Editorials

Do next-gen consoles need to focus on the Cloud?

April 23, 2012, Author: Phil Ubee

With the release of Nintendo’s Wii U only a few months away and internet rumours coming thick and fast regarding the next Xbox, it seems that we are about ready for the next generation of home consoles. While a lot of the discussions will, rightly, surround the expectation of improved graphics and the possibility of an even more involved gaming experience, one question that certainly needs to be asked is the one at the top of this page.

Microsoft in particular have a great deal of experience with Cloud technology already, as they are actively marketing Office 365 and Sky Drive for business and domestic users respectively. Add to this the fact that the most recent Xbox 360 dashboard update came with the option to save your game files to the Cloud, it is not a particularly big leap of faith to suggest that the Xbox 720 will have at least some Cloud support.

The question is should it, and how far should they go?

Valve’s Steam, an essential install for all PC gamers also synchronises its game data to the Cloud. In addition, the past year has seen the introduction of OnLive to the UK market with some success. It goes a step further and runs games directly from the Cloud, opening up PC gaming to numerous people unable to afford the cost of high-spec systems and freeing up our Hard Drives for all those family photos we no longer print.

The start of the Next Generation but Wii U may be a bit soon for the Cloud

I have advocated OnLive more than once here on TIMJ in article and forum posts already, so won’t push that one again directly, but I will point out that it proves that the infrastructure is there despite many questioning the UK broadband speeds, should the traditional home consoles want to push for a more complete Cloud based system.

There is also a touch of the “Little Englander” when discussing the drawbacks as to think that big guns like Microsoft and Sony will hold back on the implementation of Cloud technology because poor old Blighty are still currently playing catch-up to the internet speeds in some of the worlds bigger nations, such as Japan and the USA, where internet-based gaming is already huge business.

Here lies another factor which, in my opinion, suggests that Cloud gaming is on its way. Games like WoW and SWTOR have taken over the lives of many but there have been very few even attempt the MMO genre on a console. Part of the reason for this is probably due to restrictions in physical disk capacity to both run the game and store its data, a problem that the Cloud will fix as the application can be run and your progress stored without any of it touching your actual machine. No more swapping disk half way through a campaign or installing a behemoth like L.A. Noire to your hard drive.

OnLive proves it can be done.

We have also seen an increased trend towards downloadable games and games content over this generation with XBLA and PSN in particular producing huge amounts of content. This form of media is very much beneficial to developers and publishers as it removes the resale market and ensures they receive all the profit from sales of their titles. The negative, again is storage (I have 40GB of XBLA games alone). I believe that it is a natural step given both the time involved in the download process and the relative costs of storage that rather than downloading the latest XBLA game from the Marketplace, we may soon find ourselves just playing it directly from Microsoft’s servers.

The above possibly highlights more why the next generation might decide to implement the Cloud rather than why I think they should so let me say this: Cloud technology allows me to begin researching and writing this article at work on my office PC, then continue it on my mobile on the way home before completing it on my laptop at home without having to save a copy in three different places. It also allows me to play some of the biggest games of the past twelve months, like Deus Ex: Human Revolution on my hopelessly cheap and slow Laptop with sublime HD graphics and not a hint of slowdown while my wife is watching TV, then continue that same game from the same point on the bigger, better sounding TV when she’s gone to bed.

The next generation of technology will have a big focus on Cloud technology. The next generation of consoles need to get onboard!