How the Xbox One Draws More Processing Power from Cloud Computing

While Tuesday's Xbox One presentation answered some questions about Microsoft's upcoming system, it left just as many or more unsettled. Luckily, Ars got a chance to sit down with General Manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms Matt Booty to try to get more answers. While he wasn't able to answer some of the most pressing questions about the system, he was able to dive deep into some of the technical details.

[SlavisH2]

this seems like m$ ace like the cell was this gen. we dont really know how its going to turn out but there is alot of possibilities

[majiebeast]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

Read this and it shows how incredibly BS it is, just a pr spin by MS to justify their always online plans.

But ill be right back im gonna download some ram and tera flops from the cloud.

[JokesOnYou]

Your link doesn't negate anything in this article.

On topic, this is a good read:

"Does that mean that Xbox One games will feature graphics that suddenly get much more realistic as complex data finally finishes downloading from the cloud? "Game developers have always had to wrestle with levels of detail... managing where and when you show details is part of the art of games," Booty said. "One of the exciting challenges going forward is a whole new set of techniques to manage what is going to be offloaded to the cloud and what’s going to come back.”

And what about those times when a gamer doesn't have an active Internet connection to make use of the cloud's computational power? Microsoft has confirmed that single-player games don't have to be online to work, but all this talk of cloud computing seems to suggest that these games might not look or perform as well if they don't have access to a high-speed connection.

"If there’s a fast connection and if the cloud is available and if the scene allows it, you’re obviously going to capitalize on that," Booty told Ars. "In the event of a drop out—and we all know that Internet can occasionally drop out, and I do say occasionally because these days it seems we depend on Internet as much as we depend on electricity—the game is going to have to intelligently handle that." Booty urged us to "stay tuned" for more on precisely how that intelligent handling would work, stressing that "it’s new technology and a new frontier for game design, and we’re going to see that evolve the way we’ve seen other technology evolve."

[adorie]

I believe it is BS too, but I'm reserving my final thoughts for E3, I know it's redundant and seemingly futile with all the negative stuff being thrown around, but it's only logical.

We can DISSECT Microsoft's every word and minute of their conference then. They have a couple of weeks to air-tight this mess after containing it.

[PLASTICA-MAN]

In few years, after Sony showcasing great and superior visuals with PS4, just by surprise, Microsoft will show same level of graphics if not better and will claim that they came with great and better visuals than PS4. People will belive it and think that it is the power of X1 while it isn't, it just tricking people to think so while they discretly use cloud computing, this after people getting used to always online (the main purpsoe of this)and forget about its burdensome oath. That is just cheating like magically showing an illegal ace from your sleeve. It reminds me of the combination of Smoke/Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat Deception when you strike with one, the other just holds or attacks your character from behind and the other finishes him off, or the combination Cyd/Bud in Saint Seya Asgard part when Cyd attacks, his brother Bud facilitates the attack for him without even him noticing it. Where is THE HONOUR in the war? And what does make you think Sony won't or can't use it with the full, better and well established service that is Gaikai?

[OrangePowerz]

In the case it's not just PR BS, looks unlikely at the moment, Sony has Gaikai and the could probably match the feature given Gaikai knows a lot more about Cloud gaming.

[Nafon]

It could work in multiplayer. I saw somewhere (which is to say that it may or may not be true) that every multiplayer game would use dedicated servers. In multiplayer games, the server could handle some of the processing power required by the game and send the data to the xbox.

More and more PCs are going completely to the cloud. The client PC sends mouse and keyboard inputs to the server, which handles everything else, and sends a video-feed back to the user's PC, which decodes it and displays it on the monitor.

I don't know how one would go about splitting the processing power between the xbox and the server, but it is a very real concept that is used everywhere, but mostly in schools and businesses.

No matter how they choose to use the cloud (if they do), it will require much more bandwidth than what current consoles are able to use. The link in the OP of the thread you linked said that the Xbox One will use about the same amount of bandwidth that current systems do. Unless they up the bandwidth allotted to multiplayer games, they won't be able to use the cloud.

[BattleAxe]

If you need extra processing power from the cloud for certain games, then I guess you have no choice but to be always online....lame.

