A few weeks ago, Sony and Microsoft, big rivals within the video game space, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with regards to technology and innovation. This was quite a surprise, even for Sony's staff, but with the future of the industry looking to change a lot over the next few years, it makes sense. According to Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the MOU was a response to Google's game streaming platform, Stadia.
In an interview with CNET, Ryan says that this transition to next-gen "is probably gonna be more interesting than any other we've seen in the past," highlighting the emergence of a new competitor in Google. He says Sony would be "at grave risk of having events around us overtake us" if the company didn't take steps to advance.
The MOU with Microsoft is one example of a way it's preparing for an industry that's "changing very fast and in a very interesting way." While the agreement apparently covers a number of areas, cloud gaming is a big part of it. With Stadia looking to effectively replace traditional consoles, this makes total sense.
It's an interesting interview that goes over some broad, next-gen topics. If you want to read more, click here.
[source cnet.com]
Comments 43
(at home with the Gods of Gaming)
Arise new fanboy... I name you... Stadia fanboy (insert non amusing nickname here of your choice)
Go forth and bother both Xbots and Pony's, whilst ignoring the PC master race entirely.
Let the console wars continue!!!
Mwahahaha...
Wait, they're concerned about Google Stadia?
Why?!
Don't make me post that microscope quote again.
Stadia is going to go the way most Google products do, to the rock bottom
yeah people will try it but once the initial "newness" is over most will stop once they realise that services like Steam or PSN or XBL not only allow you to play the same game but also OWN your games plus you still play them when you like even if your internet isn't working
Stadia will soon go the way of the Ouya
Meanwhile, Nintendo does its thing, not caring about the rest of the world.
10-15 years guys
So Google could be a threat but a console needs games. Sonys first party will keep people coming back and I think next gen Microsoft will have must have exclusives after being shown up in that department this gen.
I don't think Stadia is a threat.
@FullbringIchigo I tried searching "whatever happened to Ouya" on my Google Glass, but then my Google self-driving car ran over a cyclist and it lost connection.
Sony and Microsoft's corporate pitch -
A successful Google Stadia is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. Old Testament, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes, volcanos. The dead rising from the grave. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria.
While it's ok for fans and gamers to be disinterested, companies like Sony and Microsoft would be stupid to dismiss Stadia as a threat.
Just had a massive argument with someone over on EuroGamer defending Stadia as 'Real gaming'. Glad to see most people here get it. Companies like Google think they can "take over" the games industry. If people support them over mainstream gaming they'll soon learn that Microtransactions creeping into mainstream was just the start.
Mind you, the idiocy of the person on EG also though his mother was a gamer because she plays candy crush on her phone and it's no different to what console or PC gamers are all about. :/
Anyway, rant over. Don't hate me too hard.
I think mix of physicall, digital, subscription (psplus), and streaming (psnow) for ps5 will serve sony well.
Google has done nothing to get gaming where it is now! makes me chuckle how arrogant they are the box is over in dreamland😂😂
@ApostateMage
Serious question...
Never mind the way you think the industry is heading... does anyone actually want to stream their games?
I know I don't. Fine, call me old fashioned, stuck in my ways, whatever. I want a box under my TV which will play games, without being reliant on internet speeds or - hell - even having an internet connection in the first place. The more outside services you need to rely on, the more scope for problems.
It's one thing when an internet hiccup gets you killed in an online game. When it has the potential to screw up your game even in a single-player title, it's going to get very annoying very fast.
@Paranoimia
You sir, just brought a tear to an old gamer's eye, That sounds beautiful.
I think the thing we wan't is called a PSOne2.
@Paranoimia The point is that when the technology gets good enough it'll be a no brainer to stream, as the experience will be better than owning media. It'll be a natural evolution to streaming, just as it has been with other content. Of course, there will be a minority who might refuse to let go of the old ways, but it boils down to a fear of the unknown, and they will be left behind. Which is quite funny considering many aspects of this industry are tip of the spear stuff.
@carlos82 Haha! Ace.
@kyleforrester87
Freedom to play offline, ownership, choice to play a old game, a new way of liveserviceeee now they can so far too force you too buy a new game.
Forgot one recurring spending. 😁
@Flaming_Kaiser Do you use Netflix, Spotify, Youtube..? Pornhub? Why are you comfortable not owning media from those outlets?
@kyleforrester87 Sorry, no - that's not the case at all - at least as far as I'm concerned. Nothing at all to do with any "fear of the unknown".
My point is that the internet, by its very nature, will always have the potential to screw up your gameplay. You can't compare 'other content' to gaming because they are one-way. If you stream music or watch a movie, any delay causes minimal issues because of buffering... maybe a pop in the audio, or a few seconds of pixelation in the image... no big deal. You can't have buffering in a gaming scenario.
With games, any pixelation could have dire consequences in-game. Any delay in transmitting controller inputs back to servers could get you killed. It happens enough now in online games; do we want that in single-player too?
