xbox one Microsoft explains Xbox One cloud gaming in an effort to justify online req

[Torolol]

while i doubt it,

i would like to see the reactions of xbox-1 gamer when they see the graphics suddenly turn bad because to 'sudden' cloud downtime, that always happened from time to time.

[_neutrino Veteran]

I am starting to think that Microsoft needs to get some focus groups together to see what peoples reactions to things will be so that they will have answers to big stuff like this prior to announcing them.

[George P Global Moderator]

while i doubt it,

i would like to see the reactions of xbox-1 gamer when they see the graphics suddenly turn bad because to 'sudden' cloud downtime, that always happened from time to time.

If the developer does their job right you won't notice it. I still don't think anything major will change, in fact I still expect that the only thing you'll notice is longer load times for the next level in the game or a few less elements but nothing dramatic like going from 1080p 60fps to 720p 30fps like some make it sound.

[Noir Angel]

Internet connections have much higher latency than PC hardware, so no thanks, I will just stick to building gaming PCs that don't require such stupid compromises.

Indie games were born on the PC (imagination), MMOs were born on the PC (infastructure), and storage services/the cloud/FTPs/file servers/etc were born on the PC (bandwidth).

You'd think in all the years of PC gaming if something like this could be done, and done at a level MS are trying to say, it would have been.

It's never needed to, the evolution of PC hardware has outstripped the need to offload rendering tasks to server farms. Simply put computers can be built without having to make compromises due to price.

[techbeck]

I tried saving games saves to the cloud on my XBOX before...was almost done with the game and the saved game got corrupted. ****ed me off.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

It's never needed to, the evolution of PC hardware has outstripped the need to offload rendering tasks to server farms. Simply put computers can be built without having to make compromises due to price.

Not everyone can afford top of the range equipment :/ If Valve could do something like this for PC gamers, or Crytek, it would've had gamers going nuts well before now.

MS have tried to say 40x more powerful than the Xbox with cloud, 10x without - http://stevivor.com/...-one-questions/

Those are some serious claims...

[MikeChipshop Member]

Think it's a great idea, if what they're saying is true we could see some great advantages over a normal fixed power console.

[HawkMan]

Indie games were born on the PC (imagination), MMOs were born on the PC (infastructure), and storage services/the cloud/FTPs/file servers/etc were born on the PC (bandwidth).

You'd think in all the years of PC gaming if something like this could be done, and done at a level MS are trying to say, it would have been.

The clouds platforms like Azure are fairly new and everyone is still figuring out how to take advantage of it, untill now game devs haven't really thought of the possibilities. they'd also be very costly to run for a single games for something like this. MS however provides a platform that ALL the devs and publishers can take advantage of as and when they see fit, that is hundreds of games can plug into this cloud. At this point it's cost effective to do this when MS supplies the cloud and shares it between all the games, for a single or handful of games, not so much. I'd also bet the ability to use the cloud for extra processing will be tied to Gold accounts.

As for what it can be used for any number of asynchronous and behind the sceens calculations from AI to photon maps.

[Phouchg]

And two years later servers get shut down because that game's old, you shouldn't play those old games, stupid, you should buy new ones. *That* is a greater idea.

[HawkMan]

Internet connections have much higher latency than PC hardware, so no thanks, I will just stick to building gaming PCs that don't require such stupid compromises.

It's never needed to, the evolution of PC hardware has outstripped the need to offload rendering tasks to server farms. Simply put computers can be built without having to make compromises due to price.

There has been no talks of "rendering tasks".

I tried saving games saves to the cloud on my XBOX before...was almost done with the game and the saved game got corrupted. ****ed me off.

Luckily all cloud saves as 3 local backups you can roll back to in case this happens then.

Not everyone can afford top of the range equipment :/ If Valve could do something like this for PC gamers, or Crytek, it would've had gamers going nuts well before now.

MS have tried to say 40x more powerful than the Xbox with cloud, 10x without - http://stevivor.com/...-one-questions/

Those are some serious claims...

For certain things it won't be that much powerful. photon maps which traditionally have been to heavy to calculate and use in games could with the cloud be calculated and used with the game for better soft/area lights. The impact of this is hard to calculate though. for thing like AI being calculated in the Azure cloud could make it far beyond 40 times as powerful, as well as freeing up the CPU to do other things.

And two years later servers get shut down because that game's old, you shouldn't play those old games, stupid, you should buy new ones. *That* is a greater idea.

Azure servers get shut down.... mmyeah... anyway the games who uses cloud computer would work fine without the cloud as well. just dumber AI no photon map based lighting or whatever else extra features the cloud would make use of.

[jakem1]

MS have tried to say 40x more powerful than the Xbox with cloud, 10x without - http://stevivor.com/...-one-questions/

Those are some serious claims...

They are serious claims although he seems to suggest that the 40x claim is something that will happen over time rather than immediately:

If you look to the cloud as something that is no doubt going to evolve and grow over time, it really spells out that there?s no limit to where the processing power of Xbox One can go.

