I have played video games for as long as I can remember, and it quickly became one of my main hobbies. For a long time, I watched the gaming industry evolve from the average person's point of view, and it amazed me, but I didn't fully know what changes occurred; I just looked at it as the games just getting better, nothing in-depth. This time is different, I'm seeing the industry evolving from a gamer's point of view, and I'm learning more and more about this industry every day and the finer details in how the industry is changing..Since the first gaming console, the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, the gaming console industry has grown exponentially. For those less familiar with the gaming world, the industry's most significant competitor is PC gaming because it can now compete with gaming consoles in both price and performance. The increase in PC Gaming popularity opened a new door for PC companies to create a whole new market, namely, Gaming PCs. These PCs wedged a wall in-between the gaming community, separating the Console and PC gaming players. You may be thinking then that the end of the Console era would be due to PC gaming outcompeting consoles, but something new might put both of those in the bin, and it's called cloud-based gaming services..What are cloud-based gaming services? These services are still in the beginning stages and are not yet widespread due to the service's slow development. Cloud-based gaming services work by hosting and running games on powerful servers via a virtual machine. A video stream of that gameplay is then compressed and fed to the user through the Internet. A user using the Internet connects to this server and streams the gameplay to their device without having to own gaming hardware. The only thing the user needs is a strong Internet connection, and a device with the application installed. Cloud-based gaming has always fascinated me as I never thought so much could be done over the Internet and that a game can run without needing all that hardware. When I first heard of the service, I was in disbelief of how many issues in the gaming industry it could fix..This service has been in the making for a while. The first significant cloud gaming service called OnLive was released in June 2010, and it did well while it lasted and even got a 40-million-Dollar investment from smartphone maker HTC. In August 2012, the company was sold off to an investment group, Lauder Partners, which continued to run the service until 2015 when they shut, due to gamers not embracing OnLive's new features. OnLive was the foundation and build-up for more and better cloud gaming services: PC Gaming and console's biggest nightmare. In recent years two Cloud gaming services that have impacted the gaming industry are Google Stadia and Nvidia Geforce Now. Google Stadia is a very well-made cloud gaming service capable of users streaming 4k resolution at 60 frames per second. If you are not a gamer or a techie, those numbers might seem confusing to understand. To put it simply, it allowed users of Stadia to play a game at a very high quality and still run the game smoothly without any lag. Compared to previous generation consoles like PS4 or Xbox One, they couldn't run games at this quality and frames per second..Sadly, Google Stadia died down quite quickly due to internet issues. While some countries have fast enough connections for Google Stadia to run well, most countries' Internet is not fast enough for Stadia to work to its full potential. This was its Achilles heel, but on top of that console's upper hand is exclusive games, and google struggled to get exclusivity or the rights to significant games at the time. Nvidia Geforce Now, on the other hand, has done a lot better than Stadia because they managed to get a lot of the popular games in their game library and offered the same feature as google stadia and is the cheaper option. The only upper hand Stadia had on Geforce Now is quality. Geforce Now does not have a 4k resolution option. They care more about performance than appearance, which most gamers, like me, would appreciate because even though they want the game to look nice, they would instead choose to make the game run smoother..Both Nvidia Geforce Now and Google Stadia are essential parts of the future gaming industry, but they are not good enough to overthrow Consoles and Gaming PC Gaming yet. They both still have many issues that can't be solved quickly and need a lot of money to fix. Their servers are limited, and trying to connect to one of the servers from Botswana will result in a terrible gaming experience due to high input lag. With the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X last year November, these consoles are ruling the gaming industry space and outcompete cloud-based gaming by a long-shot, and the numbers show. The PS5 in the USA is constantly sold out on every website and store, indicating that Consoles are still running the gaming industry. As for now, consoles and PC gaming are the clear winners in the industry..This doesn't necessarily mean that they will reign forever. After noting down all of the negatives of cloud-based gaming, let me tell you about the many positives and why I think it can be the gaming industry's future. Cloud-based gaming services store user's data on secure servers and the data is transferred through secure connections, which eliminates the chances of being hacked. By storing their data on the cloud, users know that no one but themselves can access their private data, which is very important for gamers as accounts getting hacked is a severe issue in the industry. This service has saved a lot of money for users as hardware for gaming increases in price every year, so people using this service don't have to worry about upgrades as the service they are using will upgrade their server's hardware. Another way users of this service save money are by buying games. Many of these cloud-based gaming services offer games as a subscription-like Netflix, so they have to pay monthly instead of buying each game individually, and games nowadays can be up to P1,000. Cloud-based gaming also gets rid of device limitations. This means that any device with an internet connection and can download the application can play any game even if they have a MAC and the game they want to play only on Windows. This is a big issue that this service can solve..Gaming isn't simply the experience of enjoying different games, but what that experience teaches us. That is why I can proudly call myself a gamer. Sadly, there are so many issues in this industry, but many can be solved through cloud-based gaming, and it seems like the best option in the upcoming years. With the Internet's rapid improvement worldwide, gaming hardware getting more expensive, and the increase in mobile devices. Cloud-based gaming can make a comeback, and I think it will be the future of gaming.