[darthv72]

did a demo of using cloud servers to assist in raytracing graphics. that was back in 2010 so it can be assumed the power and ability has improved since then.

[PLASTICA-MAN]

It seems it will not be first seen or exclusive on X1. Today I installed the new geforce drivers 320.18 and an icon called Geforce Experience poped up on my desktop. Suprisingly, it proposed cloud computing to offload the work of the system. Cloud Computing seems to be the future trend and Ihope it won't face the same fate as Onlive. Anyway, I don't have the sufficient connection to use cloud gaming efficiently and so does 80% of the planet. It is a long way to go to get mainstream just like Ultra HD TVs.

[Thirty3Three]

They're just trying to make up stupid, fake information, to help them feel better about their fanboyboxone.

"Hey! I'm an Xbox fanboy! I know the PS4 will be a TON better, but I'm too prideful and arrogant to admit it. Maybe if I were to make up some stupid and fake information about the PS4, it'd make my lovely xbox seem better."

Whatever helps you sleep at night, brah.

[jimbobwahey]

Yeah, stating that they will use the Cloud for more processing power is likely complete nonsense, because there's far too many variables at play.

For example, let's say that you're playing a game that relies on extra processing power from the Cloud, right? What happens when your connection goes down or is interrupted, and as such that processing power is no longer available?

Does the game instantly crash? Does the framerate plummet down into the single digits? Does your CPU suddenly overheat and suffer damage thanks to the suddenly increased load it's being burdened with?

It would be the same as if you were playing a game on the PC, and in the middle of gameplay somebody pulls a stick of RAM out of your motherboard. It's not going to have very good results, is it?

[NewMonday]

@Jokesonyou

Sorry but you can't download hardware, the CPU,GPU,RAM are the caps for the XBOne

[ma1asiah]

@Jimbobwahey

You my friend did not read the article.....go read it next time before you look stupid by posting comments Phil Spencer answered already.

I mean its not like MS would not have thought about this, so to answer your question SHOULD your internet crash then NO the game doesn't crash it is thrown back to the GPU using intelligent tech to seamlessly take over.

As for all the people that agreed with you and obviously did not read the article either well they look just as stupid as you do what a bunch of idiots.

Also to all the people who claim this to be complete BS, maybe you should use the internet more effectively, this concept has been around since the hey days of the internet its far from a new and novel approach. Though if they can utilize it effectively well then IMO it is pure genius.....Can't really fault MS for their ingenuity

@majibeast

MS never said anything about downloading more RAM lol it is about taking some of the workload off the GPU

"newmonday

WTF jokesonyou was not stating that you can download hardware and nor is MS go read up on the many capabilities of the cloud.

[morganfell]

"...we’re going to see that evolve the way we’ve seen other technology evolve"

Then it's like Kinect.

So what the guy is saying is that this will actually work somewhat the next, next generation. Not with the Xbone but rather the Xtwo.

Look, anyone that relies on a company telling them something 'could' work this way or that is asking for the disappointment they are going to get. If at this stage MS isn't able to show the actual differences in a huge Multiplayer match, running live, then it isn't going to happen. We are a mere 5 to 6 months from launch. This is known as beta stage where all major components are up and running.

This reminds me of MS talking about the 360 store where you 'could' sell everything from game levels to Tshirts. Look how that worked out.

These same MS defenders responding to this article are holding on to MS with a death clamp. I've climbed with plenty of people that did not have the grip being shown by some posters on this site. These same people swore the Xbone would blow the PS4 out of the water with it's hardware, they would bring the games, and there wouldn't be any of the nonsense MS has announced.

Now look.

MS hugely dissapoints and goes down the completely wrong road and these same people simply draw another line in the sand and keep backstepping to defend them. Time and time again. That article that gaming isn't the future of consoles is an examply of this extremist ...well...I hesitate to call it reasoning.

I thought the actions of MS were bad but watching people with blind allegience defend them at all costs is even worse.

[MaxXAttaxX]

Replace it with "magic".

