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posted by martyb on Monday March 18 2019, @04:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the in-an-FPS,-'targeted-advertisement'-takes-on-a-whole-new-meaning dept.

The Goog posted a teaser video clip about its vision for the future of gaming to be revealed on Tuesday at an annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The clip cycles through an accelerating collage of scenes one might find in video games, but says nothing about what Google will announce at the event, which will be live-streamed on YouTube.

In a potentially related bit of prospecting someone uncovered a recent patent

that Google filed for a video game controller [which] hinted that the tech firm might be planning to release its own console and controller to go along with a streaming service.

Microsoft appears to share this vision,

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said late last year that a keenly anticipated "xCloud" streaming service was in "early days."

Amazon also has a related pre-existing entry into this same space with it's popular Twitch game play-streaming service, and I can't imagine they are sitting still.

The US video game industry generated a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, up 18 percent from the prior year, according to data released by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and NPD Group.

I suppose that's just too attractive a pie to leave in the hands of customer-centric game developers like Activision, Sony, and EA.

Are you ready for the 800lb streaming gorillas?


Original Submission

Related Stories

Google Announces "Stadia" Streaming Game Service 17 comments

Google jumps into gaming with Google Stadia streaming service, coming "in 2019"

At the Game Developers Conference, Google announced its biggest play yet in the gaming space: a streaming game service named Google Stadia, designed to run on everything from PCs and Android phones to Google's own Chromecast devices.

As of press time, the service's release window is simply "2019." No pricing information was announced at the event.

Google Stadia will run a selection of existing PC games on Google's centralized servers, taking in controller inputs and sending back video and audio using Google's network of low-latency data centers. The company revealed a new Google-produced controller, along with a game-streaming interface that revolves around a "play now" button. Press this on any Web browser and gameplay will begin "in as quick as five seconds... with no download, no patch, no update, and no install."

"With Stadia, this waiting game will be a thing of the past," Google's Phil Harrison said. He then demonstrated Stadia gameplay on a Pixel 3 XL, followed by "the least-powerful PC we could find." The following gameplay was advertised as "1080p, 60 frames per second." Harrison confirmed that existing "USB controllers and mouse-and-keyboard" will function with Stadia games as well.

Also at The Verge and NYT.

See also: The 9 biggest questions about Google's Stadia game streaming service

Previously: Google and Microsoft Eyeing Streaming Game Services


Original Submission

Apple News+ and Apple Arcade Announced 15 comments

Apple just announced Apple News Plus, a news subscription service for $9.99 a month

Apple announced a new subscription news service, Apple News Plus, on Monday during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California. Starting Monday, the company said, Apple News Plus will curate articles from more than 300 news outlets and magazines via the Apple News app for $9.99 a month.

Apple says magazines and articles included with the Apple News Plus subscription will appear in a new tab on the Apple News app in a redesign released later Monday as part of an iOS software update.

Apple News Plus will feature content from several major news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Vox, and the Los Angeles Times as well as the more than 300 magazines that were included with Texture, the digital magazine app Apple purchased last year. Notably absent among national news brands are The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Though Apple's app offers a significant discount for publications like The [Wall Street] Journal, which charges $19.50 a month for an all-access digital subscription, it appears that Apple subscribers will not have full access to all the partners' content. Reports Monday cited an internal memo as saying only some Journal articles, for example, would be offered via Apple News Plus, with The Journal's business reporting remaining exclusive to direct subscribers.

Apple Arcade Announced: New Game Subscription Service Coming To iOS, Mac, Apple TV This Year

Microsoft CFO: Google Stadia Lacks Content, Local Experience Will Remain Superior to Streaming Games 20 comments

Microsoft: Google Stadia Has the Infrastructure but Lacks the Content; Cloud Won't Match Local Experience

2019 will be the year that sees some of the biggest tech companies in the world diving into the cloud streaming business for games. Google announced its Stadia platform at the Game Developers Conference 2019 for a launch scheduled later this year, Microsoft confirmed plans to publicly test Project xCloud in the coming months and even Amazon is rumored to be readying its own cloud-based streaming service.

With competition often comes strife, and in an interview with the Telegraph (locked behind the publication's paywall), Microsoft's Chief Marketing Officer for Xbox Mike Nichols didn't pull any punches when he discussed the weaknesses of the upcoming cloud-based streaming platform.

While he admitted that Google has the infrastructure (7,500 edge node locations) to pull it off, Nichols pointed out that unlike Microsoft they don't have strong ties to game developers and publishers to deliver the content that fans expect.

[...]Microsoft CFO Mike Nichols also went on to reiterate that regardless of the availability Project xCloud, the 'local' experience users can get on an Xbox console or Windows PC will remain superior to the cloud in terms of quality.

Previously: Google and Microsoft Eyeing Streaming Game Services
Google Announces "Stadia" Streaming Game Service


Original Submission

Google Details Pricing, Hardware for Stadia Streaming Game Service 15 comments

Google Stadia requires $130 upfront, $10 per month at November launch:

Players will have to pay $129.99 up front and $9.99 a month, on top of individual game purchase costs, when Google's previously announced Stadia game-streaming service launches in November. A free tier will be available some time in 2020, as will a paid subscription tier that doesn't require the upfront purchase.

