'It won’t be long before 100 per cent of games are all online,' says veteran designer
Physical media is at the sunset of its lifespan. Eventually, all games will be based online.
That was the view of industry veteran, and Gaikai founder, David Perry.
Perry was speaking at an opening keynote at the fourth annual Develop Conference in Brighton, UK. In an address entitled Embracing the Future, Perry told attendees that “it won’t be long before 100 per cent of games are all online.”
Perry’s keynote covered how media has evolved from disc drives to hard drives to, in the near future virtual media. His address covered how Facebook provides game content to the masses without needing physical data; “that was a major step forward,” he said.
However – just like in his recent interview with Develop - Perry spoke again of the friction involving the adoption of online games.
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Download times, registration processes, installation procedures; according to Perry, these all prevent consumers from the biggest allure of videogames, which is the play experience itself.
Perry used World of Warcraft’s download, installation and registration process as an example of such friction. “I’m twenty clicks in and, finally, I see a play button,” he said.
Conversely, he said, the iPhone needs one tap to install, one tap to play. Perry pointed out that Apple has enjoyed over one billion downloads since the App Store launched.
Then moved the discussion to Gaikai; his vision for the future of games. As demonstrated in the recent video demo Perry released on his website, Gaikai is, essentially, frictionless. Users click on games and it rapidly streams to users’ PC, Mac or netbook.
Perry reiterated that bandwidth demands for Gaikai remain modest; users only need 1.2 MB to run the service.
The Shiny founder went on to reiterate his pledge to take a Gaikai server to every major city around the world. He stated that 67 per cent of the UK currently has enough broadband capacity to use Gaikai, with 60 per cent of North American homes able to use the service.
"Conversely, he said, the iPhone needs one tap to install, one tap to play"
Along with that, it only needs a few minutes to download the few megs of install. Which is a bit of a difference to a game needing 3GB's of install, which could take some users 2 over a month if they are on a 2GB per month bandwidth allowance.
"Perry reiterated that bandwidth demands for Gaikai remain modest; users only need 1.2 MB to run the service."
And 1.2MB of bandwidth relies on you being within a fixed distance from the telephone exchange AND being able to get broadband in the first place. This also isn't cumulative bandwidth, which is a critical factor for a good percentage of people.
I wonder when these people are going to realise that not every country is the good old US of A. We don't all have optical fibre broadband and it isn't only rural that suffers from that problem. I live just 3 miles from Manchester City centre and still have to rely on telephone-lines as the broadband carrier.
There are still people who can only get 512Kb. There are still people who only have a 2GB bandwidth allowance per month. If you cannot provide the service equally for everyone who you want to use it, then you are going to split the community. People who can use this service, will choose not to if their friends can't.
Computer users (real computers, not consoles claiming to be one) are aware of, and are happy with installations. It's part of the whole package of using a computer. Console users shouldn't have to worry about this, although Sony thought otherwise when they decided that compulsory installs were "all well and good".
I'm sure Mr Perry thinks games are important enough to use up people's bandwidth. Unfortunately, there are plenty of PC users who do game but like to have their internet free while they are doing it. Consider those with multiple PC's in the home, I don't think "you all better stay off the internet while I am playing this game" is going to cut it. Perhaps he's trying to appeal to the "lives alone" brigade... they're probably too busy downloading porn to want to play games.
The sooner this all fails the better IMO.
Yeah if you don't think the future of gaming and of all digital media is the internet you are going to be left behind within the decade. Yes, I'm aware that much of the world is still without broadband but its coming as quickly as the telecom companies can collect your money. And don't be upset with the U.S.A. needlessly we are lagging in our telecommunications infrastructure (considering we are currently replacing aging lines, routing stations, etc. .) and don't be fooled into believing that fiber is ubiquitous here either. Still the vast majority of the U.S. doesn't have anything even remotely close you should be looking towards countries that have had more recent telecom installations. And if a telecom company isn't providing the service you need in your area then begin to voice your concern, (its not like broadband is a radical concept anymore). And also broadband and fiber are two different things all together and do not require each other, ( they don't offer fiber where I live either (U.S. of A. by the by) but I can still get a decently fast broadband connection. While I feel for those who don't have it yet, I am more than certain that its on its way (the telecom companies goal is to make money, and tele lines really don't hack it anywhere anymore).
And as a lifelong PC gamer I can say yes installations are there but I don't think I've ever thought I've been particularly happy about the process and I don't think any other human being would agree that sitting and watching a bar inch across the screen leaves me feeling "happy". As a matter of fact I could think of a zillion things I would rather be doing than watching another installation screen (playing the damn game for starters), and this is a considerable draw for console gaming that PC gaming needs to bridge if it wants to remain competitive over the long run. Perry's ambitious project may or may not succeed, but if it doesn't its only because it would be ahead of its time (b/c broadband isn't accessible enough). If the previous commenter really believes what he/she does then they are merely a burden to the community holding on to a dying tradition that is well past its prime, I say down with installations and give me back the god knows how many hours I've spent watching those damn install screens.