INFINITE POWAAAA!!!
/s

[Saigon]

I am just throwing this out there. In order to experience this, we must be connected Online. Correct me if I am wrong!

Also I see multiplats/online based games taking more advantage of this than most disk based games.

[jetlian]

I'm not saying it works but it could. People seem to forget onlive back in 2011!! You played games over the internet with no hardware locally!

I think MS aim is to have all the vital stuff done locally and everything else done in the cloud.

With internet speeds rising it and MS placing so many servers it seems true. But unless they get rid of always on kinect im not buying

[georgeenoob]

Don't forget the 300,000 dedicated servers.

[andibandit]

Planned servers, atm they only have 15k.
Who knows what timeline we are looking at, but 15k should suffice for the 7 xbones they are gonna sell.

[MikeMyers]

Quote,
"A rule of thumb we like to use is that [for] every Xbox One available in your living room we’ll have three of those devices in the cloud available," he said.

So does that mean they only plan to sell 100,000 of them? Sorry, bad joke.

[TheTwelve]

It's called hocus pocus

[NextGen24Gamer]

AI pathfinding is typically computed at 10HZ or less. Pushing pathfinding to the cloud could allow for a significant increase in AI for a scene.

It's very interesting how lighting and animation were used as an example of what the cloud computing can be used for. This could definately give xbox one the edge in first party games that utilize this feature! Sure you need an internet connection, but seriously...internet is like electricity in peoples homes at this point. Are you telling me there are people who have a 1080p tv but no internet? LOL...that sounds weird to me. It's forward thinking by Microsoft and I LIKE IT! Sony fanboys won't like it because it's great news for games.

- Snazzier explosions. Making particle effects collide every frame quickly becomes expensive. Computing at the start of the explosion where the collision points are is also very expensive. But offload the full computation the cloud while running the particles without collision, when you get the results you can now bounce the parts around without bogging down the consumer's game.

-setting up a cloud machine to be the host for networked games will allow for several benefits, you should see decreased lag (assuming that MS cloud services have better network services than the average consumer), increased number of players in a single game (though this doesn't always lead to better gameplay at least it is an option), no problems with a host quitting in the middle of a game.

- Lots of off line work for sports games (simulating other games, analyzing data to feed into the play-by-play, etc)

Will every game use cloud, no, But it is an additional service that is interesting, and even if we only see 2-3 games use it the option for better games is a good option.

[fonger08]

Jesus, finally someone with a brain on this site. Of course it can be done, companies outsource to cloud resources everyday for more computing power. I should know I sell it. That being said, a reliable connection would be essential with this to work. I can imagine Microsoft is going to come out and say you'll need a standard 10-20mbps connection? But again it is completely plausable that this could work... how well though depends on if your planning to pay for internet with real money and not food stamps.

[MikeMyers]

It does sound very interesting. It's like using the cloud to buffer your game and to offload some of the demands.

People used to take advantage of some games that could be installed to the hard drive, this seems to take it quite a few steps further.

It's obvious most people on this site don't care and would rather center around the restrictions instead like always on and the used games but it is interesting to see why perhaps they wanted to go this route and not all of it being about control. If they can show us some benefits then I'd like to see it.

[fonger08]

@mikemyers I agree, I don't want to be negative on here either but a lot of people both Sony and Microsoft followers want to harp on each systems negatives and not be excited for each others positives. Both systems will in some way try to emulate one another, especially on each others succesful functions like the previous gens cross-over of motion controls, virtual consoles, huge push in media integration, and indie development. Both systems obviously have their negatives... but seriously every launch system does, the point is these two systems will be a lot alike in the end. It just depend on how much capital you have and which systems' exclusive games you like more.

[torchic]

I agree that cloud gaming could help X1 in IMO minor processing in the near future, but

why do you automatically think Sony don't have their own tech like this in development?
they are after all, the business who primarily make hardware, and, bought what is thought as the company with best cloud gaming solution.

Sony explored all avenues with the PS4, even considered Microsoft's ESRAM + DDR3 RAM solution at one point.

I personally don't think this tech is the bees knees that you and Microsoft are trying to champion, but don't make the assumption that Sony aren't pushing this tech as well.