I have played video games for as long as I can remember, and it quickly became one of my main hobbies. For a long time, I watched the gaming industry evolve from the average person's point of view, and it amazed me, but I didn't fully know what changes occurred; I just looked at it as the games just getting better, nothing in-depth. This time is different, I'm seeing the industry evolving from a gamer's point of view, and I'm learning more and more about this industry every day and the finer details in how the industry is changing..Since the first gaming console, the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, the gaming console industry has grown exponentially. For those less familiar with the gaming world, the industry's most significant competitor is PC gaming because it can now compete with gaming consoles in both price and performance. The increase in PC Gaming popularity opened a new door for PC companies to create a whole new market, namely, Gaming PCs. These PCs wedged a wall in-between the gaming community, separating the Console and PC gaming players. You may be thinking then that the end of the Console era would be due to PC gaming outcompeting consoles, but something new might put both of those in the bin, and it's called cloud-based gaming services..What are cloud-based gaming services? These services are still in the beginning stages and are not yet widespread due to the service's slow development. Cloud-based gaming services work by hosting and running games on powerful servers via a virtual machine. A video stream of that gameplay is then compressed and fed to the user through the Internet. A user using the Internet connects to this server and streams the gameplay to their device without having to own gaming hardware. The only thing the user needs is a strong Internet connection, and a device with the application installed. Cloud-based gaming has always fascinated me as I never thought so much could be done over the Internet and that a game can run without needing all that hardware. When I first heard of the service, I was in disbelief of how many issues in the gaming industry it could fix..This service has been in the making for a while. The first significant cloud gaming service called OnLive was released in June 2010, and it did well while it lasted and even got a 40-million-Dollar investment from smartphone maker HTC. In August 2012, the company was sold off to an investment group, Lauder Partners, which continued to run the service until 2015 when they shut, due to gamers not embracing OnLive's new features. OnLive was the foundation and build-up for more and better cloud gaming services: PC Gaming and console's biggest nightmare. In recent years two Cloud gaming services that have impacted the gaming industry are Google Stadia and Nvidia Geforce Now. Google Stadia is a very well-made cloud gaming service capable of users streaming 4k resolution at 60 frames per second. If you are not a gamer or a techie, those numbers might seem confusing to understand. To put it simply, it allowed users of Stadia to play a game at a very high quality and still run the game smoothly without any lag. Compared to previous generation consoles like PS4 or Xbox One, they couldn't run games at this quality and frames per second..Sadly, Google Stadia died down quite quickly due to internet issues. While some countries have fast enough connections for Google Stadia to run well, most countries' Internet is not fast enough for Stadia to work to its full potential. This was its Achilles heel, but on top of that console's upper hand is exclusive games, and google struggled to get exclusivity or the rights to significant games at the time. Nvidia Geforce Now, on the other hand, has done a lot better than Stadia because they managed to get a lot of the popular games in their game library and offered the same feature as google stadia and is the cheaper option. The only upper hand Stadia had on Geforce Now is quality. Geforce Now does not have a 4k resolution option. They care more about performance than appearance, which most gamers, like me, would appreciate because even though they want the game to look nice, they would instead choose to make the game run smoother..Both Nvidia Geforce Now and Google Stadia are essential parts of the future gaming industry, but they are not good enough to overthrow Consoles and Gaming PC Gaming yet. They both still have many issues that can't be solved quickly and need a lot of money to fix. Their servers are limited, and trying to connect to one of the servers from Botswana will result in a terrible gaming experience due to high input lag. With the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X last year November, these consoles are ruling the gaming industry space and outcompete cloud-based gaming by a long-shot, and the numbers show. The PS5 in the USA is constantly sold out on every website and store, indicating that Consoles are still running the gaming industry. As for now, consoles and PC gaming are the clear winners in the industry..This doesn't necessarily mean that they will reign forever. After noting down all of the negatives of cloud-based gaming, let me tell you about the many positives and why I think it can be the gaming industry's future. Cloud-based gaming services store user's data on secure servers and the data is transferred through secure connections, which eliminates the chances of being hacked. By storing their data on the cloud, users know that no one but themselves can access their private data, which is very important for gamers as accounts getting hacked is a severe issue in the industry. This service has saved a lot of money for users as hardware for gaming increases in price every year, so people using this service don't have to worry about upgrades as the service they are using will upgrade their server's hardware. Another way users of this service save money are by buying games. Many of these cloud-based gaming services offer games as a subscription-like Netflix, so they have to pay monthly instead of buying each game individually, and games nowadays can be up to P1,000. Cloud-based gaming also gets rid of device limitations. This means that any device with an internet connection and can download the application can play any game even if they have a MAC and the game they want to play only on Windows. This is a big issue that this service can solve..Gaming isn't simply the experience of enjoying different games, but what that experience teaches us. That is why I can proudly call myself a gamer. Sadly, there are so many issues in this industry, but many can be solved through cloud-based gaming, and it seems like the best option in the upcoming years. With the Internet's rapid improvement worldwide, gaming hardware getting more expensive, and the increase in mobile devices. Cloud-based gaming can make a comeback, and I think it will be the future of gaming.