The internet - and perhaps more importantly, ISPs - are not ready for everyone to start streaming games. Practically every ISP in the world is currently set up in a way which will be crippled if everyone were to stream their games. They'll need to massively increase their bandwidth and change the way they handle connections. They could do it, they might do it, but if past experience is anything to go by, they'll do it very slowly, and then they'll charge a lot more money, potentially adding another barrier to gaming.
And with regard to the question you asked @Flaming_Kaiser - Yes, I use Netflix and YouTube, no I don't use Spotify. I love Netflix... some great shows, and I can check out movies before I buy them... but when I do buy them, it's on disc. Same with music - I buy CDs to listen to either on my hifi or rip to listen to on my phone or walkman. Why? Not because I fear change or dislike technology, but simply because, as I said earlier, I don't want to be reliant on an internet connection. We were without internet for a week last year after problems with a cable in the local area; if I had moved over to streaming, I'd have had no TV, no movies, no music, and no games. Again as I've already said, the more layers you add, the more scope for problems to arise.
And finally, there's the question of what happens if the company or service goes bye-bye? Gamers bought full-price games to stream with OnLive; money lost. At least if you have a local copy of a game (disc or digital), you can keep playing.
You could say "well, PlayStation/Google are huge... they're not going anywhere". But Sony have had financial issues in the past, and Google shut down projects on a whim all the time - they don't necessarily have to disappear for you to lose access to what you've bought. Hell, even the movie industry tried it with UltraViolet, and despite their size and revenue, even that is being shut down. As usual, outside of the US, we may lose access to those digital copies, depending on what agreements are reached. Still, if we want to watch the movies, at least we still have the discs.
If streaming is what you want, that's fine. I'll just say be careful what you wish for.
@Paranoimia My point is that when the infrastructure is ready for it, it will happen naturally. There will be no movement en masse to streaming video games until internet connections can handle it, and I'm not foolish enough to believe otherwise. But you only have to look at how the internet, gaming and other media has evolved in the last 20 years to get an idea of what will be possible in the next 20.
As an aside, people talk of having issues with there connection. My Netflix didn't work the night before last, which was a bit inconvenient. But it's the first time I can remember having a problem with it in maybe a year? And the delivery of content during that time has been way beyond what I would or even could have consumed if I'd been relying on physical media. So yes, it was an inconvenience, but you have to weigh up the pros and the cons. And you're basing your opinions on the future of streaming video games with today's internet technology. That doesn't make any sense.
@kyleforrester87 Netflix is a great example of dissapearing content oh i would like too watch that movie with a friend oh they removed it. That is why i own my favorite movies on bluray. Dont use Spotify and even if i would buy my favorite music on CD if i have the option , Pornhub even Pornhub has a option to download. Youtube is slowly going towards a paying platform anyway.
@Paranoimia I dont want to be at mercy of the big companies. If i have the option i will get my favorite stuff on CD or Bluray. Dissapearing content i have quite some stuff that is hard to get by i love that i have Legend of Dragoon on a disc. The only way i would go for digital is with GOG. I have Netflix my but its nothing special that my favorite movie get removed. And all the money at a happy few no stores i dont think that would be a bright future for the rest. The difference between rich and poor is only getting bigger and bigger anyway.
Why have I not seen more discussion about disappearing content and not streaming your media using pornhub examples before?! Now I truly understand the issues!! 🙊😂
@Paranoimia well i certainly have NO interest in it, not only are you dependent on an always online connection but your going to need a really good internet connection too which a lot of places just don't have
plus there is the inevitable delay in inputs and the big kicker, we wont even own any of the games we buy and we will have no control on how long they will be on the service so a game your playing could literally be her today and gone tomorrow
now i don't think streaming doesn't have any place but it is NOT viable as the only option
i can MAYBE go digital if i had to because i will always take a Physical product over anything else but streaming is where i draw the line, if that is what the future is then i want NO part in it at all
the day they go streaming only is the day i stop gaming
@kyleforrester87 it's not about fear of the unknown it about having NO control over content WE paid for
as you put it "it'll be a no brainer to stream, as the experience will be better than owning media"
so your saying you OK with having no control over anything you pay for, your OK with a publisher deciding to take a game away whenever it wants to even if your still playing it
this isn't like Netflix or services like it because even though you stream the shows a great many of them are still available for you to get in other mediums such as DVD so even when they take a show off you have a viable alternative
plus you can watch Netflix on standard Broadband you can't stream a game on that and many areas especially in the UK, Europe and the middle east just don't have the infrastructure in place to support game streaming, one of my mate for example even on Fiber can only get 30-50 mbs on their internet and that can barely run share play
plus there is other things such as the natural input delay which is something you can't get round, what happens when your playing a game that requires quick button presses but the stream puts an extra say 0.5 seconds on it, that can mean the difference between completing a level and losing a life
then there is legacy what will happen in the future when the service is shut down, all those games will be gone forever, never to be played again, can you imagine in 10 years time wanting to play this game you loved again only to find that it's gone with no way to ever get it back, imagine NEVER being able to play Metal Gear again because the service it was streaming on is no longer active
like i said in my previous post streaming has a place but NOT as the only option, it can stand beside digital and/or physical but not on it's own
If this doesnt prove how evil google is I dont know what would. Lol
@FullbringIchigo I don't generally like to hoard things, so yes I am okay with that. I'm frankly as happy experiencing things and moving on as I am holding on to items. You go to a gig or a sports event, you have a good time, and you reflect on it for as long as you can remember - you don't take it home and put it on your shelf.