[ma1asiah]

Finally thank you people some intelligent people who actually get it.

You know what I wouldn't care if SONY went this route either.

Yet due to MS ingenuity I have now decided to stick with them.....Its funny everywhere I go on here I see the same copy and pasted article flaming MS Xbox One reveal for not showing more game related content. Yet MS made it very public that all things gaming would be shown off at E3...The reveal was never targeted towards gamers and to be honest I am really glad that they got all that stuff out of the way now. As I want E3 to be all about the games

[soniqstylz]

For the record there are 48 million Live accounts (that's total, not just Gold), and 77 million 360's shipped.

Meaning 30 million 360's not connected to the internet.

It's not like electricity in people's homes.

[Dmagic]

@soniqstylz oh they're connected thats just what happens when you have so many rebuys everyone i know has had 2 different xboxs fact.

[NextGen24Gamer]

Also, there isn't anything wrong with Microsoft leading the way for the next 10 years. Who really believes that being connected won't be normal 5 years from now?

Stop resisting change and understand that this is the way of the future.

I live in Seattle and It's actually strange to hear that there are people not connected online!

Welcome to a new age! Kudo's for Microsoft for pushing the industry forward!

It may affect sales at first, but it will improve the quality of the games & services. If developers know that everyone who owns xbox one has internet, they will all take advantage of what can be done with the cloud and the graphics will leap frog ps4 easily! Sony doesn't have the amount of servers that MS has dedicated to this. It's not even close! And if PS4 doesn't require an online connection, developers won't spend the resources to use their weaker cloud service!

Smart thinking Microsoft! The future is bright!

[Christopher]

All I'm hearing is that there's a new bottleneck in town and its name is Your Internet Connection.

Honestly, you should only use cloud concept design for online game elements. Everything else should be the same across the board and on the disc. What are we going to create here, an elite society of people with Internet connections and those without who pay the same price for the game and hardware?

In the end, why design something for the cloud when you have to design for its use outside of the cloud and have it on the same disc? Why waste development time on this option? Why even waste cloud processing on this option? It's either cloud based or it isn't.

KISS - keep it simple stupid

[forcefullpower]

I can't believe people a grabbing onto this like they will suddenly have magical processing in the cloud

The "Cloud" is a joke in the IT industry. It just a buzz word to sell shit to ceo's.

To do processing like this would take huge systems and I can guarantee would cost more in hundred of thousands mark to create for one person.

[DeadlyFire]

You do know Sony actually owns a Cloud platform.

Microsoft is only partnering with Agawi.

So Sony could be doing the same thing on top of what already runs on the hardware.

The things in the article sound legit and could happen with help from the Cloud, but it wouldn't change much and it would likely mean we could see a similar issue like texture pop in like in Mass Effect 1 or 2 on X360 at times when connection goes up and down. The thing about this Cloud assistance is that it would only really work in Single-player game mode. Both PS4 and XB1 could both utilize this tech though. So I don't really see how Microsoft thinks this is an ace up their sleeve.

As in Multiplayer latency is far to sensitive to tamper with I believe. Some will claim on it will work fine, but then when its implemented we get 20 fps multiplayer games. So that is not really working that is failure to me.

[co_ray]

Microsoft owns a cloud service, it's called Microsoft Azure, and it recently surpassed the 1 billion dollar mark in terms of income from it. Read up on it.

EDIT: http://www.bloomberg.com/ne...

[DeadlyFire]

Azure is a storage based cloud service. Nothing more. Microsoft has partnered with Agawi to develop a cloud gaming platform for its Xbox products.

http://agawi.io/ << Here is their site. Read.

[Blaze929]

so Microsoft says something. And you all "don't believe" them....ok

[nosferatuzodd]

so can gaikai when youre on on a cloud network the system is streaming so every new system that built to stream can do it nothing special microsoft is just fulling ppl heads with crap

[Unicron]

Cool idea... But too early. No game can 100% rely on it unless its always online. Hopefully simcity taught everyone a lesson.

[Software_Lover]

Sim City was online DRM. Just as Steam is online DRM, but with an offline mode atleast. Different from cloud computing.

