I hope consoles stay around

[the-pi-guy]

For a while, we are of course going to be keeping consoles around.  At the same time, there have been efforts to push cloud gaming going back 2 decades.  

In the past 6 years in particular, there have been more substantial moves to push cloud gaming with PlayStation now, xCloud, Google Stadia.


Personally, I still enjoy having consoles.  And It will be awhile before these game streaming services are even possible out here.

[Legend]

For a while, we are of course going to be keeping consoles around.  At the same time, there have been efforts to push cloud gaming going back 2 decades.  

In the past 6 years in particular, there have been more substantial moves to push cloud gaming with PlayStation now, xCloud, Google Stadia.


Personally, I still enjoy having consoles.  And It will be awhile before these game streaming services are even possible out here.

I used to think VR would be the saving grace for consoles. We are decades away from cloud powered VR so stuff like PSVR needs a local console.

Then Oculus Quest showed a more elegant version of the future, where the headset does everything. I think the majority of VR will go that direction and I think the majority of couch gaming will move to the cloud.


SpaceX's Starlink imo is a crucial element towards consoles dying. 6% of Americans rely on satellite internet and the numbers are significantly greater in other countries. Game streaming is currently impossible for these users. In ~5 years however, they'll have better internet than the average American.

[kitler53]

i honestly don't see cloud taking over in this space.   

digital distribution had an obvious benefit to consumers.  Less clutter in the house.  You can buy games from your couch.   You don't have to get off your couch to switch games.  I really liked it.

I don't see any benefits to cloud.   there put a massive marketing push behind the ability to play your games from anywhere.  well,... that doesn't include mobile places like on an airplane or on my morning commute.   it basically means i could play in my game room or in my living room.  ..that's not really beneficial to me.

there is also the claim that cloud removes the technical complexity of hardware.  in many places that is true,.. but not with consoles.  consoles are designed to be easy.  cloud just isn't any easier than a console so i see no benefit here.

then of course their is the need to purchase a device.  consoles are apparently too expensive.  well,.. cloud gaming isnt cheap either.  i think consoles are pretty dang affordable to be honest.  and it's not like it entirely eliminate the need to buy a device.  you still need a computer and that computer is probably more expensive than a console.  

and then cloud gaming is unreliable and has significant reduction in quality.  that will probably get better but when i've done cloud gaming lots of games (like rocket league) are unplayable.  it's fine for turn based games however.


i dunno, the only benefit i see with cloud is that i can play from grandma's house when i'm visiting her on holiday's.   ...but my ps4 already let's me do that.   so really it has no benefits.   i just don't see cloud gaming really clicking with the market.

[the-pi-guy]

I don't see any benefits to cloud.   there put a massive marketing push behind the ability to play your games from anywhere.  well,... that doesn't include mobile places like on an airplane or on my morning commute.   it basically means i could play in my game room or in my living room.  ..that's not really beneficial to me.

there is also the claim that cloud removes the technical complexity of hardware.  in many places that is true,.. but not with consoles.  consoles are designed to be easy.  cloud just isn't any easier than a console so i see no benefit here.

then of course their is the need to purchase a device.  consoles are apparently too expensive.  well,.. cloud gaming isnt cheap either.  i think consoles are pretty dang affordable to be honest.  and it's not like it entirely eliminate the need to buy a device.  you still need a computer and that computer is probably more expensive than a console.  

and then cloud gaming is unreliable and has significant reduction in quality.  that will probably get better but when i've done cloud gaming lots of games (like rocket league) are unplayable.  it's fine for turn based games however.


i dunno, the only benefit i see with cloud is that i can play from grandma's house when i'm visiting her on holiday's.   ...but my ps4 already let's me do that.   so really it has no benefits.   i just don't see cloud gaming really clicking with the market.

Stadia requires like an $130 computer to run 4K 60, and that includes a controller.  

The big benefits are:
-no need to upgrade a device (this one is kind of dubious, since if you are playing at higher resolutions, you might need a new device to connect) but in general, the same device that runs PS5 games can run PS6 type games, etc.  

-instant access to games, like downloadable with no download times.  

-ability to offload computation.  The ability to do physics calculations that might require two high end computers is only possible with cloud computing.  


Those benefits are cool, but they don't really vastly change gaming.  

[Legend]

Cloud gaming is also great for multiplayer. Zero hackers and minimal lag between players.

[kitler53]

Stadia requires like an $130 computer to run 4K 60, and that includes a controller.

$130 plus a $10 a month ($120 a year) subscription.   

A typical console lifespan is 7 years.  i'm going to subtract $45 a year from stadia's subscription because that is the typical sale price of ps+ and live so:

console:  $400 + $45 x 7 years = $715

Stadia: $130 + $75 x 7 years = $655

a fair comparison is these cost close to the same,.. and a console let's you use it as a disc player too which in my opinion more than makes up the difference because i need one in my house.

i also don't buy is that the stadia will last you 14 or even 21 years.  shame breaks.  upgrades will be required from time to time.

The ability to do physics calculations that might require two high end computers is only possible with cloud computing.

everyone lists out how you can get access to high end computations via the cloud.  technically true.  but there is a business aspect to this as well.  big computers require a big investment and google needs to make money on this.   they won't too anything too high end because it is expensive and they need to get that money out of you somehow.

[the-pi-guy]

$130 plus a $10 a month ($120 a year) subscription.  

A typical console lifespan is 7 years.  i'm going to subtract $45 a year from stadia's subscription because that is the typical sale price of ps+ and live so:

console:  $400 + $45 x 7 years = $715

Stadia: $130 + $75 x 7 years = $655

a fair comparison is these cost close to the same,.. and a console let's you use it as a disc player too which in my opinion more than makes up the difference because i need one in my house.

i also don't buy is that the stadia will last you 14 or even 21 years.  shame breaks.  upgrades will be required from time to time.


everyone lists out how you can get access to high end computations via the cloud.  technically true.  but there is a business aspect to this as well.  big computers require a big investment and google needs to make money on this.   they won't too anything too high end because it is expensive and they need to get that money out of you somehow.

Stadia is also rolling out a free version this year.  

Also the hardware investment isn't as big when you consider how often people are playing.  It's all dependent on peak gaming levels.  

If the average gamer only plays an hour a day, one computer invested on Google's end could be run for 24 gamers hypothetically.  Not in practice because some of those gamers would play at the same time.  

On the whole though a lot of this depends on the success of the particular platform.