[Phouchg]

Azure servers get shut down.... mmyeah... anyway the games who uses cloud computer would work fine without the cloud as well. just dumber AI no photon map based lighting or whatever else extra features the cloud would make use of.

One has to dedicate and configure servers for specific games just like any other, I presume? As new games get released, older ones will have to move out and make way, because resources aren't infinite and free even for Microsoft, twist or turn - it's been 100% definite thus far that once not enough people are playing or a fair amount of time passes, services get shut down.

Anyway, I'm convinced it will require Live Gold. Now, I'm not comfortable with paying a premium (which is not even available to me) because the box under the telly can't deliver. That's reducing the difference between console and PC upgrades severely, if we're going that way. On the other hand, if the processing power is about to be unlimited over time - why do I need the damn box in the first place? Why not go full cloud?

[Noir Angel]

Not everyone can afford top of the range equipment :/ If Valve could do something like this for PC gamers, or Crytek, it would've had gamers going nuts well before now.

MS have tried to say 40x more powerful than the Xbox with cloud, 10x without - http://stevivor.com/...-one-questions/

Those are some serious claims...

Most mid range PC hardware still blows away most console hardware.

[vcfan]

Here is what I don't understand, why everyone hates on Microsoft but if Apple did it, everyone would be going crazy that they are so awesome. I am more embarrassed by the Internet daily, for such a medium that is supposed to spread knowledge why is it being used to spread ignorance?

It's an option for developers that they can use to enhance their games beyond what a normal Xbone console can do, why is that so hard to understand?

Why are so many people so ignorant about technology and about what Microsoft is trying to do. Remember also, in case you didn't understand the games are to be shown at E3 which many are exclusives.

I am tired of trying to reply with some rationality where so many people are not rational. It's not some excuse to use some form of DRM, that is conspiracy talk right there.

don't worry. internet complainers doesn't translate to what happens in the real world. internet complainers are always internet complainers no matter what. everyone is out to get them,and the world revolves around them. I cant even count the amount of times this has happened,and the product ends up becoming a household name.

and I see the ps4 clan is out in full force, because the ps4 will never have these awesome powerful features of xbox one. I don't see anyone talking about how great the ps4 is, just that the xbox requires Kinect,or some used game things, or whatever to put it down. typical hater stuff because your favorite product doesn't have it.

[spacer]

There has been no talks of "rendering tasks".

...

For certain things it won't be that much powerful. photon maps which traditionally have been to heavy to calculate and use in games could with the cloud be calculated and used with the game for better soft/area lights. The impact of this is hard to calculate though. for thing like AI being calculated in the Azure cloud could make it far beyond 40 times as powerful, as well as freeing up the CPU to do other things.

Azure servers get shut down.... mmyeah... anyway the games who uses cloud computer would work fine without the cloud as well. just dumber AI no photon map based lighting or whatever else extra features the cloud would make use of.

Not only did you just contradict your own post...in the same post, but in the interview, the MS rep specifically used "rendering tasks" as an example of what could be off-loaded to the cloud. (lighting and fog)

What this tells me is that Microsoft's plan going forward is: if you have an internet connection, you'll get a better looking game and a better experience in said game. And that is NOT ok. I cannot fathom why some of you think that it is.

[HawkMan]

One has to dedicate and configure servers for specific games just like any other, I presume? As new games get released, older ones will have to move out and make way, because resources aren't infinite and free even for Microsoft, twist or turn - it's been 100% definite thus far that once not enough people are playing or a fair amount of time passes, services get shut down.

Anyway, I'm convinced it will require Live Gold. Now, I'm not comfortable with paying a premium (which is not even available to me) because the box under the telly can't deliver. That's reducing the difference between console and PC upgrades severely, if we're going that way. On the other hand, if the processing power is about to be unlimited over time - why do I need the damn box in the first place? Why not go full cloud?

The box will deliver, and even without azure cloud you wil have comparable graphics and experience to competing consoles. the cloud just gives you something extra, little smart AI, freeing up AI CPU to do better physics, better lighting through using pre calculated photon maps. and such.

[vcfan]

What this tells me is that Microsoft's plan going forward is: if you have an internet connection, you'll get a better looking game and a better experience in said game. And that is NOT ok. I cannot fathom why some of you think that it is.

its not ok for you,so speak for yourself. for me its amazing, I have an internet connection and I will get a better game experience. why should we be held back because some people might not have an internet connection. that's their problem,not mine.

[HawkMan]

Not only did you just contradict your own post...in the same post, but in the interview, the MS rep specifically used "rendering tasks" as an example of what could be off-loaded to the cloud. (lighting and fog)

What this tells me is that Microsoft's plan going forward is: if you have an internet connection, you'll get a better looking game and a better experience in said game. And that is NOT ok. I cannot fathom why some of you think that it is.

sigh.

Lighting would be stuff like the photon maps I mentioned. they are not real time rendered so no, I was not contradicting myself. fog, pretty much the same thing. they're resources used in the real time rendering that are "rendered" separately resulting in a 3D data map that the real time renderer can use.

Also you either get a PS4 quality game, or you get a somewhat better quality game if you are online. what's the issue. you're going to be online anyway so...

