kleinbl00:

    EA isn't building a cloud-gaming platform, but it is working on the technology that could power a streaming-first ecosystem...This move makes sense for EA. It owns the Frostbite engine, which currently powers franchises such as Dragon Age, FIFA, Madden and Battlefield, and it runs the digital Origin store, which features monthly subscription options. EA bought GameFly's cloud-gaming technology and personnel in mid-2018 (not its streaming business, mind), and by October, CTO Ken Moss had announced Project Atlas.

Sony severed compatibility between the PS3 and PS4 because they figured PSNow would fill the void. I've never met anyone who subscribes. NVidia Shield has had streaming for three or four years now, but I know no one who has bothered. I've looked at it principally as a Plex engine that might be more stable than my Mac Mini, but since it probably isn't I've demurred.

I think it's noteworthy that EA, the company with the most to gain from streaming, is the least active in it. Something people refuse to acknowledge about Netflix is that it's a great place to find a bunch of shit you didn't really want to watch anyway. It's the USA Network of streaming. Amazon and Hulu are the same way: everyone with good content has embargoed the streaming aggregators. So yeah - if you're a casual gamer who just wants to play something with a controller jump right on PSNow. But if you're into the DLC and the expansion passes and the gaming pass and generating a couple hundred bucks a year for EA or Bungie or Rock Star, you're not playing over remote. Period.

My roommate bought two arcade controllers for Smash Brothers. They're $200 each. Meanwhile I don't have to dig deep into Discord to discover that what I really need to be competitive is a Scuf that may or may not reduce my latency by microseconds while playing Fortnite. Given a choice between rolling up a hundred Candy Crush casuals or one of my roommates, I'm going with the one dude every time. The video game industry is still largely supported by the whales buying AAA and playing them for hundreds of hours at a time and Marie Kondo/Bird Box is not a model that fits them.


posted 1918 days ago