Microsoft Proclaims Cloud Gaming ‘The Distant Future’, Cloud Services Coming To Xbox.
Microsoft’s Brian Prince has spoken, and the words tumbling out of his mouth proclaim Cloud Gaming the distant future. Oh! Intangibility! How I long to pay good money for nothing more than bits and bytes. Bits and bytes that aren’t even loaded onto something I own.
Speaking at GDC China, as reported by Gamasutra, Microsoft’s Brian Prince discussed the possibilities of cloud gaming. Prince believes that services like OnLive and Gaikai are the “distant future of gaming in the cloud,” though currently they suffer from “limitations.” Such limitations include a reliance on “AAA” games and the need for a high speed internet connection, which most of America still doesn’t have, according to Prince.
Prince had good things to say regarding cloud features for the “Xbox platform,” though he was reluctant to share specifics. He promised “cloud-specific” features, saying, “I’m already doing it, it’s really exciting, but I can’t tell you about it or else I’ll get fired.” It’s unclear if Prince was referring to the current Xbox or a future iteration, but we’re assuming he’s talking about more than just cloud storage.
Fuck, I ain’t greedy. Can we at least get our cloud storage game saves going? That way when my XBL account gets hacked again, I not only will lose all my friends, achievement points, and Microsoft Wunder Bucks, I’ll also lose all my saves. Intangibility! So cool!*
*My snarkiness is hiding the fact that I routinely use and enjoy cloud services, but am still bitter about getting hacked.