The Stadia Founder's Edition and its contingent Stadia Pro subscription will be the only way to get access to the Stadia service when it launches, Google announced today. That $129.99 package, available for pre-order on the Google Store right now, will include:

  • A Stadia controller in "limited-edition night blue"
  • A Chromecast Ultra
  • Three months of Stadia Pro service and a three-month "buddy pass" to give to a friend
  • First dibs on claiming a "Stadia Name"

After the first three months, Stadia Pro users will have to pay $9.99 a month to maintain their membership. For that price, they will get access to Google's highest-quality streams, at up to 4K/60fps with high-dynamic range (HDR) and 5.1 surround sound. In 2019, users will not be able to sign up for Stadia Pro without investing in the Founder's Edition hardware package, and Founder's Edition packages will only be available "in limited quantities and for a limited time."

Also at AnandTech, The Verge, and Wccftech.

See also: Is Stadia Already Screwed?
Xbox One And PS4 Don't Need To Fear Google Stadia, Which Is Mired In Contradictions

Previously: Google and Microsoft Eyeing Streaming Game Services
Google Announces "Stadia" Streaming Game Service
Microsoft CFO: Google Stadia Lacks Content, Local Experience Will Remain Superior to Streaming Games


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2) by black6host on Monday March 18 2019, @05:04AM (4 children)

    by black6host (3827) on Monday March 18 2019, @05:04AM (#816257) Journal

    I suppose that's just too attractive a pie to leave in the hands of customer-centric game developers like Activision, Sony, and EA.

    Sarcasm right? I'm dense in my old age, yes I know. :) What do we expect, the game publishers are trying to keep ahead of each other and it's not because they want to bring us a better experience. They're in it for the money and we all know that. As long as they deliver, or people are idiots :), they'll keep making it. Thanks go to the indie developers who are more than willing to step into any voids left by the likes of those quoted above.

    Where will gaming end up when anarchy rules?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @06:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @06:21AM (#816285)

      Where will gaming end up when anarchy rules?

      https://libregamewiki.org/ [libregamewiki.org] (free software, free media)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @07:20AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @07:20AM (#816303)

      Thanks go to the indie developers who are more than willing to step into any voids left by the likes of those quoted above.

      Pretty much the same with any other entertainment, the wettest dream of the majority of indie game teams is to make games that are bought by major studios.

    • (Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Monday March 18 2019, @04:29PM

      by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 18 2019, @04:29PM (#816478) Journal

      Sarcasm right?

      Yeah, I figured i was pretty safe with that one without the /sarc tag, at least to gamers. Knowing my audience isn't my strong suite though. I suppose I could have thrown in 'connected by customer friendly Comcast' or something to make it a teensy bit more obvious :-p

      --
      В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday March 18 2019, @04:55PM

      by Freeman (732) on Monday March 18 2019, @04:55PM (#816494) Journal

      Dungeon Defenders 1 was a completely indie affair and it was a smash hit, homerun, success, etc. Apparently somewhere on they way they got corporatized and Dungeon Defenders 2 is the end result. A free to play game with monetization. Between some issues with cheating, etc. in DD1 and the bomb that was DD2, DD1 lost bunches of players and not that many went to DD2. Recently, they threw off their corporate task masters and hit up kickstarter to fund a back to their roots game like DD1 with DD2 graphical goodness, and new story, etc called Dungeon Defenders: Awakened. DDA looks like more of an apology for DD2 than anything. After which they said they'll work on DD3. It's stories like this, that give me hope for indie devs and reinforces the Bowser (Mario/Nintendo Character.) mentality of Corporate Game Studios.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday March 18 2019, @05:24AM (3 children)

    I use a full on computer not a dumb terminal for a reason. Respect that and give me what I want rather than some gimped up, low quality bullshit that you control or fuck entirely off.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 18 2019, @07:23AM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 18 2019, @07:23AM (#816304) Journal

      I use a full on computer not a dumb terminal for a reason. Respect that and give me what I want rather than some gimped up, low quality bullshit that you control or fuck entirely off

      Demands? Ha.
      Go fish

      (grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday March 18 2019, @11:40AM (1 child)

        Fishing's a given with the crappie spawn starting up any old minute but it was an if-else statement more than a demand.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday March 18 2019, @11:53AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 18 2019, @11:53AM (#816353) Journal

          Be it as it may but both branches contain a demand on their own.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @09:43AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @09:43AM (#816332)

    Let me start off by saying I am not a "gamer". It does not appeal to me in any way, so my views on this aren't going to be from an end user. But I do understand that hundreds of millions of people enjoy gaming as a form of entertainment and even competition. It is a very large, sometimes vibrant industry with passionate proponents and detractors.

    To me, these proposed "services" are future targets of ISP level extortion. Net Neutrality, though extremely desirable, is ultimately a pipe dream in our bought-and-paid-for lobbyist controlled government. Industry crafts the laws and then saddles consumers with the costs. Then they will double dip by charging service providers "access fees".

