Cloud gaming storms into the UK
Try EA games in your browser for free
Cloud-based gaming is again in the limelight today with the announcement that game service Gaikai has gone live in the UK for all to trial.
Gaikai - which today came out of its closed beta stage - allows users to demo games in their browser without the need for a download.
Just like cloud-based gaming platform OnLive, this type of service requires a speedy internet connection. However, Gaikai pushes the content directly to a browser using Flash and Java so games such as Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2 and The Sims 3 can be played through websites rather than a proprietary application.
Mass Effect 2 running through Facebook, who would have thought?
This also paves the way for demos being implemented at the end of a games review, directly in the browser for all to try. And try-outs are the key focus: Gaikai stresses it's a platform for demos rather than full-on gaming. It A portal to see if a title is worth going out to buy for your console or PC first, without the need for downloading any content.
Company co-founder David Perry spilled the beans in his blog and says Gaikai has been working closely with EA to bring the most popular games to market because "when you're burning incredibly powerful/expensive servers it doesn't make financial sense to be streaming a very niche game".
We'll have more on cloud-gaming soon. In the meantime, give Gaikai a whirl and let us know what you think. ®
COMMENTS
no, not really
That's the point of streaming. The bandwith requirement is the same irrespective to game quality settings. So you buy a cheap laptop with crap graphics and play in a browser at full quality. If you have a top-notch connection. Which is a big if.
Nope .. no invites left
Follow the link .. it tests your bandwidth, then says 'Congratulations, you're in; We'll let you know when more Beta Invites are in'
about
the same as you need to stream an HD vid on youtube, I'd guess.
AFAIK, their servers do all the rendering and stream the game as something close to a video feed but with a bit more interactivity.
I'd think that even on a normal 8meg line you'd probably not notice much lag, depending on how fast their server connections are.
i say more of this sort of thing! :D
More than I've got.
But never mind, I'd much rather download and install a demo and see how it runs on my system than how it runs on a server anyway...
Rather a bit
Just tried the Spore link, and it recommended that I have a 10mbps connection... great, I'm out in the sticks and have 1mbps!
I still have to be convinced that latency won't be an issue for this style of gaming anyway.
