The current game consoles are getting a bit long in the tooth, but signs point to late 2013 as the earliest that a replacement for either the PlayStation or Xbox consoles to come online. But then interesting something happened this past week, which could change the way that console makers think about their hardware and software service: Sony bought cloud gaming company GaiKai for $380 million.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.
tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.
"The best games of the year and the creative teams behind them were in the spotlight at the grand award ceremony of the German Computer Game Award 2024." - German Computer Game Awards.
Sure buddy... You're trying to tell me it has a deeper story than goat 🐐 simulator 4000?!?!?. I wanna give bg3 a shot but my brain is burnt out on long games
With the PS3 and Gaikai at the centre of cloud gaming, I very much doubt that cloud gaming will kill Sony's next gen console. It needs to start as soon as possible though. If Sony want to offer Gaikai as a serious alternative for people with decent broadband they have to get people on board immediately. Even if it's just allowing the Vita and PS3 to stream Gaikai demos (as they already do on Facebook). It would also be a wise move for Sony to allow people to sample PS3 exclusive through Facebook too. That way more people can get an idea of what Sony has to offer. An obvious move would be to allow Vita and PS3 to stream PS1 and PS2 games (which HAS been rumoured, but still remains a rumour)
These are the steps that Sony should take immediately. when the PS4 hits, then they can start broadening the choice with PC games, PS3 games, PS4 demos and more. But like I said, Sony can't rest on their laurels with this, they HAVE to act NOW
There is an interesting debate to be had on whether this could hinder or help PC gaming, because clearly PC games will now also be available to consoles. Does that mean that people will play PC games on consoles and less on PCs, or does it mean that, because consoles can play PC games, more PC games will be made, consequently helping PC sales? It cuts both ways and it's going to be interesting to see which way the wind blows
Even Nintendo has their hands in cloud-like services (Google: IGware). Smart Phones, Androids, and tablets devices, are upgraded annually, so trying to build a handheld or gaming console so they won't seem dated in 5 years time (by console and handheld gaming standards), is pretty difficult in this day and age.
Cloud gaming will only eliminate the companies who choose to take their user base for granted.