The future is looking Cloudy (but this is a good thing!)

Regular listeners to the Podcasts may have heard me (and the other Hardly Boys) talking about this topic before but I think it’s a topic worth discussing further.

This topic is of course Cloud computing and its progress within many areas of computing and technology. With its uses far ranging within different areas of the industry, from data storage to backroom software handling, through to real time graphics processing. This rise can be at least partly attributed to it having been championed by both Google and Apple, who are tripping over themselves to offer you all the space and services you could possibly want to move to the Cloud.

Whilst this move to the Cloud means that it can speed up the time it takes for data intensive processes to happen before you get anything useful, it has occurred by turning your computer into a glorified control terminal for big computers which have nothing better to do than to sit and number crunch. For example, remember that ridiculously big database which used to take you half an hour just to load up, now it comes back with the answer in milliseconds. Yay!

All well and good you say for businesses but why should I care? I hear you ask. Well, the answer you lucky lucky people is that for the first time graphics processing has been moved to the cloud! Once the preserve of people with money, decent graphics for gaming can now be realised by the peasants or those without trust funds. How, You ask? Well by moving the graphics processing to the Cloud, it means that those without decent graphics card (or no graphics card at all :( ) can still play games looking their best without the high price tag.

This is the stuff of under powered PC or Laptop users dreams, take my money now! Where can I sign up you ask? Well, so far only NVIDIA is offering this service (as far as i'm aware), calling it NVIDIA GeForce GRID and as it’s new the only game known to be running on this system is Hawken. An online multiplayer only Mech Fighter game. The real piece de résistance of this cloud based service is that as it is browser based at least for Hawken, it means that any internet enabled device allows you to jump in and play the game against friends. Whilst the moving of  graphics processing to the cloud away from the local computer means better graphics, it is still reliant on a decent internet connection and a non-prehistoric computer! Therefore those with faster computers will still see better graphics than their slower counterparts.

The cloud service providing access to Hawken is Gaiki a new cloud game service hoping to compete with more established rivals such as Onlive.

So, in conclusion the movement of graphics processing on to the Cloud is definitely a step in the right direction, but it is still early days both in terms of the games available that implement this but also we have yet to see how well the service works when being fully utilised by players of a game. I guess that the proof will be in the pudding and we shall be able to see if this service has the potential to revolutionise the gaming of graphically under powered gamers, on December 12^th when Hawken goes live.

Want to know more, then see the links below:

http://www.playhawken.com/

http://www.nvidia.com/object/cloud-gaming.html 

http://www.gaikai.com/

http://www.onlive.co.uk/

Nosh, Signing Out.