[ctrl_alt_delete]

Legendofmart is all about bashing the One. He doesn't care o any feature makes it better, more appealing, more versatile or more useful.

I don't even think most of them know the meaning of versatility or usefulness.

What they want is a single purpose electronic device like a cassette player or a terrestrial radio player.

They don't get the idea of supplemental computing that everything should be done on a single device

Or maybe it's just because it's coming from Microsoft.

[Phouchg]

The box will deliver, and even without azure cloud you wil have comparable graphics and experience to competing consoles. the cloud just gives you something extra, little smart AI, freeing up AI CPU to do better physics, better lighting through using pre calculated photon maps. and such.

Nah. Might as well be quantum physics and boson lattice transmutation perplexizer maps. You keep mentioning photons here like a broken record. I don't have that kind of scientific background.

I don't care of competing consoles, I'm not there to compete with anything - had money, would buy them all for exclusives. Frankly, there's just one other thing to compete against, anyway, and that one, judging from the specs, will offer better performance without me having to cough up for Live Gold. Except we don't really know that for sure.

Let me put it this way - does this not look somewhat similar to: Low, Medium, High in most PC games' settings?

Low - an average PC that costs about the same as either of consoles

Medium - a somewhat better PC that costs about the same as console + cloud

High - a damn roadrunner that makes any console fold into a circle and eat its own ass

I buy a console, I expect not to bother with fidelity settings at all. I expect it to perform.

[mega31]

Avalance Studios(creators of Just Cause) Said that on paper the XboxOne is weaker than PS4 but its cloud tech and power is strong, and it will push it on par with PS4 or even higher. Thats what they said, also Cloud is MS thing, they know what to do, TO THIS DAY iOS uses the Azure technology and what not, Microsoft know how to handle the cloud, they have experiance.

[ctrl_alt_delete]

Not only did you just contradict your own post...in the same post, but in the interview, the MS rep specifically used "rendering tasks" as an example of what could be off-loaded to the cloud. (lighting and fog)

What this tells me is that Microsoft's plan going forward is: if you have an internet connection, you'll get a better looking game and a better experience in said game. And that is NOT ok. I cannot fathom why some of you think that it is.

Wait Microsoft is bring innovative technology to consoles that if you have an Internet connection you will have a better looking game and experience and that is NOT ok to you? So if you have better PC hardware you will have a better looking game with a better experience right? Why is it ok for one but not on for the next?

If me spending $400 on a console that gives me graphics of a $1500 gaming rig through the use of cloud computing then I'm sold. It beats me spending $1000 every 4 years to have a decent gaming setup.

All these One haters are so out of touch it's not even funny anymore.

First they spread FUD about how the One has to always be connected which had been debunked.

Then they start "no used gsme"

Then now cloud computing "is NOT ok"

Jeez, it's like guys are desperate to put down the One as much as possible.

If they love the PS4 so much why not go talk about all its benefits and how you plan on enjoying it instead of spamming the xbox threads?

Or is that there's not much to talk about playstation

[HawkMan]

Nah. Might as well be quantum physics and boson lattice transmutation perplexizer maps. You keep mentioning photons here like a broken record. I don't have that kind of scientific background.

Photon maps in regards to rendering has little to do with actual physics photons. They are just the marketing term advanced 3D raytracers choose to use for particle based light maps. they can be pre rendered and static or semi real time update on an as needed basis by the renderer to create realistic lighting and shadows. as I said, up until now they have required much to much power to be implemented in real time renderers, but with cloud computing, it can be done. and their specific use of the word lighting makes this a very real possibility.

Let me put it this way - does this not look somewhat similar to: Low, Medium, High in most PC games' settings?

Low - an average PC that costs about the same as either of consoles

Medium - a somewhat better PC that costs about the same as console + cloud

High - a damn roadrunner that makes any console fold into a circle and eat its own ass

I buy a console, I expect not to bother with fidelity settings at all. I expect it to perform.

No, all Xbox ones give you high settings at all times. but SOME games, CAN, provide an added fidelity in realistic lightmaps and such that provide you with a slightly enhanced experience, at no need to tweak or change any settings, automatically happens when you're online.

[+Neowin User 007 Subscriber²]

This shouldn't really have an impact on that all that much. This isn't the same thing that Sony wants to do and onlive is already doing.

We shouldn't forget who we are talking about here. The major ISPs aren't going to let all this rush of data usage go without making money on it. They've already tried and failed to implement tier level data caps before.

I'm not knocking it though I think it's a great idea but as we know history will repeat its self (text messages, mms messages, data caps, etc).

[BajiRav]

We shouldn't forget who we are talking about here. The major ISPs aren't going to let all this rush of data usage go without making money on it. They've already tried and failed to implement tier level data caps before.

I'm not knocking it though I think it's a great idea but as we know history will repeat its self (text messages, mms messages, data caps, etc).

My "unlimited" internet connection (Verizon FiOS) apparently has a hidden data cap of 77TB - I think I can spare some if it improves graphics. People were rightly complaining about weaker GPU in Xbox One (at least on paper) but why complain about this? :/