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GDC Europe: Dyack Gets Fervent On The Rise Of Cloud Computing
by Simon Carless [PC, Console/PC]
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August 17, 2009
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Cloud computing is vital to the future of gaming, says Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack (Too Human), and he says such technology could "profoundly change the industry forever".
But he began his wide-ranging talk at GDC Europe in Cologne with a focus on commoditization: the concept that the technology drives down the value of products. Technology is eroding the value of intellectual properties for many cultural mediums, he said, particularly music -- where people feel they can download music rather than buy it.
Similar issues are rampant in the game industry, where piracy is a growing concern, he said. "People aren't paying for the games when they feel they can get them for free," he noted, adding that some countries don't even acknowledge piracy in the same way that we do. "This talk's not going to change anything like that," he quipped.
Cloud computing may be part of the solution, Dyack said -- the cloud can act as the "firewall" behind which the interactive content lives.
The Rise Of The Cloud
Linear media like music or movies delivered via cloud can still easily be pirated, Dyack pointed out. But for non-linear media like games -- "assuming people can't break into the cloud" -- Dyack said cloud tech could eliminate piracy and "profoundly change the industry forever."
Cyber Empires, Silicon Knights' first title from the early '90s, is no longer easily playable or buyable and has effectively lapsed into "abandonware," said Dyack. But although the company "may do a remix at some point", it would be much easier to set up the correct emulators on the cloud to make games of any era run.
Costs will decrease on digital distribution versus the physical, noted Dyack, and migrating development systems to the cloud will change hardware standards a lot.
He suggested that a fairer, more level playing field for all games would result. Right now, games like Resistance and Gears Of War don't really compete against each other -- because they are on different console systems.
If all shooters could compete against each other on a cloud platform, the "artificial walls that have been built up by proprietary consoles" will be broken down, Dyack suggested -- actually encouraging better games as a result.
In addition, the existing plethora of consoles makes it a lot more difficult for regular consumers to work out what systems to buy, and Dyack argued that standardizing on the cloud would help.
Dyack defended his recent comments on a one-console future, noting that those who think this method "allows for monopolies" are incorrect. His standpoint is that an open platform -- actually accomplished via cloud computing -- will allow fair competition for all.
Not One, But Multiple Clouds
Assuming the developer has the resources, there could be a cloud for his company's games, commented the Silicon Knights founder. There may not be just one cloud computing network -- Dyack thinks of clouds as cable channels, "just a connection" to a set of games, and Nintendo and Sony could have similar but separate clouds.
The biggest criticism of cloud computing right now appears to be lag and latency, according to Dyack. But those issues are "distractions", he said, not an ultimate long-term block to rise of the technology.
In addition, Dyack said that the "endless bickering" over which console is better "really hurts the community", and so he hopes -- perhaps idealistically, but for the benefit of developer economics -- that as hardware becomes irrelevant, the games become everything.
As for not having physical games to keep hold of, Dyack referenced iTunes in his Q&A as an example of a digital method that has replaced the physical. "Our belief in physical media is... going to become dated," he said. Physical media "will always matter to some people", he noted, but on a large scale, it "will become irrelevant."
The changes will also defray the frustration that developers can encounter "when you stop a manufacturing run of your game" and they "start to see it picked up more and more by users" without the concurrent extra revenue -- something that's "tremendously frustrating."
Concluding, Dyack asserted he's not necessarily advocating for the current cloud computing companies. He said he doesn't know whether OnLive will do well, and "we might not see another cloud computing model for another four years". But he does believe that in twenty years, cloud computing will be largely the status quo.
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Funny, right now we see, different Hardware concepts really change the way games are played, the Wii is successful, cause of it's original input concept, the same goes for the DS. Both platforms are clear arguments against standarized cloud computing.
And all that developers can think of is a future were all "shooters could compete against each other on a cloud platform".
That's laughably optimistic. Why would any cloud service want to use an open platform standard when they can hurt their competition by defying any standard? If the temptation is there, it will be taken. The console boundaries do not exist because somehow Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are these freaks of capitalistic nature, they exist because the temptation is there and they took it.
Wait, so the solution to the 'console wars' is to go to cloud computing where there won't be any lines drawn. So Nintendo / Sony / and Microsoft will each have separate clouds... wait, I guess I might as well get a console if I still have to pick which cloud to join up with. The more people talk about this the more I think it is a bunch of bunk. Will it come some day? Sure, but I shudder every time I think about my video game hobby becoming the next 'cable company'... count me out.
It would also help save the planet from a ton of e-waste (not everybody collects all their old games and obsolete consoles).
But, as much as I would like to see Cloud 'save the industry' and the planet, I disagree with Dyack on lag and latency. It's going to be an issue for 'twitch' games, especially for people who live any distance from their game cloud.
I see cloud computing as just a natural evolution of games,/applications as bandwidth cost go down and computation go multi-core, it makes more sense. You have more control, decouple the output device from the game/application hardware and can seamlessly upgrade each hardware generation.
-ddn
As far as e-waste goes it is called recycling.
As a customer cloud computing is the last thing you want to see happen.
For example: Buying a PS3 at launch plus 12 games would of cost you about $1300. *If* (big if here) Sony priced their Cloud like Netflix, you could buy 5-6 years of service for the same amount. If you only plan on playing the same 12 games for more than 6 years, it is totally worth it to buy them. Otherwise, the Cloud would be a better value.
And recycling is a great idea but it isn't nearly as good as not having to create something in the first place. Making, shipping, and recycling electronics and plastics uses a lot of energy and creates lots of toxic by-products.
Sure, having smaller payments along the way will appeal to some, probably more, than a console out right... But I see a future of 1 year contracts and other 'telco' junk getting in the way more than it should. I'll be console bound for as long as the industry lets me, then I'll probably take up some other hobby and replay my old games instead of moving along with this 'cloud' stuff.
But I think you're right that more people will probably enjoy the ability to make several smaller payments in order to experience the coolest games now rather then save up their money and wait for better prices (it's human nature).
That said, the big players can still totally mess this up (1 year contracts, bad service, etc.) but, if somebody can do it right, they will own the industry.