Rumor: Sony to Purchase Cloud Gaming Service

[John Funk]

Rumor: Sony to Purchase Cloud Gaming Service

This acquisition could radically change the PS4.

Think back to the distant days of 2010, when rival cloud gaming services OnLive and Gaikai launched and promised to change the way we played videogames forever - without the need for a dedicated machine. They're still around and kicking, but the revolution they foresaw never quite materialized. Sony, on the other hand, may think that this is one tree worth barking up.

A source tells MCV UK [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-close-to-agreeing-cloud-gaming-acquisition/096914] that Sony is "close" to finalizing an agreement that would see it purchasing a "high profile cloud gaming firm," either OnLive or Gaikai. Earlier reports had suggested that Sony would be announcing a partnership with a cloud gaming company this coming Monday at its E3 press conference, but an outright acquisition is something else entirely.

The source claims that the deal is "close to being signed." If true, this could potentially be a game-changer for Sony - and it would hint that the cloud gaming revolution might slowly but surely happen after all.

The question though, is then - how would Sony utilize it? Perhaps they could deliver game demos or rental content without necessitating lengthy downloads, but one of the perks of cloud gaming is the ability to play high-quality titles without the need for costly hardware. If you have a PS4 with built-in OnLive support, why would you need to stream PS4 games when you can just play them directly?

It's worth noting, though, that Sony's electronics division goes well beyond its gaming branch. Perhaps Sony could incorporate cloud gaming support directly into its TVs.

The exact shape of how this might pan out is up in the air - if there's any truth to the rumor at all, which is by no means a sure shot.

We'll find out more next week at E3.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-close-to-agreeing-cloud-gaming-acquisition/096914]

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[Vanbael]

Interesting, I'd like to learn more about the capabilities of cloud gaming. As was mentioned, you have the TV support, then you could also get possible PS4 to Vita support, and *gasp* PS4 to PC. Okay, just theorizing that last one. But really, this could make console gaming more convenient in the long run.

 

[The White Hunter]

This could be either amazing or very bad for gaming indeed....

We shall see.

[Edit] Probably won't even be available in Europe just like SotN.

 

[Worgen]

Ahh cloud gaming, for when you want to give total control to a corporation. The only way I see any kind of cloud gaming being remotely good for the consumer is the ability to remote desktop using a tablet and your pc.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

They have the saving on cloud on 360. So i guess the gaming thing would be playing online but only paying for the rights to play the game without having a physical copy or a downloaded copy on your harddrive. Is that correct?

Well i dont trust the saving on cloud. An have no real use for it anyway as i dont keep games long enough to warrant it. Would cloud be the start of digital (minus the downloadable part) only gaming that companies what to get into? It would stop the used games market, but would also stop people buying the console.

But im a technophobe, new tech just makes things worse, more difficult and a pain in the arse than old tech. Everything is more breakable and prone to damage and breakdowns. Where the object does everything other than what you want it to do. But i guess i shall be dragged kicking and screaming into whatever tech nightmare is awaiting.......PS10 will be Terminators with a Sony logo. lol

 

[gigastar]

The question though, is then - how would Sony utilize it? Perhaps they could deliver game demos or rental content without necessitating lengthy downloads, but one of the perks of cloud gaming is the ability to play high-quality titles without the need for costly hardware. If you have a PS4 with built-in OnLive support, why would you need to stream PS4 games when you can just play them directly?

Im thinking that Sony will use it to allow users to buy and download full games at a lower price. Similar to what theyre doing with the Vita only theyre basically directly buying increased capacity and a new logo to see it through.

 

[Rigs83]

This could be a way for them to avoid the whole fiasco involved with designing, testing, promoting and selling consoles for the next console generation. I imagine Sony creating the PS4 as the next big thing but as technology progresses instead of designing the PS5 they could just ramp up the processing power of their servers and converting the PS4 into a terminal. They could also use miniaturization to put PS4 power behind ever smaller devices so the PS Vita 2 or 3 can also be terminals so gamers may someday only need to buy a Sony monitor, a controllers and broadband in order to get the latest and greatest. The greatest threat to the whole thing though is America's pathetic broadband market compared to Asia and Europe. This could be a brilliant move if executed properly.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

What a tasty little rumor that is, and I'm actually curious to see if any of that is true.

I kinda hope this is true, that way downloading something will be a hell of a lot faster than it is now. It's pretty sad when you play something else while waiting to play what you're downloading.

 

[ActionDan]

Great, ANOTHER thing to go wrong to not be able to play our games.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Great, ANOTHER thing to go wrong to not be able to play our games.

Yea, I already have some sort of Nat connection that prevents me from playing some things online. Can't wait to see it fuck with playing a SP game too.

Lately Sony & MS have been incorporating into the consoles all of the worst parts of PC gaming and leaving out all of the good parts. I'm imagining that E3 will be more announcements about how the consumers will get completely screwed in the next gen.

 

[jindofox]

Ahh cloud gaming, for when you want to give total control to a corporation. The only way I see any kind of cloud gaming being remotely good for the consumer ...

It sounds pretty convenient to me. I have both kinds of games and wish there was a bigger/better catalog of streaming titles on OnLive.

Storage for PS3 games is out of control. The last Street Fighter game was an 18GB download. The OnLive version only downloads about 1GB/hour for streaming play, which means I have yet to play it enough to make it eat as much bandwidth as a direct download would need, to say nothing of storage. The less said about Vita storage media prices, the better.