Everyone used Cloud Computing with the ps3 and folding@home. Works kind of in the same way. Not 100% identical.

[Godmars290]

Folding@Home was nothing might be trying to do. One was passive, what's being talked about is direct and active.

[ExDexteraDomini]

That's the thing, no one ever said any games would be 100% reliant on it. If it's a function that only works when the console is connected to the internet, then it would make sense for it to be a necessity only in the sections of the game which require a connection in the first place, such as multiplayer. Considering that, I think some pretty interesting multiplayer experiences could be created with these techniques.

Single-player sections of games would surely not be reliant on the cloud processing, but perhaps if a player did have a connection, their solo experience could be enhanced by the cloud.

[Jek_Porkins]

This is very forward thinking, and although it's not something they can use much right now, in 3 or so years it might very well be something we see on a regular basis.

If the internet can improve the experience of a game, why not? I mean Destiny is online only, Watch Dogs is said to be greatly gimped offline, so this is kind of big news.

There is some nice future proofing going on with Xbox One from what I can see. I still remember people complaining (myself included) when the original Xbox launched with only a broadband modem and no dial up, which is what kind of internet I had. It was forward thinking and when I switched I was blown away.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

I don't know why people are pretending this is a bad thing. Or its fake and can't be real or something.

If Sony was doing this it would be just as epic as the invention of the internet.

[Jek_Porkins]

Agreed, I think some of it stems from the developers who have said this feature actually means the Xbox One can become more powerful over time.

It's huge, but the good points about the Xbox One are being ignored, like dedicated servers for every game on Xbox Live....you aren't hearing much about this game changing feature.

[hiptanaka]

One word: SimCity.

[C-Thunder]

If they're willing to fracture whatever user base they manage to eek out and willing to let different users have different performance experiences, then it might work. Good luck.

[DevilishSix]

This cloud computing is alot of bunk it has been addressed before. Trying to off load AI and stuff doesn't work in its current state due to latency issues. Enough said.

[r21]

Loosely translating 'we can make games look and play better! Only if you are always connected online'.

[Loki86]

There is a huge difference here folks, Gaikai is a cloud streaming service which specializes in the streaming content whether that be games, movies, ect. Windows Azure works by harnessing cpu/gpu power from servers to either allow it to use programs ala Windows Server 2012 VMs or by allowing it stream advanced computation to a single unit, which is what MS has setup here. I have no idea how they will utilize it, but as an IT guy with a business that relies on the cloud, I can say this could be something special.

[supremacy]

This may be true and all, but its not like others cant emulate or simply create an entire upgrade in the background around it.

That's the beauty of software, it can be change from time to time.

Even so, the notion of having to be always online to make use of such tech is something that's going to be limited to certain ereas and met with criticism.

[Loki86]

Unless Gaikai has restructured their servers to output physical data rather then temporary allowing more bits of information across a seamless connection. Then Gaikai would not be able to change their philosophies to output data (harness bits of power for each server) from their server to a single source. Azure was built around these ideas which is why this a seamless transition to use advanced transferring capabilities to output data. As said in the report they may be able to process 3-4 tflops of data through their console when it is online.

I am assuming this what you are asking?

[supremacy]

@Loki86

You may be right, but i am almost certain they can find ways around this or if they have to, change or fund an entirely similar tech with the same Gaikai folks running the show.
Heck they could perhaps even create something with both capabilities altogether.
Anyways none of this will matter for a good number of years until it becomes clear its needed if at all.

[DarkZane]

The PS4 also have cloud capabilities, so Microsoft doesn't have any advantages because Sony could easily do the same with Gakai.

Also, sorry, but Cloud gaming is not reliable enough. You need a fast reliable connection with unlimited bandwidth for this kind of thing and sadly, the vast majority of the world isn't there yet. Maybe in another 10 years, it will work, but as of now, when they say the future is cloud, sorry, the future is still quite a while away.

[gnothe1]

Boy I swear..you guys hate on anything MS do....didn't onlive claim they could run a graphics intense game like crisis over the cloud on high settings....so if they can split the process between the console an the cloud they should be able to pump out some really great looking games...the developer could load a game on a server running maximum settings like a pc an any console that connects to the server automatically updates to the server specs because it's basically a balancing act between the server an the console..