Regardless, the point is I believe there will be a tipping point where despite what you or I may prefer the majority of games will be consumed via streaming platforms. Obviously I cannot see into the future but this is an entirely reasonable position for me to take based on past evidence, current events and logical conclusions regarding the future.
People are too emotional, and are worried (afraid) about ma vidiurr gamezzz
@kyleforrester87 "You go to a gig or a sports event, you have a good time, and you reflect on it for as long as you can remember - you don't take it home and put it on your shelf."
actually you can, i have live recorded CD's aka Live Albums i have Football games on DVD, for example i support Wolves and i have 3 DVD's of them beating Man UTD in matches
i can sit down and relive those events whenever i want too, i can also see event's that i wasn't even alive to witness because of physical media, going about Football again i have a DVD of the 1966 World Cup Final, i can watch the only time England won the World Cup even though i wasn't alive when it happened, that's because Physical media allows a legacy that streaming doesn't
like i said, i'm not saying that streaming can't work, i'm saying that it CAN'T be the only option available
@FullbringIchigo I don't think it will ever be the only option available, but in my opinion those preferring to own physical gaming media will be in the minority in the not too distant future, and a vast number of games will likely not see a physical release in the way a lot of digital titles already don't. The issue is that when it becomes too costly to justify developing hardware for the "physical gamers" they'll get left behind. If 50% of the market is happy streaming, where is the profit incentive to get boxes in peoples homes. It's better to put that money into improving the streaming service.
@kyleforrester87 i can go completely Digital Download if i have to but as long as the Physical option exists that's what i'll get
@FullbringIchigo 15 years ago do you think you'd have said that you can go completely digital download if you have to? Probably not, and i think your attitude is probably likely to change as streaming becomes more prevalent, too. People naturally adjust their red lines over time.
@kyleforrester87 well 15 years ago DD wasn't really a thing but honestly i can say for sure but i don't think my views will change that much, call me strange but i like to own things i pay for
@FullbringIchigo Exactly, and soon streaming will be a real thing and people's attitudes will change and it'll be on to the next thing. It's absolutely fine for you to be against it now, and be against it in the future too, but from my perspective it's where the majority will end up, and as a result where the attention of the console and video game developers will end up too, so to be against it is to be left behind.
It's funny because people will accuse me of wanting this to be the future, I don't necessarily want it to be but I can't see it not happening frankly so I'm happy to try and embrace the idea just like I've done with TV and music streaming.
@Flaming_Kaiser At this point Kyle is either trolling us or is a lemming of epic proportions.
@FullbringIchigo I just don't understand why the mods don't step in and stop Kyle's trolling. It's completely obvious that he's trolling all of us and is single-handedly creating a very hostile environment here sigh.
@TowaHerschel7 I’m not sure where i’m trolling anybody above, but you are free to report me and the admins can look into your complaint.
@TowaHerschel7 For me personally he just gives me weird examples. Trying to say music and movies are the same. And i stand by my opinion i love too have the options too play stuff as much as i like and when and even if i dont have a connection. And lets be really honest they cant wait untill this happens. Just kill of the game and force you too buy a new part. Its better then have you pay €60 and play for a long time without recurring spending.
@TowaHerschel7 i don't think he is trolling, just showing a different side to the discussion
@kyleforrester87 one of the main issues i have though is the companies doing it, i'm sure given time Sony and/or MS could make it work but not Google, they can't even get YouTube running properly so what makes people think they can do any better with a game streaming service?
@FullbringIchigo I would say the way my thoughts on the subject are considered to be trolling by some only lend credit to my original argument that some people are afraid of change!
I do think the Google of today are not the Google if 10 years ago, nor will they be the Google of 10 years time. Sony, MS, Apple etc have all changed as staff/times etc have gone on.
Really, I don’t think Stadia is going to be a success at all and I’m happy to go on record with that one!
That said, please humour me and put all your current thoughts aside. Imagine a scenario whereby you have one controller that can connect seamlessly to any screen in or outside your home, whether it be phone, tablet, nano-projector, tv and you’re able to instantly launch any number of thousands of games you can think of running from consoles more powerful than anything you could imagine in your living room, and enjoy playing those games flawlessly in super high definition right where you left off, with zero communication issues.
There are so many technical barriers to over come before it gets to that level but I believe it can get to that point. Services like 5G and beyond are increasing, giving us all more bandwidth. Perhaps we’ll each have 2 or 3 back up connections as standard to cover us if one goes down in the future. Elon Musk is about to start sending up hundreds of satellites to provide worldwide coverage. Once it does get to that level you’ll have a whole generation of new gamers without the physical hang ups that a lot of us, myself included, have and gaming in that way will be the new normal.
I don't see consoles disappearing for a while. Streaming has too many limitations.
Honestly don't understand why Stadia is such a big deal, consoles won't be dying off for many many years.
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