What part of the current console gaming scene do you feel is under your "control?" You can buy and insert an optical disc, and that's about it. The OS on the console is fenced off, software updates are installed automatically, and online play is provided (for a fee) at the pleasure of the provider, to be discontinued at any time they choose.

I suppose cloud-gamers would give up the opportunity to resell used purchases for pennies on the dollar. Even GameStop's pawn-shop practices are being challenged by digital downloads and "online passes."

 

[jindofox]

Ahh cloud gaming, for when you want to give total control to a corporation. The only way I see any kind of cloud gaming being remotely good for the consumer ...

It sounds pretty convenient to me. I have both kinds of games and wish there was a bigger/better catalog of streaming titles on OnLive.

Storage for PS3 games is out of control. The last Street Fighter game was an 18GB download. The OnLive version only downloads about 1GB/hour for streaming play, which means I have yet to play it enough to make it eat as much bandwidth as a direct download would need, to say nothing of storage. The less said about Vita storage media prices, the better.

What part of the current console gaming scene do you feel is under your "control?" You can buy and insert an optical disc, and that's about it. The OS on the console is fenced off, software updates are installed automatically, and online play is provided (for a fee) at the pleasure of the provider, to be discontinued at any time they choose.

I suppose cloud-gamers would give up the opportunity to resell used purchases for pennies on the dollar. Even GameStop's pawn-shop practices are being challenged by digital downloads and "online passes."

 

[Hugga_Bear]

Not sure what's going to happen...

I'm not going to form an opinion on this, I mean there are...I don't know what they're going to do.

Huh. Now I'm interested, let's see where they go with this.

 

[Worgen]

Ahh cloud gaming, for when you want to give total control to a corporation. The only way I see any kind of cloud gaming being remotely good for the consumer ...

It sounds pretty convenient to me. I have both kinds of games and wish there was a bigger/better catalog of streaming titles on OnLive.

Storage for PS3 games is out of control. The last Street Fighter game was an 18GB download. The OnLive version only downloads about 1GB/hour for streaming play, which means I have yet to play it enough to make it eat as much bandwidth as a direct download would need, to say nothing of storage. The less said about Vita storage media prices, the better.

What part of the current console gaming scene do you feel is under your "control?" You can buy and insert an optical disc, and that's about it. The OS on the console is fenced off, software updates are installed automatically, and online play is provided (for a fee) at the pleasure of the provider, to be discontinued at any time they choose.

I suppose cloud-gamers would give up the opportunity to resell used purchases for pennies on the dollar. Even GameStop's pawn-shop practices are being challenged by digital downloads and "online passes."

If you don't want updates you can not have your system hooked up online, you still have a physical disk you can sell and you can still mod them. For some reason console makers seem to love really expensive storage media, it was neat that you could throw a laptop hd into a ps3 but the 360 and vita storage are stupid expensive and it is the fault of the makers. Frankly I like pc gaming since aside from not being able to easily sell your games, you can do allot of stuff with your hardware and software.

 

[Baresark]

I think that cloud gaming has never really taken off for a couple of reasons. There are a great many regions that lack the bandwidth to support it, people are wary of not owning games (though digital is changing this), and the biggest one would be the lack of an offline component. I personally do not think a consumer can benefit from such a service when it comes from Sony. They have a very poor record of caring about consumer rights, and a conversely good record of pissing off hackers. Both of these things have and, in the future, can ruin a gaming experience.

 

[Baresark]

Ahh cloud gaming, for when you want to give total control to a corporation. The only way I see any kind of cloud gaming being remotely good for the consumer ...

It sounds pretty convenient to me. I have both kinds of games and wish there was a bigger/better catalog of streaming titles on OnLive.

Storage for PS3 games is out of control. The last Street Fighter game was an 18GB download. The OnLive version only downloads about 1GB/hour for streaming play, which means I have yet to play it enough to make it eat as much bandwidth as a direct download would need, to say nothing of storage. The less said about Vita storage media prices, the better.

What part of the current console gaming scene do you feel is under your "control?" You can buy and insert an optical disc, and that's about it. The OS on the console is fenced off, software updates are installed automatically, and online play is provided (for a fee) at the pleasure of the provider, to be discontinued at any time they choose.

I suppose cloud-gamers would give up the opportunity to resell used purchases for pennies on the dollar. Even GameStop's pawn-shop practices are being challenged by digital downloads and "online passes."

I personally feel that console developers are going in the opposite direction they should be. Corporations can exist in a very fiscally productive place by meeting needs of consumers. Many different areas of business do not feel the need to control every aspect of their customers buying ability. Sony's model seems to be the backwards one. And while we do live in a state where we are constantly fighting for what little bit of consumer rights we have left in area of videogames, it does not mean that giving even more away is a good.

That is just my perspective, but I also understand where you are coming from.

 

[GeorgW]

I'm really hoping this is true. I'm partial to Sony over its competitors, mostly cuz of their drive to innovate and their focus on gaming, much different from M$ and Nintendo. I've always like the idea of cloud gaming, though its implementation had been iffy. In the hands of a huge company, and especially one with the focus that Sony has, I can't wait to see what happens with this. Btw, my money's on Gaikai being purchased.