darkjak Posted December 11, 2010 Posted December 11, 2010 Hopefully, everyone's at this point familiar with the term "cloud gaming". Essentially it's a system where your computer or console gets reduced to a "dumb terminal"- all it does is to send input from a control unit to another computer, which then sends output back. With OnLive, we have proof that the technology to make this work allready exists. So my thought is: why won't Nintendo make a cloud channel. It would mean an ability for using the Wiiware framework to distribute games that wouldn't fit on to Wii discs, much less the Wii's flash memory. Also, it would be possible to launch games that look like PS3 games or even better for the Wii. I've heard that the Wii actually DOES support HD, although such games would look really bad. That means that the Wii should be capable of playing HD cloud games. Such a service would eliminate piracy and restrictions of how many players parttake in an online multiplayer match. So what do you think about this?
S.C.G Posted December 11, 2010 Posted December 11, 2010 For the PC? Yes... (as has been proven) For the Wii? Lolno...
LostOverThere Posted December 11, 2010 Posted December 11, 2010 Like OnLive? Considering how scared Nintendo are of the internet, I don't think that's likely unfortunately/fortunately.
david.dakota Posted December 11, 2010 Posted December 11, 2010 Wii is not powerful enough to stream HD visuals, most netbooks are more powerful than Wii and they struggle with HD video. I'm pretty confident when I say Wii output maxes at 480p, and I doubt there is any software update to remedy this. As for a cloud service, its too disruptive to the business model at the moment. OnLive will not make any significant impact in the market. After buying the hardware, a cloud based model removes the need for retailers (who gamble on the 'added value' of buying games with your machines); retailers will therefore demand a higher margin for hardware and the price becomes less attractive to the consumer. Its also pretty darn expensive to run, those massive servers do not come cheap - and we've seen how Nintendo wants to make online cheap/free. Streaming video also chomps into your broadband usage allowance - onlive suggests a minimum of 3mbps thats 1GB an hour by my reckoning (not that bits to bytes is my forte). What I think is more likely, is that Nintendo will have online storage for games and game profiles. The servers already hold the game, and could simply check your credentials and download for local storage and gameplay - imagine choosing to play a title from your menu, the system jumps online to download the file and you should be ready to go in seconds - even by the largest N64 files should be ready in less than 20 seconds (again, file size maths may be faulty...). Of course, the appalling servers Nintendo currently use seem far too slow.
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