Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand, is a type of online gaming. Currently there are two main types of cloud gaming: cloud gaming based on video streaming and cloud gaming based on file streaming. Cloud gaming aims to provide end users frictionless and direct play-ability of games across various devices.
Video Cloud gaming
History
In 2000, G-cluster demonstrated cloud gaming technology at E3. The original offering was cloud gaming service over Wi-Fi to handheld devices. Video game developer Crytek began research on a cloud gaming system in 2005 for Crysis, but halted development in 2007 to wait until the infrastructure and cable Internet providers were up for the task. OnLive officially launched in March 2010, and its game service began in June with the sale of its OnLive microconsole. On April 2, 2015, it was announced that Sony Computer Entertainment had acquired OnLive's patents, and OnLive closed its doors. In November, SFR launched a commercial cloud gaming service on IPTV in France, powered by G-cluster technology.
GeForce NOW is a cloud-based game-streaming service offered by NVIDIA that launched on October 1, 2015.
Nvidia GRID is a recent creation by Nvidia that is targeted specifically towards cloud gaming. The Nvidia GRID includes both graphics processing and video encoding into a single device which is able to decrease the input to display latency of cloud base video game streaming. This is important due to the impact that latency will have between what the user does and when the action shows on their screen.
Maps Cloud gaming
Types
Cloud gaming is an umbrella term used to describe a form of online game distribution. The most common methods of cloud gaming currently are video (or pixel) streaming and file streaming.
"Cloud gaming", also in some cases called "gaming on demand", is a type of online gaming that allows direct and on-demand video streaming of games onto computers, consoles and mobile devices, similar to video on demand, through the use of a thin client. The actual game is stored, executed, and rendered on the remote operator's or game company's server and the video results are streamed directly to a consumer's computers over the internet. This allows access to games without the need of a console and largely makes the capability of the user's computer unimportant, as the server is the system that is running the processing needs. The controls and button presses from the user are transmitted directly to the server, where they are recorded, and the server then sends back the game's response to the input controls. Companies that use this type of cloud gaming include NVIDIA (GeForce NOW), Playkey, PlayGiga, CiiNOW, Ubitus, Playcast Media Systems, Gaikai and OnLive.
Gaming on demand is a game service which takes advantage of a broadband connection, large server clusters, encryption and compression to stream game content to a subscriber's device. Users can play games without downloading or installing the actual game. Game content is not stored on the user's hard drive and game code execution occurs primarily at the server cluster, so the subscriber can use a less powerful computer to play the game than the game would normally require, since the server does all performance-intensive operations usually done by the end user's computer. Most cloud gaming platforms are closed and proprietary; the first open-source cloud gaming platform was only released in April, 2013.
Cloud gaming based on file streaming, also known as progressive downloading, deploys a thin client in which the actual game is run on the user's gaming device such as a mobile device, a PC or a console. A small part of a game, usually less than 5% of the total game size, is downloaded initially so that the gamer can start playing quickly. The remaining game content is downloaded to the end user's device while playing. This allows instant access to games with low bandwidth Internet connections without lag. The cloud is used for providing a scalable way of streaming the game content and big data analysis. Cloud gaming based on file streaming requires a device that has the hardware capabilities to operate the game. Often, downloaded game content is stored on the end user's device where it is cached. Companies that use this type of cloud gaming include Kalydo, Approxy and SpawnApps.
Cloud gaming services (Gaming as a Service (GaaS))
Cloud gaming systems
See also
- Cloud computing
- Remote mobile virtualization for mobile gaming as a service
References
External links
- Article by Paul Hyman on MSN.com
- Article by Parth Singh on LiquidSky: The Future Of Cloud Gaming.
- Article by Jeff Norman / Cloud Gaming: Making the Joystick Airborne - CloudTweaks.com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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