I came across a few interesting links today. After looking at an article about the new Dragon Age game on GameSpy, I found a link to an article about cloud computing gaming, specifically a service being developed called Gaikai. Realizing that something like this is being developed made me extremely excited, especially after watching a video demo of Gaikai on GameSpy.
Basically, cloud computing, simply put, is where services and networks will be hooked up to the internet and accessible anywhere. This takes away the hassle of downloading programs. Cloud computing gaming is where MMOs will be able to be played in a browser instead of going through the hassle of downloading gigabyte files. Here is a basic description of how Gaikai works from their site:
“We install the latest games on our servers in purpose-designed data centres. We worry about the cost of the latest 3D video card, the gigabytes of game files, staying up to date with the latest patches and drivers, and all the other headaches involved in modern PC gaming. Our high performance software takes care of turning the game output into a high quality video stream on the fly, ready for you to watch and play, in a few milliseconds. Your input – every keystroke, every mouse click – is sent back over an encrypted channel to the game.”
-http://www.gaikai.com/streaming-worlds/
When Gaikai is completed, it may be the next generation for gaming, which I am extremely looking forward to.
There is also another service similar to Gaikai called OnLive. Both seem like they’ll be equally great and innovative services. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
On a side note, Dragon Age looks like a really good game. I’m really liking the PC toolkit that’s being offered with the PC version of the game.
Posted by bluebrisingr 
