There has been a lot of talk lately about digital downloads of video games being “the future”. That within the next 15 or so years we will be downloading all of our assorted forms of media, including video games. Well if digital downloads are the future, then I must have taken a DeLorean 88 MPH into 2025 cause last time I checked I was downloading games like crazy. I have a steam account, I have dozens of Xbox Live Arcade games, a few Playstation Network games, and last I checked you could download entire Xbox 360 games straight to your hard drive. Not to mention the iPhone, oh the iPhone. It must be some sort of alien technology!
No my friends, digital downloads are not the future. Streaming video games is the future. We already do it with videos on the Internet. In case you weren’t aware, every time you watch a YouTube video you aren’t downloading it. It’s huge for music, MySpace, Pandora, Last.fm, are all sources of streaming music and the way I listen to a good chunk of music now. Xbox 360′s latest dashboard update allows for 1080p instant streaming of movies. About half of my friends list streams their Netflix movies to their consoles. So, when do we start streaming video games? Well let’s ask OnLive, the service which made it’s public debut at this year’s GDC started asking some difficult questions about the future of video games and the streaming of them. OnLive, who claims that they will be up and running this Winter(it says 2009 on their website, but I just checked the calendar and well….they are running out of time)claims they will be able to use your broadband Internet connection to stream any video game to your TV, PC, or Mac regardless of it’s specs. How can they do this? Well technically you would just be controlling a streaming video. The game machine is on their side.
It sounds pretty unbelievable, and there are tons of technical naysayers, but personally I believe the service will work. Which brings us to the two ways this technology could be the future. The first outcome is what I like to call the Utopia outcome. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo stop making consoles, and start just making games for the service. Otherwise known as the “one console future” we would either pay a monthly fee or pay for the license to stream certain games. Like $60 gets you the rights to stream Halo 4.
Then there is the more likely outcome. Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo buys the technology and makes it their next console, leaving the “other two” to scramble to compete. It’s definitely an interesting way to look at it, cause the repercussions are massive. If Sony were to buy the tech they could build it into televisions. Can you imagine if your new Sony Bravia came with the ability to stream Playstation games, right to it? What if Microsoft built it into Windows, or Nintendo….you know, let’s not think about what Nintendo would do with it. Having the tech built into pre-existing devices and software would not only make it easier for these big corporations to incorporate it, but then it would be in front of millions more people then a stand alone console ever would. My sister would buy an HDTV, but never a Playstation 3 or 4, for that matter. The potential for her to pick up a controller to play a game that’s streamed to her TV is huge.
This is the future of video games, never worrying again about what console to buy, or if your PC could run the latest games. The only thing we would have to worry about is if we had enough time in our day to play all these games, and of course if our pipes are “fat” enough to handle the bandwidth. I could write a whole different article on whether or not I think the technology will actually work, but I think over time home Internet connections and the availability of broadband Internet will improve. After a few years of beta testing, the streaming will become perfected. You could raise a stink about how you would actually never “own” a game ever again, but I think the trade off is worth it.
Streaming video games would obviously be a monumental change to business as usual and is probably a scary thought for console makers and publishers, but you can’t deny it’s a sweeping change in the right direction. Console exclusive games only benefit the console maker who hopes to sell more consoles than the other guy. If every game was available to everyone, in theory they would sell more games. Multiplayer communities may also benefit from an influx of gamers who were previously unable to play certain games. PC games would also get a boost, because now any PC could run any game.
I can’t say I can predict accurately when we will walk into this video game promised land, or even if it will happen, but I certainly hope it does. It’s just going to take some major corporations to move slightly quicker than the glacial pace they currently move at, and maybe put their customer’s best interests first.