but it would also be a nightmare scenario if Stadia started dominating the gaming market, and gaming technology stagnated for a decade at Vega56-class GPU's because there is no competitive pressure to push t…

Sure, competition is good. But it doesn't mean it should come with lock-in problems. MS learned not to mess things up on the Web (remember ActiveX and Silverlight?). But when it comes to gaming, they are still as nasty as in the '90s. And Sony is even worse in this regard.

I agree about Stadia in general. I wouldn't want it to become too dominant, especially since it's like DRM on steroids - you can't back up anything from there. In general, I don't think regular gaming stores that sell rather than rent games are going anywhere. I.e. GOG, Steam and others are going to stay around. As long as Stadia won't be pushing exclusives, things will be good, since some will always prefer to run games locally.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#27

Post by potrebitel »

XzAeRosho wrote: post #4

>While details have yet to be hammered out, the partnership will center on artificial intelligence and the cloud. The latter category includes plans for joint development of cloud gaming technology. So this agreement mostly focuses on Sony using Azure infrastructure for Cloud Gaming. I wonder how will Xbox will compete in this scenario, it's kind of weird hosting your competitor.

>it's kind of weird hosting your competitor.

Same as Apple using Samsung's tech in one way or another. Money talks after all. Different divisions, different profits, etc.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#28

Post by deafcalculus »

shmerl wrote: post #18

Google finally advances Linux+Vulkan gaming using a side door that bypasses the market share blocker altogether. MS and Sony don't like it and plan to mirror Google. Instead, they should stop being lock-in jerks, and should support Vulkan as well.

The graphics API isn't that big a deal anymore. It's often a pretty small part of the engine codebase. Many games, especially those built on the popular engines like Unity, support both DirectX and Vulkan (and Sony's API too).

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#29

Post by Waterluvian »

deckar01 wrote: post #21
lawrenceyan wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember when Nvidia first launched GeForce Now in 2015 with their attempt at mobile gaming using the Android Shield. It was a good idea in principle, so I was sad to see it not do as well. Glad that Nvidia is pivoting to moving the service back to a full computer setting. The Shield while cool, really could have done with a better screen.

The only thing they pivoted on was their pricing model. GeForce now was just them beta testing on shield users. Once they were feature complete they flipped on the switch for PC and started charging more money.

They're charging money? I'm in a closed beta for free.

Re: Sony and Microsoft set rivalry aside for cloud gaming alliance

#30

Post by skohan »

shmerl wrote: post #26
skohan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a huge fan of the fact that Google is embracing a Linux + Vulkan stack for gaming, but I also want them to have meaningful competition. Yes it would be a dream scenario if MS & Sony started supporting Vulkan, but it would also be a nightmare scenario if Stadia started dominating the gaming market, and gaming technology stagnated for a decade at Vega56-class GPU's because there is no competitive pressure to push t…

Sure, competition is good. But it doesn't mean it should come with lock-in problems. MS learned not to mess things up on the Web (remember ActiveX and Silverlight?). But when it comes to gaming, they are still as nasty as in the '90s. And Sony is even worse in this regard. I agree about Stadia in general. I wouldn't want it to become too dominant, especially since it's like DRM on steroids - you can't back up anythin…

I suppose if Google starts kicking their butts in cloud gaming, they might loosen their stances on lock-in technologies in an effort to attract developers.
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