Cloud Gaming: The Future of Fun

The horizon of the video game frontier is uncertain. Uncertain for many reasons these days. Will the economy falter further, causing untold amounts of job loss across the board, or is there something else that looms overhead? No my dear friends, the age of cloud gaming is upon us. Will it sweep forth with Katrina force, destroying conventional game and after-market PC accessory companies? Or will it blow by like the mountain-moving Titan that should have been the Sega Dreamcast? This matter is much in the same hands as the fate of anything else video game related. Yours.

With www.Quakelive.com raking in fraggers by the hundreds weekly, it appears as though the book on gaming has not only a new chapter, but a new volume. This is called cloud gaming. Essentially a series of centralized computers linked to the Internet, with you staring back, through a screen. The fantastic folks at ID Software have given new life to Quake 3 Arena in this form, and it has taken off like wild fire. A simple Internet browser plug-in needs installing, and you are well on your way to carving a bloody mess through the arenas of Quake. How is it possible?

Like I mentioned before, this pile of computing power basically plays the game for you. Doesn't sound like much fun? It is when you can use you six year old HP laptop to play Quake 3 on line against anyone you choose. You see, the browser is just a place for you to view the game as its played, and a place for you to input controls. So, when you push the "killem' all dead!" button, that information is sent through the Internet to this centralized mass of computers, it plays the game, and sends the visual output back to you. You are playing the game, but you will no longer need a high end PC to play these games.

Though the folks at ID appear to have pioneered this thing, the beast has another master. If you check out www.onlive.com you will find that these sly people have been working on such a project for quite a while. They call it "stealth development", which is a semi-technical term for secret. It's the same premise, though you can simply use a micro console and plug it into a television, and use the included controller as the input for your gaming pleasure.

How does this severely change the industry? If done correctly this could shake the foundations of the entire industry to its core. PCs will no longer need expensive video cards to play high end games, and console manufacturers will no longer have an audience to sling pricey hardware to. We may actually see a devolution in the after market, and console market of gaming.

This type of technology isn't simply limited to video games. Netflix is already at the forefront of streaming video to paying customers on various types of viewing devices. Whether you have a television or an Xbox360, or a Gizmodo box, you can get thousands of hours of streaming video. Expect cable and satellite services to proceed much the same way.

Whats the catch you say? A high speed connection is a must of course, so dial-uppers will not be permitted. This problem is being remedied constantly with faster types of data wire going up all over the country. It may only be a matter of a few short years before that toothless kid in Aintry (see Deliverance)can frag you on the next unreal Tournament.