Comments on: What happens next? I also think that one of the barriers to cloud gaming is the control the Telcos have on the delivery mechanism. It will take a lot of bandwidth to stream games like that, and with the poor broadband penetration and the fact that most of them now have download limits (where they will start charging you more once you pass it) and it doesn't become a very attractive option. I could see this working for certain types of games where you don't need super reflexes or there isn't a whole lot of movement on screen. But like most things, it will probably just be another option for people and not a huge game changer that will usher in a new era. I also think that one of the barriers to cloud gaming is the control the Telcos have on the delivery mechanism. It will take a lot of bandwidth to stream games like that, and with the poor broadband penetration and the fact that most of them now have download limits (where they will start charging you more once you pass it) and it doesn’t become a very attractive option. I could see this working for certain types of games where you don’t need super reflexes or there isn’t a whole lot of movement on screen. But like most things, it will probably just be another option for people and not a huge game changer that will usher in a new era.

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By: James/2011/06/23/what-happens-next/#comment-6239 James Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:01:57 +0000 Three things are going to happen (IMHO): a) The process of writing software and producing assets will become dramatically faster and cheaper (maybe not for some time, but it will). b) People will gradually realize that it does not take a AAA game to make a reasonable profit (see: Minecraft, Angry Birds, FarmVille, etc). c) At some point, we will all agree that consoles are just computers and no more gimmicks or strange input devices will waver our opinions. Thus, less hardware fragmentation, and the pain of porting software will be greatly reduced. Like Sega, the only thing console manufacturers will have left is IP. All of these are great for both the producers and consumers. It means that we can fail fast, and fail cheaply, test many ideas, and recover rapidly. In other words, we may actually start to see a reasonable amount of innovation over the next decade or two :). Three things are going to happen (IMHO):

a) The process of writing software and producing assets will become dramatically faster and cheaper (maybe not for some time, but it will).
b) People will gradually realize that it does not take a AAA game to make a reasonable profit (see: Minecraft, Angry Birds, FarmVille, etc).
c) At some point, we will all agree that consoles are just computers and no more gimmicks or strange input devices will waver our opinions. Thus, less hardware fragmentation, and the pain of porting software will be greatly reduced. Like Sega, the only thing console manufacturers will have left is IP.

All of these are great for both the producers and consumers. It means that we can fail fast, and fail cheaply, test many ideas, and recover rapidly. In other words, we may actually start to see a reasonable amount of innovation over the next decade or two :).

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