We are currently living in a world of rapid technological advancement where it seems breakthroughs happen on a regular basis, if not daily. Among the fastest growing segment in the market, today is cloud server and data streaming.
Netflix, for instance, is a streaming concept not foreign to a large part of the world. Sure, you can use a promo code for Heart Bingo and play your favorite casino games, but we are sure you would want to try out other video games too.
Streaming and Gaming: Does it Work?
Currently, a number of game developers are considering adapting the concept of streaming into gaming. Extensive research and development are being done to accomplish this. As simple as it sounds, the mechanism is not as straightforward as it is with Netflix, or other audio or video streaming.
This is because streaming in that sense only involves one-way communication, which is for the server to deliver to the client. The client just receives whatever that has been earlier requested.
The Need for Good Connectivity
For video games, however, there must exist a two-way communication. The concept requires a constant connection and engagement from the server and the client. Every click of the mouse, tap of the keyboard, push of a button, must be delivered from the client to the server in an uncompromisingly efficient manner.
The communication has to be delivered instantly and rapidly, there should be no compromise at all for this to work. Otherwise, the scenarios hated by almost all gamers, which is lagging due to ping and latency issues, will be a huge problem.
The Other Problems
For one, the focus is on establishing a secure and consistent internet connection between gamers. Unfortunately, internet speeds continue to remain low in many parts of the world.
We have evolved from dial-up to broadband, and now we’re enjoying high-tech optical cable connection, and things would change soon. Of course, development will take time, there will be events involved with trial and error, prototypes, and experiments, but all of this is paramount for us for refinement in achieving perfection.
Another issue is whether game developers will be able to profit as much as how they used to. In this era, fewer people opting to buy the physical compact disc. The market is swarmed with selections.
Take Steam for example. It has millions of users who buy the game using the only internet and online storage; no involvement of physical compact disc anymore. Steam already has a name for itself in the gaming niche; imagine what a streaming game portal could do.
With this pressure in mind, some game developers would want to stay old-school; releasing games in a method they’re used to. Some users also would share the same sentiment, preferring the physical compact disc more than anything downloadable, as it satisfies the desire to collect. It might not be the 1990’s anymore, but it still feels good to have your collection showcased in their CD racks.