[guerojose]

There's a big difference, but I can understand the confusion a lot of people are going to have. With a service like OnLive, your game is running on a single remote system, and it's piping compressed audio/video to you, and reading your controller inputs. That's completely different than saying "Hey, you 1000 anonymous servers out there, work on this bunch of calculations and return the results to me - I'll wait, so I can include the data in what I have to prepare for final display for my user."

[Godz Kastro]

Wow... I see what your doing here MS. Very smart. There is an interview on this site with an MS rep and Adam Sessler, where MS stated in a joking manner this might be the last console you ever need. This is Onlive MS style; on steroids .

They didn't go into it because it would give Sony time to prepare response at E3.

[chamber]

Seems like an excuse to turn games into persistently online. Plus what happens if Microsoft stops supporting the game and shifts there cloud computing resources to other newer games. If games use the cloud does that mean Xbox Live gold is a must.

[Godz Kastro]

I don't know but we can't assume it won't work anymore. Maybe you' can keep a copy locally on your HD or a separate cloud save just for you and that game. I hate to sound corny here but sky is the limit.

MS created a vibrant online community with Xbox live when no one could make a serious breakthrough in that space. Now look. I see their vision and its mind boggling.

Engadget has a great video embedded on this windows chip design. Within it engineers are talking about cloud computing in more detail. He said you could even load a persistent world. Imagine rockstar figures out how to load entire city from the cloud and let Xbox perform local computing... Wow

Link

http://www.engadget.com/201...

[Sarobi]

So if I don't have internet, the Xbox One basically becomes lackluster as time passes. I don't want to rely on my internet to do things that should be there internally.

[Objective]

Internet is here to stay as a mainstream and necessary technology of the modern era.

[Hicken]

That is, perhaps, the most irrelevant comment on this article.

Should he rely on the internet when he wants to cook food, or take a shower? These are things he currently can and SHOULD be able to do without an internet connection.

Likewise, a video game console should not be heavily reliant on the internet for its basic functions. That Microsoft seems to be putting their console's power largely in the hands of cloud computing is almost them outright saying that rather than develop a console that will be capable of the type of growth we normally see over a generation, they'll instead improve it whenever they see fit... and said improvements will only be available to you if you pay them.

Thinking about how Microsoft could charge for this- like they do for every freaking thing else- is actually kinda scary.

[guerojose]

This is total bunkum. That's not flaming, just fact. I understand that everyone throws around the term "cloud" these days without knowing what it means, including lots of IT folks. There's no way you're going to see games use cloud resources for anything even remotely time sensitive - lighting, graphics, AI, etc. The amount of programming overhead it'll take to parse, pass, and receive discrete work units simply won't make sense. A dedicated server based game, yes, but not "cloud" computing resources within a console-running game. Sorry, I know a lot of kids want to believe there's some special magic here, there just isn't.

[Godz Kastro]

As he stated not all data running from your current disk to machine is dynamic. It offloads upfront then it's done. Why can't the cloud handle that?

Never know what tech can evolve where different data might buffer on the system as it streams from the cloud. This has some crazy potential.

[Loki86]

Here is just one example how this is entirely possible:

http://www.intel.com/conten...

"Cloud increases scalability and resource sharing between systems – saving customers’ money by enabling servers to better adjust to workload spikes
and run more efficiently. Systems more finely tuned
to dynamic workload demands process applications more quickly and efficiently, enabling midmarket customers to do more with less. Midmarket
customers can avoid additional capital investment in excess systems to handle workload spikes."

One more thing to look at on twitch Microsoft explains there thinking and how they can use cloud computing to offput data to improve performance.

http://www.twitch.tv/micros...

[urwifeminder]

Wow awesome I have not even seen a ps4 article on this site since the reveal great stuff ms the media buzz is huge keep up the good work.

[torchic]

bad news is better than no news I guess.

[denawayne]

Especially when the masses are really down then it's easier to pick them up. E3 is going to blow our minds.

