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Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#11

Post by junaru »

DanielHB wrote: post #8
mathieuh wrote: post #2

They keep talking about cloud streaming, is anyone except executives at these companies taking cloud streaming seriously? Every time I've tried it it's been a mess of latency and fuzzy graphics. If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

It is because regulators don't want a monopoly to be formed around an emerging technology. Sure cloud streaming is not big at the moment but it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years. Heck Microsoft themselves point this out to their investors. Google's monopoly on search and online advertising today could have been easily prevented 20 years ago by some regulations.

> it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years.

No it couldn't. Its fundamentally inferior to local hardware and no amount of wishful thinking will change the laws of physics.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#12

Post by shapefrog »

mathieuh wrote: post #2

They keep talking about cloud streaming, is anyone except executives at these companies taking cloud streaming seriously? Every time I've tried it it's been a mess of latency and fuzzy graphics. If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

> If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

If a "someone" came along and offered you a benefit in exchange for saying "but won't someone think of the cloud streaming market" you too would give it a lot of thought.

You would give it a lot of thought while dropping your kids off at the new private school you kids just recieved a scholarship to, in the brand new car that arrived (you always wanted the Tesla but it was a Lexus that arrived), feeling much more relaxed after the family holiday (the med is nice over summer but Japan was calling).

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#13

Post by maccard »

shapefrog wrote: post #12
mathieuh wrote: post #2

They keep talking about cloud streaming, is anyone except executives at these companies taking cloud streaming seriously? Every time I've tried it it's been a mess of latency and fuzzy graphics. If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

> If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all. If a "someone" came along and offered you a benefit in exchange for saying "but won't someone think of the cloud streaming market" you too would give it a lot of thought. You would give it a lot of thought while dropping your kids off at the new private school you kids just recieved a scholarship to, in the b…

This is a wild accusation to throw around.

Have you any proof that Microsoft paid off the CMA? If not, this is just shitposting.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#14

Post by sabellito »

mathieuh wrote: post #2

They keep talking about cloud streaming, is anyone except executives at these companies taking cloud streaming seriously? Every time I've tried it it's been a mess of latency and fuzzy graphics. If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

I've used Geforce Now in the past and it was very good. I only stopped because it doesn't support mods and rockstar games.

I have a 2080 TI that can still run games very well, and if it lasts a few more years it looks like I'll never have to buy a GPU again.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#15

Post by Topfi »

junaru wrote: post #11
DanielHB wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is because regulators don't want a monopoly to be formed around an emerging technology. Sure cloud streaming is not big at the moment but it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years. Heck Microsoft themselves point this out to their investors. Google's monopoly on search and online advertising today could have been easily prevented 20 years ago by some regulations.

> it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years. No it couldn't. Its fundamentally inferior to local hardware and no amount of wishful thinking will change the laws of physics.

> laws of physics

Honest question, which of those is in any way applicable to this technology? Besides the fact that these services already exist and, provided you have decent infrastructure, which will only become more accessible as time goes on, do serve most people's gaming needs even in this early state.

Of course, there will always be some for whom local will be the preferred option, but they were talking about the future default. There are still people buying and consuming Blu-ray due to its higher quality, but the default (i.e. what the majority use) has become streaming, and I don't see anything preventing gaming going the same way. If you wanna stick with gaming, the majority tend to play on consoles and do view the advantages in convinience to outweigh the disadvantages in terms of possible fidelity, higher framerates and lower latency that a PC may offer (even in cases of similar pricing).

Concerning cloud gaming, network latency will go down, and the offered bandwidth will go up in most areas of the globe. With recent advancements in high quality upscaling, networking demands will also decrease. Physics is not a hindrance, unless I am overlooking something.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#16

Post by johneth »

I found this part interesting:

> CMA chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said: "Businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn't work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money."

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#17

Post by katbyte »

Topfi wrote: post #15
junaru wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years. No it couldn't. Its fundamentally inferior to local hardware and no amount of wishful thinking will change the laws of physics.

> laws of physics Honest question, which of those is in any way applicable to this technology? Besides the fact that these services already exist and, provided you have decent infrastructure, which will only become more accessible as time goes on, do serve most people's gaming needs even in this early state. Of course, there will always be some for whom local will be the preferred option, but they were talking about…

Latency can only go down so much because as parent comment said: laws of physics dictate the minimum response time between two points given the distance. And it will be higher with each hop /media change

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#18

Post by scrlk »

Topfi wrote: post #15
junaru wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it could literally be the default way to play games in 20 years. No it couldn't. Its fundamentally inferior to local hardware and no amount of wishful thinking will change the laws of physics.

> laws of physics Honest question, which of those is in any way applicable to this technology? Besides the fact that these services already exist and, provided you have decent infrastructure, which will only become more accessible as time goes on, do serve most people's gaming needs even in this early state. Of course, there will always be some for whom local will be the preferred option, but they were talking about…

> Honest question, which of those is in any way applicable to this technology?

Speed of a signal travelling through optical fiber or copper cable? Additional latency of cloud gaming rules out genres that require twitch reactions (e.g. competitive FPS, fighting games, platformers).

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#19

Post by AndyMcConachie »

5636588 wrote: post #4
mathieuh wrote: post #2

They keep talking about cloud streaming, is anyone except executives at these companies taking cloud streaming seriously? Every time I've tried it it's been a mess of latency and fuzzy graphics. If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all.

I'm fortunate enough to own a gaming PC, but I wish cloud gaming was around when I was younger. All my buddies owned consoles or PCs, and I felt like a sore thumb when they were discussing the latest titles. There are a lot of people who just can't afford even the cheapest Xbox One but have enough money for a month's worth of Game Pass and can play Starfield. My younger self would definitely have been okay with laten…

But it doesn't work, at least not yet. I live in an urban area with a fast Internet connection. Yet everytime I've tried cloud gaming on my Xbox it's been janky as hell.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#20

Post by okokwhatever »

maccard wrote: post #13
shapefrog wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I were at the CMA I'm not sure that's a factor in this deal that I would have given much thought at all. If a "someone" came along and offered you a benefit in exchange for saying "but won't someone think of the cloud streaming market" you too would give it a lot of thought. You would give it a lot of thought while dropping your kids off at the new private school you kids just recieved a scholarship to, in the b…

This is a wild accusation to throw around. Have you any proof that Microsoft paid off the CMA? If not, this is just shitposting.

Mate.... please...
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