Tag Archives: thin Clints

We all giggle at the ‘forecast’ of some gaming bosses. I am the same, so when I saw (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9803j74091o) ‘Amazon gaming boss predicts future where players no longer need consoles’ we can anticipate “Yes, but that is not now, it will be in the not so near future” and the setting of “Amazon’s head of gaming Jeff Gattis has told the BBC he believes the rising cost of tech means people will turn to streaming games online rather than buying new consoles. He said the tech has developed a lot in recent years, making it more viable than it used to be – but accepted some people will still buy their own hardware.” The truth of the matter that streaming is the future, but the setting towards a thick client (to a console) will make the most sense close to a decade. 

You see, some might remember the Microsoft failure Crackdown 3 where we see “Crackdown 3 uses a cloud-based compute system for its multiplayer mode (Wrecking Zone) to offload physics and environment destruction calculations to Microsoft Azure servers, multiplying local hardware power by up to twenty times. It is also fully playable via video streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming with supported subscriptions.” But the results were “However, this data-streaming system frequently triggers micro-stutters, texture pop-in, and occasional fast-travel freezes on PC and base consoles.” And be clear, I am not having a go at Microsoft here. I actually applaud that they took this leap in 2019. It could have been better to some extent, but it was clear that the hardware was nowhere near ready even for strong servers using distributed technology. And we haven’t gotten much better at it in gaming at this time. Yes, distributed streaming is the wave of the future and I whole support this, but we are not ready, none of the gaming systems are at present to exclude a console. So when we see “While cloud gaming has long been billed as the future of video games, previous efforts have failed to gain widespread adoption – leading to the high-profile closure of Google Stadia in 2023.” I saw a future which could have gotten Google $6 billion in annual revenue, but they had closed the Stadia a week earlier. As such I offered that solution to Amazon (Andy Jessy) but he never got back to me, as I see it, his loss. Now I am still awaiting Tencent with their solution to nibble on that setting and there is no doubt that my prediction of $6 billion is real and I wrote about it in my blog (go look for it) I am not the person to hand out solutions to any wannabe that asks. And it was a real setting with gaming options to over 50 million gamers in the first phase. I predicted (as clumsily as I could what would happen after) but I have nothing real to offer after that revenue hits $12 billion – $15 billion annual. And I based it on a three pronged solution, because as I see it, a console is there for more than one reason and it would be a shame merely to offer one side. Google made the most sense as they had developed two of the solutions, but these could be remade and I wholly believe in streaming technology.

So when we see “Gattis argued there was still a huge untapped audience beyond traditional console owners which Amazon was trying to reach. “There are somewhere between two-and-a-half and three billion people who play games around the world, but only a fraction of those own dedicated gaming hardware,” Gattis said.” I find these numbers a little debatable, because as I see it, those relying on their mobile are not really gamers, that requires a large screen (or TV) and a decent console or home computer but that might be merely my view and in all this there is a future for distributed gaming, but it requires what is referred to as a thick client (console/home computer) because these millions of people will flood the internet when they are merely use a think client and I merely have to point out the issues Sony had a mere two days ago, to see the setting of “Thin clients require a stable internet and thin clients are network-dependent” that is the setting and before 2040, there is no non console setting to be had, even then you will be catering to metro people and the rural gamers are left behind. A setting I find completely disgusting and unsavory. Gaming is for everyone and even if (at times) we see that there is a lot to be had from these ‘metro’ gamers. It is completely unacceptable to stop catering to rural gamers. If only to consider France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Greece and that is merely Europe. Actually Sweden has the bet internet nationwide, but if we consider nations like Saudi Arabia, USA, Canada, Australia, and a few other places. How many rural gamers will be thrown into gaming darkness because of this? I boggles the mind I say. The BBC gives us more (read th article) and a lot makes sense in all this, but the setting of ““Gamers are willing to trade a little fidelity for convenience, but not to pay premium prices for something they don’t own which stutters when the Wi-Fi dips,” he said.” Is also something that needs addressing and it is done through the subscription model, as I see it, when you are a member, you get to won a game for all time, but it requires a thick client, so games at the end of their cycle need to be downloaded to the console, with an optional SD Card, to unclog the console. That might be a first setting that will gain the favour of gamers and the idea that they have at times a month to get a simple SDCard, is not to taxing on their wallet.

A simple card that supports the total of a Blu-ray can be gotten for a mere $33, as such storage becomes near obsolete as well. As such there are options but I see it for the far future, no matter what I believe that my solution holds, it will require a thick client, as the internet at present is a little to unsafe and insecure to count on. And that is before the upcoming rematch of net neutrality, a setting so intense and massively hedged against gamers, that a thin client is too dicey a choice to make at present.

Well, that is it for now. So tune in later today for a story that will make pyromaniacs water their mouths. Have a great day all and to all have a great day gaming.