[S2Killinit]

lol

[Kayant]

If this works in practice then it will be really awesome and probably destroy all consoles and probably beat some high end gpus in terms of power but personally I still wouldn't support them and their anti-consumer ways. Also as much as I love the cloud I would hate the thought of having to rely on it when playing a single player game but for multiple player games this would be a god send

One question is how would they solve the bandwidth requirements because in places like Canada and the US a lot of ISPs have caps so I would how much bandwidth will this will require and also how will it cope with a connection that is that is not that great?

But finally its nice to see Microsoft are providing premium content to finally justify paying for Xbox live... Better late then never I guess :)

[Prcko]

agree

[Lord Anubis]

so this Booty,

How big is it?

[kingPoS]

Confirmed!

Calculating despair from dsl users... it's over 9000!!! [Crack]
Assumption is the mother of all fk ups.

[ginsunuva]

You could have the server render one copy of the map in a multiplayer game that has destruction capabilities, so if someone alters the map, only one central copy is updated and people pull from that continuously, instead of having to sync someone's actions across each person like Battlefield does now.
This was one of the key points of cloud computing Nvidia detailed with GRID.

Either way, this isn't something limited to the X1, of course the Ps4, which has full Gaikai streaming, could do a local + online-computing mix like this too.

[Oh_Yeah]

The burning hate inside me towards the Xbone has subsided a bit. I understand why they're doing what they're doing now...not sure why they couldn't speak on their intentions during the reveal though. This could turn out to be great. Now all they have to do is show a bunch of great core exclusives and I'm in.

[isarai]

OK this sounds like it's not even remotely viable for so many reasons.

When even in the best conditions cloud gaming is nearly unplayable due to latency(especially in action games) how do you expect it to keep up with rendering something that has to be even more instant?,

How exactly do you plan on transferring that much data instantly? a video stream for cloud gaming is one thing, that's only a video and input data from a controller, but rendering and computing data? hell getting that to come directly from ram fast enough can be a challenge, can't imagine how it's going to be having to be transferred over an internet connection

What happens if you have no internet, unreliable internet, or slow internet? are you just not going to be able to play the games that use this? or are they just going to be really downgraded? or is the performance just going to take a huge hit?

[SITH]

Wow, a lot of what you asked was addressed in the first few paragraphs. The Xbox one will process the necessary rendering to make up for the latency of the cloud processing which will catch up. I am quite confident Microsoft tested this cloud operating on the slowest but operational Internet speed possible to verify it works. Everything in gaming and computing is tested at the minimum and the maximum when so many consumers are involved.

FTA: "While cloud computation data doesn't have to be updated and synced with every frame of game data, developers are still going to have to manage the timing and flow of this cloud computing to avoid noticeable changes in graphic quality..."

"What happens if you have no internet, unreliable Internet, or slow Internet?" Question back at you, can you play multiplayer games anyway with none of the above? No.

FTA: "Microsoft has confirmed that single-player games don't have to be online to work..." Meaning performance is not reliant on cloud processing for games offline.

It is safe to assume some games will have requirements on the back of the box stating, "cloud processing enhanced gameplay. Internet connection required." So it will be no secret to what you are buying. And given those games will more likely than not be multiplayer centric, you are going to be online anyway. Also the processing necessary may simply be higher player count in games. Microsoft was specifically working on ways to make hundres of players possible in one FPS game without needing multiple servers or suffering graphics and gameplay loss. This very well seems to be the results of that research. I say that, because that is exactly what Microsoft said during the Xbox one reveal and what they said here, years ago. http://research.microsoft.c... http://research.microsoft.c...

[S2Killinit]

basically its for multiplayer games that are played online, since it doesn't actually do any computations (its only storage after all) so why is this being spun around as if it is making xbox more powerful as compared to other devices like the PS4? As far as I know, PS4 also employs this cloud technology.

[quenomamen]

Hmmmm, sounds like an awesome idea. Using the cloud to give your console a boost, not bad, not bad at all.......... To bad Sony ALSO has a cloud service, now let's add that to the 50% raw power advantage it has over X1.

[CaulkSlap]

Sounds like an amazing pipe dream.

