Tag Archives: cloud gaming

Train2Game News: A Cloud Gaming success story

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Remnant KnightsKalydo, a leading International Cloud Gaming Platform is proud to publish the first numbers backed proof of Cloud gaming success.

Working in partnership with GameSamba, an exclusive publisher of online free to play games located in the US, Kalydo transformed their flagship title Remnant Knights from an old-model download, install and patch title into a seamless and engaging Kalydo Cloud powered MMORPG.

Remnant Knights was initially a 1.2 GB client, taking over 1 hour to download (requiring additional time to patch), and needing a total of 12 user clicks before a consumer could begin playing. Thanks to the tight integration of the Cloud Technology, GameSamba has re-launched Remnant Knights as a full Cloud Game, requiring only 5 minutes to download the Launcher and reducing total user clicks to just 6.

Most importantly: Conversion rates (User Registration to Play) shot from 40% to 88.5%!

“With Kalydo our gamers have more options to play and can get into the game much faster. We no longer service a large downloadable client. Gamers can choose to play from the desktop and the browser, all using Kalydo´s Cloud streaming technology.” Mike Suh – International Development VP GameSamba

The results have not only delighted GameSamba and Kalydo, but just as importantly their players as well. When asked about their general impressions about Cloud gaming, over 65% responded positively. 41% felt the performance of Remnant Knights compared to other Cloud based games was better, while over 50% of the respondents stated it takes less than 2 minutes now to start playing again after a new patch release.

Kalydo believes gamers deserve frictionless experiences, not barriers to play: They deserve more than what they’re getting right now- no matter what or where they play.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up

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Blizzard Entertainment released Mists Of Pandaria yesterday. The latest expansion for World Of Warcraft. Blizzard have also said that they have no fear of Windows 8 and will release games for any platform their players are on.

Avenged Sevenfold have released a new track that will feature on Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2. The song, Carry On, is the second song the band have released for a Call Of Duty game. They previously released Not Ready To Die with one of the Call Of Duty: Black Ops DLC packs.

Telltale’s five Walking Dead episodic games will be put on disc in December for Xbox360 and PS3. The game is based on the graphic novel turned TV show and through playing them myself I can say, if you are a fan of the series, play this game. You won’t be disappointed.

Nvidia’s head of cloud gaming, Phil Eisler, believes that cloud gaming could take over from consoles. He believes that consoles have one final generation in them before they die out, leaving the world of gaming in the hands of the cloud.

Ubisoft have announced that Assassins Creed 3 will not play on Windows XP. The company has released the specifications needed to play the game. There is a version for Windows 8 in the pipeline though.

Bethesda have released an animated prequel to its upcoming Dishonored. The webseries is called Tales of Dunwall and the gorgeous animated shorts are being released in three parts. The videos can be found on YouTube and they show the downfall of the in game city.

Sony Xdev are giving a small studio the opportunity to win £25,000. This new initiative, called Playstation Pioneers, will reward developers for a PlayStation Mobile game concept and will also offer successful candidates the opportunity to work alongside XDev. Further details can be found here.

An extra four titles have been added to the Humble Bundle 6. The titles are: Bit.Trip Runner, Gratuitous Space Battles, Jamestown, and Wizorb. If you have already purchased the bundle, you will get the new games added at no extra cost.

If you are attending Eurogamer this weekend you can get a special surprise when you play Company Of Heroes 2. Everyone that plays the game or attends the developer session at the event will get a code to access a future beta for the game.

Finally Train2Game will be at Eurogamer this weekend. If you are attending go and say hello, it is always nice to meet these people. I will be attending on the Saturday so if you see me feel free to talk to me. I hope everyone that attends has a brilliant time.

Train2Game news: Gaikai bringing cloud gaming to Facebook

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Train2Game students may have already experienced gaming for themselves, thanks to being able to see it at The Eurogamer Expo.

But for those unfamiliar with it, the concept of cloud gaming is being able to stream games from the internet and play them on any TV, PC or even tablet computer without the need for a console.

Now, cloud streaming service Gaikai has confirmed that it’s going to make its service even more accessible, by bringing it to Facebook, offering users the chance to play high quality titles through their internet browser.

“Our next big launch is on Facebook and we’ve been working with them for some time. Facebook already owns the category of casual gaming, we’re going to help them own core games. A click and boom, you’re playing World of Warcraft,” said Gaikai Chief Executive David Perry, while speaking at the Cloud Gaming Europe conference

He argued that the fewer steps needed to access a game, the higher the chance of somebody playing it will be.

“Bring the game to the gamer, don’t move people, move games,” said the Gaikai Chief Exec, who praised social game developer Zynga.

“Zynga has figured out that you put the customer first, very aggressively. You click once and you get to play for free, you share it with your friends and then you pay Zynga if you love it.”

“It’s as pro-consumer as you can get and that why their valuation has skyrocketed,” Perry continued.

“Some of the traditional publishers who have ignored all of this are falling off a cliff. Look at their stock prices, it’s not good.” he added.

The Train2Game Blog has previously reported on how Gaikai are combating lag for games streamed using their service.

