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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

#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.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#3
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 use GeForce now, it works really well.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#4
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 latency and fuzzy graphics. This isn't hypothetical; I still remember the days when OnLive was around and could play that Disney racing game Split/Second for free for half an hour, I was AMAZED back then.

Sometimes I feel like people dismissing cloud gaming do not consider how the advent of cloud gaming has opened doors for those who previously couldn't afford traditional gaming setups. It's not about the technical specifications; it's about making gaming accessible to more people, regardless of their financial constraints.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#5
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.

they are probably drooling over a future where most people have to rent gpus at a premium due to how expensive they are to buy.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#6
post #4
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…

I'm not buying that argument at all.

Today there are a ton of cheap 2nd hand console available on different markets, and much thanks to hard-copies they still bring plenty of enjoyment for a cheap coin. The latter also allows access to games no longer published or available for sale.

Cloud gaming will ensure older games will be entirely at the mercy of the streaming provider to keep them up to date and compatible with their technology. Once not, they're gone forever.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#7
post #4
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…

As that one kid on 56k while everyone else was on broadband. You didn't miss what you think you missed. Being the worst in the group may not be better than not being in the group at all.

but I hope cloud gaming can deliver that.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#8
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.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#9
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.

The intent is for your entire computer to work that way eventually. If they can get gaming to work under that model, everything else will work too.

Re: Microsoft gets green light in UK to buy Activision

#10
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not buying that argument at all. Today there are a ton of cheap 2nd hand console available on different markets, and much thanks to hard-copies they still bring plenty of enjoyment for a cheap coin. The latter also allows access to games no longer published or available for sale. Cloud gaming will ensure older games will be entirely at the mercy of the streaming provider to keep them up to date and compatible wit…

> Today there are a ton of cheap 2nd hand console available on different markets, and much thanks to hard-copies they still bring plenty of enjoyment for a cheap coin.

You're missing the point of the parent comment. They aren't saying they had access to no games at all, but rather that they couldn't afford to play the latest games.

Nvidia's cloud gaming service costs $10/month, compared to $10 a month just for multiplayer access on an Xbox or PlayStation plus the $300-$500 upfront cost of buying the console itself.

So there's no doubt that even with the savings of a used last generation console, you would still save a lot of money with cloud gaming.

Just for clarity, I'm not necessarily saying I like cloud gaming. I think if you can afford the hardware to do local gaming, it's a better experience. But it's way more expensive to render everything locally for obvious reasons. Even just the electricity needed to power a gaming PC is expensive.

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