Cloud computing has traditionally been concerned with storage and productivity applications. It?s been the second home to your pictures, music, movies and documents, but in the last few years, several companies have been building a place for your video games up there in that vast repository of computing power in the sky.
The unique capabilities of cloud gaming have the potential to revolutionize the game industry, and Sony has decided to cash in on that revolution with the acquisition of cloud gaming company Gaikai for $380 million.
Gaikai (pronounced Guy-kai) promises to do for gaming what Cinema Now and Netflix have done for movies, providing instant access to extensive libraries of premium games accessible to any device with a web browser and an internet connection. If you think this is just another App store, you?d be wrong. Unlike apps, there?s no need to download any content ?no need to wait minutes or hours for games to download and what?s more, games won?t take up space on your device. That?s great considering that some premium games require many gigabytes of disk space in order to run.
And since all the processing is done up there in the cloud, there?s no need for a scorching fast processor or gobs of RAM to run even the latest and greatest games on your computer. The cloud becomes your high-end gaming PC. Want to run Crysis 3 on your 10-year-old desktop, or Mass Effect 3 on your netbook? The cloud makes it possible.
But the possibilities don?t stop there. When you?re gaming in the cloud, the lines between traditional gaming platforms are rendered obsolete. Think PC games on your Mac, PlayStation games on your tablet, and games streamed directly to your smart TV, without the need for a console.
What?s yet to be seen is precisely how Sony plans to put Cloud Gaming to work within its current business model. ?By combining Gaikai?s resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with [Sony Computer Entertainment?s] extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences,? said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment in a press release earlier this month.
Many have speculated that Sony may begin to phase out game discs in the near future. Former Sony exec Phil Harrison said in a 2006 interview with Wired Magazine, ?I?d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive.?
But I wouldn?t write off traditional game discs any time soon.
?Cloud gaming sounds great, but I?m a collector,? said Tyson, a gamer I spoke with at the East River Plaza Best Buy. ?It would be great to have access to, say, every PlayStation game ever made. But if I like a game I still want to have a copy of it.?
And for now, that?s just fine with Gaikai. ?I?m not targeting the person who?d already buy Spore,? said developer and Gaikai founder Dave Perry in an Edge-online interview. ?I?m targeting the person who would never think of playing it, who just browses and thinks, that looks interesting.?
Currently, Gaikai allows user to play timed demos for free from their website, but it?s likely that Sony will expand beyond this try-before-you-buy business model with their own streaming service. Currently Gaikai only runs on PC or Mac, but you can expect tablet, phone and television support later this year.
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