    So why would an end user want to commit to these types of services? The costs and quality of service will be unpredictable due to ISPs wanting another piece of the pie.

    People who are "into games" become emotionally invested in their platform and games (similar to sports fans). Why would they take a chance on the disappointment they may experience when their ISP finally puts its hand out to either throttle the speed or take a payment?

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday March 18 2019, @12:29PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday March 18 2019, @12:29PM (#816364) Journal

    Google is about to reveal its plan to take on the $140 billion gaming industry, but experts are skeptical it has a chance [cnbc.com]

    As for Microsoft, the rumor was that it would split the next iteration of Xbox [tweaktown.com] into a weaker streaming-focused console (4 TFLOPS GPU) and a more powerful console (12 TFLOPS GPU). Looks like the same CPU for each. That is an interesting idea because you could see native 4K on the latter and 1080p on the former. But you get a significant boost in CPU performance (8 Zen 2 cores vs. Jaguar) and RAM (12-16 GB vs. 8-12 GB) with either console.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by acid andy on Monday March 18 2019, @01:04PM (3 children)

    by acid andy (1683) on Monday March 18 2019, @01:04PM (#816378) Homepage Journal

    Hope ya like latency. More and more I'm trying to move away from games that need to phone home. I'll wait for a game to show up on GOG now instead of using Steam, mainly because I don't want something that won't have a server to connect to in, say, 15-20 years time. Also the way things are going I'm not even sure I'll want any kind of always-on internet connection by that point. Maybe just power up occasionally for essential administrative tasks and to post on Soylent.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @03:34PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 18 2019, @03:34PM (#816436)

      For those of us from the early days of gaming there were times ubisoft games would just hang trying to phone home. It was really crappy.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Sourcery42 on Monday March 18 2019, @05:12PM

        by Sourcery42 (6400) on Monday March 18 2019, @05:12PM (#816508)

        I'm not trying to be a snarky old fart, AC. Your comment about (I assume) Ass Creed 2 and "early days of gaming" just struck me as really funny. When I cut my gaming teeth playing Frogger and Yars' Revenge on the Atari 2600 with a little Intellivision sprinkled in here and there, draconian DRM wasn't a twinkle in Ubi's eye. Microtransactions, loot boxes, and releasing flawed games with massive zero day patches weren't even possibilities. Always on internet connections didn't even become a common thing for another 20 years or so, and it was probably 5 or 6 generations of consoles later before they actually started shipping with internet connectivity as standard equipment. I might just have to fire me up some emulators tonight...

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Freeman on Monday March 18 2019, @05:28PM

        by Freeman (732) on Monday March 18 2019, @05:28PM (#816521) Journal

        That's not the early days. The early days of PC gaming include the likes of Civilization II, Master of Magic, X-COM: UFO Defense, Duke Nukem, Doom, Half-Life (More like beginning of the Modern Age), King's Quest, Masters of Orion, Spaceflight, Humbug, MUDs, the Ultima Series, Diablo, Baldur's Gate, Might and Magic, Epic Pinball, Lords of the Realm, and other classic games that are still worth playing. The sad fact is Civ II is nearly lost to time as it's pretty much impossible to run on Windows 10. Has to run in a VM with an old version of Windows. Otherwise, I would probably still be firing that bad boy up from time to time. Otherwise, if you've never given any of the games mentioned a try, you should look into them. Not sure, about finding a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon, precursor to MMORPGs.) that's still running, though. Very interesting thing is even Blizzard has finally succumed to the awesomeness that is GOG. They finally put Diablo 1 on GOG. Unfortunately you're too late to grab the classic Duke Nukem 3D from GOG as the publisher pulled it to promote they're own bastardized attempt at modernizing the game. Luckily those of us who already purchased it, still have it in our Library.

        Games to give a go:

        Turn-based Map / Civilization style:
        Master of Magic (Possibly the best Civilization style game that's not Civilization II.)

        Turn-based Tactical Battle / Base Builiding / Fully Destructible Environments (Good old Isometric Destruction, even has fire that spreads, goes out, and leaves smoke. Stupidly awesome.):
        X-COM: UFO Defense

        Hack'n'Slash/RPG:
        Diablo
        Baldur's Gate II

        FPS:
        Wolfenstein 3D (The Grand Daddy of FPS) / Catacombs 3D (Similar style, but with magic / horror elements.)
        Half-Life

        Adventure/Puzzle:
        King's Quest VI (Possibly the pinnacle of the series.)
        Or basically any of the Lucasarts/Lucasfilms Adventure games. Choose one you think looks interesting and you won't be disappointed. The stories are great.

        RTS (It's really about playing against your friends / family.):
        Starcraft
        Age of Empires II (Age of Empires 1 is essentially 2, but with worse controls/quality of life enhancements as it were.)

        Mecha:
        Earth Siege II or Starsiege (Same Universe as Starsiege: Tribes / Tribes 2 / 3 FPS Games with jetpacks)

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
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