For more news and information about cloud gaming services including Gaikai, keep reading the Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on cloud gaming coming to Facebook? Can it compete with social games?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Games industry might not be ready for cloud gaming say Crytek

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Train2Game students will get the opportunity to try out cloud gaming for themselves at the Eurogamer Expo next week and form their own opinions of the service.

But according to Crysis developers Crytek however, games industry isn’t quite ready for cloud gaming, even if the service does have potential.

“It’s maybe that the concept has come before we were ready for it as an industry,”Crytek Director of Global Business Carl Jones told GamesIndustry.biz

“We’re just trying to throw things at it right now and I’m not sure if that’s going to make people money. And whether or not the consumer needs it.”

Jones suggested that cloud gaming providers  OnLive and Gaikai have great potential, but argues that there’s one major problem holding cloud gaming back: the cost of running the service.

“You talk to anyone whose been in the online gaming business for the last five years and they’ll tell you that server costs have not gone down,” he said.

“Because if you just take Crysis or Crysis 2, run it on the cloud, every extra gamer you add in needs a lot more processing power and that costs a lot of money.”

However, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Gaikai founder Dave Perry believes that the service has everything it needs to become successful.

Nonetheless, Jones is excited about the prospect of cloud gaming and suggests that games will be designed specifically for the service in the future. Could it therefore be something Train2Game students develop games for in future?

“I think what’s going to happen now is that we’re going to start seeing people designing games for the cloud, designing technology for the cloud and making the best use of it.” Concluded the Crytek Director.

Train2Game blog readers may remember that last week THQ claimed the future of the industry involves cloud gaming in big way, in that future consoles won’t use discs.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on cloud gaming? Is it too early for the service to be successful? Is it indeed the future of the industry? Would you develop games specifically for it?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: GI.biz]

Train2Game news: THQ say future consoles won’t use discs

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Train2Game students who like to collect boxed games may find this a little hard to take, but the future of games consoles won’t involve discs.

That’s according to THQ CEO Brian Farrell who made the prediction during his keynote presentation at Cloud Gaming USA.

But it could be a good thing for Train2Game students, the game developers of the future, because according to Farrell the lack of a disc drive “will result in a lower cost for the hardware manufacturer, which will result in a lower cost to consumers and therefore a lower entry point, thus driving more mass market adoption.”

In addition to allowing more people to play games, the THQ CEO believes that any future consoles with no disc drive will generate more revenue for game developers.

“No physical goods cost for game makers. No inventory, no markdowns, and all the money spent by the consumer would go to the developer or publisher.” said Farrell.

Farrell also believes that cloud gaming will be beneficial for gaming communities

“Our games are always on and our players are always connected….We have the opportunity to interact with players in new ways that can be reactive to their desires, play habits, and buying habits.”

“The box, ship and done model is transitioning to: observe, measure, and modify, a games as a service model where direct consumer feedback allows the ability to operate in this always on, always connected environment.” he told Cloud Gaming USA.

Train2Game students will have the opportunity to try out cloud gaming for themselves at the upcoming Eurogamer Expo. As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, OnLive will be at the event and Train2Game students could get their hands on a free OnLive system to take home.

Of course, Train2Game will be highly visible at the Eurogamer Expo too, and are giving Train2Game students the opportunity to win an iPad 2 complete with an i OS developer account.

So Train2Game, what do you make of Farrell’s predictions? Do you think there will be consoles that don’t use discs in future? Is cloud gaming the way forward?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game students can try OnLive when it launches at the Eurogamer Expo

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It’s a date that Train2Game students should mark in their diaries as one that could potentially change the future of the industry.

Cloud gaming service OnLive will arrive in the UK On 22nd September, with a launch at the Eurogamer Expo.

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, cloud gaming could potentially bring Triple-A gaming to anyone, including smartphone and tablet computer users.

The launch coincidences with the Eurogamer Expo – which Train2Game will once again be attending – and OnLive will be giving out thousands of free game systems that’ll work on any TV.

OnLive will utterly transform gaming in the UK,” said OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman.

“No discs, big downloads or specialised hardware needed. OnLive gives you the latest games instantly, anytime, anywhere on HDTV, PC, Mac, as well as iPad, Android tablets.

High-performance gaming as accessible as streaming video, with unique social features such as massive spectating with voice chat and Facebook integration.”

And speaking earlier this year, Perlman, as you’d expect, believes cloud gaming is the future for the industry.

“The power of the cloud is definitely the theme this week, displacing what had been assumed to be platforms that could never be displaced,” he said at the E3 app launch..

“The OnLive Player App for iPad and Android shows how with the power of the cloud, the question is not whether cloud gaming will be able to catch up to consoles, it will be whether consoles will be able to catch up to cloud gaming.”

There are however, as the Train2Game blog has previously reported, concerns about latency when it comes to cloud based gaming. A reliable internet connection will of course be needed to connect to servers, which could be very far away.

But is cloud gaming a threat to traditional consoles? As reported by the Train2Game blog, yesterday, Gaikai’s Dave Perry doesn’t believe so.

“We don’t think we’re a threat to console. I think the threat to consoles is actually Apple” Perry told GamesIndustry.biz.

Train2Game students will have the opportunity to check out OnLive and cloud gaming at the Eurogamer Expo which starts on September 22nd.

So Train2Game, are you tempted to try out OnLive? Do you believe it could change how the industry works?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Eurogamer]