But I could see this technology maybe helping in online multiplayer, where server side calculations can make a big difference.

Edit: Oh yeah first time I read this - "The system will also have an external power brick to make it easier for a single design to deal with power needs from different countries". Seriously? Even designing it as a plain big ugly box they're still using another god damned external power brick.

[grassyknoll]

Worked fine with Sim City... The cloud is just a load of servers, this is nothing new at all. This is snake oil.

[SonyPS4]

Well it is supposedly positive XOne talk time:

This can definitely prolong the life of the system and virtually upgrades your hardware when combined to a server somewhere on the internet. It's a great concept and really hope MS does well executing it.

[SITH]

I admit I was ignorant of cloud processing, but it sounds damn impressive. Especially with all the articles online I read to understand it. And it explains the 300,000 Xbox live dedicated servers Microsoft was talking about. I have friends left and right calling me about whether they should get a Xbox one. I am more confident in saying yes. This cloud computing also makes me more appreciative of my PC's GPU and CPU and what a load of work they actually endure to pump out ultra and high FPS gameplay.

[guerojose]

This is obviously going to be wildly successful. At creating the sort of confusion and vague excitement which it was intended to, based on many of the comments here. It's the new Milo and Kate.

Flash your lighter at the natives, and they'll treat you like a god because they don't understand that there's no magic behind it.

[Prcko]

not impressed

[Fatal-Aim]

@ Loki86

Now you are just talking through your butt. If what you say WERE the case, then tell me then what the heck is THIS:

http://www.explosion.com/36...

Heck, something like this can even take place in Playstation Home even. There was more times than I can remember where some of the same associates, including Phil Harrison before his time at Microsoft, spoke of the possibility of the next platform doing a way with discs and moving digitally and or through the cloud. Sony has purchased Gaikai even even during a difficult time for the company. Do you really think they didn't have their eye on a cloud-like, hybrid world existing on a console when they have a patent that clearly speaks of this? c'mon.....

Just like their dualshock 4 motion controller and next-gen 3D eye, it doesn't exist only because they haven't spoken of it yet. But when they do, don't be surprised.

Now, do I believe they'll go to the extent that MS has? No. I believe it'll be mainly aimed at their in-house developers as such a strategy can more easily be regulated to both those with and without decent internet connections. But for something like this to just not exist when it's clearly within their power would be quite baffling.

[Kidmyst]

If this is true then does this mean when we buy a game we are buying only part of the game, the rest feeds from Cloud so when they stop supporting the Xbox one years from now I have a brick with frisbees that are worth nothing? Making Xbox one a always connected in order to play games.

[McScroggz]

I just don't see this magic of the cloud as some godsend for the Xbox One. First of all, Sony has Gakai and if the developers used Microsoft's cloud for computations there's literally no reason they wouldn't also use it in the PS4, but regardless.

Microsoft is hoping the magic of the cloud will appear to not only lessen the gap between the actual hardware differences in the two consoles, but somehow make the Xbox One seem more powerful. So if I have my console connected to the internet I can get better lighting or, as I believe, more processing power to increase performance (read: framerate) while the cloud generates the same lighting and particle affects that we'd otherwise see. Okay, so how about those lag spikes in a single player experience? Awesome! What if my internet isn't working? The game plays worse?

Look, I'm not a tech expert so for all I know the magic of the cloud could actually be a huge innovation for consoles and make the Xbox One some super gaming machine. I just simply don't think that's so, and instead it's Microsoft desperately trying to spin some things positively.

[Fatal-Aim]

Not just that. But because this is the "cloud" we are talking about with all of their games linked to these servers, that kinda stuff doesn't come cheap. MS could very well stable an additional fee to these games in order to manage these servers. I mean, why do you think Online and GaiKai charges their users? What makes MS so special in this case? I think too many people are getting too far caught up in the hype of it all.

[McScroggz]

Which is exactly what Microsoft wants :/

[S2Killinit]

OMG really? cloud processing? its gotten that bad for Microsoft eh? What do they take us for? idiots?

[S2Killinit]

damage control, how low can you go?
http://e-mpire.com/content....