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AbsolutSurgen

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Posts posted by AbsolutSurgen

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Duderino said:

    This is a bit different from my perspective. The OG Xbox, Kinnect, Xbox one, the X, they all launched at more of a premium price tag. 

     

     Now with this streaming box they'll have a cheaper entry point with the caveat of the device being a bit more involved for devs to port games to.  On some level, that strategy is closer to what Nintendo has been doing over the last decade.

    It's a different strategy, with the same objective.

     

    The strategy is VERY different to what Nintendo is doing.

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    48 minutes ago, Duderino said:

    They have to be banking on the lower price to drive massive sales that will push 3rd party devs to prioritize optimizing games for their service.

    Absolutely.  It's what they have always wanted with Xbox.  They thought they could do it with Kinect.  Then they thought they could do it with making Xbox one into a "media box".  Now they believe they can do it with Game Pass / streaming.

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

     

    Details and deals are probably being worked out now.  Microsoft will probably use their cloud servers as a bargaining chip, especially for the low end console.  Or they might straight up require their use, which could ruffle some feathers.

    We could see things like EA Access (Premier?) pop as independent channels, or be layered on top of GamesPass for an additional fee.  Either way, publishers would be charging their own fees.

    Of course.  But, in a streaming world, the hardware is almost irrelevant.  You don't need to be tied to a MS console.  You can create an app that will run on an Amazon Fire, smart TV, or even create your own $20 streaming box.

     

    That said, I still think that streaming of games is further away than a lot of people think.

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

     

    Actually, I think we've already seen publishers gearing up for future "all you can eat" packages.  EA will inevitably be on that from the very start, especially when they just added a higher subscription tier to Origin Access on PC.

     

    I imagine we'll see Ubisoft follow suit next.  It's a perfect fit for the GaaS model they adore.

    Yes.  But they won't want to do that through Microsoft.  The publishers will want to own the streaming platform.  Why give 30% to MS if you can own it all?

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

     


    I also think a streaming box like this may require a GamesPass (+ XBL?) subscription, but going that far with releases is a pipe dream.

     

    It's much more likely we'd see a different additive or individual package for each major publisher.  They won't want to let that money sit on the table.

     

     

     

    Agreed.  I think it is most likely that you will need to buy individual games that you can use with your streaming package, rather than publisher specific "all you can eat" packages.

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

    I'm sure like game pass, there will be an option to buy your games.

    There is likely to be a mandatory subscription, that will include a number of games, similar to gamepass.  I would be surprised if they would even stream "purchased games" without a subscription.

     

    But, I suspect you are correct in that you will need to "buy games" as well -- I would be surprised if EA/Activision/Ubi/etc. would be willing to include their new releases as part of a MS subscription.

    What got you started in gaming

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

    Childhood friend introduced me to Combat on the Atari 2600 and Karate Champ on the Commodore 64.

    Wow -- in my gaming life those games were a lifetime apart.  I still remember seeing Karate Champ for the first time at Chuck E Cheese's arcade -- and not being able to quite figure it out.

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low

    "Last month, we learned that Microsoft is developing a pair of new Xboxes for release in 2020 under the codename Scarlett. One system will be a full console; the other will be a cloud-connected system for streaming games. Today, Brad Sams at Thurrott.com has more to say about that streaming box.

    We know Microsoft has been interested in developing a streaming service for many years. At this year's E3, the company reaffirmed that it's working on a streaming service that will allow games to be run in the Azure cloud and streamed to a relatively simple set-top box. This makes the end-user hardware much cheaper, but it has a consistent problem: latency. Every button press on the controller has to travel over the Internet to the server before it can be processed, and every frame of video similarly has to make the reverse trip before it can be seen. For games that don't rely on twitch reactions (RPGs or turn-based games, say) this is no big deal. But for games like first-person shooters, it's a huge problem.

    According to Sams, Microsoft's solution is that the Scarlett Cloud box (as one person called it) will have some amount of processing power of its own. Not enough to run full games, but enough to do collision detection, input handling, and some amount of graphical processing locally without having to wait for the remote server. To do this, games are split into two parts (referred to as "slices" or "splices")—one part runs in the cloud; the other runs on the console.

    The result is that Scarlett Cloud is apparently suitable for a wide range of games, even those that would normally be considered too latency-sensitive to be streamable. In fact, Sams reports that every Scarlett game will run on every Scarlett device, so streaming gamers won't be left out.

    The downside to this approach is that it makes the hardware more expensive than if it was purely a dumb streaming device, but it's still markedly less expensive than a full console would need to be. Streaming games will of course require some kind of a subscription to play. This recurring revenue is a big part of why the company is interested in streamed games in the first place."

     

    I still believe that the internet is not read for the streaming of games:

    1) Too many people don't have the bandwidth to stream high quality games

    2)  Data caps are still too low for hard core gamers

    3)  Not sure if internet connections are stable enough to reliably stream games.  I seem to get too many "hiccups" that are annoying on video, but would be disastrous for gaming.

     

    However, all signs are pointing to the next generation starting no later than 2020.

    Figured Bezos was not rich enough and bought an XBox One S So Need Games

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    1 minute ago, brucoe said:

    One thing I'm noticing is how difficult it is to get used to the controller. I know some of you have been using them for some time and are quite comfortable with them, and I assume after some time I'll get used to it as well, but wow, it's really frustrating. The other day, I was trying out Destiny 2, and only going through the tutorial part of it, but man I was supposed to shoot some guy, and I kept trying to center him and couldn't get the target on him, shooting the side wall instead. He probably just stood there and laughed at me the entire time.

    If you're comparing it to a KB/M -- a controller will never be as accurate for a FPS/TPS.  You "get used" to it, and console shooters generally have tons of autoaim to help.  But it will never be as accurate as a KB/M.

     

    If you're comparing it to a PS4 controller, you'll get used to it.  They're pretty interchangeable in my mind (although I prefer the symmetrical design and ergonomics of the PS4 controller).

    What are you playing today?

    in The Spawn Point

    Posted

    On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 7:31 AM, mikechorney said:

    This weekend it will be more Watch Dogs 2 and Wolfenstein 2.  I apparently like sequels to games that begin with "W".

    Actually I spent more time "reinstalling Windows 10" because my controller drivers had become corrupted and crashed my computer whenever I tried to play a game with a controller.

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